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Original poster

Are you sending your children into school with a cold?

58 replies

Handsnotwands · 15/09/2020 07:37

Obviously a cold. No cough just snot. No temperature. I’d usually send him in but not sure what to do

OP posts:
TheVanguardSix · 15/09/2020 09:42

In your case, I would wait and see.
Mine have headache, snotty nose, chesty cough, sore throat, earache, low-grade fever. First day was just a mild cold (Sunday). No fever. They could have gone to school yesterday morning but I kept them home and monitored their symptoms which have escalated.

blueberries20 · 15/09/2020 09:55

@sunshinesheila

We have a sore throat, full of snot and feel pretty grim. Usually I would have filled with paracetamol and sent them on their way. Both schools don't want them in till we have a negative result back. So we qued for 2 and a half hours in the sunshine yesterday for a test. Hopefully negative result will be back asap.
We have a sore throat, full of snot and feel pretty grim. Usually I would have filled with paracetamol and sent them on their way.

I'm sorry but no wonder schools are full of bugs Shock

Hopefully one positive thing to come out of Covid will be a different attitude to illness - so people don't feel they have to dose up their children and send them to school feeling 'grim' with infectious illnesses!

WinWinnieTheWay · 15/09/2020 09:56

With a cold yes, with a temperature and/or cough no.

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DontBeShelfish · 15/09/2020 15:10

@Minniemouseandcat20

Personally I don't think sending a kid in with a heavy cold/sore throat is right - they're obviously infectious, regardless of Covid! If it's a tiny bit of a runny nose at the end of a cold, fine, but wait until most symptoms have cleared IMO.

We really need to change the culture around working/'pushing through' when ill - for adults and children.

I do agree with this, but I've had the luxury in the past year or two of being very flexible with my childcare. It's so much harder when you're working to rule, especially if you have an unsympathetic employer.
SunbathingDragon · 15/09/2020 15:16

Yes because it was a mild cold with a small amount of snot and a sore throat with no temperature or cough. The school sent out guidelines stating what was and what wasn’t acceptable.

Even if the child has a cold and not any signs of covid, there are times they still might not feel well enough to be in. Considering the pandemic, I wouldn’t send a child in with a heavy cold although I also wouldn’t get them tested without any covid symptoms.

Echobelly · 15/09/2020 15:20

I would - DS had a cold but with a fever 10 days ago and he was obviously off-colour enough to be off school in any case, and we had to have him tested, which was negative. DH and DD have had the same cold since, without fever so haven't tested them as it was obvious it was same one.

NB - friend has just got positive test back for her LO who was mostly snotty with a sore throat and seemed just to have a cold, and she appears to have it now, albeit mildly, with fever, slight cough and sense of taste slightly off, so sounds like the test was right.

It may be the kid had a cold & COVID, which was why he was snotty, which isn't usually a thing with it.

InDubiousBattle · 15/09/2020 15:25

I've kept ds off with a cold for the last two days. He hasn't got a fever/cough/loss of taste so we haven't got a test and will not isolate, he'll be back in school tomorrow but Sunday and yesterday he was so snotty and it disturbed his sleep so we kept him at home.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 15/09/2020 15:31

Yes I have/ just a sniffle no temp no dry continuous cough no lethargy

SallySeven · 15/09/2020 15:32

Yes cold with runny nose the main symptom. Secondary school so able to decide for themselves if they felt up to a school day.

emptyshelvesagain · 15/09/2020 16:04

We have a sore throat, full of snot and feel pretty grim. Usually I would have filled with paracetamol and sent them on their way.

You would send you child to school like that?

purpleboy · 15/09/2020 16:07

No because I don't want to be responsible for others coming down with it and them having to isolate if they also develop Covid symptoms, however I am in a position to do this where it doesn't affect me, obviously many others do not have that option so feel they have no choice but to send in with a cold.

SallySeven · 15/09/2020 16:13

Ours came home with the cold at a point where it had been going around at school for over a week. (Two kids we knew of had already tested negative for covid too.)

Waxonwaxoff0 · 15/09/2020 16:15

Yes, we have had colds this week (sneezing, blocked noses and a bit snotty). I also went into work. I am a single parent and cannot WFH so if I'm staying at home I'm not getting paid. If we don't have Covid symptoms and are otherwise well we are going in.

DS's school has specified that the children CAN go in with coughs if they are wet/mucus coughs. Only need to stay off if the cough is dry and persistent.

unmarkedbythat · 15/09/2020 16:17

If they do not have any of the symptoms listed on the gov website as covid 19 symptoms and are not so ill as to need to stay at home regardless of the cause, yes, of course. If they have any of those symptoms then not until they have had a negative test.

Oblomov20 · 15/09/2020 16:21

It seems parents are wasting covid tests on children who clearly just have a cough or cold, not covid.

DinosApple · 15/09/2020 16:23

Mild cold yes, in they go. Heavy cold no.

I caught a heavy cold from the kids I TA for (some we're off some came in), fortunately it struck me over the weekend 🙄.

My own kids have so far been fine but there's temperatures, sickness, coughs and colds all doing the rounds.

lifesalongsong · 15/09/2020 16:25

Assuming they are well enough to go of course I'll be sending them in. I've never had time off for a cold and don't expect my children to either, the school have no problem with it.

Sexnotgender · 15/09/2020 16:25

My toddler has been at nursery with a bit of a cold. Just snotty but no temp no cough. If I kept him off every time he had a runny nose he’d never be there!

SallySeven · 15/09/2020 16:26

The tests have been asked for by some workplaces and some local authorities( not ours.) Which then resulted in more advice given on NOT testing if you had a snotty cold and none of the covid symptoms.

FlamingoorPigeon · 15/09/2020 16:28

Mine haven't had cold yet this term but I would usually dose them up and send them in and see how they go.
The only thing I keep them at home for is sickle and diarrhoea or a temprature that doesn't come down with paracetamol.
This year I will also keep them at home for coughs or temprature above 37 on my thermometer (both my kids run at 36.6 as does my husband) I don't think they would mention losing taste or smell but I would also keep them of for that if they did.
Runny nose and sore throats they will go in as usual, I expect they will miss too much education this year as it is I'm not adding to that unnecessarily. Speaking as a TA 9 times out of 10 if a parent has said in the morning child feels a bit off they see their mates and forget about it.

Magnavixen · 15/09/2020 16:28

Yes, I have.

unmarkedbythat · 15/09/2020 16:32

@Oblomov20

It seems parents are wasting covid tests on children who clearly just have a cough or cold, not covid.
Perhaps we could have you roam the country and diagnosis people just by looking at them, rather than using a test? Please tell me how you think a parent should decide that their child "clearly" has a cold and cough but not covid without testing them for covid. Given that children who test positive seem not generally to be markedly unwell, I'll assume you won't be relying on their presentation, so if you could just share the magic way of knowing that is is "clearly" not covid you could save us all a lot of time and money.
Crunchymum · 15/09/2020 16:43

Yes, DD has the start of a cold and she went in today.

She will develop a cough though (always does) and then we'll all have to stay off.

Crunchymum · 15/09/2020 16:44

@Oblomov20

It seems parents are wasting covid tests on children who clearly just have a cough or cold, not covid.
My DD has a cold and will develop a cough, I know it isn't Covid but until I get a test to prove it then we will all be in (including my self employed DP)
BogRollBOGOF · 15/09/2020 17:01

DS went in with a snotty cold.
No cough.
No temperature.
No loss of smell/ taste.

School says to go in with minor colds.
After 5.5 months of school and battling home learning with an autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic child, getting in on the first day with everyone else was important. Trying to adapt in to the class who are ahead on finding their feet would be particularly hard going for DS.