This one comes straight from yesterday’s comments:
My 4 year old son was diagnosed with Asthma last March. We are still new to managing Asthma. He is on a daily inhaler and we of course have the rescue inhaler. To date, he has no problems until he gets a respiratory virus and then it takes a heavy steroid to help him through. Prior to a pneumonia 10 days ago (which may or may not have been a side effect of H1N1), he was enrolled in preschool 3 days a week. We withdrew him when he got pnemonia and are now conflicted with when to resume normal daily activities.
Being that he is high-risk for H1N1 what do you recommend, should we keep him home until the pandemic dissipates? I know that no one here is offering medical advice. I am just curious to learn from other parents what your decision may be.
I am just happy that he is currently breathing normally and I don’t have to watch him breath all night long. I kind of would like to keep it that way.
– Dannie
My answer?
Well, it probably won’t help you that much. AG was diagnosed with asthma at age two and spent so much time during her early years flaring and sick that she didn’t go to preschool, anyway. Believe me, I tried three separate times. On every attempt, she missed so many days that I might as well have just taken the money for her monthly school payment and ripped it up into a hundred tiny pieces since we got practically nothing in return for the expense. We had AG young, right out of college, and just didn’t have the money to spare. Plus, I was telecommuting, we had another, younger child at home, and we lived in a place full of things to do and families with children who were doing them. AG had lots of friends. Forgoing preschool altogether just made sense for us.
My daughter flared off and on almost constantly even without a pandemic flu strain, so I’m guessing I would have pulled her out of preschool temporarily if H1N1 had popped up back then. If she had attended in the first place.
But that’s my kid, and my situation. Yours may have better health, or you may (read: probably) have a better handle on his asthma than I did on my daughter’s back then.
And on the other hand, now that AG is in fifth grade with well-controlled asthma, I did send her to school in August as usual. She came down with – and recovered from – H1N1 in September, but she actually caught it from me and not at school.
See?
Not even remotely helpful, am I right?
And so I turn to reader response Tuesdays.
How about, guys? Help an new Asthma Dad out and let him know what decisions you’ve made about school for your own kids in the comments below.
Thanks for the question, Dannie.
I’m not a parent, but I am an asthmatic and a childcare worker (currently majoring in developmental studies in university) so I thought I’d throw my two-cents in!
I’m conflicted on this one too. Of course, his health is the number one concern, and I think initially you made the right decision.
But, from a developmental perspective, it gets trickier. My thought is also gearing towards social interaction and development with peers of the same age. Kids are germ factories, end of story. And, as a childcare worker, I definitely know no matter how hard we try, we can’t catch every kid coughing on his hand, or wiping her nose on her sleeve, and tell them to go wash their hands, no mater how hard we try. My centre now has specific procedures in place regarding H1N1, but of course, it’s always variable based on child responsiveness! (Which, I’m sure as a parent you’re familiar with!)
I have no advice as to how long to keep him out of preschool, but (if you’re not doing it already) it’s definitely a good idea for him to play with friends so he doesn’t miss out on this stuff while he’s not in preschool. However, making sure the kids aren’t potentially breeding grounds for pathogens and constantly initiating good hygiene techniques (whether or not H1N1 is contracted through contact or not, always good to reinforce
).
However, I do understand your plight with this–it’s a tough call. Are you planning to get him vaccinated against H1N1?
I suppose this probably wasn’t very helpful, but, let us know what you decide to do–I’m sure there are other parents wondering the same thing!
This is my philosophy so take it for what you will. My daughter was dx’d w/ asthma at 2 my son was dx’d at 4mths. They are now 7 and 5. We have been through many many attacks lasting weeks at a time. We have been through med changes and colds and allergies and the flu and now pneumonia. We have been through a lot. When they were little I would take them to birthday parties during attacks and the neb would go too. Yes asthma is serious business. So is childhood. I still worry. I will always worry. However, they are only kids once. They deserve to live that to it’s fullest. Asthma is limiting and miserable but a healthy attitude and teaching them to embrace it and when they get older give them responsability over their daily meds (with supervision of course) and trusting them to know when they need treatments are all very important. Afterall our kids will probably have this their whole lives. They need to be able to handle it. It is up to us to teach them how even though we are learning ourselves. Just my thoughts.
My youngest (now 7 1/2) was dx at 4m, younger child now 3 1/2 diagnosed at 1 1/2.
This is my OPINION. If this is what would be his first year of preschool, keep him home if you want. If this is his year of preschool (typically 4 yr old) before kindergarten, keep him in preschool. From the educational/social standpoint he would loose a lot to not get to go before kindergarten.
Someone correct me if I’m way off here, but as he gets older and his immune system, stronger, exposed to more virus’ & such, he should like any kid, get sick less… he will probably have asthma issues when he is sick. This asthma thing is just not predictable… last year my son maybe missed 3 days of school all year and now he’s already missed 6 days due to bronchitus & a tummy bug.
As hypicritical it is for me to write this, you can’t keep them in a bubble no matter how bad you want to, because it’s not good for them and we have to teach them to live with asthma as they get older. Hiding at home doesn’t do that.
I was very worried about my asthmatic son contracting H1N1 and pulled him out of 4th grade for 3 weeks (until he had his vaccination). It gave me peace of mind, and although he needs another follow up shot, I feel he is somewhat protected now as he is almost 10. He’s back in school and very happy about it! You have to do what you feel is right for you and your child. If you keep him out, maybe it can be just a temporary measure until he’s vaccinated.
Amy I hope SS feels better soon…
I’m conflicted about this as well, so I’m curious to see what everyone is thinking. My 6yo has typically bad winters, and he already had H1N1 a few weeks ago. So he’s technically immune to that, but it seems like the community at large will be sicker this winter. What does that mean for him? Does it mean he’s going to be at risk for other infections? I know I can’t keep him in a bubble, but winters are tough enough on him, they haven’t been getting better as he’s gotten older. In some ways it was nice having him home those 10 days he was sick; I had control over his environment.
Such a tough call.
I have a son, freshman in high school, virus-induced asthma.
We kept him out of high school and he is a homebound student until the worst of the virus is over.
It’s just not worth the risk.
Just my opinion, but I’d keep the preschooler home until the pandemic is over.
I’m not a parent but I did grow up asthmatic with two asthmatic brothers. I’m with Ang on this one. As a kid, it’s really hard to make up school, and preschool, even without homework and assignments still has a lot of work involved too, especially on the social level.
I’m new to this site and left a post on the “Coughing Help” field guide that describes our recent battle with H1N1 and our asthmatic kids.
In addition to that post, I’ll just add: my 5 year old who has reactive airway disease (RAD) is still recovering from H1N1, did not get Tamiflu and has missed 3 weeks of school. Our 8 year old asthmatic went on Tamiflu right away upon coming down with the cough and fever, and missed 2 days of school. Our pediatrician refused to prescribe Tamiflu for the 5 year old…
Hey Amy, Cool new header!!
Keep your child out of school, if you’re concerned. Get books & educational CD’s at the library. Sing about letters and read, read, read!! Pick up some preschool/kindergarten workbooks from the grocery store or walmart type store. A book called “Kitchen-Table Play and Learn” from Barnes and Noble will give you a great starting point. Your child will not be behind and will stay healthy.
Thanks for the input as usual, everyone!
Just wanted to add–whether a sans preschool child gets behind academically and/or socially depends on the child and the home environment. There are plenty of ways to simulate the preschool experience, including library storytimes, playdates and museum trips w/likeminded families, extracurricular classes, etc. There are a lot of misconceptions about homeschooling, even at the preschool age, the main one being that you actually stay at home.
Yes, a kid who stays in front of the TV all day instead of attending preschool or playing with other children will probably not thrive once he/she gets to kindergarten, but preschool is by no means the only way to stimulate a child’s brain and early social development.
Many parents forgo preschool by choice, unrelated to health or financial reasons.
When my daughter was preschool age, she had weekly playground dates and trips to local kids’ museums with other families of young children. She attended story hour & special craft sessions at two different libraries each week, took classes including Tae Kwon Do and, later, gymnastics, and we had an annual membership to our 3-story, hands-on science museum. I taught her to read by age four.
AG has always been the top student in her class. She reads several grade levels above her peers, belongs to the gifted program, plays YMCA volleyball, writes and broadcasts articles for her school’s morning news show, and has loads of friends.
Total amount of time spent in preschool, over 3 attempts? One and a half months.
Mtngirl–Thanks so much for both your insightful comments, and welcome to the site. I’m sorry your 5 yo couldn’t get on Tamiflu–the difference between their two illnesses really illustrate how much it helps. My 7 year-old and I (both non-asthmatics, both didn’t go on Tamiflu) were both much sicker than my Asthma Girl, who started Tamiflu right away.