When do you decide to keep LO home?
Nicole0012
member
Specifically from daycare?
M has been sick allllll weekend. We were supposed to leave town and see my parents this weekend, but I ended up taking him to urgent care on Friday night and the doc said it looks like he has the flu (though not the "bad" one they swabbed him for). He's had a fever all weekend (103+ on Friday, and hovering between 102-100 Saturday-today). He also has a pretty rotten cough.
IF (and that's a big IF) his temp does go down, I'm trying to decide whether to send him to daycare tomorrow or to take the day off. I'll probably end up keeping him home, just for an extra day of rest and snuggles, possibly a trip to the doctor, but I always have a tough time deciding when he doesn't have a fever whether to send him or not. Sometimes colds and coughs can last for weeks.
So, how do you decide when to stay home and when to send them off to DC?
Re: When do you decide to keep LO home?
We are dealing with this right now too. She's supposed to be fever free for 24 hours before she can go in, so she would have to have been fever free this morning & stay fever free all day. P's temp was 100.5, so a fever by .1 degree. Ugh, I am kind of waiting to see how she is acting. Right now, it's not looking good.
Is it better for you to call in early for a sub, or is day-of alright?
Our daycare and my school have a 24 hour fever free rule, so we follow that. If they've had a fever in the past 24 hours, they are probably still contagious.
I just took his temp and he's finally fever-free (99.7 rectal temp). I'll probably end up keeping him home, and it's fine if I call in day-of, which I'll probably do. I'll just put sub plans together tonight just in case.
So tricky when deciding... I hate his little cough, but again, who knows how long it will last?
My sitter doesn't have a policy, per se, but I try to follow that as much as I can, too! Plus, I wouldn't want other parents sending their feverish kids to daycare either.
Kids can be contagious with the flu for longer than 24 hours after the fever is gone.
I'd keep him home at least one more day. You don't want to be the mom whose kid infects everyone else, KWIM? The flu is dangerous and I'm sure other kids in class have baby siblings at home who are more at risk of serious complications, too.
I'm assuming M's not her only kid there right? If he was, I'd definitely say send him if he was feeling okay, but if not, probably keep him home tomorrow. Since he tested positive for a strain of flu then you definitely don't want to pass it along. If C's fever goes down by say noon Sunday and stays down and he feels okay okay then I'd send him the next day. If he's feverish all day then I don't.
Our DC's policy is fever free x24 hours without tylenol/motrin too like pp. But I also take into account LO's tempermant. If he's got the flu and he feels mopey and just wants to stay cuddled on the couch even without his fever I'd probably still keep him home for the 1:1 snuggles.This is what we've done with both kiddos this month, particularly with A. He's still adjusting to DC and if he's not feeling his best it just makes for a rougher time on him.
However....even though his runny nose/cough has been with him since early December he was sent home Tuesday for fever (it was around 101 so not as high as M's, or his own a few weeks early, but he looked like he felt puny) so we medicated him and kept him home the following 2 days. Wednesday he didn't have a fever and was bouncing off the walls per his usual. Thursday same, right before his swim class that evening I noticed he felt kinda warm, so I checked him and he had lowgrade fever no change in his behavior as he was a chattering monkey and hadn't had a toddler meltdown yet that day so we gave him his motrin and took him to swim. He's got his 2 year molars coming in now too so I can't keep him home forever waiting for teeth and sniffles to go away.
Am I the bad mom that sent him in Friday, maybe, but he hadn't had the sky high fevers he had been having weeks before when we kept him home and his behavior didn't match his body fighting an infection like they had last month with the cough and ear infections that we were battling.
I'm sorry M hasn't felt well all weekend, I hope it passes quickly and that you have an understanding boss and that M doesn't share the germs with you :-) stay healthy!