You receive a call halfway through your day that your child is ill and needs to be picked up from school. The next question that typically follows -- when is it safe for him or her to return to school? Check out these guidelines on when to keep a child home:

  • If your child is running a fever, he or she should be kept home from school. A good rule of thumb is that a child should not return to school until at least the day after his or her temperature is normal without medication.
  • If your child seems too sluggish and lethargic to pay attention in school, odds are he or she isn’t taking much away from lessons and should be kept home.
  • If your child is experiencing a loud cough, frequent trips to the restroom, or any other symptoms that may be disruptive to both your child’s learning and classmates, he or she should be kept home until symptoms subside.
  • If your child is contagious with an illness such as pink eye, he or she should be kept home until a doctor deems it appropriate to return to school.

In addition, check out these tips on when to take your child to an urgent care facility versus the hospital:

Your child should see a physician if he or she has/needs:

  • A possible fracture to a bone
  • A persistent cough
  • Cuts or scrapes that may need tending
  • Ear or sinus pain
  • A fever, cold, or the flu
  • Frequent or painful urination
  • Mild to moderate asthma attacks
  • Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
  • A rash
  • A sore throat
  • A sprain or strain
  • Tetanus and flu vaccination

If your child has a more serious or life-threatening condition, he or she should be taken to the emergency room immediately. Reasons may include:

  • Coughing up blood
  • Heart attack
  • Sudden or unexplained loss of consciousness
  • Wound that will not stop bleeding
  • Major injury
  • Stroke
  • Chest pain; numbness in the face, arm, or leg; or difficulty speaking
  • High fever with a stiff neck, mental confusion, or difficulty breathing
  • Severe shortness of breath

Related Articles

We would love to learn what would be helpful on this page for you.

Articles by tag

4th-of-July aberdeen ACLS AED air-purificaiton allentown Allergies amerigroup announcement Antibiotics anxiety Asthma autumn award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best-Of best-of-2019 best-workplace bethlehem blog BLS blue-cross blue-shield capital-gazette children with disabilities Circadian-Rhythm cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health depression Diabetes drowning drug screening eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorders Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health fall fall-sports First-Aid fitness flu Flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football for moms for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Good-Fats Halloween hand foot and mouth Hand-Washing harrisburg Head-Lice health-history health-symptoms healthy-eating Healthy-Living healthy-swaps heart-health Heat heat-safety hiking holiday holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-cross horizon-blue-shield horizon-insurance Humidifier inclusivity inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention insurance jetlag Kidney Kwanzaa lehigh-valley life-support-class lyme maryland meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health Mental-Health millennial montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Movember myths new jersey new-center new-jersey northern-va northern-virginia nova nurtition Nutrition occupational health osteoporosis outdoors PALS parent tips parenting-tips parent-tips patient-first pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention primary care probiotics pumpkin recipes registration reicpes richmond Running safety safety-tips school-nurse services shin-splings sick kid Sickness-Prevention skin sleep Smoke-Detector smoking soccer sore-throat south-jersey sports sports-physicals Spring spring-cleaning Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress Stroke summer summer-sports sun-safety sunscreen TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething tick ticks tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips unitedhealthcare urgent-care vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentines-Day washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 wellness winter yard-work Yearly-Physical