I'm really frustrated. DS goes to gymboree 3 times a week (music, play and art ) and the guidelines clearly state not to bring a sick child . Still , many moms (and dads) ignore that and bring in a child who has a runny nose, a mild cold, coughing etc etc ???!! I mean every parent knows how hard it is with a sick child and I would think would want to avoid other kids getting infected by their child. DS was coughed at in the face a few days ago and is so sick now . Poor baby was just getting over croup too!I mean I'm on my toes but it takes only half a second for this sort of exposure to happen.I mean even though the symptoms may be mild the child is still liable to infect other kids easily. Most of these viruses are airborne and to have so many kids in close proximity it's just so very very unfair to bring a sickish child to play.
I mean I understand that kids will get sick but really these parents are fully aware of the situation and still bring their child to play. Is it really worth infecting other kids just because you wish to get out of the house and are tired of staying indoors in this cold weather with a sick child. I think not! but I wish others thought in the same way.I mean so many bad viral illnesses start off with a mild cold symptoms . It's just so so unfair ! In daycare I've heard they check and can send a risky child back home but in gymboree one teacher just can't handle so many parents I think. Maybe I should say something to the manager about better compliance?? I don't know what to do ?? I am so frustarted. Has anyone else faced anything similar?

By Bea on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 06:15 pm:

I'm sure every Mom here has faced the situation. We can't control the actions of others. Maybe you could have your son wear a filtering mask to gymboree... if that's where this happens most often. It would bring the matter to the attention of the staff without making you the tattle-tale. The staff should be sending children who are visibly sick home. You should tell them that it's up to them to enforce the rules, and that if your child is exposed to any severe infections, you will sue. That should get their attention.

By Marg on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 06:18 pm:

Dh works in public schools. I have started a vitamin and extra vitamin C everyday for me and all the dds. I started this in October after a bad sinus infection, I have not had a cold since. DDs just started on it after I took them to the dr in the first part of January. Dh won't take it! Says he doesn't need it.

He gets colds all the time I know kids have to go to school when they're not feeling well, and it is sad.

No advice.

By Trisa on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 06:18 pm:

I also think its just so rude.
I don't like it when people bring sick
kids to the church nursery. You have a right
to be upset!

By Vicki on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 06:47 pm:

Do the guidelines clarify what a "sick child" is? Most places that I am aware of consider the determining factor to be a fever.

By Kaye on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 09:19 pm:

From a mom of a child that is chronically sick, I understand. My son in asthmatic, he gets a cough and stays with a cough from oct to late march. I cannot keep him home for that long. In general I keep a sick kid home from school when they a. have a temp, b. have vomiting etc or c. are very lethargic. That is prety much it. As toddlers, preschool I added to that a green runny nose. But honestly most of the coughing, clear noses are due to allergies and asthma and are not contagious. On top of that, usually the worst illness are those you cannot see. Croup is like that, if my son is around someone who has croup it sets him into a major asthma attack that often sends us to the er. But most cases the kids are mostly fine by day. I would like to think most parents keep really sick kids home, but that definition is just different for everyone.

By Bobbie on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 09:56 pm:

Kaye, I have a nephew with allergies. He has a clear runny nose all winter long every winter and has since he was a baby. So if she locked him in the house because his nose is runny then he would never leave the house. I think there is a difference between allergies and a common cold and a sick child. To me sick means just as you stated: a. have a temp, b. have vomiting etc or c. are very lethargic and clear signs of nasal infection. Kids can pick up colds anywhere they go so it isn't anything you can do anything about. And to be honest I don't have a major issue with it. But my kids are are older and in general healthy so I don't see any harm in a small seasonal cold someone else's child is carrying. Kids have to attend school and in school colds are common because the kids can't miss months of school at a time because they have cough they just can't shake. It is just a part of being out in the world and being a child.

By Jodie on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 06:48 am:

Well, everybody has made good points and I'm trying to understand.But I mean if a child had fever plus vomitting etc you just wouldn't be able to take him to gymplay. That would border on child abuse and I'm sure no parent would knowingly do that. But it's the dangerous viral infections that concern me. Most common childhood viruses are associated with low grade fevers and if missed then that gets superimposed by bacterial infection and that's when you see the green snot and the hacking wet cough. I've seen kids with both at Gymplay. The kids run around snot running down their face and coughing all over the play equipment that all kids use and their moms are busy catching up with other moms over in the corner ?? Hello??!!
I think everybody understands asthma and allergy issues and those are not associated with green/yellow mucous and a deep hacking smoker's wet cough. My ds has allergies during the summer and has a clear runny nose all the time.I make sure I'm there to wipe his nose at all times when with other kids just to not worry anyone.
I'm in 2 minds about the "kids will get colds from other kids , so it's ok deal with it " way of thinking. I mean if you know colds are highly infectious and take a week of suffering for the poor child to get better WHY would you take your child with cold symptoms even if there is no fever to a group thing? What makes it right to knowingly infect other kids ? With or without a fever, cold virus is airborne and very infectious.
My son got croup from being coughed in the face by a child with a bad cough and a cold whose mom probably thought he had just a cold and it's ok to let him play with other kids. Croup takes a few days to emerge after the cold starts. In the summertime Coxsachie virus is airborne and starts with mild coldish symptoms and then after a few days of incubation it's goes into the intestinal mode of vomitting, diarrhea etc. I'm sure many parents tkae their kids to regular activities"Oh it's just a cold " kind of thinking and no wonder everyyear there are many many many cases of this virus in the summertime. Knowledge and consideration would be so much appreciated. I wish no one would talk about a cold as "just a cold'. A little child doesn't feel that way for a whole week I'm sure.
I'm just so sad for poor DS. He's lost so much weight and is so sad getting croup and this heavy duty cold one after another after being coughed at and now sneezed at , snot and all , right in the face. I'm dying to see his little smile again.Terribly sorry if I sound like I'm sounding off but I just don't understand other people's logic at times and am very stressed right now. Thanks for letting me vent.

By Vicki on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 08:37 am:

My ds has allergies during the summer and has a clear runny nose all the time.I make sure I'm there to wipe his nose at all times when with other kids just to not worry anyone.

My question to you would be this: If your son has a constant runny nose in the summer, how do you then know if it is just allergy related or if it is in the process of turning into something else? If he WOULD be in the process of it turning into something more, you would have no idea. So, do you keep him in and away from everyone all summer long? I think myself and the others are just saying that a common cold is just that. Common. Most kids get it, cough and blow their nose for a few days and get over it. I understand that some kids get a common cold and because of their immune system or an underlying thing like asthma or something, a common cold can be much more. I do think those parents need to be extra cautious. But, that being said, if parents kept kids home for a runny nose and that lingering cough that sometimes lasts weeks, no one would ever be at school or work!! I am so sorry that your little boy is so sick and feeling so miserable and I hope that he feels better soon.

By Kaye on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 08:46 am:

the other thing I want to mention. The main reason I keep my kids home from activities is not because I worry that they will get sick, but when they are sick their immune system is so compromised they can catch anything fast. So with your son just getting over croup, I think you need to keep him home for a bit to let him get over and get better. You want to blame these other mom's but the truth be told, he was just as likely to picked this up at the grocery store or at walmart from a cart or a public restroom!

By Jodie on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 11:49 am:

Thanks for your input Kaye . You made some very good points.But as common sense goes I did keep DS home a week extra after his lingering cough was over from his croup.He just turned 2. It's been deathly cold up here in Jersey for a while and windy to boot , so I don't take DS to the stores . Just gymboree and back. That was the first time he went after his illness and got sneezed at in the face by a little kid all snotted up green and yellow while his mom chatted away in a corner. I was there . I know what happened. The incubation period is 3-5 days and exactly after that ds got another nasty cold with green and yellow stuff . So I know where he got it.
The extra vitamin c idea is good and I'll try that.Ds already gets a multivitamin.

By Marcia on Monday, January 26, 2004 - 10:03 am:

Try some echinacea, too. It's an immune builder, and will help ward off colds, sore throats, etc.

By Mommmie on Monday, January 26, 2004 - 10:40 am:

Well, here's my theory. See what you think about this. My son started full time daycare at age 2 when I went back to work. As expected he was constantly sick for the first year. There are always sick kids at daycare. Parents just can't take off that much time.

Anyway, after that first year he's been healthy as can be. He's 9 now. Never sick. Ever. Do you think exposing him to these bugs at age 2 made him healthier now? Or do you think he would have gone through the constantly sick thing when he started Kindergarten when absences are more of a problem?

I just never worried about the sick thing even as I dropped him off at daycare knowing there will be sick kids there. Germs are everywhere anyway.

By Feona on Monday, January 26, 2004 - 10:47 am:

One thing that helped us is I always wash his hands before leaving the school building. I estimate this cuts down on 50% off sickness.

Also he takes vitamin c gummy bear vitamins. We haven't been sick since we have been doing this for about 2 months...

By Marcia on Monday, January 26, 2004 - 12:31 pm:

Yes, it happens whenever you start out in a group setting, whether it's at 2 or 5. It also happens to teachers and nurses their first year.

By Lauram on Monday, January 26, 2004 - 03:38 pm:

I'm not sure I would consider that child "sick." Certainly no school or daycare I know of would. You might want to ask what the sick child policy means and how it is inforced. There are MANY people (not just kids) who walk around with common colds.