Would you have sent your child to nursery today ?

[rarrira]

My little one, 2 and a half, had a fever in the night and quite a bit of coughing. I gave him calpol at midnight. He was upset on and off during the night.

His fever went down and by this morning, he's himself. I haven't had to top up calpol yet or anything. He's just got a cough.

I didn't send him to nursery today. I tend not to when he's been unwell in the night.

Would you have sent him when he seemed ok in the morning ?

If I had to work and had no other childcare options then yes.

Otherwise I'd keep them off just in case.

If the rules say they can go in and they are well enough to go in then tough. You can't expect people's employers to be understanding that they might have to stay at home in case someone else gets ill.

OP the nursery should have given you guidance on what they will and won't accept. Anything outside that is your call. The nursery I used would have had my child in as long as no temperature and feeling up to it.

That's what happens when they go to school so might as well get used to it

When DD was that age it would depend what work looked like that day. I'd keep her off for the day if i could. If I did have to send her DH and I would shuffle things around so she would do as short a day as possible. He'd likely have started late and I could usually flex to finish early afternoon so she'd have gone for 4-5 hours rather than 8.

Our nursery had a 48hr policy for d&v but not for temps.

The other parents shouldn't be expecting a sanitised bubble free of other children's illness

No. I have my 3 yr old grandson home today because he spiked a fever in school yesterday. Today he's fine ..just a little snotty like many at this time of year, but his preschool is clear that they have to be home for 48 hours.

I'm a TA and frankly we get really fed up with parents sending their kids in when they are 'just under par' (and usually given a dose of calpol before being sent in) because the children can't cope as well and the germs just keep spreading. Yes kids get germs but sending them in knowing they are unwell just ends up with staff shortages when the adults come down with it!

I would have sent mine. DS is the same age as your little one OP and he constantly has a cough or a cold this time of year. If I kept him off every time he had a bad night and was tired the next morning he’d never be in and I’d never be in work. Of course not if it was D&V or if he was still visibly unwell with a high temp, then I’d keep him off. But a snotty nose and cold and a bit of a temp that’s since gone and he’s fine in himself etc, then sorry, he’s going. Our nursery allow them in with a temp as long as they’re fine in themselves and Calpol brings it down and it doesn’t keep reoccurring when it wears off.

It’s not the employer’s problem though. It’s the parents’ responsibility to find employment that suits the fact that they are a parent. It’s exceptionally selfish to send your child to nursery when you know that they’re poorly, purely because you don’t want to take family leave/ annual leave/ didn’t want to take a job that offered the flexibility to take time off in these circumstances. Essentially you’re saying ‘fuck everyone else, I don’t care if loads of other people get ill, because I have to go to work’.

Maybe it's because more people had my view (I didn't send mine) that I think this just wasn't my experience at all. I often used a nanny as well so they weren't picking up all these germs from kids that were being sent in who really could have done with an infectious day or two at home/in outdoor spaces not in close proximity to others.

No I wouldn't have. That is why DC get ill so much, because parents send DC in knowing they're likely ill then complain their DC are always ill (with the germs they keep spreading around nursery). Your nursery will likely have a policy that states they shouldn't be there after a fever anyway.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/626669cb8fa8f523b7221b98/UKHSA-should-I-keep-mychilddoffschoollguidance-A3-poster.pdf

According to this poster you are good to send them in, this is school though and nurseries will have there own policy.

For me whether I'd send my daughter depends on how she woke up, if she bounced out of bed as normal chatting and eating fine then I'd send her. If she's not eating, sad looking, and generally quite unwell still then I'd keep her home. If it's just a cough then yes to going.

I agree with you but parents are having to balance this common sense approach with attendance targets the schools aim to reach which push parents to send their "slightly under par" children in.
Gets even worse at secondary.