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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask you how literally you take the 48 hr rule?

182 replies

lougle · 30/11/2013 17:35

So if your child is sick, how literally do you apply the 48hr rule?

If they were sick in the afternoon of Saturday, would you say 'no school on Sunday, back on Monday' or '48 hours after sickness is Monday afternoon, so back on Tuesday'?

If they are sick at 3am do you count that as 'Tuesday night' or 'Wednesday morning'?

etc.

OP posts:
Gileswithachainsaw · 30/11/2013 18:24

I wait the 48 hours. If she was suck last Saturday afternoon I'd send her back Tuesday morning. 3am I'd class as that morning so if that was Wednesday morning she'd be back Friday however depending on how she was it might even e longer. Stopping puking for the allowed time means nothing to me. I'd want her eating and drinking and not exhausted first or she'd just get it again

Talkinpeace · 30/11/2013 18:24

having watched a primary school lining up for assembly have to walk past 16 piles of vomit because one selfish parent sent their kid in too early
and over the following week watch 2/3 of the staff and half the pupils go sick Hmm

SuburbanRhonda · 30/11/2013 18:25

And i can tell you it's no fun clearing up puke at school under any circumstances, but it's especially galling if it's because a child is clearly still unwell and the parents have decided to send them in anyway.

SuburbanRhonda · 30/11/2013 18:26

X-post talk

HSMMaCM · 30/11/2013 18:26

Please keep to the 48 hr rule. We had nearly all our mindees and staff ill last Christmas with a sickness bug, only to find out that a bouncing healthy child on Monday had actually been vomiting on Sunday.

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 30/11/2013 18:31

Same as quite a few here, depends on how they are. DS1 has an awful tendency to make himself sick when having a tantrum, plus has rhinitis that makes him sick at night, and a really sensitive gag reflex too! He'd never go to nursery if I kept him off for 48 hours every time!

I'd guess it's the same as people who work with food when they're pregnant?

Bubbles1066 · 30/11/2013 18:34

Depends. My DS threw up on Thursday night, then said 'I feel better now' and was completely fine so I sent him to nursery Friday afternoon. Put it down to eating too much/not enough/too much running about. I would do the same if it were likely to be food poisoning, I'd send him as soon as he felt well enough and the symptoms stopped, as it's not catching. If he were sick more than once or I thought he had D and V or similar I would follow the 48 hour rule to protect others.

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 30/11/2013 18:34

And trust me, as person who is immunocompromised, I am very careful about knowing as best as i can that it was something else that made him sick, as I get very annoyed with people sending in ill children. A lot of the time, its the quantity that gives it away Grin

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 30/11/2013 18:35

Ps, he always stays off for at least 24 hours, even if I do think its entirely tantrum/smelly sock related

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 30/11/2013 18:36

Pps (last one, I promise!) I am working on helping him to stop himself being sick :)

autumnsmum · 30/11/2013 18:40

I really think it should be 48 hours that's what the nhs say

Bubbles1066 · 30/11/2013 18:42

Vomiting virus is pretty obvious really, having worked in health care I've seen it a lot, due to the um 'quantity and frequency of the symptoms' as we used to say. DS often sicks up a bit of his dinner up while having a tantrum or throws up after a coughing fit due to his asthma. If I kept him off for 48 hours every time he was sick, he'd be off half the time. I trust my judgement.

Original poster
lougle · 30/11/2013 18:44

Thank you for all your replies. I'm always rigid about 48hr rule, so if sick at 3am I class it as 'Wednesday morning' and wouldn't send in until Friday.

DD3 is 4 and has just started reception. She was sick in the early hours of Wednesday morning last week, so I kept her off on Wednesday and Thursday despite seeming absolutely fine on both days. She returned to school on Friday.

she's been sick with diarrhoea again this morning, off food all day and vomited again this afternoon. Nobody else in the family has had any sickness/diarrhoea so it's likely to be someone in her class.

I was tempted view it as sick on Saturday, off Sunday and back on Monday (36hrs) because she is Mary in the nativity and they will practice, but my conscience wouldn't allow it.

I wanted to check I wasn't BU.

OP posts:
ziggiestardust · 30/11/2013 18:47

I give the whole 48 hours since the last episode of sickness.

When DS first went to nursery, he was ill for about 6 months straight with constant bugs, because other parents just kept bringing their sick kids into nursery Angry yeah, because their jobs and time were obviously more important than mine Hmm

It's your responsibility to keep your kids off if they're ill. The rule is there for a reason, it's a pita for everyone but it does work if applied effectively.

VerySmallSqueak · 30/11/2013 18:50

I always abide by the 48 hour rule.

It can cause havoc with work if you have more than one child go down with it at separate times,which is partly the reason why I fear sickness bugs above most other minor illnesses.

Yes,lougle I would agree - no going back till Tuesday.

But she'll feel much better and be able to focus more on rehearsals if she has another day,anyhow.

Hope she feels better soon,and no one else gets it.That's rotten that she's presumably got it twice Sad.

Runoutofideas · 30/11/2013 18:53

In your case lougle - I'd say she needs Monday off I'm afraid.

VerySmallSqueak · 30/11/2013 18:55

We had a bug a couple of weeks ago.First DD2 was sick just twice. Then DD1 was sick just 3 times.Then I got it and was only sick once.

It wasn't really a lot,and with DD2 I had doubted it was a bug (but since it was a Thursday she had the Friday then whole weekend anyway).

I'm not sure the quantity and frequency thing was really an indicator there,because it wasn't much tbh.

Original poster
lougle · 30/11/2013 18:56

I agree, but I'm a but if a stickler for rules, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't being prissy.

OP posts:
Original poster
lougle · 30/11/2013 19:01

Exactly, Squeak! DD3, who is remarkably sensible for her age, just climbed down from her bunk bed at 3am, came through to our room, and said 'I feel like I'm going to be sick'. Then she was. Jest once. We still kept her off 48hrs. My SIL text me a couple of days later because her DD (just finished cancer treatment) had been vomiting all night. The same bug can affect different people differently, so you can't decide it's not a bug because they were only sick once.

OP posts:
Topseyt · 30/11/2013 19:02

Luckily for me mine seem to have pretty cast iron constitutions, so it has rarely happened anyway.

A real vomiting bug with diarrhoea, yes I would say it is reasonable to give around 48 hours. Apart from anything else, it would give them a chance to start feeling much better too because once they start eating and drinking more normally they naturally replace fluids they have lost, and their blood sugar levels recover, giving them a more normal energy level.

SummerRain · 30/11/2013 19:03

I've on more than one occasion had a child start vomiting again just before the 48 hours is up so I tend towards excessive caution as a result. On each occasion they were absolutely fine and I was sure they were over it, then suddenly they were puking again.

That being said I only apply that for actual vomiting bugs, vomiting when unrelated to a bug (very rare thankfully) and I will send them in sooner... same goes for diarrhea, my kids tend towards stomach problems so have the runs occasionally without having a bug in which case i send them in (except ds1 who would walk straight up to his teacher and announce 'I have diarrhea but Mommy sent me to school anyway' Hmm

toobreathless · 30/11/2013 19:03

If I suspect it was an infectious sickness bug I apply the 48 hr rule very strictly for nursery erring on the side of caution so say last episode tues morning I would send them back to nursery Friday.

But if I don't think it was a bug and they were sick or had diarrhoea for another reason I send them back as soon as they are better in themselves.

But I am medically trained so makes it easier to tell difference.

Original poster
lougle · 30/11/2013 19:08

I'm a former nurse but I think it's rare that vomiting is incidental and much better to err on the dude if caution.

OP posts:
Misspixietrix · 30/11/2013 19:27

48hours after the last bout of sickness and or diarrhoea(sp?). I'm with you OP the rules are there for a reason. Ds and Dd both had tummy bugs last Fri and Sat. Ds was fine Sat night. Dd was fine (last symprom) Sun afternoon. I still kept both off until Wednesday. Pity other parents couldn't afford the same courtesy at my school and then maybe these blasted things wouldn't spread like wild fire. Tbf to some parents though the school puts an awful amount of pressure on parents to get the kids back. DCs school said to me "bring them back tomorrow its been 24hrs then". Me "no sorry I won't be doing that. NHS guidelines for vomiting bugs state otherwise". I've had the Norovirus bug at the beginning of this year. Ds and Dd fell down with it at th. Same time and it was bloody evil.

hazeyjane · 30/11/2013 19:36

Yes always stick rigidly to the 48 hour rule, dd1 is often only sick once when she has a stomach bug (and it becomes obvious that it is a stomach bug, when dd2 and ds get it!)

I had a really bad D&V bug when in hospital once, and was confined on a quarantine ward, where it was very strictly observed because of the awful consequences of catching it when your immune system is compromised. I ended up staying on that bloody ward for 5 days - but it made me realise how important it was.