To put son with conjunctivitis into nursery tomorrow?

[Mammylamb]

The nursery called today; our 18 month old has conjunctivitis. They said he can come in as long as he is having treatment, so DH popped by and took him to the chemist and now he has eyedrops. Nursery say he can come in tomorrow; he seems happy enough and is being treated. But I feel really guilty about putting him in nursery poorly, but also have client meetings tomorrow which I really don't want to have To reschedule (and both me and DH have already taken a few days off each since October with DS being ill) the nursery mentioned a couple of other babies also have it; so it's already doing the rounds of the nursery. Aibu to put him into nursery tomorrow?

My understanding is that you can get optrex for infected eyes over the counter and this has the same ingredients in it that was in the stuff GPS used to prescribe. The last time I asked a GP for a prescription for this she said no because you can treat it just aswell with salt water.

The nursery has said he can attend, so happy days. All kids get conjunctivitis, it's quite a common thing.

I thought my kid (9 months) had it yesterday and called nursery who said it was fine. It also says it's fine in the (council) nursery handbook. They were just extra careful. I had similar work worries and in the end it turned out to be a gloopy eye cold.

As someone who has had conjunctivitis every bloody time my DC have it please don't! It's so contagious!

I would follow the nursery's guidelines on this. Ours doesn't exclude for conjunctivitis, once it's being treated, but has strict, clear policies about D+V bugs, chickenpox etc, so it's not like they're just waving any ill kid in.

Has the eye-drops thing changed? When DD (18m) had an eye infection, twice, I was told I couldn't get anything over the counter and needed to see the GP both times.

You definitely can't get anything over the counter for conjunctivitis for under 2's in the UK. You need a gp appointment (although mine is happy to do a prescription over the phone for this).

It's really not into send your kid to nursery with something contagious.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/522337/Guidance_on_infection_control_in_schools.pdf
This is the official recommendation regarding exclusions for illness and it says that you still go to school/nursery with conjunctivitis.
It's not always bacterial and will clear up even without treatment by just keeping the eye clean.

Many areas run a minor Ailments Scheme which means the pharmacist can supply some medications you would normally have to get from a GP so the licensing issue does not always apply just the same as for GPs

Agree the majority are viral and don't need antibiotic drops. Nurseries should not be excluding for conjunctivitis as per the guidance posted above.

I used to work in a nursery and children who got conjunctivitis came in and also management said that staff didn't need time off if they got conjunctivitis, as long as it was being treated with either drops or an eye gel medication.

It's in the rules of most nurseries not to bring children in with it.

Lots of people on here have said it's not in their nursery rules and the OPs nursery have said he can go in.....

Our nursery / school don't exclude for conjunctivitis when the children are well in themselves ie with no high temp.

I'm always surprised on mn when people say you should keep children away from nursery / school for conjunctivitis/hand foot and mouth/coughs etc. According to medical advice as long as they're well in themselves then there's no need to keep children at home.

Take him to nursery
Incidentally it's a viral condition so the drops are unnecessary 99% of the time.
NHS pages have useful advice

I've attached the RCGP guidance for parents. Essentially, conjunctivitis is normally a mild, self-limiting condition which parents can manage with eye care. It often doesn't require antibiotic drops. Official public health advice is that children do not need to be excluded from nursery/school.

The nursery isn't "happy to have him in" as said by a PP.
It's the law, nurseries cannot exclude a child with conjunctivitis.
But I'll be honest, when you send your child in with it, even though the staff smile and you and say it's ok, they do not appreciate it! Never mind the other children having it, staff don't want to get it, it's a nightmare. I have contact lenses and when I get it I cannot wear my lenses for almost two weeks (and am practically blind, even with my glasses on)
So you can send him in, but you won't be looked upon kindly by the nursery staff, even though they understand the situation.

Eh? It's absolutely not the law that nurseries have to take kids with conjunctivitis. They can have their own rules as long as they aren't contravening public health (eg allowing chicken pox). So implying that nursery workers are secretly cursing folk who follow procedure seems like an overreaction.
I'm sorry, but common sense dictates that if a kid has been on drops, they feel well and the nursery are OK, then you don't take days off unnecessarily. And as a contact lens wearer I've managed to avoid catching it from my daughter, and from kids in school...

Nurseries HAVE to follow Government guidelines on infections.
The documents very clearly state that there is no exclusion period for conjunctivitis. If they ask a parent to exclude a child with conjunctivitis they can be reported to OFSTED.
So they cannot have their own rule Girlwith.
Common sense to me as a mother (and the head of a nursery) is to keep your child off to stop the spread of infection to other children.
No mother appreciates other parents sending their children in with something, although government regulations say they can be sent to school, that can be passed around.

I'm in Scotland. We don't have Ofsted, and private nurseries can choose to exclude during the acute phase of infections like conjunctivitis and hfm. So they can, depending on where you are, have their own rules. And it was the nursery manager who told me it was common sense to put a well child, who had been off for a day, back in with drops.

Care Commission in Scotland.

The nursery may be happy to have him but how happy the other parents to now have their children infected with conjunctivitis?
It's very contagious. That's why several children already have it and how your child caught it.
Expect more infections and reinfections. I would be very unimpressed.

Another child will not neccessarily catch it just because a child in the same nursery has it. My 8week old dd had conjunctivitus which started last week. No idea how she caught it as my ds has not had it, dh and I have not had it and visitors we have had have not had it. Spoke to hv and we used cooled boiled water to wipe her eyes and it has pretty much gone now. None of us have caught it from her and my ds is forever cuddling her. These things happen luckily I am on mat leave so wouldnt have to take time off. But when I am at work i get 1 day a year paid to look after sick children. So I'm afraid if my child was in nursery and they said it was okay to go in with it I would send them in and keep my 1 day to go towards a more serious illness.

Ewock, there's a massive difference in how likely an 8 week old and an 18 month old are to spread the infection. Your 8 week old isn't mobile, rubbing their eyes or handling shared toys. Your infection is well contained because of this. An 18 month old will be touching their face and eyes, because they are itchy and then touching toys, furniture, other children etc. 18 month olds are not generally known for good hygiene standards.
I'm a childminder and because I care about my own health, my family's health and my other mindees' health I do exclude for contagious illnesses and infections.

The rule at DTs school is 24 hours after starting treatment. And under the age of 2 we had to get it prescribed by the GP, after that we just went to the chemist. If he seems fine i would send him after the 24 hours were up.

Your nursery is very understanding - my daughters nursery would send any child home with a slight bit of red in their eyes in fear of the other kids (or them!) catching it. We have a 48 hour exclusion policy. As it happens, my daughter caught it from an undiagnosed child and then came home and passed it onto my newborn . Horribly contagious.