Hi I was diagnosed in 2011, 4 months before my 30th birthday! Came as a huge surprise as was diagnosed within 6 weeks. Had my party and started Avonex night after 
We have two children who will be 6 and 10 this year. My children have no idea and I have always said I will tell them when old enough not to be petrified. With injecting once a week I do it when they are in bed and in their eyes nothing has changed. Just wondering what other people did with regards to telling their children? Tracey
My daughters 4 so not there yet do they pick up on when u get ill? X
Hi
I was diagnosed last year after I ended up in hospital with a bad relapse. I felt I had to explain something to them, asked my nurse how best to approach the situation and she gave me a ms trust booklet designed fir kids. Itās colourful and written for children, it gives the basic details and answers a few questions.
You can find it here: Speaking with children and teenagers | MS Trust
Might be worth ordering one, have a look and decide if it would work for you and yours. My boys are only little, so donāt fully understand, but at least they have something thAt they can refer too if they want to.Best of luck.
Lx
My daughter was 11 when I was dx and I told her right from the start. It would have been ridiculous not to ā I was off work so it was obvious there was something wrong and I was not comfortable with lies or evasion.
In the beginning I just said I had MS and briefly explained about nerves and myelin. I left it at that. I put no more emphasis on it than saying I had chicken pox. The older she got we went into more detail, she also researched stuff for herself. By the time she was fully informed about MS Iād been living with it for 4 or so years with no wheelchair in sight so she was not freaked out by it.
There is no need for children to be frightened. I think you said it all with āin their eyes nothing has changedā. Itās a positive thing that children see that even with MS life can go on as normal. I get tremendous support from my now adult daughter and Iām glad I didnāt spring MS on her until it became too hard to hide.
Jane
hiya
i have 4 kids. youngest 2 were 3/4 when i was diagnosed.
i would tell them in simple easy words they can understand because kids are far from daft! they will know something is not quite right and an explaination from you is better than their wee minds running riot and them fearing allsorts.
as said there is info available to enable you to support them through this learning.
ellie
I echo Ellie children pick up far more than we realise. Whatever the subject I have always answered truthfully but obviously in an age appropriate way. My children are now adults but grew up knowing no subject was āout of boundsā and could ask about anything. Made life easier when they were teenagers.
Common question from young children when told is - āare you going to die?ā - when you know how to answer that one you can tell them.
I have never told my children - my m.s. is my business no one elseās.
I was diagnosed just after I turned 30. My daughter was almost 10.
I told her from the start. She was aware that something was going on as I had been off work for 6 weeks with ON, was in and out of hospital for tests, MRIs and steroids. She was having to stay late with the childminder on appointment days etc.
There was, for me, no way to avoid the fact that something was going on. She knew it and I felt it was better to be honest and upfront than be telling her I was ok when clearly something wasnāt right.
She took it completely in her stride and this year she raised over 250 euro for MS Ireland, she has no problems with it at all.
Iām in very good health at the moment but I have my off days, my appointments etc so I think itās better that she knows what is going on rather than letting her imagination run wild with her.
[quote=āzetlandā] Common question from young children when told is - āare you going to die?ā - when you know how to answer that one you can tell them.
I have never told my children - my m.s. is my business no one elseās.
[/quote]
I was asked this by my daughter and said no, I wasnāt going to die.
I did explain that I might end up not being able to walk properly or I might have problems with my eyesight or be very tired all the time.
Death caused by MS is rare enough and usually takes a number of years before it progresses to that stage. As far as I am concerned Iām no more likely to be killed by MS as I would be in an accident or by cancer so I donāt see the point in worrying about it unduly.
hi
i would recommend telling the children in ways that they can cope with.
the suggestion of a book from ms trust is good.
my sons were a lot older 19 and 21 but i showed them a book from ms society that showed diagrams of damaged myelin.
younger children have such enquiring minds and carry on the thread filling the blanks themselves (not good).
ha ha! just reminds me of when i tried ever so delicately to tell them honestly where babies come from.
daddy planted a seed and mummy had an egg etc
they got that easily enough but wanted to know exactly how baby got out. i fluffed around the subject and left it.
the day after they came to me and informed me that babies come out of a fanny! they had asked around their mates until one with older brothers came up withn the word they needed.
so do tell them in a calm way. if you arent afraid, they wont pick up on it.
carole x
Hi,
Diagnosed in 1998, daughters age 3 and 4. Had very few symptoms at first so didnāt tell them, or anyone excepts partner and parents.
Told my daughters about 5 years ago as was starting to have problems walking and needed lots of appointments and tablets - told all my friends too. Just told them and answered any questions.
I got the MS book but didnāt use it as they were to old.I passed it on to someone on this website. Good book.
Just keep it simple if theyāre young.
Good luck
Jen x
Hi there I been dx for 8 weeks, I have a 6 year old and a 4 year old as well as a baby of 8 months. Iāve been very ill for months having relapse after relapse so my girl pick up on me being so unwell, and started asking questions, I couldnāt lie to her as she is so forward and cleaver for her age. So I order the ms childrenās book from this site and we read it together, sheās took it on board and asks questions like, mummy you get more tired after you have been a work because u a little unwell sometimes. So she sort of has an idear about the whole thing, my 4 year old is clueless bless him. I have said when I start my injections next month I wonāt Let them know or see me do it as there to little to take that in. I think it all depends on the child and how you feal about it all, I donāt think thereās ever a right or wrong time to tell them . You take care Lisa
Hi My children were older, they were 14 and 17 when I got dx. They knew I was poorly as my right hand and arm stopped working etc so I couldnāt hide it. When I got back from hospital appointment they were watching a football match on TV. I just said I wanted to let you know I got a dx of ms. They said āoh okā and that was that really they carried on watching tv. I didnāt make a big thing about itā¦so neither did they. I have since told them a bit more about what having ms means. I got taken poorly on holiday last year mainly because I over did it but we had to hire a wheelchair so I could join in with things. I just try and stay positive and look for the good points in everything. I have down days, but most the time be happy that it was just ms. At the same time of my dx, a dear friend was dx with terminal cancer and is no longer with us. His positive attitude really inspired me to just get on and live life to the full even if you have to make adjustments to your dreams donāt give up on them. : ) Good luck Mish xx
Hi, My little boy is four and a half. So far as he is young he does not know what I have or the term M.S. And up until last year he would not have seen any affects of the m.s as I had been relapse free and the odd relapse I had I managed to care for him whilst the steroids got me through. However the last relapse I had a year ago left me with a weak left leg and he has seen a slight impact in small ways such as not being able to run with him, pick him up and walk and occasional limpā¦and the walking stick although Iāve not used this he has just seen it. Anyway at Christmas Santa bought him a ālift your flap all about the bodyā book. Itās excellent. There is a section in it about the brain and axons that send messages (or something like that). Basically it explains how it works and sends messages to the body to tell it to work. Well I saw this and took the opportunity to say that these bits in my brain didnāt work so my left leg doesnāt work. Since this when he reads it he always says this is why mummyās leg doesnāt work! Then finishes off by saying I need a new one from a shop or the hospital! I know one day ill have to tell him more but I must say I thought this book was good to explain it as he could have a visual too. It also shows the lungs, healthy ones and lift the flap to see ones from smokers! My mum smokes and he straight away said āyak nannies lungs will look thatā 
hopefully he will remember that when he is a teenager wanting to have a fag. Haha. Xxxx
I told my eldest when he was 5 (he is now 7) when I was diagnosed and he has seen me inject loads of times.
IMO there isnāt much to tell, I have an illness and I may or may not get worse/have problems in the future. Itās not that different from anyone else
My kids know I get sore legs and canāt walk very far or run, but aside from that there isnāt much to say.
Thank you all for your post much appreciated. Guess I have been lucky so far especially seeing what others have been/are going through. Tracey X