...to think you don't keep a child with a cold off school?

[BerryZi]

Just that really. My dd, who is in year 2, has a bit of a cold this week but is perfectly well in herself, with no temperature. She's just sneezing every so often and and has a runny nose. I've been sending her into school as normal.

I'm just asking because of some comments another mother made when dd sneezed a few times at pick up this afternoon.

As long as she doesn't have a temp I have always sent mine in with a bog standard cold.

They would be off a lot if I didn't

I think it depends. If a child feels rough, then it's much nicer to stay at home. The good thing about being a child is, well, being a child - no work that has to be done, no responsibilities.
Obviously if we are talking gcse age and it's exam week, then they have to go, but not in year 2.

If you are home anyway, I might keep them home a day with 'just' a cold so they can rest and speed up recovery. But then my kids wont sit down and rest unless they are really ill so its kind of obvious - bouncing around and eating - go to school. Not bouncing around or not eating - stay at home. Also if a cold has interrupted their sleep repeatedly I might keep them off.

I would not send a child to school with a streaming cold. Inevitably, even though they may feel ok at home, they won't at school. Also it's not fair on the other kids/staff.

However, I do send them with a minor cold.

Send with a cold, I'd say. Unless there are particularly nasty symptoms.

Generally I would send them in with a cold, but at this time of year when they're completely exhausted and there's very little learning going on I'd be tempted to let them stay home.

I almost always sent mine in if it was just a bit of a cold.

Not all colds are equal though, and everyone reacts differently to them too. If they did end up with a high temperature and were otherwise not coping then I kept them off. It didn't happen like that very often though, and when it did it generally seemed to mean that they were going down with some sort of a secondary infection, which colds can open the door to.

More likely to be hayfever at this time of year if those are the only symptoms rather than a cold. If my kids do have a cold, it depends on how ill they are with it as not all variations of colds are the same.

DS often has a temp of over 40, even with just a cold, so he stays home then. If it's just a few sniffles he goes in.