Dd got travel sick on school trip- now school said she can’t come in for 48 hours!!

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Had to pick Dd up from a school trip to a farm. She gets car sick sometimes, hasn’t done in a while but we don’t really travel by car much as school/local shops/grandparents are all within 15 minutes walking distance.

Dd is 9, she knows she gets travel sick sometimes, hasn’t been on a school trip in ages (thanks COVID). She does get nauseous any time she’s in a car, but our journeys are usually short and she has travel sickness bands, which she had on today. School do know she gets car sick but she’s never thrown up on a trip before. She usually just gets a bit nauseous tbh but she’s thrown up in the car with me before.

School trip left at 9, at around half 9 I get a call to say they’d arrived at the farm but Dd had thrown up on the bus and that I needed to come and collect her immediately as she’d thrown up on the coach. I ask to speak to her, and she says she just felt sick because of the coach ride and she feels fine now and is looking forward to seeing the animals. I talk to the teacher and say that Dd was just car sick and that she’s got a history of it and will be fine, but they insisted that I collect her as it’s policy that any vomiting child must be picked up. When I went to get her (upset Dd was really devastated not to get to do the trip,) they said she can’t come in for 48 hours.

I’ve got a meeting at work tomorrow, which I can’t really miss, and her dad works in London. I’ve taken way too much time off this year already due to younger Dc illness, and she was just travel sick ffs, it’s not like she has a bug.

Obviously if she’s sick again or any other signs of a bug I’ll keep her off, but AIBU to tell the school that she’s not sick and that she’ll be in tomorrow?

Send an email explaining and send her in.. I have sone similar.

Also., im a teacher and sone schools really need to use common sense!

In future, remind school about travel sickness and get her a wristband.

It might be worth calling the school in the morning and checking with the head about whether she can go in. The teachers can't go against policy but the head may make allowances.

Well my DH is working in London tomorrow, if he doesn't go in, he would lose his contract and we'd lose our income. He only needs to go to London for important reasons and he doesn't get a choice so cannot just pull out.

It's not as easy to put your child first when you're the breadwinner of the family. He's putting his family first perhaps by not losing his job. 🙄

In my experience travel sickness tablets most definitely don’t always work.

Out of interest are there many infections vomiting bugs from which the sufferer has no further symptoms after one bout of vomiting on a moving vehicle?

Does the fact that her dad works in London mean that he can't do his share of the sickness childcare? It really needs to be split between you both.

@ReadingSoManyThreads but the fact that it's in London is irrelevant. Just using a geographical location for a reason to why they can't do their share is bonkers.

It's just the blanket way the OP said her husband can't do it because "he works in London" implying it basically falls to her and everyone who "works in London' is far more important than the rest of us. I worded it badly sorry and appreciate putting food on the table is important but it's really annoying that some jobs and some men are considered above this.

Well my DH is working in London tomorrow, if he doesn't go in, he would lose his contract and we'd lose our income. He only needs to go to London for important reasons and he doesn't get a choice so cannot just pull out.

Yes but OP didn't say "DH can't take time off as he'll lose his contract and we'll lose our income". Most people who work in London are able to take time off. Working in London isn't a special circumstance in and of itself.

Schools always understood that my DC got travel sick, it’s very common, so does seem harsh to apply the exclusion. I did once have to get GP letter for nursery when a new manager came who didn’t understand.

I know it’s not what you asked, but there are some great little sick bags that have revolutionised our life, normal looking paper bags with a waterproof lining, and you can fold the top over a few times so they’re sealed up, much less mess and less unpleasant for everyone eg called hypaclean sick bags. Maybe if she had some with her it would emphasise that she gets regular car sickness and it might encourage understanding. A different teacher another year might be fine too. They might also be useful if she is ever getting a lift in a friend’s car, which might happen more in future.

If it is genuinely just travel sickness, I think it's unfair that she isn't allowed to return to school tomorrow. As a teacher, I've experienced lots of children being travel sick - we've never enforced the 48hr slickness policy in these circumstances. However, you are absolutely being unreasonable if you 'tell school she's fine and is going in tomorrow.' I doubt it's an argument you'll win and comes across entitled. After all, the school has a responsibility to keep all of the children it cares for safe and well and unfortunately that means your daughter needs to stay home on this occasion, according to their policy.

Ah poor thing. I have one who only has to look at a car or bus and vomits. I had to get prescribed travel sickness tablets for them as what is over the counter is not brilliant.

I'm assuming you don't live near London hence why you said your DH will be working there? My own DH travels for work and it's awful trying to arrange things.

Is there no one you can think of that could pop in and keep an eye on her ? I think you may be wasting your time explaining to the school that she's actually not ill. Hopefully you get sorted

Just about every school trip has a child chucking up.
How long is your meeting? I would tell them never to complain about attendance, if this is their stance.
If the school are idiots I'd 'obey' and just let her stay home with TV and snacks. We were left at 9 from 8-1 regularly. A NT kid is capable of being left a few hours.

YANBU op, when my son was in the nursery year of school he got all sorts of horrid viruses etc, when he got one he got one to the extreme, there was three occasions he was in hospital..

at the end of the year I had his school report and it stated his attendance was at 92%.. there was a couple of occasions where he “spat his food out but they thought he was sick” so I had to collect him.. one time he went to eat a banana and just spat it into his hand.. his teacher even said she didn’t think he had been sick, but couldn’t say 100% and said he has to have the full 48hrs off school.

everytime he was sick (suffered with anxiety aswell) etc I was given “he must be off for 48hrs”

due to his attendance being low at the end of the year I had to have a chat with the welfare officer just to state the reasons why and because he was starting full time school (reception) year after how to keep on top of the attendance.

I was honest on the phone, I said there’s been occasions where he’s been in hospital with viruses (they were aware of this) and other times where he’d looked like he’d spat his food into his hand and the teacher had advised 48hrs off, this happened a lot of the time, he doesn’t like the texture of banana, but in school they would give snack so would give the children the same thing (fair enough) my son would try it and spit it out..

the welfare officer said to me that yes anything virus related or sick bugs that is the procedure.. she also stated to me that if it’s anything else and they seem completely fine in themselves the next day to just send them in.
the welfare officer herself said to me it can be very frustrating when they advise to keep them off the full 48hrs for situations where they haven’t actually been sick or in this situation have been but it isn’t related to sickness bug.

my son used to get sent home with headaches and all sorts! The welfare officer had seen the notes and seemed completely understanding,

my son is completely fine now and rarely gets poorly! Has good attendance etc, but I was shocked when the welfare officer said to me “if he’s fine by the 2nd day just send him in anyway, a lot of children try to say they’ve been sick/feel poorly and we advise them to have a drink and see how they feel after lunchtime”.

is there an attendance officer/welfare officer at the school your child is in? If so, keep her off for tomorrow but ring up and request to speak to the welfare officer.. they can give you the answer to what you can/can’t do.. if they say travel sickness is fine and the 48hr rule wouldn’t apply, ask them for proof of this so then when she next attends a school trip (if she’s sick again) you have it there.. that way she won’t miss out on future trips and also her attendance won’t become affected.

I also meant to say that travel sickness pills either don’t work for all kids or make them so drowsy that they can’t stay awake for the school trip. People react in different ways to meds and there isn’t always an easy solution to travel sickness.

just found this school policy online which seems very sensible https://www.stsavioursjunior.com/attendance/

Not sure what the pragmatic and polite way to raise the issue with the school is, and if you think it’s likely to happen again and therefore worth following up at some point. It might be just one teacher who’s applied the policy inappropriately.

Would susceptibility to travel sickness count as a disability, so if the school failed to make reasonable adjustments to their vomiting policy, they'd be discriminating?

I know some disabilities (incl ASD) increase susceptibility to travel-sickness, so in those cases they presumably would have to make adjustments to avoid indirect discrimination on grounds of that disability.

This is ridiculous. Travel sickness is not a bug. Children sick on a coach trip have never been been expected to stay off the next day at any school I've worked at.

School did this to my dd and she ended up missing the last few days of year 6 - it was just plain cruel.

Agree with PP. Her dad will need to step up and take his turn at inconvenient parenting.

I had this last week! DS on school trip to a farm, had a phone call to say he'd vomited and can I go and get him. Turns out he gagged on his sandwich and the rest followed. Had to keep him off Friday, fortunately I am off anyway, so we just went to the zoo and had a wonderful day.

Feel for you, OP. It is a joke!

Have you not tried kwells? They work for ds2.

Not the point of the thread, sorry, but you can get a thing that looks like a watch but sends electrical pulses out like a TENS machine. They are utterly brilliant: I get terribly travel sick, especially on boats, and the sick watch is a total game changer. Works on pulse points like sea bands, I’ll see if I can link.

They honestly work. https://www.amazon.co.uk/EmeTerm-Electrode-Stimulator-Sickness-Rechargeable/dp/B07Z24ZT1X/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=1PQ2SRNL9A9NR&keywords=anti+sickness+watch&qid=1696274990&sprefix=anti+sickness+wa%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-5

I think it is ridiculous and I would be taking her in. I wouldn't be checking with them either. I'd just be telling them that she was simply not ill.

School are being ridiculous. I don't suppose Travel Sickness is included in the Equality Act, but this makes me kind of wish it was. I mean imagine a school saying "if a child broke their leg at school, we couldn't just stick them in a wheelchair and let them get on with it, we'd have to ring their parents, and get them to hospital, so we can't allow any disabled children in wheelchairs to attend the school, because they should all be in hospital." There would be outcry and the school would clearly be breaking the law big time. I agree though, take her out for a fun day.

I think maybe she means they aren't in London and he is away for work so couldn't get back.