Digital News Report- The National Association of School Nurses and Triaminic have developed a list of guidelines to help parents navigate the cold season and decide whether or not to let their child have a sick day. “Sick Day Guidelines: Making the Right Call When Your Child Has a Cold,” provides parents with the key signs that they should consider keeping their child home from school along with tips for helping to prevent colds and relieve cough and cold symptoms.
“Healthy children learn better. It’s our goal to support parents and the decisions they make when their child is sick,” said Amy Garcia, Executive Director of the National Association of School Nurses. “We felt that this was a perfect opportunity to extend our support to the home and provide parents with a resource that can help them make confident decisions.”
According to NASNT, 83% of parents worried that they may have sent their child back to school at least once before their child was fully recovered from his/her cough or cold.
Examples of the tips include:
* Consider keeping your child home from school if he or she has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, has been vomiting, or has symptoms that prevent him or her from participating in school, such as excessive tiredness or lack of appetite, productive coughing, sneezing, headache, body aches, earache or sore throat.
* Children should stay home from school until the fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication. Returning to school sooner may slow recovery and expose others to unnecessary illness.
* After your child is feeling better, clean all surfaces; wash the bedding and air out the room.
The Sick Day Guidelines and more information on using children’s cough and cold medications appropriately are available at www.nasn.org, www.triaminic.com, or by calling 1-800-KIDS-987. The Sick Day Guidelines are available in both English and Spanish.