DC's sick and supposed to start preschool tomorrow

[mackmama]

DC's first day of preschool is tomorrow. DC has a pretty bad cold (was acting 'off' on Saturday, then congested and coughing/sneezing yesterday, and today has a really runny nose (green/yellow) and a little cough). No fever on any of the days. I'm so bummed at the timing and don't want to get anyone else sick by bringing DC to school tomorrow - but I also really don't want DC to miss the first day. Tomorrow is a special day where parents attend and stay with the kids to help ease their transition. I don't want to miss tomorrow because I think DC will really need that transition time with me there. (I'm already on the fence about DC going to preschool this year at 2.5yo so really want DC to have all of the transition assistance possible). DC's energy is normal and is eating and playing normally. What would you all do -- go tomorrow or stay home? I'm new to the school game so not clear on what's ok.

[JustMe]

If your dc is behaving normally and eating normally, it is a close call. If it really seems to be just a cold, I might want to do it anyway. OTOH, if you have nothing to lose by waiting until dc feels better why not (I know, you knew all this already). I guess I would call the school and find out if it is okay for you to do your "transition day" the next day (or whenever dc is ready to start) or if that can only occur on the school's official first day (I sure would hope it would be the first of these).

[AngB]

Go. Runny noses and colds are typical in preschool, if he didn't already have one, he'd probably get one after the first day or two anyway.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Go. Runny noses and colds are typical in preschool, if he didn't already have one, he'd probably get one after the first day or two anyway.

As they say at our preschool, "if kids stayed home for the sniffles, we would never have any kids in school."

[georgiegirl]

Bad cold = stay home
Mild cold = go to school

I had a 1 week old newborn in DS's first day of preschool.

[mackmama]

I just re-read the school's handbook, and it sounds like DC is okay to attend as is (which seems kind of crazy to me that going to school with tons of green mucus flowing out of one's nose is okay?). I'm going to see how DC seems tomorrow. If there's still this much drainage, I will keep DC home and hope we can do a transition day later in the week.

[Green_Tea]

I don't think a runny nose is a reason to skip school unless there is a fever or the child clearly doesn't feel good. According to our ped, my own PCP, and this NY Times article, the color of the mucus is irrelevant: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/health/06real.html

[1mom2dylan]

I think it would be best for everyone including your son to keep him home.

[hillview]

I'd send DC unless when you wake up there is a fever, DC is really sick out of it / not him/herself.

[onyx8]

Another vote to go to school.

[american_mama]

If it's a full 3 hours of school and/or if he's contagious, I would keep him home. My DS just missed his first day of kindergarten two weeks ago due to being sick. I thought he'd have a poor introduction to school if he felt yucky, tired, and feverish. The next day was not as good an introductory day and I was rushed, but it was not a big deal. Better a healthy first day even if it's a day late.

eta: Oh, and I have three kids aged 5 to 11, and I still often am not sure whether to send them in or not when they are sick. It usually can go either way, in my experience, and often my decision depends on side issues like what they are missing/how much sleep they've had recently/if it's a Friday and they can rest on the weekend/whether they want to go/etc. etc.

[llama8]

I would go as long as no fever is present. Kids have runny noses all of the time.

[ged]

I'm on the fence...but regarding transition day, I am sure they would let you stay with DC on the actual first day you attend. I would not go just to make the official transition day.

[SnuggleBuggles]

If you went, I hope it went well. My ds2 started preschool at 20m and had 0 transition issues- just waved me goodbye. :). I hope it's easy for you too.

[PZMommy]

With green gunk from the nose, I would say no. My preschool specifies clear drainage only. I know for my own kids green means infection, typically an ear infection that has backed up everything else.