Coronavirus and Kids: A Thread for Parents

All the schools in my immediate area of SoCal are closed including LA Unified.

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So thats where all the TP is going

Our little one has been able to use the bathroom on their own for about a year now. Today was literally the first/only time ever theyā€™ve unraveled the entire roll of TP onto the bathroom floor. They all have to have a 6th sense about this sort of thing.

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Iā€™ve decided to try to stick to her school schedule as much as possible during the week. Iā€™ve heard that structure can be very calming at times like these.





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So pretty sure my son has this now. Hes had a slowly rising fever for the last three days with cough, sneezing, sore throat, and ear pain today. Im not too worried about him because he has no underlying illness and this really doesnt seem like a thing that is going to affect children outside of them feeling fluish. I feel bad as we have essentially quarantined him (hes twelve though, so video games and tv are getting him by just fine for now.)

The only thing I truly worry about is if take a turn for the worst for some reason as we are still sans health insurance for the next 8 days.

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Sorry to hear that. Hope he gets better fast and without complications.

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Thanks man. Keeping my fingers crossed. Hes been sick off an on for the past month so Im sure he has had some combo of cold, flu, and corona in that time period. Each one had different symptoms. More aggresive and advanced fever and aches in that one I think was the flu. Stuffy nose and sinuses with cough and allergy symptoms in what i think was a cold/allergies combo, and what he has now.

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Sorry to hear, Matt, hope he recovers soon.

Iā€™m not sure where everyone is at, in their stocking up prep levels, but one item that may have slipped by, is sufficient ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc for yourself and the kids. With 30-70% of the population expected to eventually get this thing, there will be a lot of fever out there, and these supplies will probably run low.

My kids are absolutely terrible at taking medicine, and in the past, my wife and I have literally had to force feed it to them, with me holding them down to the floor, forcing their mouths open, my wife shooting a little into their mouths with a syringe, and then us blowing in their faces to make them swallow. Bit by bit, over and over again. It sucks.

The only thing they will take on their own, without this drama, is childrenā€™s orange chewable ibuprofen tablets. Which will probably be necessary to bring down fever at some point. I started buying some last week, but eventually realized that, at 24 tablets/bottle, thatā€™s only 12 doses, which is 6 per kid. With about 3 doses per day needed, that means 1 bottle will only last us 2 days. So I needed to buy several more.

As of yesterday, my local grocery stores were almost completely out of every desirable item, but they still had ibuprofen and acetaminophen, including my kidsā€™ preferred orange tablets. So you may still be able to stock up today if you need this as well.

Thank you to everyone posting itt with helpful info. Cassette, Iā€™m impressed by your schedule.

P.S. One other show recommendation is Lego Masters. My kids arenā€™t even that interested in Legos and never build them, but they love this show. 6 eps worth currently available to distract them with, and more on the way. Available on cable or Hulu.

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Seconding Lego Masters. Thought it might be shit with the usual FOX overmarketing for 20 weeks prior to release, but its surprisingly solid.

Even more shocking, the worst part of the show is probably Arnett, and I generally tend to enjoy him quite a bit.

Good point about the ibuprofein. Iā€™ve seen the same on my store shelfs the last couple days but havenā€™t bought any. Might pick up a couple bottles just in case, or if I can brave Costco might just get one of the big bottles.

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for info

French authorities have warned that widely used over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs may worsen the coronavirus.

The countryā€™s health minister, Olivier VĆ©ran, who is a qualified doctor and neurologist, tweeted on Saturday: ā€œThe taking of anti-inflammatories [ibuprofen, cortisone ā€¦ ] could be a factor in aggravating the infection. In case of fever, take paracetamol. If you are already taking anti-inflammatory drugs, ask your doctorā€™s advice.ā€

Health officials point out that anti-inflammatory drugs are known to be a risk for those with infectious illnesses because they tend to diminish the response of the bodyā€™s immune system.

The health ministry added that patients should choose paracetamol ā€“ which is known in the US by the generic name acetaminophen and commonly by the brand name Tylenol ā€“ because ā€œit will reduce the fever without counterattacking the inflammationā€.

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Great advice, thanks for this.

Thanks, Johnny and Strontium.

Iā€™m just going to play it by ear right now with my kids, 11 and 13 (5th and 7th grade). Their schools are closed indefinitely and remote lessons start tomorrow. My 13-year old told me today that she got her laptop all setup with the apps and links she needs. Her school uses Edmodo for teachers to communicate with the students, assign work, and upload files.

We donā€™t have much info for my 11-year old. His teacher set us a code for the Seesaw app, which he already knows how to use. Interested to see how it goes. I thin weā€™ll be getting more info today. Fortunately, thereā€™s also e-mail and what-not.

Weā€™ll see what happens and figure out how strict we need to schedule the kidsā€™ days. I suspect it will be pretty loose.

Iā€™m not too concerned about the kids socially. They have Google Hangouts and that sort of thing so they can talk to friends and play video games. My oldest is very used to that, anyway, just like we adults used to hop on the phone with our friends at night. My youngest has some good friends, but heā€™s a homebody, anyway, so heā€™s comfortable just doing group video chat and playing Roblox, VR, and shit like that. He actually gets a kick out of using technology to socialize.

I doubt Iā€™ll be sending my daughter to sports practice, even though itā€™s still on for now.

Overall, Iā€™m just going to let things happen as they happen the first few days and then see how tightly we need to schedule their days.

https://twitter.com/bookwalee/status/1238786739235368962

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Well, first day of current French style lockdown (only food shops open) with a soon-to-be-2 year old went OK. He was actually perfectly fine all day after having at least one toddler tantrum each of the last few, weā€™re hoping he had been picking up on us being tense and one of us often off somewhere on some fraught logistical mission. Now that we know what weā€™re facing and have things mostly in line Iā€™m hoping weā€™ll be more like normal around him. Not that we will avoid them, obviously, but it had seemed as if confinement was coinciding with him entering a more difficult phase, which wouldnā€™t have been great.

Wonā€™t say Iā€™m not jealous of the people with children who can occupy themselves for more than a few minutes, but Iā€™m sure weā€™ll survive and that I am just not seeing all the new issues older children bring. The worst will come as / when weā€™re not even allowed to go out for a walk (Madrid did this today). He tends to get a bit hyper after just a full morning or afternoon without leaving the flat (~700 sq ft), so multiple days or longer will definitely be a challenge. For the moment weā€™re thinking that walks in which we try and keep a distance from people and donā€™t go to playgrounds etc. will be risks worth taking, but I guess thatā€™s to be revisited as things develop.

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Iā€™m sure tons of kids are picking up on tension among parents. Weā€™re trying hard to talk in a normal tone of voice, even if talking about non-normal things. Itā€™s tough. I donā€™t envy you with a two-year-old. Thatā€™d be a tough age.

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Yes, itā€™s something we always try and do, talk normally and involve him in whateverā€™s going on. Explain what will happen and why and so on. Itā€™s far too easy to forget for things like this, though, as itā€™s tough for us to know exactly how much he can take in when itā€™s not just ā€œthis will happen now or very soonā€. Though I tell myself time and again that assuming he understands everything we say is easily the best heuristic to use.

Donā€™t say that!

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Had our first mini melt-down today. Weā€™ve arranged to do a daily play date with her best friend, but the plan is to only do play dates with the one friend and once a day. Also, have been told to avoid public play grounds, so will be in house or in yards.

We were then making our schedule and daughter explained she gets two recesses at school. I told her one would be with parents, and she started bawling saying recess is only fun with her friends and if she gets to use the monkey bars. Took 5 minutes of consoling and explaining that we have to limit social interactions until she stopped crying. Fingers crossed that there wonā€™t be another blow up tomorrow.

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Holy shit. My kids are actually doing schoolwork.

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