Deciding Whether Your Child Should Get a Covid-19 Test

Moms always want what they feel is best for their child. You’re raising your kids the best way you know how. You’re keeping threats away from them whenever that’s possible.

The pandemic is a frightening time for everyone, but especially for parents. You might worry more about your children than you do yourself.

It’s true that kids don’t usually show Covid-19 symptoms as much as adults do. Fewer children die from it as well. Still, few is more than none, and your child dying or getting very sick is unthinkable.

Some kids have immunocompromised conditions, and if this is true of yours, they’re in a higher risk group. Also, even if they show no symptoms, they can pass it on to you if they get it. If you get sick, you can’t take care of them.

Some moms wonder when they should get their children tested or if they should. Let’s examine some considerations regarding this issue.

How Do You Know if It’s Covid-19?

One problem is that we’re approaching cold and flu season. Every time your child coughs or sneezes these days, you might get nervous. After all, cough is one of the symptoms of Covid-19.

If your child gets sick, you might decide pursuing testing is the best option for you. That’s because:

• You’ll feel better if you can confirm that it’s not the coronavirus
• If it’s a positive test, you can immediately seek doctor assistance

Probably, the optimal thing to do is to ask your doctor whether you should test your child if they seem like they’re coming down with something. They might say you should look into it, particularly if your child was near other adults or children without masks or social distancing.

You Can Get Them a Flu Shot

Covid-19 still running amuck while we’re getting back into flu and cold season complicates matters. You don’t know whether that cough means a cold or the coronavirus.

One thing that it’s smart for you to do is to get your child a flu shot. If you talk to your doctor, it’s more than likely they will recommend vaccinating them against the flu. If you do that:

• It makes it much less likely they’ll catch the flu
• You can probably eliminate that as a possibility if your child gets sick

Even though the flu is likely not as serious as Covid-19, it’s still something you don’t want your child to get. Going through the flu is a miserable experience, and your child can often avoid it with a simple injection.

They probably won’t be happy about it, but perhaps you can bribe them with ice cream or some other treat afterward. Most pharmacies can give your child a flu vaccine for free. You should consider getting one for yourself as well.

Are You Sending Your Child Back to School?

We’re into the fall semester now, and most moms have decided whether or not to send their kids back to school. You can only do so if the administrators opened your child’s school, and they’re running in-person classes.

If you’re sending your child back to school, you’ll probably want to get them a Covid-19 test, even if they show no symptoms. This is more for the other children’s safety. If your child tests positive, you should keep them home and quarantine them for the amount of time the CDC recommends.

You Might Want to Do Multiple Tests

Even if you had your child tested at some point, and it was negative, you may decide to do another test if they’re sick now. These tests are not one hundred percent accurate, and again, it’s better to be extra certain if you have any doubts.

Maybe you tested your child, it was negative, and then they visited relatives or friends and didn’t wear a mask or socially distance. Later, they became sick. That’s another occasion where you should probably get them tested a second time.

If it’s negative again, it’s probably the flu or a regular cold. At least you’ll know, and you can act appropriately.

Follow Your Doctor’s Advice

You might also feel uncertain about when or if you should test your child because of all the contradictory information on TV or online. That’s part of why this country can’t shake the coronavirus. We have no widespread, comprehensive strategy.

Mask-wearing, social distancing, and even testing have all become partisan issues. You might believe what Dr. Anthony Fauci says, or President Trump. You might believe CNN, Fox News, the CDC, or your cousin on Facebook.

If they’re all telling you different things, what should you do? It’s bewildering, and your children look to you for protection and guidance.

A smart thing to do is to trust your family doctor. You keep going to them for a reason. It’s because you feel they take good care of your child or children, and they won’t steer you wrong.

You can continue that policy now, even during such a tumultuous time. If you have questions, contact your doctor and ask them. You can ask them when you should test your child, how the testing process works, its veracity, etc.

Stay Calm and Rational

Probably the most essential thing you can do right now concerning your child is to follow medically-accepted best practices and not to submit to hysteria. It’s a scary time, but as long as you and your family continue with social distancing and mask-wearing, you have the best chance to avoid Covid-19.

If your child falls ill, you can test them, or you can do so even if they seem okay. It’s not harmful to test them even if they have no symptoms, and it will probably give you some peace of mind.

It seems likely medical science will come up with a vaccine at some point. In the meantime, we must all show patience and protect our families as best we can, especially young and potentially vulnerable family members who rely on us.