What do you do if you suspect your dc is faking illness?

[bella29]

Help needed please!

DS (6) sent home from school yesterday - had complained all morning of being unwell.

She was fine all afternoon with me, fine all evening, fine at breakfast, but got worse again iN the car going to school

Have brought her back home as a precaution, but ideas please!

She's a bit of a loner but denies being unhappy at school.

TIA

oOOPS - should be dd!

I so need typing lessons!

Hi

I am going through this with my dd (7) ATM. She is really unhappy at school (whole other story -far too long!) so I know her 'motives' for missing school.
Could your dd be worried about something at school -eg my dd hates PE and swimming days.
Maybe there is an issue with one of her friends? Sometimes I find that getting my dd to open up is like pulling teeth ....it can take a while to get to the bottom of a problem. Hope your dd feels better soon - she may just fancy a bit of a skive!

When they eat their breakfast inspite of professing to be at death's door. When they can be easily distracted from their sufferings by something on TV, or by a pet, or an argument with a sibling

However I'm afraid I have learnt to be touch as nails now. Normal temp, no D&V, no really really bad cough.... they go to school. Been caught too many times by leadswinging

Well my ds came downstairs saying he felt dreadful, hadn't slept and his cold (man flu, obviously) was a lot worse. Trouble is I know he went to bed early and was fast asleep whenever we checked on him, so I decided he was well enough to go to school.

My mum used to be the same with me - I used to have to be at death's door to get a day off sick - though I have to confess to exaggerating my coughing and hoarsness on a couple of occasions in order to get a day off - and then having to keep it up all day, of course!

In fact, just the other night, I owned up to my mum about this - and to my huge surprise she wasn't cross or shocked or anything - in fact she said she thought it was probably fair enough for a child to pull off that stunt once or twice!! Mind you - I can understand why she didn't tell me that when I was a teenager, and it's not a secret I'll be sharing with my children any time soon!

In this sort of situation I would probably take her in to school and say to her that if she gets worse then to tell the teacher/school will send her home etc but I would also have a word with her teacher about my concerns ie. that I don't think that she is genuinely ill but is worrying over something, and let them know that obviously if she is ill that they can contact me and I'll pick her up.

I would also try to get to the route of her worries through chatting to her but having been through this with DD I know how difficult it is. Could you have a girly trip out with her at the weekend -bit of shopping, cake in a cafe etc might encourage her to talk

Good luck

My DS, nearly 7 has tried this a few times so I made him stay in bed all day. No reading,no playing, no sitting down stairs watching TV, only water to drink, possibly some toast later. He soon decided school was much more fun.

He wasn't feeling very well at the beginning of last week and I said to him what would happen if he was at home and he just said that he was happy with that. So I knew he had to be ill.

I tend to send mine unless they look ill. If they're pale and off their food, it's usually real.

When I was a child, my Mum sent me to school for months with a rumbling appendix, because I always got the same pain at the same time each morning.

I don't think she accepted I had appendicitis until I was actually in hospital having it removed!

I keep dd1 home if she says she's ill but she has to stay in her pj's led on the sofa or bed for the day (no fun).

Thanks, all. She does seem better now and is running round the house blowing giant raspberries through a large cardboard tube, while I am getting into that narky post -caffeine high stage [hmmm]

Have asked her if she really just wanted to stay at home & play and she giggled, so that seems fairly conclusive!

Next time it'll be bed or school

you have been had bella

Yup, well and truly.

Steep learning curve, this Mum business, isn't it?

Bed all day

No play, not TV, not games etc.

Too ill to go to school, too ill to play.

This is norm in the Bishop house. they tend not to fake. too boring