Help! I can’t stay home every time my son has the sniffles

Posted in health
by Lorain County Moms

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

Q: I am a single mom with a son in kindergarten. Through the winter months my son gets colds often, but I can’t afford to take off work and keep him at home every time he has a cough or a runny nose. I know that sometimes the teachers get upset, but what can I do?

A: Working parents are in a tough position when kids are showing signs of a cold, the Help for Parents panel says.

“It’s a dilemma on both sides,” says panelist Julie Banner, a school nurse. “We don’t exclude kids for runny noses or cold symptoms. If we sent every kid home who had a runny nose, the school would be pretty empty.”

However most schools have policies about when children should stay home, and parents should be familiar with their school’s policy.

Banner says schools will send children home if they are vomiting or have a fever of more than 100 degrees, diarrhea or severe coughing that’s affecting their ability to do school work. Also children will be sent home if they have certain diseases such as conjunctivitis.

“We usually try to muscle them through the day if they have mild cold symptoms,” Banner says. “We want to keep contagion or infectious disease at a minimum, but a lot of kids come to school with some sort of illness.”

You can send a child to school if they can function well enough to do what they have to do and not spread germs, she says.

“If they are able to work and play, in most cases they will stay in school,” she says.

However, you should try to set up a contingency plan of two or three people to care for your son if he has to stay home and you can’t take off work.

Parents should be aware that school nurses can’t make a diagnosis or prescribe medicine for a child, Banner says. Also school health rooms are small and not designed to house sick children all day.

“What’s best for a child if he’s sick is to be at home where he’s more comfortable,” she says.

Teach your child about hygiene.

“Kids go to school with runny noses and don’t know how to blow their nose,” says panelist Bill Vogler. “Parents can work with their child to be sure he knows how to use tissues and washes his hands.”

Because of the flu, there has been a big push in schools to teach children the basics of respiratory hygiene and hand washing.

“We teach them how germs are passed,” Banner says. “The best defense is good old-fashioned soap and water. And children should wash their hands as long as it take to sing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song twice.”

You can check with your doctor to give your son over-the-counter medications to minimize his symptoms, suggests panelist Marcie Lightwood.

If you do give a child medication at home, make sure to let the school nurse know with a note or phone call.

Also to help prevent illness and help a child through an illness, make sure he gets proper nutrition and lots of rest, panelist Rochelle Freedman says.

• If a child can function and not spread germs, send him to school.
• If a child has a fever, is vomiting or has diarrhea, keep him home.
• Set up a contingency plan of people to care for your child if you can’t take off work.
• Teach children how to properly blow their nose and wash their hands.
• If you give a child medication at home, let the school nurse know with a note or phone call.
• Know your school’s policy about illnesses.