Lucas has stayed home with me the last for years and just started 5 day a week akk day prek. He developed a mild cold over the weekend. I'm sure it is from the nice new germs from PreK. Anyway, it got me thinking about when is it okay to send him to school and when should I keep him home?
Normally if he had a cold I would keep him home from play group, but with school he is only allowed to miss 10 days.... 5 with a Doc's note and 5 with a non-doc note. So I'm thinking if I keep him home with just a cold he'll burn through those and just get another when he returns.
So which symptoms do you keep your kids home with and when do you send them on to school?
Fever within the past 24 hours, vomiting within the past 24 hours, if they just obviously don't feel well.
I'm on the fence with green snot because 99% of the kids who come to Mother's Day Out have green snot at one time or another while they are there. And my ped told me once that that isn't necessarily a sign of infection anyway.
I keep them home with fevers and vomiting, or if they are just generally down for the count. If they are acting normal but have a cough or runny nose, I do still send them, unless they are hacking up a lung of course.
I keep them home if they are feverish, puking or having runny bm's. I will also keep them home if they are sick enough that they aren't acting the same, i.e. extra whiny or sleepy.
Lauren has allergies and a constant dripping nose. I bring in a box a tissues to her classroom every other monday. I also bring in a extra box if she has a cold. Her teachers are always soooo thankful for this.
24 hours fever free. Not to start a hot topic, but it is a major pet peeve when I see kids at daycare/preK that should clearly be home. I get it, believe me, I have been there. At what point do you run out of vacation and sick days? Especially that last 24 hours when they seem fine. I guess, for me, that last 24 hours is more about my kiddos not picking up another illness from still being run down from the last illness.
Runny noses, regular colds? I send them. Unfortunately Kari, I think you will find this first stretch of school (or anyones first stretch in daycare) is one long series of colds, etc until their immue systems get used to being inundated with all the "stuff" out there :(
Ugh. You know, I don't think there is any policy at Gavin's preschool about how many days can be missed but he goes 3x a week, just missed Friday and will most likely miss Monday. It is SO hard to know what to do - especially now with the Swine Flu on everybody's minds.
He gets croup very often and it keeps him coughing for a LONG time a lot of times. I know people see that and wonder why he is out, but we can't keep him in the house for two weeks when it is just that lingering cough. So, I don't know what the answer is. ITA on the fever free for 24 hours. Vomiting, definitely make sure it's been 24 hours but again, that is hard for us because sometimes he is throwing up because he is coughing so hard at night - not necessarily a tummy bug, kwim?
Anyway, I am wondering whether to send him tomorrow or not. As someone who is employed (at a school no less) I do understand how hard it is. I have one sick day left - I just used one on Friday to stay home with Gavin. What do I do? I am now sick. Luckily, my boss is super flexible and helpful but I know many people's works are not at.all!
24 hours fever free. Not to start a hot topic, but it is a major pet peeve when I see kids at daycare/preK that should clearly be home. I get it, believe me, I have been there. At what point do you run out of vacation and sick days? Especially that last 24 hours when they seem fine. I guess, for me, that last 24 hours is more about my kiddos not picking up another illness from still being run down from the last illness.
Runny noses, regular colds? I send them. Unfortunately Kari, I think you will find this first stretch of school (or anyones first stretch in daycare) is one long series of colds, etc until their immue systems get used to being inundated with all the "stuff" out there :(
ITA. It's hard for me to see sick kids at school because while most kids just catch that silly little cold, my son always catches it and ends up with croup - and then there are a lot of kids who have asthma and a *little* cold becomes so problematic. Ugh. It's hard.
24 hours fever free. Not to start a hot topic, but it is a major pet peeve when I see kids at daycare/preK that should clearly be home. I get it, believe me, I have been there. At what point do you run out of vacation and sick days? Especially that last 24 hours when they seem fine. I guess, for me, that last 24 hours is more about my kiddos not picking up another illness from still being run down from the last illness.
Runny noses, regular colds? I send them. Unfortunately Kari, I think you will find this first stretch of school (or anyones first stretch in daycare) is one long series of colds, etc until their immue systems get used to being inundated with all the "stuff" out there :(
ITTTTTTA. This is one of the reasons I hate taking them to the gym too-NO ONE seems to care if their kid is sick, and it drives me batty.
My SIL is bad about this, and my neighbor can be as well. My SIL is famous for saying, "She was running a fever yesterday, but she is fine today." Um...can't you just give her one more day to get her strength back???
Anyway, we don't have a policy about absences, but I am conservative about sending them when they are sick. Definitely 24 hours fever/vomit/diarrhea free. And with colds, I judge based on their behavior. If they seem fine other than a runny nose and they aren't feverish, I'll send them, but if they are out of sorts or having a cough, I usually keep them home.
ITA too-last year was one long cold for Anna. Kate did pretty well, but Anna seems to have more problems with that stuff. Like Gavin, she has a tendency for croup (though not nearly as frequently!!), so I prefer to be cautious. And tbh, IDK what happens if you miss more than the 10 days (I would be more careful if you got kicked out or something), but I wouldn't really care about the policy. IDC what the "policy" says, if my kid is sick and shouldn't be in school, she isn't going to be.
24 hours fever free. Not to start a hot topic, but it is a major pet peeve when I see kids at daycare/preK that should clearly be home. I get it, believe me, I have been there. At what point do you run out of vacation and sick days? Especially that last 24 hours when they seem fine. I guess, for me, that last 24 hours is more about my kiddos not picking up another illness from still being run down from the last illness.
Runny noses, regular colds? I send them. Unfortunately Kari, I think you will find this first stretch of school (or anyones first stretch in daycare) is one long series of colds, etc until their immue systems get used to being inundated with all the "stuff" out there :(
ITTTTTTA. This is one of the reasons I hate taking them to the gym too-NO ONE seems to care if their kid is sick, and it drives me batty.
My SIL is bad about this, and my neighbor can be as well. My SIL is famous for saying, "She was running a fever yesterday, but she is fine today." Um...can't you just give her one more day to get her strength back???
Anyway, we don't have a policy about absences, but I am conservative about sending them when they are sick. Definitely 24 hours fever/vomit/diarrhea free. And with colds, I judge based on their behavior. If they seem fine other than a runny nose and they aren't feverish, I'll send them, but if they are out of sorts or having a cough, I usually keep them home.
ITA too-last year was one long cold for Anna. Kate did pretty well, but Anna seems to have more problems with that stuff. Like Gavin, she has a tendency for croup (though not nearly as frequently!!), so I prefer to be cautious. And tbh, IDK what happens if you miss more than the 10 days (I would be more careful if you got kicked out or something), but I wouldn't really care about the policy. IDC what the "policy" says, if my kid is sick and shouldn't be in school, she isn't going to be.
I didn't even think about the school's policy on number of sick days allowed. Good point. I was thinking more about the case when both parents are running low or are out of sick time/vacation time to stay home.
i don't know how that preschool can enforce a # of days out when every health expert in the country is saying stay home if you are sick b/c of the swine flu...
that being said, i agree with the others--fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. are reasons i would keep my kid home. buuut, since lucas hasn't been doing well with drop off, if i were you i would keep him home. if he feels crappy already b/c he is sick then i will bet his drop off issues will be tenfold tomorrow.
-- Edited by Corey on Sunday 13th of September 2009 05:44:40 PM
i don't know how that preschool can enforce a # of days out when every health expert in the country is saying stay home if you are sick b/c of the swine flu...
that being said, i agree with the others--fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. are reasons i would keep my kid home. buuut, since lucas hasn't been doing well with drop off, if i were you i would keep him home. if he feels crappy already b/c he is sick then i will bet his drop off issues will be tenfold tomorrow.
-- Edited by Corey on Sunday 13th of September 2009 05:44:40 PM
Yeah, Corey. I agree, our school is sending anyone home this year if they are remotely sick and are asking all facutly to do the same. Once it hits the school it just spreads like wild fire.
I did not think preschool was madatory and there were no attendance rules. I know it varies from state to state, but I am pretty sure on preschool.
i don't know how that preschool can enforce a # of days out when every health expert in the country is saying stay home if you are sick b/c of the swine flu...
that being said, i agree with the others--fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. are reasons i would keep my kid home. buuut, since lucas hasn't been doing well with drop off, if i were you i would keep him home. if he feels crappy already b/c he is sick then i will bet his drop off issues will be tenfold tomorrow.
-- Edited by Corey on Sunday 13th of September 2009 05:44:40 PM
Yeah, Corey. I agree, our school is sending anyone home this year if they are remotely sick and are asking all facutly to do the same. Once it hits the school it just spreads like wild fire.
I did not think preschool was madatory and there were no attendance rules. I know it varies from state to state, but I am pretty sure on preschool.
The preschool where I work has an attendance policy - we ask not to miss more than 3 days per month but that is an average. We have to maintain an 85% attendance per month because we are funded with federal dollars. So, it breaks up to about 3 days per month PER child, so it tends to work out okay.
That being said - my stipulation to parents is ALWAYS keep them home if they are sick even if you've already missed those three days. But we do have an attendance policy.
i don't know how that preschool can enforce a # of days out when every health expert in the country is saying stay home if you are sick b/c of the swine flu...
that being said, i agree with the others--fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. are reasons i would keep my kid home. buuut, since lucas hasn't been doing well with drop off, if i were you i would keep him home. if he feels crappy already b/c he is sick then i will bet his drop off issues will be tenfold tomorrow.
-- Edited by Corey on Sunday 13th of September 2009 05:44:40 PM
Yeah, Corey. I agree, our school is sending anyone home this year if they are remotely sick and are asking all facutly to do the same. Once it hits the school it just spreads like wild fire.
I did not think preschool was madatory and there were no attendance rules. I know it varies from state to state, but I am pretty sure on preschool.
The preschool where I work has an attendance policy - we ask not to miss more than 3 days per month but that is an average. We have to maintain an 85% attendance per month because we are funded with federal dollars. So, it breaks up to about 3 days per month PER child, so it tends to work out okay.
That being said - my stipulation to parents is ALWAYS keep them home if they are sick even if you've already missed those three days. But we do have an attendance policy.
Is that a state rule or school? I just thought since preschool is not required they cannot enforce it as they can with state, public school K-12. I guess I was wrong. Here in MI preschool is not required and the actual school may have a policy, but it cannot be enforced by the state.
i don't know how that preschool can enforce a # of days out when every health expert in the country is saying stay home if you are sick b/c of the swine flu...
that being said, i agree with the others--fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. are reasons i would keep my kid home. buuut, since lucas hasn't been doing well with drop off, if i were you i would keep him home. if he feels crappy already b/c he is sick then i will bet his drop off issues will be tenfold tomorrow.
-- Edited by Corey on Sunday 13th of September 2009 05:44:40 PM
Yeah, Corey. I agree, our school is sending anyone home this year if they are remotely sick and are asking all facutly to do the same. Once it hits the school it just spreads like wild fire.
I did not think preschool was madatory and there were no attendance rules. I know it varies from state to state, but I am pretty sure on preschool.
The preschool where I work has an attendance policy - we ask not to miss more than 3 days per month but that is an average. We have to maintain an 85% attendance per month because we are funded with federal dollars. So, it breaks up to about 3 days per month PER child, so it tends to work out okay.
That being said - my stipulation to parents is ALWAYS keep them home if they are sick even if you've already missed those three days. But we do have an attendance policy.
Is that a state rule or school? I just thought since preschool is not required they cannot enforce it as they can with state, public school K-12. I guess I was wrong. Here in MI preschool is not required and the actual school may have a policy, but it cannot be enforced by the state.
I doubt it is a state rule. Preschool is not mandatory here - Kindergarten isn't even mandatory! But we are non-profit, federally funded and part of our guidelines is maintaining that 85% attendance each month...among a billion other guidelines!!!
Thanks everyone who replied! Very helpful! I'll see how Lucas is in the morning and then decide. So far he has just had a cough. No fever, no runny nose, no green or yellow gunk. But he's been coughing all night in his sleep, poor little guy.
I've always been conservative about sending him off anywhere when he was sick. Like I said I would keep him home from playgroup if he had a cold, so he wouldn't pass it to his friends, and also so he wouldn't pick up any extra germs. I also quit going to the Y with him when he got sick EVERY SINGLE TIME we went. The guidelines ya'll shared help so much, thanks!
The reason Lucas' school has an attendance policy he is attended a Public Elm school. PreK is not required in our state either BUT they do have public PreK funded by our lottery. There are a limited amount of spots for Prek so in March each school that has a PreK program randomly draws names and then the ones that don't get picked get put on waiting list.
So if you don't follow the attendance policy your child will be booted from the program and another kid takes their spot.
Fever within the past 24 hours, vomiting within the past 24 hours, if they just obviously don't feel well.
I'm on the fence with green snot because 99% of the kids who come to Mother's Day Out have green snot at one time or another while they are there. And my ped told me once that that isn't necessarily a sign of infection anyway.
ditto to this and add diarrhea to the list
green snot is also associated with sinus infections, so it's not really a good indicator in my opinion.
i don't know how that preschool can enforce a # of days out when every health expert in the country is saying stay home if you are sick b/c of the swine flu...
that being said, i agree with the others--fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. are reasons i would keep my kid home. buuut, since lucas hasn't been doing well with drop off, if i were you i would keep him home. if he feels crappy already b/c he is sick then i will bet his drop off issues will be tenfold tomorrow.
-- Edited by Corey on Sunday 13th of September 2009 05:44:40 PM
I ended up sending him this morning. He wasn't really coughing when he woke up and he actually woke me up begging to go to school today and JUMPED out of the car at school. I'm thinking either alien abduction or he was so sick he is delirious
ALSO...do NOT medicate your child in the morning to treat diarrhea, fever, vomiting then send them to school. If they need those meds and have those issues, just keep them home. Medicating does not prevent them from being contagious and the most likely side effect is sleepiness---which the teachers don't need.
This is one of my biggest complaints about schoolo....parents send their kids in sick and medicated.
Sniffles/runny nose, my kids go unless they obviously don't feel well. There are so many allergens floating around here that someone is always having sniffles, sneezes and allergy/cold like symptoms.
hmm, if she has an actual fever, or did the night before and/or if she is acting sick.
you know, if she crawls into bed at 7pm with a fever then its highly unlikely i will be sending her to school the next day.
i def have prolly broken that 24hr fever rule. i find fevers are hugely variable and whatever she might have, she caught at school, meaning that other children were similarly exposed. and those same "exposed" possibly symptomatic kids will be in school, so if c has a mild fever but is acting perfectly normal, i have no problems sending her to school. like, she ran some temps after her flu shot, as expected. def not going to keep her home for that...but i also scheduled her shot on a friday, as i do most of her vax.
the way she is acting is a much stronger indicator for me than anything else.
diarrhea doesn't motivate me, given c's propensity for loose stool. i'd keep her out if she was vomiting, but thankfully that has only happened once to my knowledge.
i will say that the new recommendations (in light of H1NI fears) is that they should not return to school until they are fever free for 48hrs without meds. and this is what we are telling parents at the ER.
however, i'm more conservative about taking her to parties or activities (like inflatable fun land type stuff) if she is "sick" i.e. cold syx. while i think she is usually well enough to do that type of stuff, i think you look like a bit of an ass toting your visibly sick (read: snot down their face) kid to places like that.
Thanks everyone who replied! Very helpful! I'll see how Lucas is in the morning and then decide. So far he has just had a cough. No fever, no runny nose, no green or yellow gunk. But he's been coughing all night in his sleep, poor little guy.
I've always been conservative about sending him off anywhere when he was sick. Like I said I would keep him home from playgroup if he had a cold, so he wouldn't pass it to his friends, and also so he wouldn't pick up any extra germs. I also quit going to the Y with him when he got sick EVERY SINGLE TIME we went. The guidelines ya'll shared help so much, thanks!
The reason Lucas' school has an attendance policy he is attended a Public Elm school. PreK is not required in our state either BUT they do have public PreK funded by our lottery. There are a limited amount of spots for Prek so in March each school that has a PreK program randomly draws names and then the ones that don't get picked get put on waiting list.
So if you don't follow the attendance policy your child will be booted from the program and another kid takes their spot.
honestly, since he has been home with you and probably not sick too often, he is probably going to catch a LOT of colds in school. i would just judge it by how he seems to feel. if he is running around and playing and seems fine and just has a small cough, i would send him.
