A common decision on school mornings is whether or not your child is well enough to attend. You often don't know if she's going to get better or worse during the course of the day. The school nurse or health aid can call you if she needs to come home. • The main reason for keeping your child home is if she's too sick to be comfortable at school. Also, if she has a fever, she should stay home. But be sure the temperature is over 100°. Children with vomiting, frequent diarrhea, a hacky cough, earaches, or a widespread rash should stay home. Most of these problems need to be discussed with your child's doctor or even seen by him. • On the other hand, children who don't have a fever and only have a mild cough, a runny nose, or other cold symptoms can be sent to school without any harm to themselves or others. • The main point I'm trying to make is: if in doubt, children should be sent to school. Otherwise, they may develop a habit of withdrawing with minor symptoms, rather than coping with them. Overprotection should be avoided.

During Dr. Schmitt's 20 years as a medical practitioner and researcher, he has published over 100 articles or chapters on pediatric health care, and has been awarded the distinguished C. Anderson Aldrich Award by the American Academy of Pediatrics for outstanding contributions to the field of child development. Schmitt has also authored five books including Your Child's Health, which won Child Magazine's first Hall of Fame Award in 1991. Schmitt is also a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and on staff at The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.