![]() ![]() If this is the case, then your child can go back to school a full 24 hours after the first dose of the antibiotic. If you know that your child has strep throat, then ideally you’ve already been to the doctor and have started on antibiotics. So, treat ear infections like the common cold-if there is a fever, stay home until 24 hours after the fever is gone if there isn’t a fever, then it’s okay to go. You can’t pass an ear infection on to another person, but the cold that led to the ear infection might still be contagious. Ear InfectionĮar infections are secondary infections, usually occurring after a common cold. Learn more about taking care of a child with vomiting and/or diarrhea here. Vomiting is a much stronger reason to be kept home. However, diarrhea from a common stomach bug can last as long as two weeks, so as long as everyone washes their hands well, diarrhea really can’t be a factor that keeps a child home for more than a day or so. This makes sense - it’s just starting, so they don’t know where things are headed. Many daycares will send a child home the first day he has diarrhea. ![]() they aren’t going so frequently that they’ll be uncomfortable in class all day.Īs for children in daycare or preschool, ask about the daycare/school’s policy. they’re good about washing their hands after using the bathroom, and 2). Diarrheaįor older kids in school, it’s okay to send them if 1). Your child’s appetite may have improved, but her stomach might not be able to handle her full, regular diet just yet. This doesn’t usually mean that they’re still sick, just that their tummies haven’t fully healed up yet. It’s important to note that some children will throw up once more two or three days after it seemed like they were better. You can send back 24 hours after your child has stopped vomiting. How do you tell the difference between bacterial and viral pinkeye? Find out here. If it’s viral, then there isn’t much that can be done and they can be sent back the same day (officially, kids will shed viral pinkeye for up to 3 weeks, but no one can be kept home for three weeks). If it’s bacterial, you can send your child back 24 hours after he’s started on eyedrops or ointment. These medications only mask the symptom for a few hours, they don’t cure the infection.Ĭheck out my thoughts on everything you need to know about fevers. Send back when your child is fever-free for over 24 hours-and that’s fever-free on their own, not counting use of Tylenol or ibuprofen. Learn everything there is to know about coughs, croup, wheezing, and pneumonia in this popular article. So if we kept every kid with a runny nose home from school, they’d be out of school for most of the fall and winter!Īfter you experience the first few colds with your child, you’ll soon come to realize that as long as there is no fever and your child seems fairly comfortable, it’s okay for them to go. What’s more, the average cold for a child lasts between 15 and 25 days! Your child won’t be miserable for all that time, but they might not be perfectly back to normal until a few weeks have passed. For most kids, October through March will be a time of constant runny noses, with an occasional few more in spring and summer. So below are some basic rules for when a sick child can return to school or daycare, broken down by the type of illness: Runny Nose & Cough without Fever ![]() Of course, the big question that most parents struggle with is: Once your child has gotten sick, when can you send him or her back? So unfortunately, your child is practically bound to catch a few of these illnesses at least once, if not several times over the first few years in daycare and school. It doesn’t help that many of the illnesses that commonly affect young kids-from pinkeye and stomach bugs, to common colds and Hand Foot & Mouth Disease-are extremely contagious. That means that if you get a nice healthy stretch of a month or two, then for the rest of the year your child might be sick once or twice a month–and that would be considered “normal.” Ouch! In fact, we pediatricians expect that the average young child will be sick between 8 and 12 times a year. But when it comes to the first few years in daycare and school, the “staying healthy” part isn’t so easy. As parents, we all want to keep our kids healthy and happy. ![]()
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