Every Spring, just when we think we are going to start feeling better after getting through our winter colds, my kids and I inevitably get sick AGAIN. Right now, as I type this, I have a pounding headache, a stuffy nose, and I’m coughing. And I just got over bronchitis last month and the flu in January! Does anyone else think maybe it’s MICHIGAN that’s making me sick? (kidding!)

It’s hard, as a Mom, to know what to do when your kid shows up at the breakfast table dragging their feet and saying they “don’t feel good”.  When do you keep them home and when should you encourage them to at least try to go to school? Here are some guidelines you can follow to determine when to give your kids a Sick Day:

If your child has any of these symptoms, it’s usually best to keep them home:
* Has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
* Has been vomiting
* Has symptoms that prevent him or her from participating in school, such as:
o Excessive tiredness or lack of appetite
o Productive coughing, sneezing
o Headache, body aches, earache
o Sore throat*

*If your child complains of a mild sore throat, it could just be the air in their room was too cold overnight. However, a severe sore throat could be strep throat even if there is no fever. Other symptoms of strep throat in children are headache and stomach upset.

If your child does have a fever, keep your child home until his or her fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication. Colds can be contagious for at least 48 hours. Returning to school too soon may slow the recovery process and can unnecessarily expose others to illness.

Could it be the flu? The flu is serious! Call your pediatrician at the first sign of flu symptoms, which typically come on suddenly, including:

* High fever
* Chills
* Head ache, body aches, ear ache
* Nausea, vomiting
* Dry cough

How do you make your child feel better?
* Make sure your child gets plenty of rest, even if they are just in their room reading a book or coloring.
* Encourage fluids; such as water, soup, juice and ice
* A cool humidifier keeps the air in their room moist and helps with coughs and sore throats.
* When used as directed, children’s cough and cold medicines help relieve cough and cold symptoms while your child is getting better. Read and follow the directions carefully and give the exact recommended dose for the child’s age. Do not use over the counter cough and cold medications for children under the age of four in the U.S.

Once you’ve been a Mom a while, you can usually tell the difference between “tired because they stayed up until midnight in their room reading a book under the covers” and unusually lethargic. You can also usually tell when it’s a headache because they haven’t eaten anything in twelve hours, and when it could be a symptom of a sinus infection (like, when there’s green junk in their nose or they are coughing stuff up, which, I know, ewwww).

Let your Mom instincts be your guide here. The worst thing that can happen is you let them stay home from school, send them back to bed with a cup of water so they stay hydrated, and two hours later they are up saying they “feel much better”. It’s happened to me many times. Better safe than sorry is my motto when it comes to sick kids.