Sick Kids etiquette

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Thanks guys that helps, we really did think it was just a runny nose until DH and I caught it and were miserable. We all seem to be doing better though.

[Phoebe]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

With kids it is hard to tell. Week before last, Tyler had a fever for 5 days ranging from 102 to 99 with no other symptoms. She ate, played, slept, peed and pooed normally. Was it a virus or teething?

Last week, I went to a concert had some beers and got sick (It was Dave Matthews,too! missed the whole encore). My pregnant friend also at the concert was sick with the stomach flu the next day. A couple days ago, Avery had a stomachache for a couple hours and then vomited. The next day she was fine. Was it something she ate or a virus? It is hard to tell.

[JaneDoe]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, malaise will keep us at home though.

This is my general rule of thumb too. However, the gym that I go to will not allow kids who have runny noses with green mucous in the childcare room. :huh: All other colors of mucous are welcome, just not the green ones.

Apparently, the green mucous is more contagious than other colors.

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Yes, the green mucous.... Fear the green mucous.

I had Luke in a playgroup last spring and there was a mom there who insisted that her son had only seasonal allergies and he was constantly sneezing out yellow gunk, his nose was crusted over, his eyes looked crappy, he was just... sicky...

Beware of the moms who say "it's just allergies" b/c my sons had "just allergies" and really that means that they have some clear drainage but mostly they just sneeze a lot, and they don't have the green mucous...

:huh:

Fun times...

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Green mucous - good to know! Adele never had that but I was wondering if there was a way to tell if it was contagious!

[JaneDoe]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Green mucous - good to know! Adele never had that but I was wondering if there was a way to tell if it was contagious!

I was being facetious about green mucous being more contagious than other colors of mucous. That is why I was at my gym. Apparently, I can bring my kid in with a horrendous runny nose of clear mucous, but I can't with the green stuff. My understanding of green mucous is that it isn't any more contagious than other colors of mucous. The reason it is the color green has to do with how long it has been in the sinus area, which would also explain why we tend to see green mucous after the child has had the cold for several days. I think the gym equates green mucous to bacteria, which I don't think is accurate.

According to my gym's rules, I could bing my kid in with a brand new cold when the symptoms tend to be the most severe, yet after several days when the the green stuff emerges, the child is no longer welcome. It doesn't make sense to me.

Nonetheless, it's the gym rules and I follow them. It is comforting to know that they are making an effort to keep the sick kids home.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Ugg - I'm just going to lock her in her room until she's 30!

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

Nonetheless, the green mucous rule is around in almost any childcare setting... Green mucous is just nasty, though... For me it's easy to tell between allergies and a cold, and it doesn't correlate to the color of mucous, but other symptoms (lethargy, droopy eyes, temperature, etc.)...

I've always heard that the non-clear mucous is indicative of an infection, and that ER docs used to just check the color of mucous and if it was not clear and the kid had any other symptoms, they were put on antibiotics right away... Now they don't prescribe antibiotics that quickly, unless the symptoms have been persisting a long time. :huh:

But the green mucous for your kid means definitely keep them out of childcare.

[DCJenn]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

See, Rick told me that it's more indicative of length of time in the nasal cavaties than a diagnosis of what caused it in the first place.

The bottom line is boogers are gross. Or, as my brother is teaching my nephew- "You can pick your nose but only the wierd kids eat it."

Jenn

[alison]

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

I love it, Jenn!!!

I hope you all are on the mend, Cheri. Darn those summer bugs.

Re: Sick Kids etiquette

I hope she is feeling better soon, Cheri. FWIW, as I recall, my kids seemed to start getting sick once they were touching and grabbing more stuff. Wash her hands, wash the toys you saw in another kid's mouth after you host a playgroup -- I do that but try not to get too crazy about it. I've also noticed that some of the colds that mildly bother my kids knock me on my butt and vice-versa. :huh:

DD1 has strep and we just spent a weekend with friends and their kids. Niiiiice gift we left them with. Their daughter was complaining of a sore throat this morning. A certain amount of illness-passing-around is unavoidable.