Keep DS off school or not?

[Turnymum]

DS 11 came into my room last night about 2am saying he was feeling sick(unusual for him). Sent him back to bed and he fell asleep until about 6.15am. He’s saying he feels worse now, crying saying he doesn’t want to go to school.
Now, his dad never lets him stay off when he’s at his house, but DS pulls this stunt with me about once every 6 weeks, so it’s a case of the boy who cried wolf, and I never know when to believe him!
wwyd?

Does he have any other symptoms? temperature? rash? off his food?

Offer him breakfast and if he eats it happily, I'd send him in. If he's off his food or any other symptoms I'd keep him off.

I think send him in if he's pretended before and hasn't been sick. Its not being mean as they will send him home if he isn't well enough to be there/is sick.

Is there something going on at school meaning he doesn't want to go though?

If he hasn't been sick and hasn't got any other symptoms then he needs to go to school, surely?

Take him temperature and see if he eats breakfast. This is always my go to with an unwell child.

Paracetamol and I’d send him in. Sorry but no other visible symptoms I’d be firm.

Does he normally come through early hours of the morning when he's pretending?

If he hasn't been sick I would be sending him in but also wondering if there is more to this if he is doing it every 6 weeks. Is he in secondary or primary? Is there a pattern to him saying he is feeling sick? I didn't go down the sick route I just didn't go to school because I had a really aggressive teacher who I wanted to avoid who only taught me once a week.

If he is off sick what does he get to do? I can always tell when mine are genuine because they haven't got the energy to do anything but watch tv and they didn't eat me out of house and home. But then mine never pulled the sick card if they weren't actually ill. Missed their mates too much.

He very rarely wants breakfast so I can’t really go off that.
he has adhd. He says there’s nothing worrying him, but he can be a bit of a closed book

Send him in.

I should add, I always send mine and if they show signs of getting worse at school I trust the staff there to alert me (I just send a message to ask the school to just be aware). Weirdly they always seem to perk up once they get there.

Why give Paracetamol for a child that's feeling sick? No mention of pain

I'd let him have the day off op

Let him have a day off. It's pretty hardcore for him to get up in the night as part of a plan to swing the lead.

Fair point, but for my kids when they say sick they mean generally poorly and achy. So probably my interpretation of the word sick.

I was up night before last feeling very sick.

Felt extremely lethargic yesterday but went to work.

Woken up today with a sore throat. No temp but yesterday before bed it was 37.8°.

So it's possible he feels under the weather as I know many have felt this way and it seems to be the virus doing the rounds.

So I agree with those who say paracetamol of needed and send in. But be aware he may feel worse tomorrow and he may not be completely making it up!

I'd send him too. School will quickly send him home if he's genuinely poorly. I'd let his teacher/form tutor know though, including about the regularity of 'sickness', firstly so they can keep an eye in case he's genuinely sick, but also so they can keep a watch for anything that might be causing the anxiety.

My DD woke up in the night saying she had stomach ache and felt sick. We were up for an hour with no sign of vomit or bowel movement. She’s slept soundly since. I will be sending her to school and trust that if she gets ill they will send her home. She also has ASD and sometimes cries wolf. I always send her in when she does this as she perks up when she’s there. She prefers being at home and is very clingy with me so I know if there’s no actual symptoms of illness, she’s usually just trying her luck!

Youngest was at the gp a couple of days ago with a high temp. I’m feeling like I might be getting a cold too. Kids are complex little things aren’t they!

I'm a foster carer ( ex teacher) and have had kids who've told me they cant go in, feel sick etc. I'm pretty good at picking up if illness or other reasons behind it.
If your son has ADHD coping at school can be very tiring and over time it may just take a toll on him, mentally and physically. One fs would literally sleep through as his body was just exhausted.
As im based at home, keeping a child home doesnt affect my job so i dont have to balance that. If ours stay off, for whatever reason, there's no phone or electronics for the whole day, you can watch tv/film. If they're poorly ie sick then electronics are allowed after school hours.
Sometimes I do think they just need the day to reset and I have no qualms in supporting them in that.

See, this is also my take on things but his dad doesn’t agree at all. I’m not in work today, so it isn’t an issue in that sense.

Every six weeks or so when he claims ro be unwell is it always when you have a day not in work? I'm just wondering if it's a pattern because he knows those days you are more likely to keep him home?