Cold and flu season: deciding whether your child stays home

At 6:45 on a weekday morning, a child with a runny nose and a warm forehead puts you in front of a decision with very little time to make it. Most of the answer is already in your school's illness policy. Turn that policy into a short checklist you can use on a sick morning, set up your backup plan before you need it, and tell the school clearly when your child is staying home.

These steps apply your school's rules. For any question about your child's health, follow your doctor's advice and your local health guidance.

Read the policy before the first sick morning

Find your school's illness policy now, on a calm evening. It's usually in the family handbook or the enrollment packet. If you can't find it, ask the office for a copy.

Read it with a pen and look for these things:

• Symptoms that mean staying home. Most policies list things like fever, vomiting, diarrhea, an unexplained rash, or eye discharge. Note exactly what your school lists and any numbers it uses, such as a temperature.
• How long to stay home. Many policies say a child must be free of a symptom for a set time before coming back. Note the time and whether it counts from the last symptom or from when medicine was given.
• When a doctor's note is needed. Some conditions need a note to return.
• What happens if your child gets sick at school. How quickly you need to collect your child, and where they wait until you arrive.
• How to report an absence. The method, and the time the school needs to hear by.

If any part is unclear, ask the office now. "Does the 24 hours start from the last time he threw up, or from the end of the day?" is much easier to ask in October than at 6:45 on a school morning.

Make a one-page morning check

Copy the policy's rules onto one page in your own words. Keep it short enough to read in a minute. Tape it inside a kitchen cupboard, or save it as a note on your phone.

A layout that works:

Stays home if:

• [each symptom your school lists, with any number it gives]

Can go back when:

• [the return rule for each symptom, with the waiting time]

Needs a doctor's note for:

• [the conditions your school names]

Tell the school by:

• [the time and the method]

Fill in the brackets from your school's own policy. Don't add your own rules or guess at what the school means. When the policy and your instinct disagree, call the school or your doctor.

On a sick morning, read the page from top to bottom. If your child has anything in the first section, they stay home. If they don't, and you're still unsure, call your doctor's office or the school.

Plan your backup before you need it

Arranging care is often the hardest part of a sick day. Settle it in advance.

• Talk with your partner or co-parent about who stays home on which days, or how you'll take turns.
• Ask one or two people who could step in on short notice: a grandparent, a neighbor, a friend with flexible hours.
• Check what your workplace allows for sick leave or working from home, and how much notice it needs.
• Keep a short list of these names and numbers next to your morning check.

Also plan for the call from school. If your child gets sick during the day, the school will expect someone to arrive within the time its policy sets. Make sure the school has current numbers for everyone allowed to collect your child.

Tell the school, then plan the day at home

When your child stays home, report it the way the school asks and before the time it sets. Give the details the school needs:

My son is staying home today with a fever that started last night. We'll keep him home until he's been fever-free for the time the policy says. I'll let you know if he sees the doctor.

A short message like this helps the classroom plan and lets the school watch for an illness spreading through the class.

At home, keep the day quiet and simple. Follow your doctor's advice on rest, fluids and any medicine. Check the return rule on your morning page before sending your child back, even if they seem full of energy.

The evening before your child returns, read the "Can go back when" section again. If your child meets the rule, pack the bag as usual. If they don't, plan one more day at home and let the school know.