AIBU sending my child back to school.

[MummaHud]

My daughter got sent home from school yesterday as she ( bless her ) pooped herself by being caught short by being told to HOLD IT while they just finish some outside activities. She’s 5!

she’s not got an infection, she just got given a Mr.Whippy ice cream at a friends house ( we weren’t there ) on Sunday and for some reason, these things go through her almost instantly, and cause her to have issues with soft stools for a few days afterwards.

the school told me I needed to keep her off for 24 hours to see if it happens again, if it does- we need to follow the 48 hours rules. But I know my daughter and her intolerances / bowel movements better than anyone; it’s not a bug.

she wants to go back to school tomorrow; she’s not had an accident today- but still had a slightly, VERY SO slight loose stool on the toilet.

AIBU if I send her for other students and risk her having another accident? Even though she wants to go back and is NOT poorly.

she’s waiting for the allergy clinic and I’ve got a doctors appointment for her to hopefully get something to the school. I know when my daughters unwell VS when its her bowel troubles!

I'd be more concerned about the possibility of another accident than anything else. It sucks but, also, are the school likely to call and have you pick her up anyway if you haven't followed the 24 hour rule?

She’s 5, for the sake of an extra day I’d follow the school rules. She doesn’t NEED to be there

If she has another accident tomorrow, she’ll be off for the rest of the week because they presumably wont have her back. So that would be the risk (as well as obviously the unpleasantness for her if she had an accident at school).

The school will make you pick her up it happens again and she would be off for the rest of the week. She would also be embarrassed. I would keep her off tomorrow and then she will have Thursday and Friday back at school if everything goes okay.

Our LO5 has a thing where he just randomly throws up sometimes. He doesn’t feel poorly and is only sick once, he literally just thinks he is going to hiccup and is sick! Been doing it since very young, I would say on average it’s about 5 times a year. When it happened at school they wanted him to have 48 hours off but I refused and explained so they let him in. Maybe call them in the morning and see what the day

They won't let her in at the door op.
I had a similar issue with my daughter vomiting at that age because of a residual cough, happened every time until she was 10.

They will, because their rule is 24 hrs unless it happens more than once. And OP isn’t counting/telling them about the second time as it was minor.

The thing is the school don’t know that you’re not just trying to pull a fast one. We allowed it once when a parent was adamant it was food related - every child got it as well as my TA. I believe you, the school will probably believe you but some won’t take the risk. You’d ne surprised how many people send their children in when they’re far too poorly to be at school!

My experience of other parents is that they’re always desperate to convince themselves and others that it’s anything other than a sickness bug.
“He threw up every half an hour all night, but I think it’s because he got a bit over excited three days ago so I’ve sent him to school”.

I know my child. She’s had a stool accident once in 7 days, she had a soft stool again today… 48 hours after her known intolerance to diary was given a Mr Whippy from a school friends mum, WHO knew she has a dairy intolerance. These episodes can last days up to weeks, as in creating her stools softer.

is she supposed to miss school every-time her allergies effect her?

she told me the dinner lady put cheese on her jacket potato but ‘picked it off’ and she had the accident 45 minutes later.

my daughter had norovirus about 6 weeks ago , she was ill, sickness and diarrhea regularly, fever, loss of appetite, tiredness, discomfort.

she has been running around the house, eating everything, no fever, begging to go back to school, just with slightly loose stool from a combination of Mr Whippy and the school being careless to allergies.

uhh!!!

EXCUSE ME?!

48 hours since last vomit or diarrhoea is standard but if she just did a slightly soft poo I'd call the school office and tell them you will be sending her in.....

We had a similar experience, likewise with food intolerance so definitely not contagious but school were adamant so we went out and had a lovely bonus day off. Forecast tomorrow looks lovely.

How much do the school know about her dairy intolerance? How often does she accidently have dairy? I mean technically it's disability discrimination to say that she can't have as many days education as her peers because of her non-infectious symptoms of her long-term health condition.

However I do get why school would worry about it because on the off chance that you are wrong that the symptoms are allergy not bug, who wants a school full of D&V kids?! If you can keep it to very occasional flare ups, I would mutter strong words under my breath, but basically be sympathetic to the school being overly cautious about the possibility of a bug running rife and just keep her off like they ask when she has an episode. If it actually going to really affect her education because it happens a lot, then I'd be using the Equality Act and telling them to stop discriminating against your child on disability grounds (which is illegal).

It’s 48 hours. Edit - I’ve just re-read the OP.

If she has a diagnosed health condition then your doctor can send a letter in saying that for one off incidents of loose stool after known dairy consumption she can be in school so long as she is fit to be there. My DSS has acid reflux and before we got him medication and occasionally since he will vomit quite a lot if he runs around after eating/drinking quickly. Initially I had to pick him up and keep him home every time, even though he was fit and well and wanting to eat and play as soon as we got home, but once we got the note he would only be sent home if he didn’t stop being sick or there were other symptoms alongside sickness after running around.

My preschool has been on the receiving end of a parent insisting their child “doesn’t have a bug they just ate something that doesn’t agree with them and caused ‘a little bit of diarrhoea’ ”. We gave them the benefit of the doubt, wish we hadn’t. The majority of the staff and half of the other children went down with it a few days later and we had to shut for a week resulting in loss of wages for the staff and the inconvenience to the other parents at the setting. It also worked its way through our households. The parents of ‘patient zero’ were the first to complain that they had no childcare for a week. The nhs 48 hour rule exists for a very good reason !! We’ve been much stricter since then and tell parents that without medical evidence to say it’s a food intolerance all episodes of sickness and/or diarrhoea are subject to the 48 hour free of symptoms rule.

Just to clarify, my little girl was just affected my her intolerances, I’m fully aware being her mum for 5 years, what is her intolerances and when she is poorly, my little girl has a diagnosis and the school is aware, ironically even when the school has given her diary and she has an accident that upsets her, they still make me follow the 48 hour rule and don’t apologise for their mistakes. Kids that do have intolerances shouldn’t be made to loose out on education or made like they’re the problem.

You might know your child but the school don’t, and the fact is that some parents lie for childcare. Just follow the rule, and if you want to change it, give them evidence to justify it.