I always battle this one. I don't want my child spreading the illness through the school. But, it is hard to know exactly when they were contagious. AND, if I kept the littler one home every time she had the sniffles I would have to home school her!!
She started seeming sick Thursday nite, Friday AM she complained that her throat was sore but she wanted to go tot school. Friday evening she was bouncing around as usual. Saturday she started really coughing and having a runny nose etc. Today Sun she is coughing like a fiend and her nose is running non-stop. No fever, her energy level is a little low, but she's not lethargic at all. School tomorrow??
I have to treat my kids differently on illness issues. One dislikes school and gets an upset stomach whenever she is worried. If I kept her home every time she said she felt sick she would never go. This child actually likes school and is sort of mad about having to stay home - so I kept her home. I read here one says green mucous keep her home another says white mucous keep her home as green mucous means she is not contagious any more. She takes allergy meds form Jan to march and has an endless runny nose then. It worries me that other parents are getting angry at me for sending her to school with a runny nose, its allergies then! This is a cold and her cough is bad so home she stayed. But, keeping a child home is a big deal when you work. Please remember that keeping a child home is not that easy for some.
I'd say the germs are in her snot and I'd wait for her nose to clear up so she doesnt have to deal with it at school, and by then she shouldnt be contagious.
Though fever is an important indicator, coughing and runny nose with opaque, yellow or green mucus generally indicate that the child is still contagious. And fevers come and go – even if temps are normal during the day, there is often a spike in the evening. Low energy level is just a less intense form of lethargy.
I hope you'll keep in mind that sending a sick child to school doesn't just make other kids sick, they in turn can also make vulnerable family members ill; parents can miss work, babies, grandparents, or immune-compromised family can end up seriously ill, with expensive medical care to pay for.
I've caught four colds from my grandson in a little over 2 years, and each time have had to go for emergency care for severe bronchitis (I'm asthmatic since childhood). My total bills have topped a thousand dollars for the doctor visits and prescriptions. (I have insurance with a very high deductible, so all care up to that limit is out of pocket.)
Just saying.
Keep her home, they will call if you send her in if she coughing alot and runny nose alot, also if her energy level is a little low that is another reason why I would keep her home and keep an eye on her. If they coughing alot i would also make a doctors appt if its a really bad dry cough.
I am trying to get over a cold that one of my kids brought home from school. I am the kind of person that catches everything that goes around, please keep your child home.
Fever with colored mucus
Fever
Vomiting
Diarrhea .. Stay home..
Otherwise, go to school..
The rule is: Fever, stay home until fever free without medication for 24 hours. It does not count if the tylenol brings it down.
Vomiting- stay home until the child has not vomited for 24 hours.
Diarreha- stay home until they are no longer having an issue.
contagous deseases- like chicken pox, head lice, strep throat, etc have thier own rules,. check with the school nurse.
OR...and this is where we all get confused, if your child does not feel well enough to be at school
I tend to keep mine home if they seem like they could be spreading a nasty cold with snot or coughing that they cannot control and would spread around to everyone, even if they don't have a fever. It just seems like the right thing to do, and we have a child who gets extra sick when ever she gets the smallest thing, so I always appreciate it when other parents keep thier kids home if they wonder if they are contagous. You never know if the kid who sits next to your child is in that situation (ours gets shingles when she gets any little illness) so keep her home if you are in doubt. She will get better faster too!
M.
NO! I realize she may not have a fever, but a constant cough will spread to others. There is no way she is going to get any work done if she's still coughing any way. I also wouldn't want her to get to run down for fear she may get worse.
Keep her home. If her nose is running all over the place and she's coughing nonstop she's most likely contagious. She's not going to get any more well by going to school and better to have her miss one day and rest than go feeling under the weather, infect everyone else and then end up home anyway for more time with a fever.
I agree with Peg M. I have an autoimmune disease and i catch everything that my kids bring home. They tell me when they are sitting next to the hacking cough children. I usually end up with pneumonia :( I wish more parents knew what it does to others. Some people have family members with cancer...all kinds of things and it is deadly for them.
I am so glad that you asked this question. I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer by the back door for when my kids get home :)
I agree she gets a day home.
If my daughter just feels blah or is bloated and crampy I will let her stay home. She is in HS though. How much do they really miss when out one or two days here and there.
Advice I got from my Pediatrician when my first child was born and attending daycare was this:
If you childs boogies are a clear or whitish color, you child is contagious. Once they have switched to dark yellow/greenish color, the body has attacked the cold and (generally) not contagious anymore.
Of course, if you are concerned about her still spreading germs, you should always go with your gut and keep her home.
I hate to send my son to school sick. However, if I kept him home everyday that he had a stuffy nose or a cough he would not be in school from October through March. If he has a fever, upset stomach (of any kind), or has not slept good the night before, I keep him home. It is always so hard to make the call. See how she does tonight. If she is up all night or wakes up with a fever then keep her home.
Parents and school opinions are going to vary.
You can have no symptoms and be contagious so I wouldn't go by what is contagious and what isn't.
If she has a fever, even low grade, keep her home. Even if you give her meds to take it down and it comes down, you never know if it'll shoot back up and meds generally cannot be given at school.
Runny nose. Some schools are very specific on this where others are more loose. My triplets school is very firm that if they have a visible runny nose (not just sniffles) then they are to stay home since the runny mucus can be easily transferred to others.
Sniffles are just that, sniffles. That is mucus usually up high that can run down. Sniffles wouldn't keep my kids out of school unless it was uncontrolled with meds and running down their face.
Cough. This depends on the type and severity of the cough. Is it an occasional minor cough and your child knows how to cover it with her sleeve? Or is it a barking, hard cough that is continusous that will disrupt the class and she can't keep up with covering it?
Sore throat. If she feels fine to go to school then let her go if that's the only problem. Ask the teacher if cough drops or throat soothers are ok to bring to class. It's not candy and it's not medicine. Ask her not to talk as much and drink fluids when she can.
How she is acting is a good indicator. If she is acting fine then so with the symptoms, give meds, and see if she meets the list above to attend school. If she's acting sick, even with a mild symptom, then keep her home as something may be dragging her down inside that you can't see and no need to drain her more and make it longer to get better.
Remember, you always feel worse in the morning so give meds immediately when they wake and see how the appetite is and give time for the meds to work and go from there. Give meds around the clock and overlap them a bit.
Wash hands constantly and ask her to do so as often as possible as school as well. Ask her not to share things and be aware of the germ factor.
Use Lysol spray and wipes all over the house to keep germs down and everyone should wash hands and not kiss or share items.
If she's young enough not to worry about missing work like middle school or high school then I wouldn't stress about keeping her home.
We've just gone through a round of this stuff since school started the 25th. We now have 4 kids in school so our chances of illnesses in the house has jumped tremendously. Such is the nature of the beast.
If one of my kids were coughing uncontrollably and the nose was running down the face where the meds couldn't control it then I'd keep her home, if she's this way in the morning after taking meds. Remember, if there's a runny nose, that is usually the cause of the cough as mucus is running into the throat, so if you can keep the drainage under control then the cough should get better, unless it's a dry hack from the lungs not caused by drainage.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
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It may be seasonal allergies she has. Three of us in my house started with the nose, etc. late last week also. Usually fever signifies when they should stay home - I agree you can't keep them home for every sniffle!
my daughter's school rule is if they have to stay home for 24 hours after a fever has been gone, without medication.
this sounds like what happens to me when I get allergies... is she on any allergy medication? if not, you might want to think about putting her on some zyrtec and see if it helps. it's once a day, and you can buy a generic version too.
Every time I get sick in the fall/winter/spring, it's from complications of not taking my allergy medicine, and i end up with bronchitis! last year with the swine flu scare, i took my allergy medicine daily and gave my two daughters some almost every day, and we did not get sick at all the entire flu season!!!!!! We go out alot too and my daughter was in preschool. not bad considering everyone I know got really sick last year!!!
