strep throat and staying home Q

ambrvan

The kids both possibly/likely have strep. I am going to work today but DH just got home from his 24 shift. I decided to keep them home today even though they don't feel too bad because I don't want to send contagious kids to school if I have the option.

DH did not argue even though it means he will be home with them alone till bedtime because I have class after work til 9p then 30min commute home.

Dr appt will have to be made for late this afternoon or tomorrow because DH also came home feeling such and said he had calls all night long so needs to rest. kids don't feel bad so I'm ok with this.

Would you have kept them home from school/daycare, as well? And would you feel guilty about leaving H who is sick with sick kids ALL freaking day?

fellesferie

My short answer is no, I would not have kept them home. 

BUT I have a kid who is not doing well at school; so I would not keep him home because I thought he possibly had strep. If I thought he had strep, I'd take him to the pedi and ask for a rapid strep test. If he had it, I'd keep him home. If not, he'd be in school. I have only ever kept him home when I had to, and he never wants to stay home any way. 

I would feel guilty, too. I try not to make decisions that affect DH without him. But YH had a chance to disagree, so I think I'd try to not feel too bad about it. 

SueBear

I have been sick caring for sick kids a couple of times.  No, I would not feel guilty. 

My situation is a little different than yours - - our pedi has a "walk in" service early in the morning, so they would get tested first thing in the AM.

At the same time, why do you think they have strep if they don't feel too bad?  When I have had strep I have been miserable! 

 

Lavender P

I wouldn't keep my kids home if they were possibly sick. It is like canceling school because it might snow.

I guess I would want to know why you thought they had strep if they haven't been tested. I would especially be hesitant to keep them home if DH had been working 24 hours straight and didn't have someone to watch them while he slept.

nattyncbride

As PPs have said, you can go into a walk-in clinic and get a quick strep test.  Anti-Bs can be prescribed right away.  You want them on meds ASAP b/c they are not contagious 24 hours after starting medication (according to WebMD), and as long as they feel well enough, they can head back to school.

I know all this b/c DS had strep last week.  He complained of pain, I took him to doc, they tested and got results quickly, and he was on meds right away.  I stayed home w/ him the rest of that day and the whole next, then put him back in school (daycare) after that.

To answer your Q about leaving him home with sick DH, I don't have much experience, except I have taken care of DS when I was sick.  Not my fave, but OK.  Daycare is much less serious than real school, so I don't have experience there either, my opinion would be: if your kids have strep, keep them home for 24 hours- that's the responsible thing to do!  If they don't, they should be in school.  

Hope everyone in your house feels better soon.

ambrvan

We only have one walk in clinic within an hour of us and those drs have NEVER been satisfactory to us in regards to the kids. When DS swallowed a piece of metal weather this year and was extremely ill a week later, they said they nothing. When he was a baby, they refused to treat him for acid reflux even tho he was losing weight and sleep and told made he would "grow out of it" with crohns and IBS being in his immediate family history. Also the same people that told me my positive flu test was only slightly positive so I must be trying to find an excuse to get out of work and have a prescription for a bible verse. So we do NOT there.

SD had her tonsils or last year so she does not have the throat symptoms like usual. But she has had a horrible headache and nausea, controlled with tylenol and pepto. DS has had a sore throat, white on his very swollen tonsils, and extremely large lymph nodes. Both have lack of appetite and drinking more.

Their Nana also had strep right now. And we live right across the street and see each other almost every day.

Either way it is done now. Usually I only keep them home for vomiting and fever or extreme diarrhea. But I felt this was an exception.

hopanka

Given the symptoms you're describing, you did the right thing.