When Can You Not Bring Your Toddler to Preschool?

Fever

• When your toddler has a fever, he should stay home from preschool. A fever -- or a temperature of 100.5 degrees or higher -- can be a sign of the onset of a variety of illnesses, so your child should stay home for the duration of the fever. In fact, many preschools require that your toddler be free of a fever for at least 24 hours before returning to school. So, if he has a fever on a Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. but wakes up with a normal temperature, you should still keep him home from school until you hit the 24-hour, fever-free mark.

Stomach Bug

• Gastroenteritis, better known as the stomach flu, is one of those seemingly inevitable illnesses that afflict children. The stomach flu brings with it nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These illness are usually short in length, according to KidsHealth from Nemours, but they often require keeping your toddler home from school. During the first eight hours after vomiting, you should limit foods and instead focus on rehydrating your child with clear liquids. This illness can be difficult on her, as vomiting often scares young children. To help get your toddler through the illness and ensure she does not pass it on to her classmates, she should be kept home from school 24 hours after the vomiting episode has ended.

Cold and Flu

• Colds are often difficult to evaluate, and you might struggle to decide whether your child is truly sick enough to miss preschool. The viral infections that cause colds are often spread even before your child shows symptoms, which makes it increasingly difficult to determine when -- and for how long -- to keep him out of preschool. Educational institutions, such as the Lincoln School, for example, recommend that a toddler who clearly does not feel well stay home if he has a significantly runny nose and persistent cough. All toddlers with the flu should stay home until they have returned to full health.

Pink Eye

• Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is another seemingly inevitable illness during childhood, and it's one that is highly contagious. Thus, toddlers who have pink eye should stay home from preschool. Signs of pink eye include white, green or yellow eye discharge and painful, red and itchy eyes. This condition requires treatment, and most schools welcome children back after 24 hours on the antibiotic that treats pink eye.