Reassurance over child being off school

[Mumof21989]

Hi all. I know this post will sound stupid to people but im anxious and i cant help it. My daughter did 16 months of nursery before starting school 2 weeks ago. She was run down the whole time. Virus after virus. It was a miserable time. We cut her hours in the end as we was paying for her to never attend and her brother ended up in hospital due to a constant string of illness.

Over the summer i started her on probiotics and a haliborange multi vitamin. I might aswel add here she loves fruit and eats 2-3 pieces a day aswel as her veg and water. She has always played out and ive never bathed her daily.

I am aware low attendance at school can end up with jail or fines. I am extremely worried about this as she seems to pick stuff up as soon as she is mixing.

She survived her first 2 weeks at school but came home yesterday saying she had felt unwell. Soon she was sneezing and whinging. She could not sleep until 2am. She felt rotton. Her throat was hurting, her nose was blocked and she cried for hours. So today ive kept her home. She is sat watching peppa pig and laying on the sofa. Very whingy and tried. She is not well enough for school.

I plan on sending her back tomorrow but i am so worried that it has already started. Lets face it we are going to be going through winter before we know it. I hate the worry. I usually will send her in with a cold but not when its making her feel this rubbish. She needs rest. I had to talk to a machine to tell them she was not coning in today. I am sure the teachers would not want her there like this but i also know theu dont like absence. What do exoerienced mums do? How often is your child off?

If she's ill, she's ill. It's only a matter of time now before her immune system gets on it. Very common for kids (and staff!) to pick up every germ going when changing setting.

When your DD is well enough to go back to school, I would tell the teacher what you have said here, ie that your DD is prone to illness and that you're worried that she might miss too much school.

They will be able to reassure you that it's fairly common for 4 & 5yr-olds to get ill when they first start school. It's a new environment and your DD is likely to be exposed to a fair few new bugs along the way.

Even in my 9yr-old's class, there have already been a few children off with illness - and they've had more years to build up immunity than your DD has.

They can also tell you what your school's policy is. Some schools suggest dosing up on Calpol and bringing them in anyway if parents aren't sure. In your case though, I'm sure they would have advised keeping DD off.

Hope she feels better soon.

As people have said it's really common for a child to pick up illnesses in a new setting and teachers will be use to it.

Another thing that might help you not to worry so much is that the fines can't be used until the child is legally school age, which is the term after they are 5, so depending on when her birthday is that will be January at the earliest but may not be until year1.

Pretty typical to come down with something just as you start school. Everyone is mixing for the first time and spreading their germs. I would concentrate on getting her well and then see how she gets on. You cannot know how many days she will be ill after the first 2 weeks.

If your daughter is repeatedly ill, it may be worth speaking to your GP for a check up for her as she may have an underlying health issue causing the illnesses.

Thank you for all your replies. She is definitely not well enough today. I know deep down it is normal and she is mixing and mingling in with new people. Also this is the longest she has ever been in a setting away from home. She was only doing one afternoon at nursery for the last 3 months. I do feel better knowing teachers expect it etc. She still has 5 months until she turns 5 too. So i guess thats a good thing to get us through the first winter. Her school wants attendance above 95% and when it drops to 90% it says a meeting will be held. So i have everything crossed we can have 10 or less days off in total. All it takes is a winter stomach bug and she is knocked down for 3 or 4 days.

If she keeps catching constant bugs again this winter i will take her to the gp. I was told it was normal in the first winter of mixing. She had roughly 18 illnesses in a year. 2 stomach bugs and a bout of tonsilitis. The rest were colds. Thanks again for your replies. I was hoping we could get through a few more weeks before days off were needed!

I will ask them about the calpol etc. Thank you.