Parents Illness and Gym

[MILgymFAM]

Our gym has a policy of a 24 wait after a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea clears up, or until one is no longer contagious when it comes to things like strep. But... They do not take kindly to team members missing, and they do not really offer make ups to rec kids, so they get sick kids coming to the gym more than I would like.

 

[skschlag]

Guess who is not at gym tonight because he feels worse.....

 

[Deleted member D3987]

NEVER with a fever. DANGEROUS TO THE ATHLETE!

 

[iwannacoach]

I've had some good results with giving each kid one day of "sick leave" for every 15 practices/3 weeks they've attended. Vacations and special circumstances were treated separately, but otherwise they'd use their sick leave any way they wished.... to play hookey, catch up on down time, go to a party, or stay home sick. The only rules were no absences due to anything but head congestion or fever the last practice before a meet, and when you run out you gotta do make ups before getting anything but grief from me.

It worked great. Nobody ever "ran out"..... and I never had to listen to 10 minute explanations of why the kid couldn't come in. They call and say they wouldn't be in that day, and that was it.

 

[profmom]

If I kept DD home every time she was congested, she'd never go to gym -- that kid is a snot factory. But she's gotten pretty good at determining when her sinuses are too clogged up for it to be safe for her to continue practice. Fever, though, has always been an easy bright line.

The gym, at least at this point, doesn't seem to have any issues when my kids miss practice. We just call and let them know. But I have heard that they get a lot tougher when the boys get to optionals. And while my daughter does miss more than my son because of her sinuses, they really don't miss very often. (Crazy DS went to practice on Monday night and made it all the way through after getting off a red eye at 11 AM in the morning. DD just did warmups and strength, and after sitting her front tuck, said she was done! Coaches on both sides were fine with this.)

 

[2G1B]

Strep needs to stay home until on meds for 24 hours. A fever of unknown origins stays home until gone for 24 hours. Sick stomach stays home until no longer sick for 24 hours.

That being said... a few weeks ago my older DD got sick at practice. I didn't know until practice was over and she came up saying that she was "just so tired". I felt her head and it felt warm. We got home and her temp was 102!! That was on a Wednesday. She missed school on Thursday, went and had a strep and flu test, both negative; but still had a fever. So missed school and practice on Friday. Friday she only had a fever in the evening and was feeling much better. On Saturday she again only had a fever in the evening, missed church on Sunday. Sunday again, fever in the evening. Took her to the doctor on Monday and it was a sinus infection. Started antibiotics. She was feeling much better that evening and begging to go to practice. Since it wasn't something contagious and she didn't have a fever I did let her practice; but the coaches had her take it a little easy since she had been sick for several days.

 

[Lynn]

I've had some good results with giving each kid one day of "sick leave" for every 15 practices/3 weeks they've attended. Vacations and special circumstances were treated separately, but otherwise they'd use their sick leave any way they wished.... to play hookey, catch up on down time, go to a party, or stay home sick. The only rules were no absences due to anything but head congestion or fever the last practice before a meet, and when you run out you gotta do make ups before getting anything but grief from me.

It worked great. Nobody ever "ran out"..... and I never had to listen to 10 minute explanations of why the kid couldn't come in. They call and say they wouldn't be in that day, and that was it.

Love this! Sure wish our coaches would go this route instead of making us parents feel guilty for keeping a sick kiddo home.

My DD was suspected of chicken pox 2 summers ago. We took her to the Dr and they couldn't rule them out by sight so she had to be tested. In the meantime, I kept her home from practice until we knew for sure. I thought that was the right thing to do. Her coach at the time ,made her feel awful for missing those days while we waited for results. Thankfully came back negative. Her current 2 coaches are better with things like this. However, they don't offer a make up to everyone just a select few even if the kids are sick week of a meet. Needs to be the same for all. So still some things these 2 coaches could work on like her old coach.

 

[wnl256]

I guess I still think if you had a fever all day Sat and Sun, and it was so bad that mom took you to the doc monday morning, you should not be at gym. you are still contagious. So, now, this level 7 will get to compete, but will the others? Or will they all come down with what he shared with us? I firmly believe if you have a fever or are vomiting, you do not expose people to that. 24 hours. My doctor firmly believes that.
Especially just at practice.

Not just contagious. How about, still weak and recovering from two days of fever! His parents risked his own well being as well as the health of his teammates.

 

[profmom]

Yeah, it's one thing when they are doing cartwheels, but quite another when they are working on giants, Pbars press handstands, and pommel horse travels. Just way too big a risk of injury, IMHO! You'd think that even if only selfish incentives were in play, this would lead to the right decision.

 

[gracyomalley]

Just to clarify - as i opened a can of worms here - when my DD competed a meet with a fever SHE WAS NOT ILL prior to leaving my care that am - that's my point....her coach made a decision (with a text to me) that as it was already warm ups for second event she would see if things were ok with a fever reducer....had she had that temp in the morning or the night before, she would not have competed...certainly has missed quite a few practices over the years, and one meet because of various illnesses...

My point is that this time of year especially with the kids who are at gym 4-6 days a week...you can only be so careful - I think things like strep and vomiting are no brainers, really, but making calls regarding colds, etc do require some balance....can't keep them in a bubble, but safety is key.

Dunno, just wondering (and I totally trust my DD HC) would you have sent an optional off the floor in the middle of the meet with the first fever of an unknown illness? (I'm just curious...seems that it would be hard to always do so....and the kids of course wouldn't want to go...but safety is important)....

 

[profmom]

I think it's really two things. 1) Is the child putting other kids at risk of getting sick? 2) Is the child sick enough to be unsafe doing whatever skills s/he is doing? If the answer to either is "yes," then the child should not go to practice or compete. Whenever my kids spike a fever of 100 or more, they really don't feel good enough to be safe out there. And when my daughter's sinuses are bad, she does occasionally miss practice even when she's not contagious or running a fever. But a minor head cold where they're running just a little hotter than their respective norms (i.e., like 99 to 99.5)? Yes, they tend to suck it up and go if that's all that's going on.

Last year at the first meet of the year, we had a strep epidemic run through the girls' team. We dragged DD down for the meet (paying to stay overnight in a hotel, BTW) and sent her out only to see her wilt during warmups and not compete a single event. We had misinterpreted her affect during breakfast as nerves and the effects of an overly dry hotel room. Later that afternoon, half of the L6s either didn't even make it down or had to leave the floor during competition. Oh, did that meet stink.

 

[Peanut]

What about flu? A little over 24 hours from diagnosis and the kid shows at practice. Do you confront the parent?