What is the sick policy at your preschool?

[sparklett]

(also posted in Montessori)

If a child in your preschool is sick, when is he/she allowed to come back?  How do the teachers decide whether to let a child in?

I'm asking becuase on Thursday I dropped DS off at preschool and immediately heard a little boy with a REALLY bubbly, barking cough.  I asked the teacher if he knew that the boy had a cough and he said that the mom said that the boy was off antibiotics and thus okay.  He sure didn't sound okay to me.  Sure enough, by Saturday 5 kids in DS' preschool, including DS, had developed coughs and runny noses.  For DS, a cough is always bad news.

Is it normal to let a child back in under those circumstances? 

[Owen'nZoe]

I think it is pretty standard for kids with colds, coughs, etc. to be allowed in preschool. Our preschool asks that you keep your child home:

- for 24 hours after a fever or vomitting

- if the child is acting too sick to want to participate in class

- if they have certain communicable diseases, like chicken pox or whooping cough

Other than that, they're allowed. Thank goodness, too - my son had a barky cough for several weeks this fall. I would've lost my job if I had to keep him home!

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe 

I think it is pretty standard for kids with colds, coughs, etc. to be allowed in preschool. Our preschool asks that you keep your child home:

- for 24 hours after a fever or vomitting

- if the child is acting too sick to want to participate in class

- if they have certain communicable diseases, like chicken pox or whooping cough

Other than that, they're allowed. Thank goodness, too - my son had a barky cough for several weeks this fall. I would've lost my job if I had to keep him home!

This is pretty much the policy at our daycare. For something "diagnosed" by a dr, they then want you to get a note from doc permitting you to return. (I guess those would be the "communicable diseases"). These are things that the daycare then notifies us about - "your child has been exposed to xxx" - with a sign on the door of the facility, and sometimes a note home..

If the child has a fever above...100? I think they call to send home and would like us to wait 24 hrs following the fever.

[kilamonster]

My DS's Montessori School is pretty strict about their sick policy. 

*fever, vomit, and diarrhea free for 24 hours without meds

*Child not being able to participate in class

They will call me to come get him if he is just not acting himself.  I like it because the rules are followed for everyone so it keeps the kids from getting each other sick.

[whatsnextmom]

Kids must be kept out a full 24 hours free of fever or vomit. Strep... anything that requires antibiotics... kids must be on meds a full 24 hours (which is when the child is no longer contagious.)

Colds, well, you play it by ear. My son (and myself) hold onto coughs for weeks, even months after a bad flu/cold virus and they DO sound terrible... a whole lot worse than they are. Currently, my 10-year-old's cough is JUST starting to taper off and it's been a good 8 weeks since he was actually sick. He was checked out by a doctor and even put on a full course of anti-biotics "for good measure." Of course, it made no difference. He had no fever. No runny nose. No lethargy. He just had a nasty cough. I kept him home about 3 days for the inital cold/flu but he's been in school ever since.

It's hard to say if this kid is actually the one that passed on the germs to yours. Germs are everywhere and people are most contagious before they really know that they are sick. This means anyone in that class could have brought it in before they knew they were sick. Or, your child could have picked it up at the grocery store that morning.

Personally, it drives me crazy when people send their kids to school miserable and sick but I've learned that coughs aren't neccesarily a good measure of who has is actively fighting a virus and who is no longer contagious but holding on to that cough.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by ASusan 

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe 

I think it is pretty standard for kids with colds, coughs, etc. to be allowed in preschool. Our preschool asks that you keep your child home:

- for 24 hours after a fever or vomitting

- if the child is acting too sick to want to participate in class

- if they have certain communicable diseases, like chicken pox or whooping cough

Other than that, they're allowed. Thank goodness, too - my son had a barky cough for several weeks this fall. I would've lost my job if I had to keep him home!

This is pretty much the policy at our daycare. For something "diagnosed" by a dr, they then want you to get a note from doc permitting you to return. (I guess those would be the "communicable diseases"). These are things that the daycare then notifies us about - "your child has been exposed to xxx" - with a sign on the door of the facility, and sometimes a note home..

If the child has a fever above...100? I think they call to send home and would like us to wait 24 hrs following the fever.

This is the standard here as well. Also, allergies are a big issue here in the fall and winter--lots of sniffles and coughs.

[MJB]

Our preschool had the same 24 hours fever and vomit-free rule and we follow it now that my kids are in elementary school although their schools don't have rules anymore. I would send them to school with a cough or cold, if I didn't, my kindergartner would have missed several weeks of school already (and so would every other kid in his class). There have been enough absences already from stomach bugs (and strep, and lice, both of which we managed to miss).

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom 

It's hard to say if this kid is actually the one that passed on the germs to yours. Germs are everywhere and people are most contagious before they really know that they are sick. This means anyone in that class could have brought it in before they knew they were sick. Or, your child could have picked it up at the grocery store that morning.

I agree with this statement. With the weather in most parts of the country right now, I think lots of people are sick. It doesn't mean that kid gave it to you. In fact, when my kids have that bubbling, barky sound that usually means it's an upper respiratory infection and not contagious at all.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe 

I think it is pretty standard for kids with colds, coughs, etc. to be allowed in preschool. Our preschool asks that you keep your child home:

- for 24 hours after a fever or vomitting

- if the child is acting too sick to want to participate in class

- if they have certain communicable diseases, like chicken pox or whooping cough

Other than that, they're allowed. Thank goodness, too - my son had a barky cough for several weeks this fall. I would've lost my job if I had to keep him home!

That.  I gauge my kids by how they act more than how much they're coughing.  My oldest has asthma and if he gets a cold, he has a lingering cough.  He isn't contagious and feels fine, but he does have a cough.  He'd end up failing school if I kept him home until the cough was gone. 

You get germs everywhere, not just school.

[K1329]

I agree with the pps. Colds are getting passed around in schools, stores, etc. right now. I'm more nervous about the shopping cart then the preschool classroom! lol But, for my ds & dd, keeping them home for the sniffles, a lingering cough could potentially mean missing a good portion of the school year. They miss preschool for a fever, or, if they have a cold and just seem tired or to not feel well. Our preschool policy is the same as most of the pps - addresses fever, communicable diseases, but, not colds.

[Cavy]

I don't think we've got a specific policy on fever, actually (?).

48 hours wait after vomitting or diarrhea.  Not to be brought in with the big contagious diseases.  I don't know about coughs, if I kept DC off school or preschool every time they had a cough their days of absence would probably quadruple.  

[LynnS6]

Our policy was that a child was excluded for: Diarrhea or vomiting, fever over 100, rash, severe cough, skin infections, sore throat, ear ache, skin or eye lesions that are severe, weeping or pus-filled, head lice, severe pain.

But a child who's been out sick and comes back OK except for a cough would not be sent home. Coughs can linger.

[One_Girl]

-Fever must be less than 100 degrees for 24 hours with no medicine to bring it down

-For vomiting and diarrhea they must be symptom free for 24 hours (2 episodes of either and they are sent home)

-For pink eye they must be on medicine for 24 hours

-For lice they must be nit free

For bigger things like chicken pox and rashes the child has to be symptom free for 24 hours also.  Little things like a cold or bad cough aren't things they keep kids out for and most parents drug their kids and send them in anyways so it is hard to know which child really passed the disease along. 

[meemee]

our policy is the same as stated by others.

from the ages of 2 to 4, from Oct to March dd had continuous runny noses, sometimes with a cough. the only time she would be sent home is if her mucous was green and/or she was visibly sick or coughing so much that she couldnt participate in class. i made sure she had enough liquids and hot showers so she never missed ps. 

from ages 5 to 8 dd just had a cold recently. never a repeat of what she had when she was younger. 

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Ours has the same policy as others have said, 24 hours from a fever, vomiting, diarrhea.  If the kid seems really "off" they will call the parents.

ds has asthma and has been coughing since september.  He's also had snot since september.