How many days did your DC miss this year? What's "average"?

[PoppyWearer]

From what I saw on MN and observed from friends' DCs and at our school, with the cold winter there seemed to be more illness than usual this school year. Right?

Somehow DC1 (just finished Reception) escaped relatively unscathed and had one day off all year, when she had a bad cold and was completely exhausted. There were days back in Jan/Feb when almost half her class was missing, so how she managed not to catch any of the nasty bugs going round is a miracle!

(Not at all a stealth boast - there were other children in the school that managed 100% attendance (DC1 was upset she didn't get a sticker for attendance). Which absolutely amazes me!)

How did your DCs get on? Just curious if this was a bad year or not, and what to expect in years to come.

Dredging my memory as a child, I can recall missing a few days due to usual childhood illnesses, but did have one or two years with 100% attendance, when I was a teen.

[Runningchick123]

My eldest one had two days off during the whole year which is amazing considering he has a lot of illnesses and has had a hospital admission during the year.
My youngest is very fit and healthy and he had 3 and a half days off during the year.
My children have to be genuinely ill to get the day off - fever, sickness pain etc. I wouldn't let them have the day off for a common cold but lots of parents do and this affects attendance enormously. I accept that colds spread around and are very contagious but I wouldn't be off work with a cold, wouldn't expect the teacher to be off and so don't expect my child to be off with a cold either.

[CaptainSweatPants]

Ds - no days

Dd - 1 day

I'm very very lucky they don't get ill much

[tribpot]

Ds had 6 days but he fractured his collar bone. Year before was either 0 or 1, I can't remember but I know it was high enough to get gold for attendance.

[PoppyWearer]

So maybe things weren't as bad as I thought?

[simpson]

DD - 1 day
DS - 2 days

But I do remember when over half of DD's class (and 1 teacher) were off with a sickness bug.

[girlonfire]

Ds1- 1 day
Ds2- 3 days

[missmapp]

Ds1 - 1 day

Ds2- 0 days

but, they have both had chicken pox already and that did the rounds, so we missed that!

[ArabellaBeaumaris]

DD1 had 96.94% attendance - 11 days off. That represents a broken collarbone, a severe UTI, a few long weekends. All authorised - she's in reception.

[Galena]

DD has had about a million days off preschool. Colds hit her really hard because, as she has cerebral palsy, everything takes about 4 times the energy it takes an able bodied child. Where another child might cope with a day at school with a heavy cold, she physically cannot find the energy she needs. Also, she is too poorly for school for at least a week when she has a cold (spiking temp, sick, wheezy, etc). I'm dreading Reception next year!

[AryaUnderfoot]

DS - 1 day for illness and 1 day for holiday (authorised).

He started nursery full time when he was six montths old and caught everything going. He must have had a cold continuously for six months after starting. He now very rarely gets anything.

[Mrsrobertduvall]

I day each through illness (they are 16 and 14)
Ds had 5 days authorised absence to visit Australia.

[insanityscratching]

Six days, 1 for the after effects of a migraine (she sleeps 15 hours after being sick) and 5 authorised holiday. Good enough for me. It's the luck of the draw really we might not have a holiday next year but dd might have repeated illness instead and so end up with lower attendance.

[wheredidiputit]

DS nursery - 1 day - broken arm (at nursery).

DD2 reception - 1/2 day - Split her chin open at school (same day as DS)

DD1 year 4 - 2 days Sickness bug.

The most dc have missed from school since is 5 day's last year when dd1 had flu.

[Guitargirl]

DD - Year 1 - 100%
DS - playgroup = 100%

[MadeOfStarDust]

zero for my 2 for the past 2 years - touch wood - they literally have not been ill.... not a cold, not a D&V, no broken bones, nothing.... I'm aware we are "on borrowed time" and they will probably be off for a month next year, but hey ho...

[LaundryLegoLunch]

Ds1 - 0 days (in two years)
Ds2 - 1.5 days

[ShoeWhore]

About 2 days each.

[girliefriend]

Not sure how many days but dd had 93% attendance which i don't think is too bad!

[mrsravelstein]

ds1 had 2 days off (y7), the first sick days he's ever had, he has a cast iron constitution and never gets ill

ds2 (reception) had about 10 days off, all for one hideous fluey bug thing that school kept sending him home for every time i thought he was better

dd (nursery) loads, probably 10-15 as she's one of those kids who throws up every time she's remotely under the weather, so had to keep her off for 48 hours afterwards each time

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

3 - two off with a vomiting bug, and one authorised to go to a wedding
I don't have much in the way of back-up childcare, so she's got to be properly ill to stay at home.

[Glittertwins]

Both of them had 2 days off for D&V then 2 further days authorised leave before Christmas. They've had 100% attendance since January.

[Wafflenose]

My Reception child had 1.5 days off. I really can't remember what the half day was for - maybe she was tired in the early days. The full day was on a Monday, following sickness all day Saturday and the 48-hour rule.

My Year 2 child had an awful winter, with a bad chest infection, tonsillitis, 2 flu-type bugs and then a nail infection later in the year. 3 courses of antibiotics. During all this, she managed to grow a lot, so was just weak for a while. I think she missed 6 or 7 days for illness, and 1 for a music competition.

[PoppyWearer]

Thanks for all replies so far, interesting to see and nice to know my DC1 wasn't unusual because it seemed she was surrounded by children taking lots of days off for bugs!

[pointythings]

DD1 (Yr7) 2 days - first time in 3 years she's been ill, I virtually had to sit on her to get her to stay home but she was really ill.

DD2 (Yr5) 0 days. For the 3rd year running.

My two are very lucky with their immune systems.

[hippoherostandinghere]

0 days for DS. He was the only child in the class with full attendance. He did have chicken pox this year but timed it well in the half term holidays.