Keep Your Kids Home!!

[mjaclyn]

Why do some parents insist on bringing their children to group activities when they know the kids are sick? DD and DS were invited to a Superhero party on Saturday and one of DD's friends still came even though she'd had a fever and was sick two days before. I know the rule of thumb is if your child is fever free for 24 hours it's okay to bring them around other children, but this little girl was sneezing and coughing up a storm. She was also not covering her mouth but still sticking her hands in the bowls with food, holding other kid's hands, etc. The mom ended up leaving early because a couple of the parents were telling their kids not to hold her hand because she was sneezing. I think she got offended and left... I was surprised to hear some of the parents telling her to stay, that the child only had allergies, etc. I was NOT one of those moms. I tried to keep my kids as far away from her as possible and kept washing my daughter's hands. It obviously didn't help because both of my children woke up with fevers of 101 this morning. I also just found out that one of the other children got sick last night as well with a fever. I'm so annoyed because this could have been avoided. I know that I can't prove that my kids got sick from DD's friend, but it's a pretty logical conclusion since they don't go to daycare and the one of the other girls got sick with the same thing as well. Why can't people keep their kids home??? I know that I do even though I really want to take them somewhere. In this day and age with swine flu and who knows what else is going around you'd think people would be a little more cautious.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Because they are jerks.

 

[cinmell]

Why can't people keep their kids home???

I know the answer to this question. It's because people are selfish.

 

[Christine]

Because her baby really wanted to go to that party.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The hostess of the party has to have guts of steel to get the nerve up and tell the jerk to leave.

I would do it if I knew they had a fever. Could you?

 

[MichelleVW]

I work at a daycare in the infant room and Friday we had an 11 month old who had diarrhea and was vomiting. The director called his mother (on her day off) at 10 am to come pick him up, she came at 6:15 Pm when she got done with all her "errands"

Some people shouldn't be parents...

 

[LuvOrlando]

People are a mess. My DD had her 11 year sleepover birthday last month. Mind you my Asthmatic DD nearly died from H1N1 + Pneumonia +Blood infection. Well one of her friends comes over to my house COUGHING. The mother is a teacher at my DD's school and I had a lengthy conversation with her about my DD's illness so there is no way she didn't know.

So he kid gets to my house and since DD wanted her to stay (how could I ruin my kids' birthday? ) I did the best i could. My poor DS had to stay upstairs all night. I stuck them all in the basement only able to come upstairs to use the bathroom. I placed this kid's sleeping bag as far away from DD as possible. I emptied the large bowls and gave each kid a nice size private bowl of chips. I hovered put names on and tossed out cups often. I cleaned the bathroom every time a kid left it and made sure I only had paper towels to dry hands with. I also put hand sanitizer everywhere and gave each kid a dollop before eating. Not only didn't I want this kid to get my DD sick but I didn't want to send anyone else home ill either.

The thing is I am pretty open about my kids' health concerns but I don't really know if other kids have issues of their own or maybe sick siblings. No way would I want something like this on my conscience. It's so messed up.

 

[mykidsand_i]

I have asked a parent to not leave their child before! I was furious when DD8 had a princess party and one girls parents brought her sick. When they dropped her off they said "oh, she just has a bit of a fever, but she says she's feeling better." I just requested that they not leave her and the girls could have a play date the following week. I didn't want to make the parents mad, because my DD8 and this little girl are good friends at school, but also, we had 10 other girls at the party that I was responsible for. If I wouldn't offer them food that makes them sick, why would I allow the sick child to come and get them sick? i don't think there's much of a difference.

 

[Christine]

The hostess of the party has to have guts of steel to get the nerve up and tell the jerk to leave.

I would do it if I knew they had a fever. Could you?

OP says the child had a fever 2 days prior to the party and was just sneezing and coughing at partytime. So I'm assuming there was no fever at that point.

 

[2binak]

I work at a daycare in the infant room and Friday we had an 11 month old who had diarrhea and was vomiting. The director called his mother (on her day off) at 10 am to come pick him up, she came at 6:15 Pm when she got done with all her "errands"

Some people shouldn't be parents...

OMG - that just breaks my heart! When my DD is sick, I just want to hold her and make her feel better. You're so right...some people shouldn't be parents.

OP - I agree that the little girl should have been kept home just to be on the safe side seeing that her fever was either still there or just passed.

We had a coughing child at DD's last b-day. He had been on antibiotics for 6 days before the party for a sinus infection and he and DD were the only kids there so we could control the situation. The first time he coughed into his hands, I said, "How about we go and wash out hands before we play with more toys ok?" His mom was great about taking him to wash the 5 or 6 times he coughed over the course of the party.

 

[Scurvy]

People send their kids to group activities when they are sick because they are selfish. I love to hear some of them try to justify what they're doing. "But my child must have caught this at school, so I'm sure everyone else there was already exposed!" Never mind the fact that the child might have been exposed elsewhere, or they might have been much closer to the one sick child at school and their classmates might not already have been exposed. Or there's "It isn't fair for my child to have to miss the party, etc." Because it's totally fair for your little snowflake to make everyone else sick, as long as Snowflake is having fun. And then there's the always popular "I can't afford to keep Snowflake home, I have to go to work to earn a living." Because it's fine for you to make the reposnsible parents' kids sick, so they have to stay home, because they are much less important than you are!. People are idiots sometimes.

ETA - As others have pointed out, this child might not have been contagious. If it was really 48 hours since the fever and a cough was just hanging on, it might not be an issue. I have no problem with non-contagious kids being out in public. My son has horrible seasonal allergies and spends half the year with a cough or stuffy nose. It's the parents who try to justify knowingly sending out a contagious child who I have a real problem with!

 

[MichelleVW]

OMG - that just breaks my heart! When my DD is sick, I just want to hold her and make her feel better. You're so right...some people shouldn't be parents.

.

It made me so sad. The poor little guy was in his crib all day because we were trying to keep him from the other babies. At one point at the end of the day he was in his crib looking at me whimpering (honestly I didn't want to be near him either because I didn't want to get sick) and I couldn't take it anymore and picked him up and said, "ok, I'll hold you, your parents don't love you so SOMEBODY has too!!" We were so mad at work....he's such a sweet little boy but just seems to be an accessory for the parents.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If her fever had passed for 48 hours, I wouldn't be bothered if she was near other children and still "hacking". As long as she could maintain proper hygeine--I'm not about keeping everyone away until they are 100% free of whatever bothers you.

I think it bothers me more about all the germaphobes at the party and that the mom had to leave b/c she was shunned.

I'm more disgusted by your behavior more than hers.

Sometimes all that "hacking" is simply the body trying to clear out whatever--it isn't necessarily that she continues to be sick. But I'm sure all of you parents with medical degrees had a better idea of that child's health.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I work at a daycare in the infant room and Friday we had an 11 month old who had diarrhea and was vomiting. The director called his mother (on her day off) at 10 am to come pick him up, she came at 6:15 Pm when she got done with all her "errands"

Some people shouldn't be parents...

That's horrible--but not what the OP experienced.

Couldn't you have just reported her? I would have been livid. We had a mom drop her child off at mom's morning out several times with her child in that condition...AND she didn't tell us. We had the blessing of discovering it on our own.

 

[3boymthr]

Why do some parents insist on bringing their children to group activities when they know the kids are sick? DD and DS were invited to a Superhero party on Saturday and one of DD's friends still came even though she'd had a fever and was sick two days before. I know the rule of thumb is if your child is fever free for 24 hours it's okay to bring them around other children, but this little girl was sneezing and coughing up a storm. She was also not covering her mouth but still sticking her hands in the bowls with food, holding other kid's hands, etc. The mom ended up leaving early because a couple of the parents were telling their kids not to hold her hand because she was sneezing. I think she got offended and left... I was surprised to hear some of the parents telling her to stay, that the child only had allergies, etc. I was NOT one of those moms. I tried to keep my kids as far away from her as possible and kept washing my daughter's hands. It obviously didn't help because both of my children woke up with fevers of 101 this morning. I also just found out that one of the other children got sick last night as well with a fever. I'm so annoyed because this could have been avoided. I know that I can't prove that my kids got sick from DD's friend, but it's a pretty logical conclusion since they don't go to daycare and the one of the other girls got sick with the same thing as well. Why can't people keep their kids home??? I know that I do even though I really want to take them somewhere. In this day and age with swine flu and who knows what else is going around you'd think people would be a little more cautious.

Ummm...Mind you I wouldn't bring my kids somewhere if they were sick. And I do think the mom needs to reinforce proper behavior with sneezing and coughing.

But I think you're over reacting.

The fever was over so who's to say that what she had wasn't allergies - lots of kids have allergies this time of year. My kids have been sneezing and coughing for several weeks now. They came down with a fever last week - it lasted a day and was over, but the sneezing and coughing continues over 10 days later - it is just allergies and I'm not keeping them home for allergies.

Plus, Your DD could just as easily have gotten ill from someone not showing any symptoms as many many illnesses come from contact before someone ever shows any symptoms.

 

[jodifla]

if her fever had passed for 48 hours, i wouldn't be bothered if she was near other children and still "hacking". As long as she could maintain proper hygeine--i'm not about keeping everyone away until they are 100% free of whatever bothers you.

I think it bothers me more about all the germaphobes at the party and that the mom had to leave b/c she was shunned.

I'm more disgusted by your behavior more than hers.

Sometimes all that "hacking" is simply the body trying to clear out whatever--it isn't necessarily that she continues to be sick. But i'm sure all of you parents with medical degrees had a better idea of that child's health.

ita!

 

[Tinkmom75]

If her fever had passed for 48 hours, I wouldn't be bothered if she was near other children and still "hacking". As long as she could maintain proper hygeine--I'm not about keeping everyone away until they are 100% free of whatever bothers you.

I think it bothers me more about all the germaphobes at the party and that the mom had to leave b/c she was shunned.

I'm more disgusted by your behavior more than hers.

Sometimes all that "hacking" is simply the body trying to clear out whatever--it isn't necessarily that she continues to be sick. But I'm sure all of you parents with medical degrees had a better idea of that child's health.

ITA I have allergies and have children with allergies and asthma. Coughing and runny noses comes along with this. If I were to quarantine my children with every cough they would never leave the house.

OP: Please clarify, did the child have a fever at the party or two days before.

Let's also keep in mind infections can be contagious for a few days prior to symptoms and up to 2 weeks after symptoms. I can't quarantine my children 3 weeks each time they have the sniffles or a cough. If they have a fever then I follow the 24 hour rule.

ETA: Mkrop said, coughing is a sign of an attack and often when children have been sick and are over the virus the coughing will keep going and we need to get that under control with breathing treatments or steroids.

 

[Mkrop]

Ummm...Mind you I wouldn't bring my kids somewhere if they were sick. And I do think the mom needs to reinforce proper behavior with sneezing and coughing.

But I think you're over reacting.

The fever was over so who's to say that what she had wasn't allergies - lots of kids have allergies this time of year. My kids have been sneezing and coughing for several weeks now. They came down with a fever last week - it lasted a day and was over, but the sneezing and coughing continues over 10 days later - it is just allergies and I'm not keeping them home for allergies.

Plus, Your DD could just as easily have gotten ill from someone not showing any symptoms as many many illnesses come from contact before someone ever shows any symptoms.

This is exactly what I thought. My DS12 has cough variant asthma so coughing is what he does when he has an attack. And DS7 is coughing now bc his tree allergies and the pollen count are insanely high.

It is not always the person who is exhibiting the outward symptoms that is the most contagious.

And in regards to that poor baby left at daycare, shame on that mother. I would have gotten fired bc I would have reemed her out when did finally get there, plus I would have been calling her on her cell all day to remind her to come get him.

 

[castleview]

Are you sure she was still sick? If she were on antibiotics for 24 hours, there'd be nothing to worry about. Plus when people say fever, you never know if it's a true fever.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I go through this ALL the time with DF's cousins. They are always sick and his aunt constantly brings them around when they are sick. One day we went to DF's grandmother's house for DF's birthday, his aunt brings her kiddos and one of them ends up laying in the spare bedroom all night coughing with a fever, WHY bring him? Needless to say me and DD were sick the next week, whatever I had just did not want to go away and I ended up in bed for a whole week with pains in my chest from coughing so much.
So, I understand and feel your pain! We also go through this is school, parents sending their kids to school amped up with tylenol and by noon they have a fever.
Last year a little girl came in school with a fever and looked terrible (this is K BTW) she was immediately sent down to the nurse. Her mother came in with tylenol and a spoon and was about to administer the dosage in front of the nurse, but the nurse told her it was school policy that she had to go home and be 24 hours fever free, so please not to send her tomorrow either. The mother was FURIOUS! If your kid is sick WHY would she want to be in school anyways, I felt so bad for this little one, she needed to be in her bed, relaxing and watching some TV.
Some people just don't get it!