How Sick Is Too Sick to Attend School?

Does he feel well enough to pay attention and participate in class? Will a little bit of cough med get him through the day? Is the cough so bad that it will distract the class from learning?

If we kept kids home for every cough and sniffle they would miss half the year. But if we send them too sick it is not fair to them or thier classmates. It is a difficult decision!

Anything that would be distracting to him/her or the students around them - coughing, sneezing, body pains, headache, complaints, etc. And there's also the possibility of avoiding the worst of a cold by treating it early and heading it off at the pass. :}

A mild cough with no fever still goes to school. A bad cough with a lot of phlem stays home and gets to snuggle on the couch with the Vicks vaporizer in the room.
J.

I agree, it depends on the situation. If he has no fever and it is calmed with cough syrup, then send him to school. My son had a couch for a few days I took him to have it checked out. Turned out to be allergies. He didn't miss any days because of it. Which he was happy about. :)

I always decided on a case by case basis, depending on how bad my daughter was feeling in general.
Fever - automatic stay home.
Cough that can be mananged with cough drops - go to school.
Sniffles - go to schol with lots of tissues in her backpack.
Bad, constant cough - stay home.
Snot pouring out of her nose - stay home.
Body aches and other symptoms along with the cough or runny nose - stay home.

a good rule of thumb is fever free for 24 hours with no vomiting, diarrhea, or excess fatigue

I've sent my son with a small cough before. If he is constantly coughing every hour then i would keep him home but a cough here and there isn't that bad in my opinion. Hope it doesn't last too long!

I would say that usually a cough is fine to send to school with, yet given the swine flu situation, I would keep my child home to see if the cough develops in to something more.
Hope he feels better soon!

Ask your childs school what their policy is. Our school is fever over 100 degrees. Coughing and sneezing is part of life and happens daily. If he is truley sick he needs to stay home. If cough medicine like Delsym stops it for a while then dose him and send him. You could just about bet money there will be other kids there with the same, or worse, symptoms.

Our local Head Start called me one day to ask me to go pick up K. She started coughing when she laid down for nap and it was annoying the teacher. I said it would be a while and picked her up just a few minutes early. It's nothat I didn't want to help out but that it was just a teacher who wanted to have her quiet time int he classroom, maybe she wanted a nap too.

Anyway, it's up to you and your school policy. I say give some cough syrup, take cough drops, maybe see if it's excess drainage from allergies and does he need allergy med too.