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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be annoyed at parents who don't follow the "keep your children home for 48hrs rule if they have been vomiting"

95 replies

Ripeberry · 28/03/2008 14:30

This morning a little girl in my DD1s class came in early (for a change). She is reception and was basically left to get into school on her own from the car park.
But she told the teacher that she was sick all day yesterday and last night.
The reception teacher was NOT happy as our school has a rule that kids MUST stay at home for at least 48hrs after symptoms stop. The parents are aware of this but they chose to drop and run.
Anyway, the school may ring them anyway but it's annoying as there is a sickness bug going around and this little girl is going to a swimming party tomorrow with my DDs.
If they all start coming down with it, then the Easter break is going to be pants!
AB

OP posts:

Peachy · 28/03/2008 19:33

It is wrong, although I was a bit when school wouldnb't take ds3 back day after he'd been sick because he'd been given milk (intolerant) by mistake)- hardly catching!

expatinscotland · 28/03/2008 19:35

well, yes, 3monkeys, that happened with chicken pox as well.

but the rules are there for a reason so hey ho.

wiggleit · 28/03/2008 19:35

God, you have really annoyed me 3monkeys.. how inconsiderate of you to think just because they are ok in the morning that they are better..apart from anything else it's unacceptable to knowingly put other kids and teachers at risk, not to mention the poor child feeling tired anyway due to being up all night, and also it's not just the children in the class that are affected, it's their siblings too, some of whom are ittle babies where it is very danderous if they get bad d&v.. So what if you have to keep your 2yr old away from nursery for a day..How incredibly selfish are you? You are typical of the ignorant parents who send their kids to school ill. mad!!!!!

3monkeys · 28/03/2008 19:38

Sorry to annoy you wiggleit! I am quite well aware of when they are ill and when they have been sick once and are then fine. I'm not talking about vomiting all night, I'm talking about being sick once and then being right as rain! And if I'm at home, my DS2 is at home with me. I am not ignorant, I am a Gp and don't ever send any of my kids anywhere if they're genuinely ill!

wiggleit · 28/03/2008 19:45

GP's are the worst imo.. they are so blase about illness because they come across it every day and it's no big deal to them.

pointydog · 28/03/2008 19:46

I've never heard of a blanket 48 hour rule. I'd send them in if they were perky too.

pointydog · 28/03/2008 19:47

Wiggle, maybe you generally just worry more about bugs than a lot of people

colander · 28/03/2008 19:48

Someone I know sends them to school when they have been sick - saying that they are sick so often and she needs the peace and quiet. Lovely. Can't stand it myself; so selfish.

wiggleit · 28/03/2008 19:52

Pointy, yes i do worry more about sickness bugs because i have a phobia of vomiting and selfish people who send their kids to school when they've been sick really make my life hell! As do people who turn up to work when they've been sick or stay at work if the're ill at work. It is soooooo selfish. I don't think i am out of order to want people to stay at home. The 48 hr rule is there for a reason!!

pointydog · 28/03/2008 19:56

Maybe the phobia is more of an issue here. Or maybe you have had an unlucky time of it. Sickness bugs have very rarely troubled my family or those I know. Maybe we've all been very lucky.

TotalChaos · 28/03/2008 19:59

I understand the usual rule is 24 hours after last erm emission for D & V, and 48 hours for more serious stuff, like salmonella. I'm not an emetophobe, but I stick to these rules out of common courtesy to others.

MrsTittleMouse · 28/03/2008 20:21

The rule used to be 24 hours, but has now changed to 48 hours. I certainly know of several small children at nursery around here who were very sick as the 24 hours wasn't enough, which is why it's increased.

blueshoes · 28/03/2008 20:24

A blanket 48 hour "after symptoms stop" is excessive IMO. It should be 48 hours after symptoms start and then review after 48 hours.

I have challenged my nursery before and the manager agreed that after ds was ridiculously and rudely well for 24 hour after an isolated incident, he could come in. Of course, if ds is ill, he will stay at home. Common sense has to prevail over blanket one-size-fits-all policies that bear no relation to the actual illness, likelihood of contagion, recovery period or child.

wiggleit · 28/03/2008 20:31

Just because people are ok 24 hrs after symptoms stop doesn't mean to say they are not contagious. They have tried to enforce a 48hr blanket because of that.

wiggleit · 28/03/2008 20:45

Can i just say also, my friend's daughter was sent home from work because she was sick at work (she works in a hotel and sometimes deals with food) and the management gave her strict instructions not to return to work until 48hrs after her symptoms stopped.. she was most put out by this because she didn't feel ill and she thought she had been sick because of some throat spray she had used for a sore throat..anyway she came home and was ok, had a sore throat that was it really, so she went back to work, only to be sent home again for being sick again, she finally went to the doctor who diagnosed gastroenteritis. Now some of you out there would have thought the sickness was an isolated incident and sent your kids to school when it could have been something like that. How do you know that just because they are sick only once or twice that it isn't contagious?? Why can't you just have thought for others and air on the side of caution? Is it really too much to ask?

MrsBigD · 28/03/2008 20:45

very annoying indeed especially when a bug is going round.

With my kids it depends why they threw up. Especially ds (3) has a tendency to gorge himself with milk and then about 30 mins after going to bed start coughing and throw up. In that case I know it's saft to send him to nursery as he threw up due to being greedy as opposed to a bug.

@ letting the child walk to school from the car park at such a young age!

DD is in Y1 and I walk her all the way to the classroom door as do all the other parents!

Christie, that mother sounds awful! I might be a bit put out when I get a call from school or nursery (both has happened) and at the one occasion where nursery called to say that they had called an ambulance for ds (he'd had sudden fever spike even though he was perfectly fine in the morning and had febrile convulsions) I broke very speed limit to get there in time for the ambulance!

3monkeys I know exactly what you mean. Had to keep dd home on several occassions due to temperature and after a good dose of calpol she was running riot around the house . Very annoying but I wouldn't want to pass anything on to anybody else...

purpleduck · 28/03/2008 20:57

I hate hate hate it when a child is obviously feverish, and they get sent to school with calpol

BEAUTlFUL · 28/03/2008 21:15

My DS1 has had d&v this week and I've kept him home from school (Reception year). Today, it was 24 hours after the symptoms had stopped and I toyed with sending him in. Then I thought, "Oh for God's sake, it's not like he's going to be missing an A-level" and kept him home.

I also thought that sending him in on a Friday really just looks like I'm craving the peace & quiet.

It's weird being the one to say whether he's too ill to go to school, though. With my Mum, you had to be spraying blood from an artery or coughing up organs before you'd be allowed to stay home.

blueshoes · 28/03/2008 21:30

wiggle, mind you, I have been on the other side of the fence with my dd and ds catching every bug that goes round because of Other Inconsiderate Parents, as you would have it.

After a year of repeated bouts, dd now has a immune system that is almost iron clad, needing to be off nursery maybe only once or twice a year. And since she started school, has hardly caught anything whereas her friends have been off sick like flies. I don't believe she has had a vomiting incident for years. Funnily enough, I am not aware that dd's school has any policy on sickness beyond them needing to be home if they are unwell.

You can say have a 48 hour rule from end of symptoms out of an abundance of caution. Or you can say that's life, some children are not, contagious after 24 hours or contagious even after 48 hours. Who knows. At some point, your child's immune system will catch up.

After all, I go to work everyday and am packed in (horrors) with all kinds of disease-bearing commuters. I am pretty robust, I'd like to think.

teabreakgirl · 28/03/2008 21:30

Too true expat, Im shocked at some of the attitudes I've read about here. I don't understand how a mother can be so dismissive of her child going into hospital. Teachers aren't parents. They are there to give an education to students not take them to hospital or ferry around after parents who think its too annoying or inconvenient to look after the kids that they chose to have in the first place. My ds2 nearly died at 5.5 months because of crappy doctors and.....not going to rant anymore about it.

nellyraggbagg · 28/03/2008 21:40

People who send their dcs into school after they've had d&v make me furious. Even if my dcs had vomited after coughing too much, I'd keep them off for a day, just to be sure. Other people deserve some consideration, and sending poorly children off to mix with everyone else is not considerate. The same goes for high temperatures. If a child has a temperature, they're better off at home - even if Calpol does do its job. I am very strict about my ds not missing school - but if it's vomiting or a temperature, they have no choice - even if they are bouncing off the walls!

I do make life very boring for ds if he's off school, though. I don't want him to think that his sister has fun at home while he's at school!!

As for her, I really don't think it will harm her to be stuck in for a couple of days if her brother is off school. Yes, it's boring for everyone, but there you go!

chequebookjerry · 28/03/2008 21:41

my dd is 7 months, at one of our playgroups there is a little boy of 9 months who is veryle and merrily sick over everything.

his mother lets him throw up over the communal toys, cleans him, leaves the toys covered in sick

he once tried to put dd's dummy in his mouth (which full of sick) while dd was lying on the mat minding her own business, had to whip her out of the way quick

I think its disgusting and inconsiderate

chequebookjerry · 28/03/2008 21:42

sorry, the little boy is "very mobile" not "veryle"

teabreakgirl · 28/03/2008 21:44

I'd have a word with her about being sick over the toys. Thats disgusting.

Buda · 28/03/2008 21:57

Haven't read all of this but YANBU!

Rule is only 24 hours at our school and I got so annoyed on Tuesday having spoken to a friend whose DS "was throwing up all day yesterday but seems ok today but has asked me what he does if he is sick at school" that I wrote to head and as a result a letter went out yesterday reminding parents of the rule. Will be following this up next week at PTA meeting and suggesting that teachers actually ask the child then they last threw up or whatever and send them home if within last 24 hours.

DS has had 16 days off in last 6 weeks and I am sure part of it is parents who should know better sending their DCs in when unwell.

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