Childcare - child with runny nose

[jellybean88]

What DOing my best said

[LizLemon]

I wouldn't send him. The clear vs green/yellow snot means nothing in terms of contagiousness, and if he's pale he's probably feeling under the weather.

I hope he gets better soon

[Jaycee]

If my child has a cold / runny nose but is otherwise fine and his normal little self I send him. If he looks / acts unwell I keep him home.

Even our child care workers have said if we were to keep our kids home every time they had a runny nose, there would be no one there, especially in winter!

[LizLemon]

Even our child care workers have said if we were to keep our kids home every time they had a runny nose, there would be no one there, especially in winter!

Yeah true that! I should have said if your day care centre is completely anal about any illness then don't send him but if colds don't seem to bother them then it will depend on whether your little one looks like he could cope with the day.

[Traveller]

I wouldn't worry abotu the runny nose and tickly throat, but if the paleness is accompanied by any lethargy I wouldn't send him unless the daycare are completely ok with it, happy to administer a dose of panadol, and happy to give him an extra nap if he needs it. My daycare was great and would accept the kids as you describe but if there was a temperature that wasn't brought down by panadol then they would need to stay home. This actually worked well and my kids rarely got sick at daycare despite an influx of tickly coughs and runny noses by all children.