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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Should I have kept her off from nursery with a cold?

26 replies

ellasmum1 · 14/03/2006 10:40

My 3 yr old dd goes to nursery 9-12 on mon and tues am. She has had a mild cold(no temperature and acting normal self,just needs to blow her nose regularly) I sent her yesterday as she appeared well enough and said she wanted to go, and she was fine and happy when she came home. However when i dropped her off this morning one of the staff said "how is her cold" and told me how they don't really like children to be in if they have a runny nose as they are infectious and she herself was off with a cold for 2 days last week. I was mortified and felt like some awful mother but told her that I really felt she was well in herself but just had the lingering snuffles. And left her there! I am really mixed up about it.I can see their point of view but she probably got the cold from there and kids have runny noses on and off all winter don't they? What do you think?

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 14/03/2006 10:42

Yes.

It's just a minor cold to you. But to others, it's a big deal to get one - e.g., a child who has a baby brother or sister at home, or a baby w/a chronic condition, someone who is pregnant, someone who has an elderly relative at home, etc.

Lio · 14/03/2006 10:43

ds gets sent to nursery with a cold, his nursery expects it unless the parents judges the child to be too poorly, but sounds as though your dd was fine, no temp.

cece · 14/03/2006 10:43

That is the trouble with nurseries and why I prefer to use a childminder...

Yorkiegirl · 14/03/2006 10:44

I would send her with a cold yes.

expatinscotland · 14/03/2006 10:45

True, cece.

It's why I walk to work rather than using public transport.

iota · 14/03/2006 10:45

colds are fine at ds2's nursery, high temps are not.

Yafta · 14/03/2006 10:45

No way. I think it's all part of getting out there in the big wide world. You don't not take her to the supermarket or not go on a bus in case she gives her cold to someone do you? My dd (3 yrs) has had a runny nose pretty much all winter. She would have been to nursery about 4 times if I had followed tose rules.

Original poster

ellasmum1 · 14/03/2006 10:51

thanks for the responses
expat and cece- she goes for fun not for childcare reasons,she loves it.
Yafta yes that is exactly how I feel.How would this country run if we all stayed off with colds fgs? I wouldn't mind if they didn't make you pay for the days you keep them off!

OP posts:

bosscat · 14/03/2006 10:56

depends on the nursery. if you know they don't like that sort of thing and expect you to keep her off then keep her off. Mine don't care about runny noses so I wouldn't keep mine off for that when everyone else is running round with a runny nose. I take the view that its a normal occurance. I don't stay off work if I've got a cold. I still go to the supermarket, doctors, out for a walk.

getbakainyourjimjams · 14/03/2006 10:58

Would be impossible to keep them off with a cold. They're part of life. Annoys me when people dose the kid up with calpol and send them in with a temp, but that's different.

Bozza · 14/03/2006 10:59

I would have sent her.

bosscat · 14/03/2006 11:03

yes temp is totally different. but a runny nose? I wouldn't never have picked a nursery who expected that tbh as I would have real problems with my employer if I said I was off because my child had a cold. did shock me slightly last summer when my sons nursery didn't keep kids off with chicken pox though. they took the view that they all will catch it and just put a sign on the door warning people the pox was there.

bosscat · 14/03/2006 11:04

would never have

Original poster

ellasmum1 · 14/03/2006 11:04

Thanks,am starting to feel better.Building myself up before collecing her at 12! Might have to face the manager this time. I would never send her if she was clingy/had temp/or was just not herself. But I do think I'll have to keep her off in future if she has the same again. Don't want to be in their "bad mother book" !!!

OP posts:

Original poster

ellasmum1 · 14/03/2006 11:06

bosscat, Yes my employer would NOT be happy with that excuse either!

OP posts:

compo · 14/03/2006 11:08

I would have sent her too

quanglewangle · 14/03/2006 11:21

My boys are now teenagers so it all seems a long time ago.
But all I can say is that in playgroup, nursery and school, they exchanged pests and diseases extremely generously with their class mates.
I would argue that it did their immune system the power of good.
They never catch anything now. Half the class can be off with the latest bug but not them.
So I agree with everyone who says send her unless she has a fever.

Kathy1972 · 14/03/2006 11:27

My 9 month dd has had runny nose ever since starting at nursery in November.
Just before starting nursery she had a real cold (I think she picked it up when we went in for a settling-in afternoon) which was absolutely ghastly: temperature of 104, couldn't sleep, didn't smile for over a week. There's simply no comparison.
Wouldn't dream of sending her in with the latter, wouldn't dream of keeping her off with the former.
It's true you get loads of bugs at nursery but as I understand it you're at your most infectious before you even know you've got it, so no doubt the colds etc would spread even if people didn't take their children in with symptoms.

cori · 14/03/2006 11:27

I agree if its just a runny nose and a bit of cough its fine. DS is off today but only because he has a temperature as well.

motherinferior · 14/03/2006 11:57

Oh, good heavens, yes. What is the nursery worker on? I think she needs a different job, quite frankly.

Normsnockers · 14/03/2006 12:03

Blimey, I'd never be at work myself if I kept ds off each time he had a cold !

I've happily told the nursery staff "he's a bit of a snot fountain this morning but he's O.K. in himself and raring to go" and they're fine with this.

If it's getting him down and he's running a temperature that's different, we stay home for cuddles.

Nursery staff should have built up some sort of immunity if they are exposed to so many kids with colds all winter.

FairyMum · 14/03/2006 12:07

Ha ha ha...I have rarely seen a 3 year-old wihtout a runny nose in the middle of winter. Of course you send her.

misdee · 14/03/2006 12:12

hmmmmm. am peed off about coughs and colds tbh. people have been sending kids into school unwell. dd1 + dd2 catch them, then they cant see their daddy till they are better. i know colds etc are all aprt of life, but we need to avoid as many as we can. if the snot is clear then its generally ok, if ita green, then we cant go.

blueshoes · 14/03/2006 12:22

My dd's nursery's policy is colds and coughs are fine. Temperature is not. I think that is sensible. Children pass each other things all the time. It updates their immmune system software. After a year of this, dd hardly gets a temperature. She still gets the colds and coughs, as do her nursery friends, but is not affected by them.

They will get them whether at nursery or in school or just out-and-about or even from siblings. No point wrapping them up in cotton wool. If there is a specific reason why my dd could not fall sick (eg scheduled surgery), then I would keep her at home.

HappyMumof2 · 14/03/2006 13:21

depends on the cold really. I wouldn't send my child into school/nursery with a streaming nose. I really hate that, when children are sent in with big green snots hanging from their noses. I think a slight cold is different though.

I am a childminder and will take a child with a mild cold, but would rather not have a chid full of cold with me during the day, as it's not fair on them, by children or me! My mindee's mum sent him to me yesterday as she thought he just had a cold but it turns out he has an ear infection & conjunctivitis, so I think you need to be careful to make sure she's well over it before sending her in.

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