When to Keep Your Child Home from School

You have plenty of other things to do at 6:30 in the morning than to play amateur doctor. Yet that's the situation many parents face when a child awakens with a health complaint and you must determine whether the complaint is serious enough to warrant a sick day.

Monitor any symptoms of illness before your child goes to sleep at night. In the morning, make time to evaluate the symptoms. How does you child appear? Is he or she active, alert, and comfortable? Or, is he or she slow, lethargic, whiny, irritable, or feverish?

Here are some tips for deciding whether to keep a child home:

• Children can attend school with the sniffles as long as they feel all right otherwise. But keep your child home if he or she has a heavy cough or a steady stream of mucus. Also keep the child home if the cough is accompanied by breathing that is rapid or labored. Describe these symptoms to your child's doctor.

• If your child has a rash, it's important to determine the source. If it's poison ivy, for example, the child can go to school as long as the rash is being properly treated. But an unexplained rash may be the first symptom of measles, chickenpox, or another contagious illness. Note whether the rash is accompanied by such other symptoms as fever, crankiness, lethargy, unusual crying, or a general feeling of discomfort. Keep the child home and describe these symptoms to your child's doctor.

• A common child complaint is an upset stomach. This can be caused by several things, including an upcoming test or a situation in school that your child may be reluctant to confront. The pain probably isn't caused by something too serious if your child is able to play or do other activities. But keep your child home from school if the stomach pain is accompanied by diarrhea or fever. If the child complains of stomach pain for several days, call your child's doctor for advice.

• A child who is vomiting should be kept home. Unless the source of the vomiting is obvious (for example, a reaction to a new food), you should also check with your child's doctor. Diarrhea is another reason to keep your child home. Younger school-age children may not be able to prevent accidents on the way to the bathroom.

• When it comes to temperature, a reading below 100 degrees is generally not cause for concern. A fever above 100 degrees, especially when combined with a sore throat, a rash, or other symptoms, could indicate a more serious illness. Keep the child home and describe the symptoms to your child's doctor.