When is your child too sick for school?

If you've ever been on the fence about sending a sick child to school, you're not alone. According to a new survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates on behalf of Triaminic, 78 percent of parents faced at least one situation in the past year when they were not sure whether to keep their children home from school when they had cough or cold symptoms.

Now that we're in the thick of flu and cold season, I find myself assessing my kids almost daily. Runny nose, but no fever? You're fine, get your backpack. Hacking cough, but bouncing off the walls with energy? You're going to school.

But there are days when I'm on the fence. Is that a fever, or were you just running around the house? Is that cough bringing up phlegm, or just a reaction to a tickle in the throat? Who has a math test they didn't study for?

According to a nationwide study conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates on behalf of Triaminic, 78 percent of parents faced at least one situation in the past year when they were not sure whether or not to keep their children home from school when they had cough or cold symptoms.

The National Association of School Nurses suggests that you keep your child home if he or she exhibits any of the following symptoms:

1.) A fever of 100.4 or higher
2.) Vomiting
3.) Symptoms that could prevent him or her from participating in school activities, such as fatigue, lack of appetite, body aches, productive cough (one that is breaking up and bringing out congestion), or headache.

Those are guidelines that many doctors seem to apply to their own kids, which works for me -- in fact, my youngest two are home right now, hacking away (as am I). But what works for you? How do you decide whether your kid needs to stay home from school?

While cold medicine is no longer recommended for children younger than 4, if your child is 4 or older, the correct dose can help ease symptoms long enough for your child to get the rest he needs in order to get better. Triaminic has offered to let me give away 10 packages of their Thin Strips to help you battle cold and flu season; all you have to do to enter is leave a comment (and your email address) over at my Affordable Luxuries shopping blog by 11:59 p.m. on March 2. My random number generator and I will select 10 winners on March 3!