Whether or not your sick child is too sick for day care often gets parents confused.
You may have a day care that wants to keep kids home for every cough or green runny nose. But on the other hand, there are parents who give their kids who wake up with fever a dose of Tylenol or Motrin and then ship them to day care.
It is hopefully obvious that the guidelines that work best for everyone are somewhere in between these two extremes. Consult with your daycare center directly, since many have their own policies.
In general, your baby should stay home from day care if he:
- has a fever
- has a rash and fever
- is fussy and irritable and is going to require constant attention
- has a constant cough or difficulty breathing
- has an infection causing vomiting two or more times in 24 hours
- has bloody diarrhea or diarrhea that is leaking out of his diaper
- has a specific illness that is known to be contagious, such as whooping cough, hepatitis A, E. coli, salmonella, shigella, tuberculosis, etc., and keep him home until he is no longer contagious
Your child does not usually have to stay home from day care if he has a simple cold, even if he has a cough and green or yellow runny nose, especially if there is no fever and he is acting well. That is good news for most parents, since cold symptoms commonly last 10 to 14 days and the average child can get 5 to 6 colds a year.
Your child should be excluded for common childhood illnesses when they have:
- mouth sores and drooling
- pink eye with discharge, impetigo, or strep throat, until treated with antibiotics for 24 hours
- head lice or scabies, until after the first treatment
- chicken pox until six days after the rash started or until the rash is all crusted over
You usually don't need to stay home from day care for other common conditions, such as if your child has a rash without fever, warts, or ringworm.
