WAG Competing While Sick?

[wandrewsjr]

As others have said general rule is fever and /or vomiting? Stay home. Mild cold symptoms? Go if kid seems up to it. If we all stopped doing work and activities when we had a cold, the world would stop during the winter months.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

I have competed with a fever. This was only because the fever was the only thing. I didn't even have a cold, just a fever

 

[tumbletop]

Trust your mom instincts above all else, but the guidelines I use are temperature under 100°F, isn't having any GI symptoms, and congestion is, if present, confined to above the neck. And that's my guideline from working in health care, not from coaching. When coaching, I trust parents, they know their kids best.

 

[NutterButter]

For the first 2 seasons that my DD competed she happened to be sick for every single meet. It was ridiculous and a running joke between us because 24-48 hours before a meet she would feel a cold coming on. There was only one time that she truly should not have been out there and that was when her symptoms deteriorated very quickly during the meet and I didn't realize until afterwards how sick she was (102 degree fever...she hid it well and got a season high at that meet).

My DD has always been one to be sick with a cold/congestion more often than her peers. It's something I worry about for this season. I'm really hoping that she is healthier this year. It's one thing to compete Xcel Silver and L4 with head congestion....another thing for L9. If it's unsafe though, I would not hesitate for me or the coaches pull her or have her scratch an event.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Cough and sore throat but no fever or anything? I'd have her rest today, hydrate like there was no tomorrow (hot tea with honey, Gatorade, etc) and as long as she was the same or better tomorrow, let her compete. Give her a Tylenol before the meet and some cough drops in her bag if she needs them. If she starts running a fever, feels terrible tomorrow, or the cough gets so bad it becomes an issue then I would keep her home.

This.

My daughter did compete States 3 days out (meaning from when fever broke) from the flu. Wasn't her best meet but she managed.

I think level matters as well. Now that the flippy things are getting harder. I might make a different decision depending on how she felt.

My DD has always been one to be sick with a cold/congestion more often than her peers. It's something I worry about for this season. I'm really hoping that she is healthier this year. It's one thing to compete Xcel Silver and L4 with head congestion....another thing for L9. If it's unsafe though, I would not hesitate for me or the coaches pull her or have her scratch an event.

Yep totally get that.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

If she has any fever or head congestion, I would have her sit it out. It stinks but I’m willing to bet they would work something out for her. Competing with head, sinus or ear congestion can throw off their equilibrium and not only cause them to fall but could potentially be dangerous. Your dd would be better off sitting out than having a really bad meet and not getting her required score for mobility. Also keep in mind, strep is going around right now and sometimes it doesn’t present with a high fever at least at first.

And I’m just giving you this from a different perspective. Please keep in mind the health of your dd’s Teammates and the other gymnasts at the meet. My dd has asthma and a cold usually goes straight to bronchitis or pneumonia for her. It could put her out of school for a week, or even put her in the hospital. So if you know that any of your dd’s Teammates have conditions like this that affect their immune system, I would keep that in mind. I’m realistic and I realize that kids can’t stay home for every little cold, but it bugs me when a parent masks their kids fever with Tylenol and sends them on to school,practice, a game,a meet, etc. It happens all the time around here.

 

[profmom]

Time for me to confess my worst CGM moment.

DD had been working her little butt off to move up to optionals. Finally, she got the green light: she was officially a L7, with a shiny new floor routine and the whole nine yards. I loved everything about it and I was so thrilled for her. We decided that the whole family would go to her first meet to celebrate the moment. It happened to be a bit of a drive and she was in the first session, so we splurged on a nice hotel. I was a little surprised that she didn't want to run around the hotel with teammates the night before, but figured, hey, whatever, it's fine if she has an early night.

At 5 AM, I woke to her groaning. She was thoroughly miserable. I told her to buck up, as it was probably just the dry hotel room. We did a nice hot steamy shower and I gave her a sudafed and a Tylenol. Eventually it was time to drag her to breakfast. I tried to hector her into eating, but no dice. Her stomach was off. I told her it was just nerves. We headed off to the meet.

She made it through warmups before her very kind beam coach sent her up to us and scratched her from the meet. She was white as a sheet by then. We hung out for the first rotation and then it was totally obvious even to me that we needed to go. She started vomiting about halfway home, so we went right to urgent care to pick up our strep diagnosis and prescription. That was one vicious bug. In the next session, two girls didn't make it to the meet, the same beam coach scratched another during warmups, another one gave up midway, and still another was diagnosed the day after.

My only consolation was that my DS's teammate's mom, WHO IS A PHYSICIAN, did the same thing with her son, except she made him compete the first rotation. She convinced herself that his puking in the bathroom during warmups was just nerves, but after he competed floor and then threw up again, her husband insisted that they pull the plug and hit the road. Five hours and three or four desperate pit stops later, they made it . . . .

Ahhhhhh, I am gonna miss all of this when it's over.

 

[John]

Miss it yes me too.

 

[rbearclaw]

Cough and sore throat but no fever? I would let her compete, no hesitation.

 

[tpMom]

Thank you to everyone for the advice. She ended up feeling better today and had a great meet. She scored more than 2 points higher than the required 34 and walked out of the gym with four first places and a newly minted level 5 gymnast !

 

[profmom]

Congratulations!! Hope she has a great L5 season!

 

[duyetanh]

So she is doing level 5, or is she now trying to score out of 5 to go to optionals? I know others' kids have done this, (not mine) which is why I am asking. It is a huge jump to do this all in one go, but there have been some people on here whose kids have done it and done it well.

 

[tpMom]

So she is doing level 5, or is she now trying to score out of 5 to go to optionals? I know others' kids have done this, (not mine) which is why I am asking. It is a huge jump to do this all in one go, but there have been some people on here whose kids have done it and done it well.

She is going to compete level 5 this season. If I'm being honest and really letting my CGM show, I'm not super thrilled that she's skipping level 4, I think she would benefit from a really successful level 4 year and more time to work on her bars skills, plus she's only 9. But her coach had spoken to her about skipping level 4 before she spoke to me and she was so proud that I couldn't very well express those concerns at the time (plus, I honestly didn't think she'd get her level 5 skills in time!) Then the kid worked her butt off this summer, took every extra practice offered plus private lessons and ended up practicing an average of 18 hours per week when the rest of her team did 12. She managed to get every level 5 skill plus a cast to handstand on bars and bhs on beam. Her bars aren't quite where we'd hope they be but she's earned her shot at level 5. I've locked my CGM in the metaphorical closet for now and I'm trying to just go along for the ride!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Hi everyone, I'm curious how the parents and coaches on here typically handle a child who gets sick on competition day? Let me start off by saying that I do NOT let my DD attend practice sick. I think it's silly and dangerous to send an unhealthy child into a 3.5 hour day at the gym.

BUT....

Tomorrow is her mobility meet. It's literally the day the she's been working towards since March. This is it, a meet that is more important to her than any previous competition, including State laat year. The poor kid has worked so hard for this meet and she woke up this morning with a cough and sore throat. She is extremely adamant that she still wants to compete, even if she's not feeling well (of course, she'd drag herself to the gym with two broken legs if she could.) I'm tempted to let her push through and compete as long as she wants to do it and she's not running a high fever or seems too sick to do it safely, but I'm pretty torn about the decision. If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it.

they shouldn't compete if they're sick. the end.

 

[MAmom]

Glad she was well and had a great meet.

 

[txgymfan]

they shouldn't compete if they're sick. the end.

If no one competed with a cold or allergies you would have many empty meets. There is a difference between sick and SICK!

 

[Flyaway]

Time for me to confess my worst CGM moment.

((me quietly raising my bad gym mom hand in solidarity)) BTD exactly the same thing. Sometimes it's just really really hard to tell...

 

[Deleted member 18037]

She is going to compete level 5 this season. If I'm being honest and really letting my CGM show, I'm not super thrilled that she's skipping level 4, I think she would benefit from a really successful level 4 year and more time to work on her bars skills, plus she's only 9.

Level 5, including floor, last year, helped my girls bars a lot. She is L7 this year. And her bars have improved more than any other year.

 

[raenndrops]

She is going to compete level 5 this season. If I'm being honest and really letting my CGM show, I'm not super thrilled that she's skipping level 4, I think she would benefit from a really successful level 4 year and more time to work on her bars skills, plus she's only 9. But her coach had spoken to her about skipping level 4 before she spoke to me and she was so proud that I couldn't very well express those concerns at the time (plus, I honestly didn't think she'd get her level 5 skills in time!) Then the kid worked her butt off this summer, took every extra practice offered plus private lessons and ended up practicing an average of 18 hours per week when the rest of her team did 12. She managed to get every level 5 skill plus a cast to handstand on bars and bhs on beam. Her bars aren't quite where we'd hope they be but she's earned her shot at level 5. I've locked my CGM in the metaphorical closet for now and I'm trying to just go along for the ride!

She scored a 36 in her L4 SCORE OUT. No need to do a full season of L4 if she is scoring that high in her FIRST L4 meet. Plus, she can cast handstands on bars... her bars will be fine.

 

[jenjean70]

Time for me to confess my worst CGM moment.

DD had been working her little butt off to move up to optionals. Finally, she got the green light: she was officially a L7, with a shiny new floor routine and the whole nine yards. I loved everything about it and I was so thrilled for her. We decided that the whole family would go to her first meet to celebrate the moment. It happened to be a bit of a drive and she was in the first session, so we splurged on a nice hotel. I was a little surprised that she didn't want to run around the hotel with teammates the night before, but figured, hey, whatever, it's fine if she has an early night.

At 5 AM, I woke to her groaning. She was thoroughly miserable. I told her to buck up, as it was probably just the dry hotel room. We did a nice hot steamy shower and I gave her a sudafed and a Tylenol. Eventually it was time to drag her to breakfast. I tried to hector her into eating, but no dice. Her stomach was off. I told her it was just nerves. We headed off to the meet.

She made it through warmups before her very kind beam coach sent her up to us and scratched her from the meet. She was white as a sheet by then. We hung out for the first rotation and then it was totally obvious even to me that we needed to go. She started vomiting about halfway home, so we went right to urgent care to pick up our strep diagnosis and prescription. That was one vicious bug. In the next session, two girls didn't make it to the meet, the same beam coach scratched another during warmups, another one gave up midway, and still another was diagnosed the day after.

My only consolation was that my DS's teammate's mom, WHO IS A PHYSICIAN, did the same thing with her son, except she made him compete the first rotation. She convinced herself that his puking in the bathroom during warmups was just nerves, but after he competed floor and then threw up again, her husband insisted that they pull the plug and hit the road. Five hours and three or four desperate pit stops later, they made it . . . .

Ahhhhhh, I am gonna miss all of this when it's over.

Sounds like what happened to us last year....First time EVER we decided to go to the optional travel meet in Chicago with the entire family. Well two days before we are to fly out our gymnasts twin brother came down with the FLU. We got him tamiflu and I begged my husband to get the gymnast tamiflu also. He didn't want to but asked the doc and the doc said no- if he started to show symptoms when are there they will call in a prescription but that he should still be able to compete. The day after we arrive he comes down with the flu also! I thought about making him compete since the Dr said it was OK but he was in no shape to make it even partway through a meet at that point....so we flew all the way to Chicago for him to get the flu. Ugh!