Giving GC a hug

My two youngest DGC just live round the corner so I've seen them, from a distance, a few times - no contact at all. Sadly my DD and my 2 eldest DGC live in Spain so I have no idea when I'll be able to see them. Very grateful for technology but it's not the same as the real thing.

Cabbie21, I hear you and share your concerns. I am safer meeting up with my daughter and GS who, like me, have been isolating than going to the supermarket and mixing with all and sundry.

This is an article from today's Daily Telegraph. It gave me some hope, but of course not proven yet.
No child has been found to have passed coronavirus to an adult, a review of evidence in partnership with the Royal College of Paediatricians has found.

Major studies into the impact of Covid-19 on young children show it is likely that they "do not play a significant role" in spreading the virus and are significantly less likely to become infected than adults.

While experts have said more evidence is needed, they note that there has not been a single case of a child under 10 transmitting the virus even in contact tracing carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The development comes after public health officials in Switzerland announced that under-10s can hug their grandparents again because they pose no risk to them....’

My baby is three weeks old and no one other than me, his dad and siblings have cuddled him. It’s really quite sad that I have this amazing tiny person and yet I feel as though he’s unloved as no family or friends have seen him or cuddled him. It’s better to be safe than sorry but I feel like he’s missed out on a lot of attention.

I too have given my grandchildren a hug but used a cuddle blanket (OK a king sized quilt cover). It was my birthday 2 weeks ago and my daughter bought the 9 and 11 year old through the back gate into the garden - staying a good distance away - but they both wanted a cuddle so I threw the triple folded quilt cover over one and gave them a hug and then the other - bliss. Did the same a week later in the park when I saw the other two (8 and 10) while going for a walk - throwing the quilt cover in the washing machine afterwards. I might add that both mummys got a hug too.

Grandtante, how on earth do you get very small children to stay 2 metres apart in a daycare or pre school setting??
It must be an absolute nightmare for the teachers!

My dd won’t even go to her nearest park anymore, since her dcs, 3 3/4 and just 5, are bound to see friends there and want to charge up and play with them. And it’d take all the pleasure out of it if she had to be endlessly yelling at them to stay apart. .
They now go to open spaces a short drive away, where the dcs are unlikely to see anyone they know.

Jane10
I bet that was wonderful
I don’t blame you
What a state we are in when we have to wait for government, or scientists, who seem to have no idea how to deal with this ...., to give us permission to hug those we love

I'm normally a very positive person but for goodness sake keep your hands to yourselves and blow kisses if you must see them in front of you. Why do we think it is spreading ? It's because some people just do want THEY want. Please keep safe no matter how hard it is

Nobody has picked up my point that at the moment, if both the families have been self isolating like we have for the last four weeks, then the risk is minimal.

Of course it is completely different if the child has been put at risk because his/her parents go out to work etc.

Before anyone gets at me I am not planning to meet up and hug them, though I am lucky to get a glimpse and may be a short chat, at the correct distance of course, when my daughter drops my deliveries off ( she has not been to the shops, she has ordered things on my behalf from her delivery ).
Once they go back to school it will be so much more risky, as they will be using public transport as well as mixing with others.

We have all been isolating for weeks but once GS goes back to nursery school then there will be no chance of a hug and for how long? He will be 3 in a couple of weeks (no party ?) and doesn’t understand why he can’t come to our house to play and have cuddles. I think he thinks we don’t love him anymore. Sometimes on Skype he hides from us as much to say “You don’t want to see me, so I don’t want to see you.” It breaks my heart.

It was mentioned this morning on TV by Dr Hillary and he thinks it is madness. If I was anywhere near my 5 year old GD she would come running with open arms and her 8 month old brother is now crawling and it breaks my heart I can't be with them. I should have been their day carer now. My son would not let us meet up now because of the risks on both sides. You make your own decisions in life but this old bird is saying NO WAY

@Bossyrossy Slightly different, though this thread reminded me. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my daughter on FaceTime (she lives abroad), my 4 year old grandson who was very tired and emotional fell over and was crying, Mummy picked him up, I asked him to put his knee near the camera. So I put my face close to the iPad made a loud kissing noise and said “there all better”, he said don’t be silly Grandma it can’t be better, then was laughing and laughing, so soon forgot his hurt knee. We also have catching kisses competitions, of course Grandma is useless at blowing lol.

I haven’t even seen my seven year old grandson since lockdown because he lives a 45 minute drive from us, but we do keep in contact via FaceTime, phone calls, and by sending him stories. Our other three are six year old twins and their two year old brother. They came round with their mother, our daughter, a couple of times to deliver birthday cards and gifts and Mother’s Day gifts, but they stayed in the car, luckily a big four wheel drive so we could see them easily, and we stayed in the front garden and had a few minutes chat with them from a distance. Since them we haven’t seen them but we’ve had FaceTime chats and videos that their mum made, and we’ve sent them stories we’ve made up. So no, we haven’t hugged them at all since lockdown. Of course we’d love to hug them, but our daughter has made it clear that in order to protect us, we can’t have any physical contact with them. As she put it ‘I want my children to have grandparents when all this is over.’

I absolutely won't be giving my grandchildren a hug because of the danger to them:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52003804
I love them far too much to risk their health and potentially their life.

It sounds odd to me too. Here (Denmark) they are allowing small children back to day-care, kindergarten and the 7 to 11 year olds are back at school,

However, all children must stay 2 metres apart all the time, wash hands frequently and in kindergartens and day-care all toys and surfaces must be cleaned twice daily.

Oh, I am glad I no longer teach! It must be a nightmare!

Here children are said to be less likely to catch the virus and only have mild symptoms. I wouldn't want to risk sending a child out and about with that assurance.

They still have to keep away from their grandparents and others in that age-group.

A Danish hospital is having good results using a medicine that was manufactured for ebola for CoVId19 patients. It doesn't cure the virus, but lessens the effects of it.

Big fat No. That's so easy for them to write that but what about the other illness children are getting from this virus where they are completely covered in rashes.
We hear soo much but surely alot has to be taken with a pinch of salt. It has been proven that healthy people of all different ages have not survived this virus. So no one can put any person in a more risk free zone.

Everyone needs protecting and for the sake of a hug, I will hold off until......

Yes I'm missing hugs from all my grandchildren, big and small but I know we must stick to the rules to keep all of us safe. We are expecting a new grandchild in June so that will be excruciating to not be able to have a cuddle!

Cant wait for some way to be able to hug my GC again. My GD isnt much of a hugger but do get a hello cuddle then she is off again being a very busy 4 year old. My GS gives lovely hugs though & that is what I miss most. Cuddling on the sofa while reading a book or discussing the latest happenings at school. Those were the days, hopefully he wont be too old to do all that by the time we can do all that again.

Would also love to hug my GC, but have to make do with facetime for which I am greatful. Last time my small GS (who has Down syndrome) was blowing bubbles and I pretended they were all going in my face!! He thought it was hilarious! Hearing him giggle was really good.

My gs lives 2 hours away we see him via FaceTime. Would love nothing more than to be able to go and hug him. But I think it's a bit selfish. As I don't believe children can't get it, and I'd rather go a while longer without hugs to keep him safe.

I thought there had been cases of children having it and also a baby? So what do you do if you have grandchildren who are siblings, one under 10, one over, hug one and not the other???

Take no chances is what is advised at the moment.

7Hetty58

There is still too much unknown about how infectious small children are when they have it. Why on Earth would all schools be closed if they were low risk?

Hetty, schools are very much OPEN!
We are continuing to give children personal care, including hugs!
Which is what I find mind boggling to then be told I'm "not allowed" to hold my own grandchild!

I am amazed at how well the youngest ones are taking to social media, which is great as it will form a much bigger part of their lives than ours growing up.

Youngest DGS, just turned one, spotted me on his father's phone and waved, then came rushing over and insisted on giving me several 'nose bumps'. Heartbreaking, but wonderful that he hasn't forgotten me!

There was a case of a 3 week old baby old baby testing positive a few weeks ago in the UK. Baby did recover in hospital.