I was really on the fence this morning. He had a croupy cough in the middle of the night (had to bring him into a steamy bathroom) and seemed less than his lively self this morning. Of course, he has a stuffy nose, but he's had that for the last 2 weeks. He had a fever on Halloween weekend, but that has long passed. I probably could have taken him in to school today and it would have been alright, but I decided to keep him home.
Virtually all the kids in his class are just over something or are in the middle of something. The school has rules on when to keep them home, but some are so vague (runny nose, sneezing, coughing) that it seems like kids would be out all the time.
Of course I would like him to be in school - I work from home so it's a real pain when he misses a day. However, I don't want to get other kids sick and I want him to recover as quickly as possible. What's your tipping point for keeping your kids home sick and how long do you generally keep them out?
He's 100% better today - glad I kept him out although it interfered a bit with work. Thanks, all!
Definitely out if they have a fever or diarrhea or vomiting. However, when they are really "not themselves", lethargic, super crabby, or haven't been able to sleep well the night before, I keep them home. Their resistance is down and they need some rest to get well. I think you did the right thing Mom.
Fever or vomiting are a given.
If I feel like they are just too down to make it thru a school day and/or if they would be a distraction (coughing, sneezing, blowing nose constantly etc), also to keep them home and "baby" them so they can get over it faster.
when it comes to the not so obvious situations... I keep them home with a cold if they seem really tired, to where they aren't going to focus in school. If they are coughing more than not and can't stop blowing thier nose for more than a half hour. Its more for them to get better because I don't think they can't pay attention to what they need to be instead of thier cough and nose.
I kept my son home on Monday. Sunday night my hubby had to take him to the fast track at the ER because he had an ear infection that was keeping him up, The poor kid couldn't even sleep. So I stayed home in hopes of seeing how he was in the morning and getting him to daycare and school. The daycare lady's husband and daughter were both sick, so I stayed home with my son until it was time to go to school. He knocked out 10 minutes before the bus comes. I let him sleep. He always naps on the bus (it's an hour ride each way), but he was WAY too tired to send him to school. He was acting fine though, so he would have gone other wise.
I want to KNOW my kids are sick...and when they are up all night coughing or are really not themselves and not faking, I would keep them home too.
I only keep them home if they are running a fever. I suppose if they were so sick that they wouldn't learn I would keep them home too. Colds and allergies I don't keep my kids home for after all they would never be in school.
The obvious, fever, vomiting, diarhhea. Sometimes a cold is bad enough to
stay home. I always think about myself and how would I feel if I had to go
to work feeling like the bottom of the bird cage. I think your son needed to
stay home today. Tomorrow he should be feeling better.
Fever. Vomiting. Definitely home--no matter how it impacts my work schedule.
Really bad cold/cough/snot--we go by how he feels. Some days the kiddos need a little down time to feel back to themselves, right?
I do the same thing as Amanda.
Fevers/vomiting/diarrhea will all keep my kid at home until 24 hrs after it subsides.
I also don't think it is fair to their teachers and classmates for them to be hacking their lungs out all day, sneezing uncontrollably, or lethargic and unable to respond to the teacher's directions in a timely manner.
General rules across the board are fever over 100 degrees, diarrhea, or vomiting with in the last 24 hours. If he has any of those he cannot attend school. If he is not doing any of those he is legally fine to go.
However, if he is bothering other kids with his cough or dripping snot on everything they can send him home just by telling you he "has" to go home sick.
Give him some meds that have an expectorant and a cough suppressant in it, that way he can function in class even if he's not at his best.
I figure if my daughter has a fever, vomiting or diarrhea. If she has a lot of thick boogies coming out then I will keep her home for that too. Anything else I go by how she is feeling. She has to be feeling really badly to just lie around.
I keep her home until a day after the fever is gone along with vomiting or diarrhea.
It really depends. My kids are 10, 6, and almost 3. With my oldest, I will often go with his opinion. He really loves school, and knows that it's a pain to catch up when he misses is, so he will really only ask to stay home if he really feels he's too sick to make it through the day. Of course, if he's running a fever, I keep him home regardless. Usually, if there are no other symptoms, I will send him even if he has vomitted once -- he's a puker, and will vomit if he coughs, laughs, or cries too hard, eats something with a texture that triggers it, or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. It's gotten a lot less frequent as he has gotten older, but if there are no other symptoms, I ignore it and assume he's fine.
My 6 year old I need to be a bit more careful with -- she'll want to go to school regardless, so I really need to watch her and make sure she's really feeling well enough, the same with my 2yo.
Really, I can usually tell when they're sick.... when they're really not themselves, I tend to keep them home, particularly in the younger grades.
Also, when the "smell sick." My kids all smell slightly different when they're sick.... not bad, but just different.... like their chemistry is off. Has anyone else noticed this about their kids?
A fever and/or vomiting has to be over for 24 hours before going to school. No fever and no vomiting it's go to school. I did keep my daughter home when she needed some extra attention and hadn't slept well.
My daughter sends her kids to school when they do not have a fever nor have been vomiting unless they're so lethargic they can't get themselves ready for school. My grandchildren are 8 and 11. Then the rule is they have to stay in bed or lay on the couch for the day. Never have they been able to stay inactive when their temp was normal. So they go to school the next day.
If they're coughing to the point of not being able to focus then they stay home too. The key is will they benefit most by being at school or by being at home?
Vomitting or diarrhea in the morning, I will make them stay home. Coughing, sneezing, sore throat, stuffy nose, minor complaints, they still go to school, sometimes with cough drops in their backback or travel tissues, but they still go if they have a cold. I believe in toughing out minor discomforts. Attendance is important. Honestly, I don't take temps very often because once I whip out the thermometer, they start to see Mom taking that step, they start acting the part even more. If they are so miserable they don't eat breakfast and don't argue when I say they can stay home, but they have to go back to bed and no screen time for the day. And they actually DO want to go back to bed, I know they really sick enough to stay home.
I'm glad he's doing better. Of course if he is throwing up or having a fever, and it's been less than 24 hours since that ended, he needs to stay home. Otherwise, you have to decide whether he can function in school. As an elementary school employee, I can tell you that it's unkind to send a child to work who cannot keep up with their daily work. If he needs to rest and be mommied, that will not happen at school
Our school's rule is that you should not send your child to school if they have been vomiting or if they have had a fever or diarrihea winthin tha last 24 hours. They also ask that you not send your child to school if they seem like they are not feeling well in the morning. Last year there was an epidemic of strep throat at the school so they added the request to keep children home from school if they have a sore throat (something I would have done anyway).
If my child had a super runny nose or a bad cough I would certainly keep them home, but if you keep them home with any kind of symptoms, then they would miss an awful lot of school. I just try to teach my daughter to wash her hands, cough in her sleeve and use a tissue.
