5 year old faking illness to leave school

[Coco224]

Today is the 3rd time in the past 3 weeks my 5 year old has said he has a sore tummy to his teacher and I’ve had to go pick him up. Once I collect him he is totally fine. I’m not sure what to do, it’s becoming a huge inconvenience as the past two times I was quite far from the school so had to rely on family member to pick him up.
I’ve explained to him that if it continues then how will be know when he really is sick, but it’s happened again today and he is fine. Help!

Have a word with his teacher

Strange they send your ds home just for saying his tummy hurts? My dc school would not unless they had a temp as well or had been sick. Another thing is, are you sure your dc is making it up? Could he be nervous or anxious? Hungry? When I was little my tummy hurt every single day while at school. From age 7/8 to 12/13!! I now realise it must have been anxiety. I couldn’t eat breakfast, would eat such a small amount at lunch, but once I was home presto my tummy was fine and I would eat loads. But every morning again tummy would hurt. I went home twice because of tummy aches. But I learned how to just deal with it and eventually outgrew it .

Why does he want to come home?
Have a chat with his teacher and see what's going on. It's a bit odd they're sending him home just because he says his tummy hurts.
What do you do with him once he's home? Try to keep it simple and boring, after all he's poorly.

I’ve spoken with his teacher today and we’re not sure what it is. He’s spoken about being worried about older boys as he sees them playing rough with each other and thinks they are going to bully him, bless him. Trouble is the teacher says he is crying while saying his tummy sore so it’s hard to know if it’s real or not. I’ve explained that sometimes when we’re worried it can make our tummy feel funny, and that sometimes older boys play rough with each other but they won’t bother you. He seems a bit better after we spoke with his teacher. So difficult when they are 5!

You got to bring him to the clinic and if he doesn't go to school maybe there is a problem with it. Maybe he doesn't like to go to school because he is bullied.

Mine used to do this and I had to have a word with the school. They just fancied being at home rather than at school, there wasn't any worry concerned, it was just nicer at home and then figured out how to get sent home

It does sound like he has genuine worries though. Did you speak to the teacher with him? I think it's important that his fears are allayed as he does sound upset. But ultimately he has to understand that he needs to stay in school and if someone is worrying him (like the bigger boys) he needs to learn to find the teaching assistant or teacher in the playground. Is he playing with other friends in the playground? It can be an intimidating place for little ones but better if he has his own friends to run around with

Or maybe he does have a sore tummy? Ds2 is non anxious, loves school and has lots of friends. I've been called to collect him twice this year. Mid morning. Sore tummy.

It's the day after football training, ds eats a lot. It's not a burst appendix or anything obviously..... very odd.

Stress manifests as stomach ache in children. I used to get really pissed off with the "boy who cried wolf" lecture. Of course he's fine when he gets home, the cause of stress has been removed.

What do you do with him when he gets home, do you let play with his toys/tv as normal.

Could you next time it happens just put him in his pj's and either put him to bed or have him lay on the sofa with no toys or tv so he learns that being 'ill' is not fun.

I also think you need to speak to the school again, about this, do they have a family worker that you could talk to, do they have any 'interventions' which could help with his confidence so he is less stressed at play times.