When Should You Keep Your Sick Child Home From School?
(CBS4) -How sick is too sick for a child to stay home from school?
A new survey of more than 1500 parents from the University of Michigan shows a wide range of views on keeping a kid out of the classroom when illness strikes.
For example, while almost all said a child with diarrhea should stay home, but about half thought it was okay to send a youngster in with a low-grade fever or one who had been through a bout of vomiting. And when it came to a runny nose, watery eyes, or a dry cough, more than 80 percent gave the green light for school.
Fortunately, a lot of parents have a good sense of when a child just doesn't feel good enough to get anything out of a day in class, or might be contagious to other kids. Yet even the best of parenting books and websites are filled with conflicting advice on what to do when your child wakes up feeling a little punk. And frankly, you are often the best judge since you know your child best.
Nonetheless, here a few guidelines that may help with making that "stay or go" decision:
- Fever is a no-go. In fact, a child should be fever free without the help of medicine for 24 hours before heading back to class.
- Nausea and vomiting is another no-go.
- So is diarrhea.
- Pink eye, as in tearing and mattering
- Sore throat that makes eating and drinking a problem. Or a throat that looks inflamed, has white spots or swollen glands.
- No appetite, or not taking in fluids.
- Deep, productive, or spells of coughing
- Abdominal pain
- Skin rash
- Finally, your child just doesn't seem right to you. In other words, you can tell that he or she just doesn't feel good.
Obviously, one size doesn't fit all and this list certainly doesn't cover everything…and sometimes making the "stay home" call is a tough one, especially if you need to get to work, and so forth.
Best advice is to play it safe, and check in with your doc if you have questions or something just doesn't seem right. And if your child is on the border, ask yourself if you would want another parent with a child who has similar symptoms to be around your youngster.
Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida