For parents with toddler and preschool kids. What's your yardstick for sending them to school when they are unwell? - some parents keep kids home the minute a runny nose or cough develops. They get super upset with other parents who send kids to school when they are sick - some parents use fever as the yardstick and send back to school after 24 hours from when fever subsides, the kid may have a tail cough or drippy nose - some parents simply have not much choice. Either insufficient leave or no other care arrangements. They put their kids in school even with a fever. My tot had a fever and cough. We kept him home for a whole week because he had a cough after the fever subsided. That was a lot of taking time off work both hub and my end and the kid having to readjust back to school after being away for a week. Looking at how often the little fella gets a cough or cold, if I continue with this, we could probably be home half the time. Any thoughts on this first world problem?

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Schools and child care centers will not usually accept kids who are running a fever. This would be a period when they are especially contagious and also, most kids with fever are not feeling well systematically. The fever is usually the first to resolve but runny nose and coughs tend to be very persistent. If your child has some of the symptoms but no fever, is still as active as ever and is eating well, then you could consider allowing him back to school. Strict hand washing is still advisable to minimise transmission of the virus. Hope this helps.

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