48 hour d+v policy. What's the point of it?

[Edenviolet]

If people ignore it/lie and send their dc in anyway?

AIBU to complain bitterly to the school about this, ask them to send out letters again stating the policy and then actually enforce it rather than believe the crap some parents come up with to avoid keeping their dcs at home?

A child in dd2s class was sick yesterday morning, sent home but apparently 'fine' today??? I was told that he didn't have a bug and had just "drunk too much water/eaten too much"

I'm livid. Dd2 has diabetes and a sickness bug would mean her being hospitalised. Why can't people stick to the rules?

[fairgame]

Just because a child is sick it doesn't meant it's a bug. DS has reflux and is sick most days, if the 48 hour rule applied to him then he would never attend school.

[tobysmum77]

I think they should also make sure the toilets are properly clean and do more about promoting handwashing. That would also prevent all kinds of nasties including tummy bugs

[Edenviolet]

The policy is meant to be do not attend for 48 hrs after the last episode of vomiting. The school should enforce this especially in a class where a child could be very ill if they caught it.

If there was a reason such as reflux the school would I expect have a doctors letter about it and fair enough but the child yesterday should not technically have been back till fri aft at earliest, just in case it was a bug.

[WooWooOwl]

I can completely see why you're annoyed, it annoys me when people ignore rules like this as well. But sometimes, you really do know that your child hadn't been sick because of a bug, and it's sad that parents can't be trusted to make the right decisions for the sake of their child's class.

I don't think you can complain with much effect if your child hasn't been sick and no one else has caught a bug.

[Thurlow]

It's a difficult one. I do wish people stuck to it. Someone took their kids to the CM's this week after they'd been ill all weekend, and so another few kids including DD caught it.

But then, not all diarrhea or sickness is a proper tummy bug. I'm worried now as toddler DD has slightly loose nappies but that's because she's got a cold. We've had her off for two days but I'm scared the (new) CM will think she's not over the diarrhea and we'll have to bring her home again.

I do see the reasoning behind the rule as tummy bugs are so catching, but it is hard for kids who have the symptoms for another reason.

[Bearandcub]

My youngest is lactose intolerant he can vomit as a reaction to his intolerance. It's not catching. There is no bug.

[Edenviolet]

I just think the school should enforce their policy.

Dd2 would end up in hospital on a drip if she gets a bug I think they need to prioritise her health and get parents to actually abide by the rules they've put in place. It may/may not have been a bug but its not worth the risk.

[Owllady]

I agree with you
I understand WHY ppl who work for shitty employers send their children in when I'll though too
But culture of not being able to look after your ill child has to change too (esp in lower paid jobs)

[Edenviolet]

A few weeks ago 15 of the 30 in dds class had a d+v bug and many others in the school. One parent was seen taking their child in after he had been sick on the pavement. I had to keep dd off for a few days till it seemed a bit better as was terrified she would catch it.

[AuntieStella]

If you know there is an underlying medical condition leading to vomiting, then you surely explain that to the school and set new ground rules (eg typical vom = OK, vom with any other symptom = normal exclusion).

Other parents won't be privy to unrelated children's medical status, unless the parent tells them. It'll help you keep you temper if you make a deliberate effort to try to think it's a responsible parent dealing with a wider medical issue.

But unless notified there are grounds for an exception, then I agree it should be properly enforced.

[Edenviolet]

Tbh I have a child with allergies too and he vomits with a reaction BUT if he were sick at school I would keep him off just in case as you can never say for certain initially what has caused it.

Better for a child to have potentially 48 hrs off for something that turned out not to be contagious than to risk it and then cause a child with severe health problems to be hospitalised.

I'm really angry about it, there's been so much going round at dcs school I feel anxious about it as dread dd either being in hospital/having hard to manage hypoglycaemia due to vomiting.

[LadyLuck10]

The school should not be giving you details of another child being sick.

[Edenviolet]

It was a child in dd2s class. Her teacher told me it had happened, dd also mentioned it and named the child, whose parents were saying today they thought at first it was a bug then realised it must just have been too much water/food.

I don't think its wrong for the school, like before to warn me when half the class were off with a bug as it gave me the choice to keep dd at home. I just wish they were stricter with the 48 hr rule.

[PrincessOfChina]

Our nursery tends to work on the 3 incidences rule. If a child is sick or has loose stools 3 times in a day then they are sent home and excluded for 48 hours. It seems more sensible ( especially for real tinies who have reflux, are teething etc) than instant exclusion for one sickness episode. And if it's a bug, it will be spreading before the vomit appears anyway.

[shaska]

I'm worse than you OP in that I get irate about the 'it's probably not even a bug' crowd.

It is the season for norovirus, and as anyone can see from MN, or casual conversations with friends, or just living in the UK where this happens every single year, an awful lot of people are catching it at the moment. If your child suddenly throws up, when there's a bug going around, what on earth are you thinking to blithely say 'oh it's probably just from drinking too much water/excitement/eating a funny sandwich'.

Then, what are you thinking to send them to school, knowing it's highly contagious? I understand that childcare is tricky, I really do! But it's the same as when they're actually ill - you just have to make it work, because otherwise you are going to infect others, and some of those others may become dangerously ill.

Sure, sometimes it isn't a bug - but longstanding medical conditions aside, at this time of year, surely more often it is, than isn't? And it might be a giant pain to have to keep your kid off when it WAS just a sandwich or whatever, but it's just one of those things, and sometimes rules aren't fair. Greater good, etc etc.

[Sirzy]

Yanbu. But people often don't think of the impact their behaviour has on others.

I have seen kids being pushed into school obviously not well. Often DS then gets the same bug soon after like your Dd he is more vulnerable when he picks up bugs therefore it leads to more time off school for him. But as long as others get their 100% certificate it doesn't matter what impact it has on others!

[youareallbonkers]

Children are going to pick stuff up everywhere. I don't think keeping others away from school makes much difference

[Edenviolet]

Easy to be so blasé about it and say "children are going to pick stuff up everywhere" when it isn't your child who would be hospitalised with a stomach bug and could potentially have seizures from low blood sugar thats impossible to treat at home as they can't keep anything down. To have to be on a drip for days in hospital just because others are too selfish to keep to the rules and the school too weak to enforce their own policies.

I know at some point dd will be in hospital again with something but I just want the risk minimised for her as much as possible.

[TheFairyCaravan]

The school can't tell you why he was sick, and tbh if someone was probing around, asking questions about my DC's medical history I would not be happy.

DS1 used to end up admitted to hospital regularly with sick bugs, so I get why you are annoyed. But he, also, suffered with migraines and would vomit (sometimes at school). He didn't need to be off for 48 hours after that. He had Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome and didn't need to stay home for 48hours after the last vomit of that either.

DS2 coughed himself sick many, many times, due to his asthma. I could not keep him off for 48 hours every time.

I agree with a bug people should be careful, but maybe this child's parents did know it wasn't.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I got told off once by a teacher as dd skipped up to her in the playground and told her she'd been sick the evening before. Teacher looked furious until I explained she'd been car sick.

I think sometimes there is a reason for ignoring the rule. Travel sickness, known reflux.

But if there's a chance its a bug then yes I'd keep her off. Our school only say 24 hours though.

[LadyLuck10]

Not every child who throws up will have dv. Parents make their own judgement based on their own child.

[Sirzy]

But many parents make the wrong judgement which is why the rules are needed. Unless there is a known medical reason for the sickness then you should always go with the assumption it is a bug and follow the schools rules

[Edenviolet]

But if the judgement of the parents is against a schools policy surely the school should enforce it regardless?

I am over emotional about this, the amount of bugs going round over the last few weeks has really really made me uneasy. Its a huge worry that dd will catch one and I'm dreading it.
I fully understand that sometimes it isn't a bug as my ds1 has allergies and migraines but this child's parents admitted at first they thought it was a bug but then decided it was too much drink/food.

[PiperIsOrangePumpkins]

I am extremely lucky in the fact that both grandmother do no work and I can call them to look after my sick children.

I work 3 days a week and again I'm lucky in that I have a very supportive boss who will grant emergency AL.

However when you are constantly in an overdraft and there is basic bills to pay, then parents don't see the need to protect other children from catching D&V but think that their child needs a roof over their head and food in their bellies.

[TheFairyCaravan]

But if the judgement of the parents is against a schools policy surely the school should enforce it regardless?

No, they shouldn't. Some children have reasons why they vomit without it being a bug. You can not expect them to be kept at home for 48 hours when it is not contagious.

Maybe these parents did think it was a bug initially, when they picked the child up from school, but it became apparent to them quite quickly that it wasn't.