When To Send Your Kids to School vs. Keep Them Home While Sick

Sometimes, kids are so clearly under the weather that you’re scrambling for homeopathic flu medicine. It can be hard to tell when kids are sick or just dragging because of some other reason. After all, they might be overtired or overstressed from school or some other activity in which they’re engaging. However, during cold and flu season, it’s easy to err on the side of caution, and most parents think that goes doubly during these unsettling Covid times. 

Determining if Your Child Can Handle the Day To Come

Even if your child has a little cough or a sore throat or the sniffles, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they should stay at home. Every day out of school is disruptive to establishing a healthy rhythm and kids miss important academic instruction and social interaction. If they’re coughing a lot but not sick, they may able to take on the day with the help of some cough drops. 

On the other hand, the same symptoms could be indicative of Covid. For that matter, it’s important to recognize the difference between the common cold and the flu. The rule of thumb that medical professionals are asking parents to consider has to do with feverish symptoms.

Stay Home With Fever & Vomiting

It’s responsible to want to protect the other members of the school community from any virus that might be inside of your child. Feverish symptoms, such as running a temperature of over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, diarrhea, vomiting or trouble breathing are all reasons for staying home because they are indicative of a high risk of transferability. That is almost a side point, though, because if your child is in this state, it’s clear that they should be resting in bed or being looked after. 

Determining if Your Child’s Sickness Is Contagious

The doctors say that if you’re witnessing flu and fever symptoms, you should keep your child at home. It’s the closest thing to wearing a sign that says ‘stay away because I’m radiating sickness.’ The next question becomes how to apply the proper remedy immediately, or whether or not to schedule a visit to the doctor. 

As far as contagion, with the viral type, children are contagious for as long as they have symptoms. With colds, they’re at peak contagiousness during the peak of the illness. Children with the flu are most contagious three or four days after their illness begins.

Sometimes, it’s obviously appropriate to keep a child at home, rather than send them to school. Other times, you find yourself looking up the difference between a wet cough versus dry cough. Remember to use the tools at your disposal and aim to differentiate the malady based on what your eyes are telling you. If your child is running a high temperature or can’t take a step without dripping or coughing, they’re probably better off resting at home. Visit an online health and wellness shop today to check out the available remedies for cold and flu season or to get a Covid test kit.