Do you keep your sick kids at home all day?
Sometimes my kids are "sick" with a runny nose, no other symptoms or had just been sick and seems well but not allowed at school yet (24 hours no fever). Being cooped up at home can be really tough. If the weather is nice I can take them to the backyard or a short stroll around the block, but the weather is frequently not nice here. And sometimes it seems unfair to the other one if only one kid is sick.
I am not talking about going on any real escapades, more like going out for lunch or going to a bookstore/library for 45 minutes. Am I being overly considerate? (I also seem to be the minority at our preschool in not leaving my baby in the car during pick up/drop off of the older kid). What do you do?
I'm not sure if I understand what you're asking. Are you asking because one might keep their child home all day out of consideration for other people's children? Or because one might think that home is where sick children will recover best (even if it makes them and their families a little crazy)?
- andrea, Oct 27, 2010
I guess my question was not very specific. Just, what do you do when your kids are sick? What do you do? What is your reasoning? Of course, I keep them at home if I think they need it for their well-being. Those both seem like excellent reasons for wanting to keep them at home.
But I think kids are still contagious long after they seem healthy. Our doctor says kids can be contagious for 1 month. I don't keep them at home for a month. I usually take them out as soon as they are symptom-free. Sometimes that takes 2 weeks though.
- sweethi, Oct 27, 2010
2 Answers
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Runny noses can continue for weeks during the winter so I would send my kids to preschool with a runny nose unless they were clearly not feeling well, or if they were sneezing all over the place. I felt bad when I realized that other parents would keep their kids at home and cancel everything at the slightest sniffle.
Now that they are school-aged, I realize that kids are only expected to stay home if vomiting or fevered. I still keep them home if they feel really crummy at the beginning of a cold, but I'm of the "sniffles happen sometimes" mindset in general. I have never been over-protective of my kids in a germ sense, but they are all very healthy and seem to get less illnesses of less severity than others, so I think we're not doing our kids any favors by protecting them from mild germs.
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Runny nose - I'd go out (with tissues in my pocket); vomiting and the like - stay home.
As for being in the minority when it comes to taking your baby out of the car while dropping off/picking up the older one, please stay in the minority. :-)
Coincidentally, a few hours after posting this, I went out to lunch and ran into an acquaintance who was there with her 8.5 month baby girl. She said hi but not to get too close because her baby is sick and has a fever.
- sweethi, Oct 22, 2010