Sickie Question

[Unregistered]

I know this may sound tedious, but it's something that's really bugging me.
I have a 2 year old dcb who had a cold 3 weeks ago.
Believe me, I know kids get runny noses. This kid though, I'm literally wiping dripping wet snot over his entire face every 10 minutes for the last 3 weeks.
It just doesn't seem normal to me. Before his cold, he had a normal, occasional snotty nose.

He spent 2 days at home when he originally got the cold, of course it still spread to the entire group since he can't contain his mucous. So, the last three weeks everyone has had a runny nose and cough. But he's the only one where it's lasted this long (the others were no more than a week).

I've gone through an entire 6 pack of Kleenex boxes in the last 3 weeks and THIS is all I do all day...chase after him wiping his nose.
This isn't normal, is it? I mean THREE weeks of constant snot?

[bklsmum]

Could it be allergies?

[CraftyMom]

I'm also thinking allergies. Is it clear? If it's allergies he can take otc meds to alleviate his symptoms. I would tell mom he needs to be seen. That is too much snot to handle in a group setting.

[MarinaVanessa]

I don't exclude for little colds or for allergies but I have a policy that if the care of one child exceeds the needs of care of the other kids then the one child has to go home.

Since most colds are passed around through touch it's important to keep everything clean if a child has a constant running nose to the point where it takes a lot of time and care away from the other children and daily routine or if the mucus starts to be a problem by getting on the toys and materials then I need to send that child home. The needs of one child shouldn't supersede or interfere with the needs of the other children being met.

I suppose it's possible that the child started off with a cold and it turned into allergies since allergies are caused by an overactive immune system but the issue is whether you can keep the environment clean just in case it's still a cold and not allergies. Colds mutate rapidly so the last thing you want is for the kids to continue to cycle through colds over and over again. Just make sure to clean everything and try to keep that one child limited to certain easy to clean toys.

[Unregistered]

OP responding

Thanks for the responses.
I don't think it's allergies. I've had him over a year and there's been no other allergy symptoms from him in the past.
The first week after he came back (two days home), he had some discolored mucous, but it wasn't constant. Meaning, in the morning it was clear, in the afternoon there was some green tint to it, then clear again.

I've mentioned the constant runny nose to both Mom and Dad, and it's shrugged off.
There are no other symptoms now (like a cough or fever) besides the constant boogers.

I do agree that I would exclude when his symptoms are disrupting to the group.
Maybe just mentioning that will get Mom and Dad to get it checked out.
It's just weird to me that it would last this long.

[Blackcat31]

Thanks for the responses.
I don't think it's allergies. I've had him over a year and there's been no other allergy symptoms from him in the past.
The first week after he came back (two days home), he had some discolored mucous, but it wasn't constant. Meaning, in the morning it was clear, in the afternoon there was some green tint to it, then clear again.

I've mentioned the constant runny nose to both Mom and Dad, and it's shrugged off.
There are no other symptoms now (like a cough or fever) besides the constant boogers.

I do agree that I would exclude when his symptoms are disrupting to the group.
Maybe just mentioning that will get Mom and Dad to get it checked out.
It's just weird to me that it would last this long.

I too will exclude a child that requires more care/attention I am able to provide without compromising the supervision and attention the other kids get but when I have a situation like yours, I will simply require the parents to bring the child into the Dr after 7-10 consecutive days with symptoms and no improvement, just to make sure the cold hasn't morphed into any type of infection (ear infection, sinus, bronchial etc).

If there is nothing there other than a common cold, I will wait it out another 5-7 days and require another Dr visit.

Rinse and repeat until child is well or diagnosed with something.

ANY time during that time however, I wouldn't hesitate to tell a parent to keep a child home if the symptoms they have effect the care/supervision I provide to the others.