Daft Rule?

[TerriB]

Hi there, I was wondering if I could pick your brains? (Sounds horrid doesn't it?!!) My ds started school last September, and one of the school rules is that if a child has sickness or diahorrea (sp?) there should be a clear 24hr period before they return to school. My ds is a bit of a sicky child and will throw up at the drop of a hat, but it doesn't necessarily mean he is actually ill. He has had numerous days off, where the is clearly nowt wrong with him because of this rule.

I don't know whether I should just use my judgement and flaut the rule when needs be, or if I am being selfish. What do you think?

Sorry TerriB, as an ex teacher, i think this rule is fairly sensible particularly in a Primary school as these sort of bugs can sweep through a school like wild fire. However, if your child is just one of those children who are sick without being sick (IYKWIM) then use your best judgement and flaut the rule if appropriate. Afterall, a lot of children pass on bugs to others before they show the symptoms themselves and a school can?t avoid this happening and parents shouldn?t feel bad as it is unavoidable - it is also part of building up an immune system.If you are sure that your child is unlikely to have a bug that could be passed on then you are not being selfish by wanting to avoid unnecessary disruption to his education.
If he is frequently sick with no obvious cause, perhaps you should mention it to your hv - is there a hidden allergy problem? Eating too quickly/too much in one go? Is it overexcitement at mealtimes etc etc. ? In your shoes, I would be looking for reasons for why your child is being regularly sick just for peace of mind. I am probably very wrong here and prepared to be proven so, but I would be unhappy if my child was being sick frequently with no known cause and would want to rule out a few possibilities.

crossed posts beetroot, sorry. Agree with you totally, didn?t mean to elaborate, just suffer from verbal diahorrea - perhaps I should stay of my computer for 24 hours and see if that cures it!!

Ds can be sick due to overexcitment, nearly every year he is sick on his birthday as he is soooo wound up. If he has a runny nose, he isn't great at blowing it, and it tends to run down the back of his throat, and this makes him sick. There can be one of many reasons. Once he was sent home from school as he was sick in the playground, and it was because he was excited because he was going to a circus that evening. He was fine, and ate hotdogs and popcorn whilst he was there, but wasn't allowed to go to school the next day.

I think the school is being a bit too anal in applying this rule. Dd's nursery has a similar one, but they waive it when it is obvious her sickness is not due to a bug (she has the same problem of lots of snot which makes her have coughing fits so bad she projectile vomits any milk she has had recently)

I do sometimes think that the blanket vomiting and diarrhoea rule is prejudicial to snotty little ones. Diarrhoea should definitely have a clear 24 hour period post-attack, I think: but sickness, as others have said, can just be down to over-excitement or a tendency to catarrh.
Ds' nursery only enforce 24 hours on vomiting if the child has other symptoms such as fever or rash. But they are pretty draconian if diarrhoea on its own, or d & v, occur, and I'm in full support of that.
So yes, TerriB, I think you have been unlucky here and it might be worth talking to the head. But I do feel that teachers and nursery staff also have to cope with parents who, unlike you, will unhesitatingly send a sick child off for the day, and that shapes their policies. I know the nursery staff at ds' place find it very distressing when they can tell a parent is lying about what kind of night a small child has had. No easy answers to that one, because the responsible, scrupulous parents then get penalised.

Hmm... I guess use your judgement. Our school does not have such a rule, but for my children I personally do use a 24 hr rule of thumb. DS1 is very rarely ill, but ds2 is quite sicky - if his temperature goes up even slightly he is immediately sick. But it also takes a long while for his stomach to then settle back down completely. And I would hate it if he was sick as school - both for his sake, and the sake of the staff. I find it hard to know if he is 'over it' or not, and the 24 hrs seems to work for us.

I personally think it is a sensible rule if children are really sick. I have often taught children who are sent in to school when they are clearly unwell and it is so unfair on them ... Also, the bugs spread like wild fire ... and it is also to protect the other children and staff from them.
However ... the school should be flexible about children like yours TerriB. I remember teaching a little girl who used to throw up at the drop of a hat ... usually when she was stressed or worried about something ... for example it usually happened in Music lessons if she was asked to play her recorder to the rest of the class or on a Friday when she had a spelling test ... After we worked out why we used to make sure we always had a change of clothes for her and we would give her lots of warning before we asked her to do anything that would scare her ... I think after the first couple of times she wasn't sent home after being sick ...

I think that if your child is definitely not ill or has anything contagious, like they're sick because of over excitement or it's just a regular occurence, then keeping them off another day is stupid. If they could be contagious, then the rule should definitely be followed.

If it's just a regular thing, couldn't you explain that to the teacher, maybe get your GP to back you up if needed, and explain that there's no need to have the extra day?

Message withdrawn

Just thought I would add, that if I had the slightest suspicion that ds actually had a tummy bug, I definately would NOT send him to school, as I would hate it if someone sent an obviously ill child to school and my ds caught it!! Also, my own mum was very strict about sick days off, and you had to be basically bleeding out of your eyes for you not to go in, and as such I tend to be a bit over lenient. But when ds is clearly fine, it seems such a waste for him to be lounging about at home when he could be learning!!

On a related note - our school has 'attendance shields' and so on, with prizes each week/month for the classes with the best attendance record. IMO this makes a virtue out of sending children to school even if they are sick! DS1 has actually been off today - he's had high fever and clearly in a lot of pain, but he's desperate to go to school tomorrow ..! He's only 5, and struggles to cope with the demands of full-time school as it is. No way is he going back until he's 100%.