Quick poll please...school tomorrow or stay at home?

[Flightattendant]

Sorry, am dithering and can't ring school till we'd have to have gone out anyway in the morning, so no idea what usual policy might be.

Ds1 has hand, foot and mouth. He's well past the temperature stage (started Thurs evening) and has just got blistery rash on feet and hands.

His mouth is still very sore however and he keeps moaning in a very dramatic fashion, and is finding it quite hard to eat, even things he usually likes. So hasn't had much today.

He is fairly perky otherwise. A coupleof people have suggested quarantine is pointless but I read that it's contagious for about 7 days (after symptoms begin or end - not sure?)

Obviously I don't want to cause infection in other children but school is v v fussy about absence and won't like it.

I think given the way he is tonight, he'll find it too hard tomorrow in terms of pain/eating. So maybe I will ring them tomorrow to ask.

I dread keeping him off now as they made such a blooming fuss last term.

Can I ask what your school's policy is on this one please?

Thanks.

He is ill - No school - End of.

No, no,no

def off tomorrow and ring school for their opinion about further days IF he is up to them.

Don't think our school would let him stay, if he's that ill.

might be best to keep him off just to be on the safe side . phone his school in the morning & explain , I'm sure they will understand . hope he is feeling better soon .

Thankyou.

I usually do what I think I'd like other parents to do - in this case there's no way I'd want him in school infecting my child!! It's been a really unpleasant illness for them both.

He can do normal activities and woek up feeling much better (had sore throat yesterday too) but his mouth is still painful and obviously it's slightly disfiguring as well - not that you can tell unless you examine his hands/feet carefully.

Sorry to have asked, really, but I feel under duress from meanie HT and genuinely have never experienced this disease before so wasn't sure.

Ok, will keep off tomorrow for sure, and ring them up to ask about when is suitable to go back.

Just finished half term! He's geting a long holiday

Sorry thatw as confusing...what I emant was if he were someone else's kid I'd expect them to jolly well keep him at home!!!

I don't suppose anyone has a clear idea how long he is contagious for?

I have a feeling they'll say send him in with blisters, (not too many anyway) but I keep reading that it's contagious until they have all gone...I really don't want him to give it to anyone else, especially as it can cause complications, miscarriage etc etc.

Here we go:

'How long is a person with hand, foot and mouth disease contagious?
While a person with this illness is most contagious during the first week, he or she may remain contagious until the blister-like rash has disappeared.'

Well, that would take us up to Friday basically.

I am not certain they will look kindly on four days off!

no need to quarantine at all.

However, that doesn't mean that if he is feeling unwell you shouldn't keep him off until he feels better.

If he's unable to eat because of his poor mouth, I'd say he needs to stay at home.

O dear I am still confused then! Thanks...Riv, you'd think, but they managed to last year. B'stards about it they really are. You're allowed a 10 day skiing holiday all above board but not to be ill.

Gosh that HPA thing is useful, but tbh I'm not certain it makes sense in this case...this is what's confusing me.

He had a high temp for a day and a half before the spotty thing started and has been in constant pain during that...I can't see why they would want the whole class to come down with that.

Ds2 was even worse with temp of 39. whatever for 2 nights.

I know some kids don't have that severity but it's a bit random of them to say no absence allowed/required isn't it. I guess it's going to be me making my case against school again

God I hate this. They make me feel about 8 years old.

flight - just spoke to my SIL , my nephew had that infection last year & the blisters inside his mouth took two full weeks to clear up enough for him to be comfortable eating . my sil got a letter off her gp to hand into the school just to cover her back . if you are worried about the school then a gp's letter should clear things up with them . hope your lo is feeling better soon x

We spoke to NHS direct today. I had to collect DD (13mths) from nursery as she had come down with hand, foot and mouth. Last night DH came down with it too - he's worse than she is! NHS direct nurse said that they were both infection until the blisters had dried up and therefore no nursery or work for either of them until then.

I find it unbelievable that the school are encouraging poorly and contagious children to attend.
It's really bugging me atm, lots of LEAs are offering rewards, i pods and the like, for attending every day over a given period. Dd's school gives out bloody certificates to children who haven't been off sick. If they're ill, they're bloody ill, and frankly I don't want dd to be in a class with a load of coughing, snotty kids on the promise of a prize or certificate.
Madness.

Meant to add, this is at primary age, where truancy is not really a problem.

I don't live in the UK so can't do it, but I really wish someone would challenge the "reward for 100% attendance" thing as it so clearly discriminates against children with disabilities or those prone to illness. It also puts people with weakened immune systems, for whateve reason, at risk by encouraging parents to send sick kids to school. Mutter, mutter..

Thanks very much for the messages, sorry we go to bed early here!!

I am at the prospect of two weeks, as he and ds2 are at a standoff since half term started - it's murder here with territorial warfare!

Still...maybe it will clear up sooner than that. Poor love must be able to eat soon, or I think he will go crazy. Mind you he is a chubster so it might slim him down a little

Seriously, I will try and get a GP letter because they didn't even ask for these last year then made a huge fuss when they added up their figures and realised he'd only had 86% attendance.

I TOTALLY agree that if they didn't encourage people to send in their ill children for 'rewards' and all that nonsense, he wouldn't have caught so many infections and so on...it's so short sighted, I mean it's surely counterproductive?

Absolutely hate the idea of certificates and prizes for attendance. Who invented that idea?

nd before anyone asks I am normally diligent in taking him to school...we're VERY rarely late, I don't take the piss, never have holidays etc. I did keep him off a lot in reception due to him being utterly knackered, sleepy and tearful...but that was physical immaturity and I was upfront about it. I think it gave me a black mark though.

He copes far better now he's 6.

Cbmum I meant to add I hope your dd and dh are both better soon x

And the letters sent out about attendance are sent to everyone - don't feel tagretted!

or even targetted!

hopefully he will feel better soon flight i think what happened with my sil was she has three boys & all three of them caught the infection so it took a little bit longer iykwim . my dd (3) has started pre-school this Sept & she is sick very week with high temps & infections she is now on her 4th antibiotic in 6weeks . i think its just a case of their immune systems having to get used to the fact that they are in a large group of children who LOVE to share coughs & colds & god knows what else .