Please help me make sick days as unappealing as possible!

[Isitweekendyet]

My DS has been sent home from nursery for the second time in a fortnight by pretending to be ill.

They have a 24 hour exclusion policy when they are sent home so he can't go back tomorrow. DS has worked out if he coughs and coughs and looks mopey enough that they will call us and he comes home.

He's really been dragging his feet going to nursery because a lot of his friends are off for summer. We've been doing nice things at home to cheer him up so at the minute home is where he would rather be.

He usually gets to pick his poorly tea but I've fed him chicken and veg soup so he can get big and strong.

I'm saying no screen time tomorrow because he needs to rest and hoping he'll be bored enough that he won't try again.

He perked up the second he got home and without a shadow of a doubt he's faking. He, of course, denies all claims and keeps forgetting he's even supposed to be ill.

Does anyone have any tricks for making nursery more fun than home?

Bed. Curtains shut. Milk of magnesium or syrup of figs. Those should be disgusting enough for him!

I remember faking illness once.
My mum picked me up from school and, once we were outside, said 'there's nothing wrong with you, is there?'

No punishments though, she was just amazed that a 6(?) year old could get away with it. Even more admirable that DS is only in nursery!

Is there no way that he could have a break from nursery? A family member, DH or yourself doing some work from home?
It's tough on them when everyone else is having a break but they're still there.
I know that may not be possible and I apologise if not.
It's so hard all round.

What age is he? Presumably 3 ish?

Put a note on his file, see if they can sneak in an activity he likes there to see if he perks up. And say unless he has a temp or is sick or falls asleep tired he's not to be told he can come home.

All these suggestions seem a bit ‘old’ to me. If he’s still in day nursery surely keeping him in bed all day will just give you a horrendous night?

Perhaps try positive rewards for staying in nursery all day and not faking illness instead?

Bed, no tv and chicken broth seems more appropriate for primary aged children!

One of mine tried that. Headache, bad tummy, feeling sick etc. When I was working, my parents had her. If she was soooo ill she had to come home, after a few times my mum gave her one of her disgusting painkiller things, dissolvable ones that were foul. (Obviously suitable for children, before anyone mentions it!) She had to sit in the kitchen on her own till she drank it. Little sod got crafty after that and was only "ill" when I wasn't working, which happened once when I was walking the dog, so I diverted to school to pick her up. Told her to hurry up and get her stuff as the dog was outside, she was jumping about with excitement as she was going on a dog walk- really?
There was a trip the class was going on, I told her if she kept feeling ill all the time it wouldn't be safe to go on the trip as no one could come and pick her up if she was miles away, so if she got sent home again she wouldn't be going on the trip. BUT as she kept missing school she'd be going into school anyway to catch up on the things she'd missed. I also told the school that unless she was actually sick with lumps down her jumper then don't ring me. That, and the fact that she wasn't allowed to play, watch tv, go to Brownies, just lie in bed and eat dry crackers sorted that out.

Ha ha, I can remember faking illness once, I was obviously older than your DS and was doing a maths test that was impossible, so I faked feeling ill to get sent home . I owned up to my mother ..... 40 years later .

Great suggestions above, but perhaps talk to Nursery about the faking it too. I find ours were quick to call and I explained that our dd learnt x y and z gets a phone call and days off - and that before we could leave work and take time off we’d like for them to ensure sicknesses (temperature, signs of illness etc) and try to engage with her more before reaching for the phone.