It’s sometimes difficult to know whether you should keep your child home from school if they have a cold, especially since school-aged children get up to 10 colds a year.
These sick day guidelines might help:
Consider keeping your child home if he or she:
- Has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
- Has been vomiting
- Has symptoms that prevent him or her from participating in school, such as:
- Excessive tiredness or lack of appetite
- Productive coughing, sneezing
- Headache, body aches, earache
- Sore throat*
*A minor sore throat is usually not a problem, but a severe sore throat could be strep throat even if there is no fever. Other symptoms of strep throat in children are headache and stomach upset. Contact your pediatrician as your child needs a special test to determine if it is strep throat.
Keep your child home until his or her fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication. Colds can be contagious for at least 48 hours. Returning to school too soon may slow the recovery process and can unnecessarily expose others to illness.
Please note, these tips should not take the place of medical advice from a doctor or paediatrician. Parents should also be aware of guidelines specific to their child’s school.
