24 hour fever free rule for school anyone??

[Lisa L from MI]

Does anyone also have this rule with their schools?? I was wondering how many really follow this??

DD 12 had a 102.8 this am and stayed home from school. She really wants to go tomorrow...being it is the last day before break but her fever is still 101 right now?? Think I should just wait and see how she is in the morning and just "break" the 24 hour fever free rule???

Thanks....oh...and no other symptoms really...although she didn't get off the couch all day...but says she feels fine

 

[eeyore kelly]

we have the 24 hour rule here. If she has been on the couch today and still has a fever tomorrow morning, I would keep her home

 

[Jennifer S]

We have that rule and I would keep her home. You don't won't her so run down for Christmas. She will probably not miss anything if it's the last day - maybe a party. Make the day fun - maybe rent some movies.

Personally I wouldn't want her to get anyone else sick - esp right before Christmas.

 

[KelNottAt]

I agree. As hard as it will be, keep her home.

Our day cares always had the 24 hour rule; but I've never heard anything about the schools.

Still, to play it safe, I'd say keep her home.

 

[staci]

I would definitely keep her home. I know it sucks to stay home, but all the other children (as well as your daughter) likely have a big week full of family, travel, celebrations, etc over the next 9 days or so. If she went to school before she was well, it would put all the other children at risk of missing out on some of the fun next week. While dd did not feel too ill, another child may have a weaker immune system to that virus and really be affected.

 

[yeartolate]

Her fever is still 101 and she wants to go to school in the AM? For her sake and for the sake of the other kids who may have their Christmas spoiled because of it, I would keep her home. Your daughter will mope around and fret for a bit, but that is her job at 12.

The fever free for 24 hours isn't a perfect rule, but frankly it does seem to help. Our schools started getting picky about following that rule (many angry parents at first) but it actually helped decrease absenteeism.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

It really doesn't matter to me if she does stay home...having her home-wise since I work M-F (DH works nights and sleeps during the day though). It is just that I think about that rule all the time....Maybe I will just keep her home even if she doesn't have a fever in the am....actually helps me a little since I won't have to drive her to school before work tomorrow too...She is really upset also, I think, since we got about 8 inches of snow today and she really really wants to go out in it----and the rule here is you can't go out anywhere if you didn't go to school. I guess I could tell her that if she is better when dad gets up tomorrow then she can go out in the snow. Now that I said that...I have a feeling that is the reason she wants to go to school tomorrow. I will give her motrin in a bit (so it will last for most of the night) and send her off to bed.

 

[daisyduck123]

What????
She has a fever of 101 right now & you are considering sending her to school?
No way.

Yesterday in my 1st grade classroom I sent 2 girls home with fevers.
Girl A was 101.something.
Girl B was 102.something.

Girl A showed up at 9:00 for school today.
I immediately sent her to the nurse when she came in & put her head down on her desk instead of doing her morning work. She was 101 & mom was called by 9:15...acted like she didn't know Girl A was sick.


Girl Bs mom tried to send her back today.
I had called mom this morning before school about something & mentioned that I would save all of her daughter's work for her. She replied she was sending her. I said she needed to be fever free for 24 hours & she said she did not know that.
She lied. School nurse had told her when she picked up her daughter yesterday at 1:00. Girl B had also told the school nurse she had a temperature the night before.

What is it with parents?

Boy A threw up all 4 times all over my class rug yesterday.
He said he'd had a stomachache before he came to school.

Everyone is getting sick because others are coming to school sick.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

I just didn't know how "important" this 24 hour rule was....don't get me wrong....if we woke up tomorrow and she still had a fever I would definitely keep her home....I just was talking about "planning" her on staying home since she has a fever NOW.

She is staying home anyway....I just checked her and it went up to 100.8 now....I don't think middle school really has any parties or anything anyway...

Thanks again everyone for your input!!

 

[staci]

I know our pediatrician has said (and I have seen it with ds many times) that fevers can spike in the evening and go down in the morning, only to return in the afternoon.

 

[daisyduck123]

I know our pediatrician has said (and I have seen it with ds many times) that fevers can spike in the evening and go down in the morning, only to return in the afternoon.

Exactly, which is why if your child has a fever all day, but seems fine the next morning , he should not go to school that day. You have no idea if it will return after lunch.

 

[wdwmom2]

I know our pediatrician has said (and I have seen it with ds many times) that fevers can spike in the evening and go down in the morning, only to return in the afternoon.

Yep, this is very true. But no 24 hour rule in this house, and I assist a pediatrition. If you feel fine in the morning and you have no fever, you're going to school. If DD14's temp would spike, no problem, I'll pick her up from school. But I have never had to pick her up. I don't feel the need to have her miss school for something that she had the day before. Now if she was seen by the doc and diagnosed with something contagious that required antibiotics, then I would keep her home until she was on antibiotics for 24 hours and fever free.

 

[Brianne]

Our school has the rule, but they don't really make it clear to parents ever. I can't even tell you how I know it even though it really is just common sense.

I would've said it'd be ok if she had broken the fever by this evening since she's showing no other symptoms. But if she's still over 100 now, she'd be better off staying home. Hope she feels better soon.

 

[wdwmom2]

Here's an educational link, it has quite a bit of info....

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_incubate_hhg.htm

 

[jfulcer]

Ok, grrrr stepping on soap box here....

DW works in DD's school and there are SOOOOO many kids that come to school sick to start out with and the parents feign ignorance. DW had to call a father the other day, and it took him 2 1/2 hours to get to the school. Why? Because he had to finish a meeting that was super important - which is why the school office assumed his sick kid came to school in the first place.

Now, for my soap box stepping - You have a sick child! Even if they have no fever in the morning, there's a GOOD chance that your child is still sick and will spread all the cold/flu/whatever germs the minute they step into the class. If not for your child's health and well being, at least think of the other children and faculty that will have to clean up after your decision and end up getting sick themselves.

Sick children, if they were sick the night before with a decent fever, should stay home. School is not for sick children. It's part of the parent contract you sign when you have kids - it's your responsibility to take care of them when they are sick, not your school.

 

[yeartolate]

Young children get infectious diseases 10 to 15 times per year. As they get older, children get sick less often. This is because with each new infection their bodies build up antibodies that will defend the body if the same germ attacks in the future.

This came directly from that link. Was I just overly lucky when my son was a baby?



I just have personal experience to go by. Before our school was strict about illnesses and fevers, Typhoid Mary would enter the class and the rest would drop like flies. They ended up taking a hard line on illnesses and absenteeism amoungst the students and teachers improved. Schools can lose a tremendous amount of funding when ilnesses spread needlessly through schools.

Granted, 24 hours is rather arbitrary, but it works. Otherwise parents and kids would be pushing the limits of the rules like crazy.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Well...Usually if I am fever free I go to school in the morning and if I must go home in the afternoon. At my school if you miss 1 day of school because your sick your grades can go from A's to F's.

 

[Aidensmom]

DS's school has the 24 hour rule, and I have never sent him to school sick, but I have sent him if it has not been a full 24 hours. If he has had no fever since 3 pm on Monday, I'll send him to school at 8 am on Tuesday. I always keep him home though if he still has a fever when he goes to bed the night before, regardless of if he does in the morning.

 

[Marseeya]

Just being devil's advocate here, but who's to say a fever is always something contagious anyway?

My DD gets a fever no matter what's wrong with her -- runny nose, fever; migraine, fever; overly stressed, fever. I know a cold is contagious, but even when most people don't get a fever with a cold, she does! DH is the same way as an adult and was that way as a kid.

With all the fevers she gets, needless to say I keep her home from school a lot, but you can bet if she's got a fever from a migraine, there's no need to keep her home for 24 hours.

 

[yeartolate]

Just being devil's advocate here, but who's to say a fever is always something contagious anyway?

Schools have been faced with extensive absenteeism because kids that are too sick to be at school are. So they have to make some guideline. The fever is a good start. If a child has an ongoing NONINFECTIOUS problem that causes fever, it should be clearly documented by an MD and they will write a note for that child. But schools have to draw the line somewhere.