Returning to school after pneumonia

[worstdecember17]

My ds 5 was in the HDU for a week and was finally discharged last week from hospital due to Bacterial Pneumonia.
We let the school know this and we informed the that he wouldn't be returning to school until January.
They accepted this last week but now they have started phoning asking why he hasn't returned to school.
I asked his consultant when he should return to school but all she said was when we thought he was up to it.
Would it be wrong of me to keep him off the last few days as he is due to break up on Thursday.
He is a child that catches every cough and cold at school and after seeing him so ill and on oxygen in Hdu i don't want to put him at risk of getting ill again and risking him going back to hospital

I'd take the consultant's advice and judge him on whether he's fully back to himself.

How is he now? Can he do a few half days to enjoy the festive fun?

I would keep him off.
Dd was in hospital with pneumonia last year and it took her a few weeks to properly recover she became tired very easily. Our school mass sounded like a doctors waiting room last week with all the coughing and sneezing.
I hope he's feeling better soon

He seems to have moments when he is himself but then he will just get really tired and fall asleep.

I was hospitalised for pneumonia this year and took 6 weeks off work afterwards, and even then my GP was reluctant to sign me a fit to work form as even though I felt I'd made a good recovery, she kept stressing what a serious illness it is and how long recovery can take; the tiredness and fatigue is still lingering now, a few months later.

I'd be very firm with the school that your DS needs to recover fully before he returns. Hope he's feeling much better soon!

Just say no - on consultant's advice. Although it's standard to question attendance the staff haven't actually seen how ill your child is / was. As a teacher I would have complete sympathy for your situation. I feel that it would be too much for a half recovered child during the last few busy days before Christmas.

Keep him off.
Some people simply have no idea how ill pneumonia makes you feel and how long lasting its effects are. ( I have had it btw)
He is really young - still not more than a baby- and he needs to be kept warm and give his body time to recover.
Don't kid yourself, school are not concerned about him, they are concerned about his attendance rate. If I were you, I wouldn't give a Flying fuck about that.
My Dd has had two periods of absence this term - both due to S&D bugs she picked up from school. School rules are you are not allowed back until 48 hrs has passed from last episode of vomiting or the runs. So I followed school rules. Got a letter today telling me DDs attendance is just below 90% and I need to schedule an appointment with the head. It's an utter waste of his time and mine. But they have to be seen to be doing something.
So you do what your mummy instinct tells you to do. You know your child better than anybody and if you feel he isn't right yet then don't send him back. Otherwise you run the risk of ruining Christmas for him. And I would be telling whoever rings that you do not appreciate being hasseled into sending him back, the last time you checked you were still his mother and you will send him back when you and his consultant judge - not some bloody jobsworth who has no medical training whatsoever.

Yorkshireyummymummy has it spot on.

Your little boy sounds as though he has been very unwell. Keep him off and let him recover.

All the school are concerned about is data and stats- it’s utterly bonkers as it’s all about the numbers for them and not the children.

Really hope that your DS makes a good recovery OP but most definitely the place for that to happen is at home, and not in some germ filled haven full of unwell kids..

We have decided that he is not ready to go back.
Thanks for all your comments
I will also be telling them that yorkshire.
thanks again