[superMaMa]

I took my daughter to a playgroup the other day. There was a mom with her son who is sick, and he cough really bad.

Would you do that? If my daugher is sick, I won't take her to a place that is full of other kids.

[carang]

I agree, it is not good to take sick children to playgroup or send them to school. it passes the sickness around to all of the other children. As a teacher of young children I can tell you that I get sick at least once per month because of parents sending their kids to school sick.

The problem is that parents usually have to pay for the class even if the child doesn't attend. This is why they insist on bringing their children, even if the child is terribly sick.

[jools]

No I wouldn't. My youngest has just been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and if he gets a cough he could end up in hospital. You don't know what your child's cold will do to compromise the health of others. Whilst I feel children should be exposed to a certain level of germs, there is no excuse for taking your obviously ill child to a place where they can pass on their infection. How much fun is it for them, when I'm ill I want to rest not be taken out.

[kellyst]

agree that sick children should not be at playgroups.
but the problem lies with the make up class policy, i think responsible playgroups should allow for that flexibility. i'm happy that we're with one that allows for a few make up classes per session, it encourages parents to keep their kids home if they're sick. it's really not fair to the other kids to bring sick children there.

[rach]

Sometimes a cough may not mean an illness, my son has some mild respiratory problems (kind of like asthma but too young to say no doubt pollution doesn't help) anyway when it gets bad he gets wheezy and a chesty mucous sounded cough but it is in no way a contagious cough. He also gets a runny nose and again it is not a cold its all part of the same problem. But really impossible to tell this at a glance and i would still keep away form a sick sounding child but occasionally my son might sound this way and he is harmless (although i would usually explain this!)

[syuan]

rach, i am in the same position! glad you brought it up. my son has had allergic rhinitis/bronchitis since he was born, and it's only gotten worse, now he's 4 years old. of course others have no way of knowing that it's not contagious, except for people who have known us for a while. but i would certainly not bring him to any playgroups or school if i knew he he was contagious.

also, i wonder how parents deal with coughs/colds that don't seem to go away for weeks? you could end up missing nearly half the classes in an 8-week term due to a stubborn cough. and at some places, you aren't even allowed to do make-up classes if you don't inform them in advance and in writing!

[KatBoo]

Rach / syuan

Can you let me know the Doctors/Paediatrician's you have seen please? My 5.5 month old daughter is suffering from respiratory problems, with all the same symptoms that you describe. She's just come out of hospital after a 2 week stint for bronchiolitis, but essentially is still not 100% better & still coughing & a bit wheezy.

My Doc says she is too young to test for allergies, and that sometimes this RSV/bronchiolitis takes a long time to shake off. But he was surprised that it has taken this long! I am wanting to get a second opinion really.

Thanks
K

[capital]

I think it depends on how sick you mean. If the child is well enough to participate in activites then I think it is fine. A cough can take some time to go away. If I never went anywhere when my children had coughs, between the 2 of them I would never leave my house. If they are going somewhere they regularily attend, like school, then every single child in that room has long since already been exposed to the virus. Many virus are contagious before symptoms appear.