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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

150 replies

Edenviolet · 06/11/2014 20:52

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?

OP posts:
GertrudeBell · 07/11/2014 10:27

What is your job OP?

FrauHelga · 07/11/2014 10:29

I have every idea - I have two children with medical conditions.

If you have a child/adult in a wheelchair do you get higher rate DLA or whatever it's called now and could you get a motability vehicle? Can you learn to drive?

Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 10:36

Yes all four get dla. I am unable to learn to drive due to my own medical and anxiety problems. Dh drives but also is sometimes unablr due to illness or as he I back at work full time. I do not work.

OP posts:
FrauHelga · 07/11/2014 10:37

Well, can you not use the DLA to get a taxi on the occasions when it would be needed? I live rurally and even our local taxi company has a wheelchair accessible taxi bus.

kitchensinkmum · 07/11/2014 10:41

Ladyl
l
Are you saying you would leave your vomming children in childcare ? I'm surprised if you feel it's okay for so one else to care for them and probably catch their vom and d bug

Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 10:41

Used to be able to, dcs have taxicards and it was a brilliant school
Heme as could fit all dcs in plus buggy/wheelchair then they stopped sending black taxis and would send a normal car instead and we couldn't all get in. I've complained so many times but it seems demand for the scheme is now so great they can't always guarantee suitable transport so its now virtually useless to us.

OP posts:
Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 10:41

Scheme not sure how school heme got in there

OP posts:
Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 10:43

And as for the educations..pah comment that couldn't be further from the truth. I care very much about my dcs learning, socialising and doing well at school and they try their best and are doing very well. We just have a difficult set of circumstances to deal with.

OP posts:
TheFairyCaravan · 07/11/2014 11:06

It's not a tenable situation though Hedgehog.

Why do you need to get all four in a taxi, up thread you said DD1 gets the coach? Surely most cars fit 3 kids and an adult?

Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 11:22

I meant if it was dd1 that was ill.

OP posts:
Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 11:23

I also can't carry all the car seats and a double buggy etc. I have health issues myself its just not possible sometimes.

OP posts:
FrauHelga · 07/11/2014 11:31

Surely you don't have to carry the car seats - taxi pulls up at door, put car seats in taxi (with help from the taxi driver?), take kids to school, get home, take car seats out of taxi?

Stealthpolarbear · 07/11/2014 11:59

"LadyLuck10

A child could have been vom all of Saturday for any number of reasons, even unexplained. If the child is fine on Sunday do you think he/she should miss school on a Monday and the parent take a day of leave unpaid?"
err yes!

TheFairyCaravan · 07/11/2014 12:00

I'm agog Hedgehog, I really am. Everything anyone suggests, you have a reason why you can't do it. The fact is your DC, when well, need to be at school. It is not fair on them to keep them at home because one of the others is ill!

Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 12:01

Often taxi drivers don't want to help or can't even park near to the house (we have a school across the road so v busy).

Things are ok how they are, not ideal but its how we are managing at the moment.

OP posts:
nokidshere · 07/11/2014 12:04

Our school enforces the 48 hour rule - sometimes uneccesarily. Even children who have medical conditions that cause sickness are excluded which is ridiculous in the extreme!

But there are many reasons for a child vomiting - not all of them due to bugs. YANBU to expect parents to keep sick children at home but YABU to expect that every child who throws up has a bug.

Stealthpolarbear · 07/11/2014 12:04

I think everyone is being hard on hedgehog

FrauHelga · 07/11/2014 12:11

Would it be possible for your children to attend the school across the road? Is it age-appropriate for them?

Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 12:12

It is not happening every day or even every week, but when the dcs are ill/dh ill or at work/I'm ill or whatever else life throws at us we have to manage things accordingly and sometimes they miss school.

I started this thread as I was emotional and anxious about dd possibly catching a stomach bug and the consequences of that not to have my parenting decisions criticised as to how I manage my dcs schooling in relation to their disabilities/illness and our limitations.

OP posts:
Edenviolet · 07/11/2014 12:13

It is a catholic primary school and we are not catholic. The school they go to is great for their needs and dd1 is at high school so no good for her.

OP posts:
whitechocolatestars · 07/11/2014 12:15

Wow, this thread took a turn from the title!

I agree with the principle that there is no point having a policy which is not enforced, especially when the policy is there for good reason.

I also see parents at our pre-school who will send their DC in regardless of illness until the school sends them home. This isn't just D&V, it's everything from colds to flu to hfmd and chicken pox if people can get away with it.

We seem to have developed some kind of idea of entitlement that schools and teachers are their to provide childcare whatever the circumstances rather than remembering we are ultimately responsible for our children, even if it is at the expense of a days work / fees lost. However this approach also seems to have been fairly widely accepted so we have to acknowledge changing expectations.

personally think this is not just difficult for the poor kids who are ill, but it's often also irresponsible as in OPs case. You never know someone else's circumstances. I now feel that if we have something big coming up like a holiday, wedding etc, I have to actively keep DC away from other kids for a few days to stop them getting ill rather than being able to expect another parent to keep their ill DC away from everyone else.

However, OP, it does sound like you have a very complicated and demanding situation. Tbh, I think your point about enforcing policy is not unreasonable, but I just don't think any policy in the world would be enough to protect a family of six people with differing health issues from some disruption or difficulties due to school absences. I don't think I could have had so many children in your situation, I would have been exhausted with one or two!!

Overall, your point is not unreasonable but your circumstances are an exception, not a norm.

littlemslazybones · 07/11/2014 12:19

Educations ... Pah Was in reference to my shoddily spelt post not a reference to you at all op. Sorry, it would have made more sense if it followed my previous post but I type sloooow

Theboulderhascaughtupwithme · 07/11/2014 12:29

OP I have huge sympathy with you and your child's situation.

However, winter vomitting bugs are so incredibly common/ and unfortunately largely unavoidable, for your long term sanity it might be better to focus on ensuring your own child is very aware of their own hygiene, eg ensuring they are very fastidious about hand washing and if there is a spate of D and V going around then maybe even send them in with hand gel. This is a way your own child can reduce their risk not just now but longer term.

I also agree that some people do in fact send their kids in 48 hr rule, however, I hate to point his out but most people who have had norovirus for instance will be 'shedding'/ infectious for considably longer than 48 hours, hence to my mind the 48 hrs exclusion is almost useless. It just wouldn't be possibly to exclude everyone til they were microbiologically 'clear'.

FreudiansSlipper · 07/11/2014 12:33

ds school has a 24 hour rule not 48 not sure why but no one has complained as far as I know

I thin it is very hard to manage sometimes we are sick and we do not have a bug

how can we really stop all these bugs going around when they can be caught anywhere

FrauHelga · 07/11/2014 12:42

If DD1 is at high school, can she not be left at home while you take the others to school, if it's her that is ill?