I'm not a parent, but I thought I'd speak up. I had no limits as a child (that aren't usual for any child, that is). I had sleepovers, I went to nursery school, kindergarten, and public schools. I played in the dirt. I swam in pools. I went to parties. I took extracurricular art classes. I visited with family, I went with my mom to the grocery store, mall, or whatever else.
If you want to be more careful about being clean, that's fine. But in my personal opinion, restricting too much is going overboard. Mind you, "too much" is a very subjective term. To me, keeping relatives away, keeping them at home for fear of germs, restricting a child's social activities (once they're old enough), etc is my "too much."
There are people who will disagree with me, especially a lot of parents. But having CF myself, I can be of some help. Yes, you'll want parenting tips from other parents with CFers. But if you want your child to live a happy life, you'll also want advice from the actual adult CFers (parent or not) that are floating around, myself included. I can honestly say I'm glad my parents didn't keep me from doing "normal" things. If I died tomorrow (I'm 23), I'd be happy that I got to do "normal" stuff up until then. And if it helps any, I more than likely will not be dying tomorrow. I'm still in d*mn good shape, if I do say so myself. 70% lung function.
In short, you need to <u>find a balance</u> that works for your family and your child (and that may change as the child gets older and starts to make decisions for himself). You need to take care of the CF, make sure meds and therapies get done... but you also need to allow the child to <b>be</b> a child and have a life.
This isn't any assumption on you, but I feel the need to say it for general pondering purposes... What good is a CF life that lasts 5 extra years, if his/her life is spent worrying too much, avoiding everything for fear of germs, missing out on fun, etc...?
Finding a good balance is important. Not too much sheltering, and not too much ignoring responsibilities concerning health. Happy medium. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
Oh, and okok has it right. EVERYONE needs to develop a healthy immune system, CFers included. I had chicken pox when I was little, I've had the flu a few times, I've had ear infections, and sinus infections, I get a cold at least once a year. My mom never bothered to keep me away from "sick" people or anything. She didn't rub my face in used tissues or anything, but she let me be around the same thing that my sister (no CF) was around.
