Swimming Lessons When Sick: When You Should Keep Your Kids at Home for Everybody’s Sake

It’s not always easy to know whether your child should attend swimming lessons when sick, or stay home. That’s because ‘sickness’ in children can mean anything from a dry, week-old cough, to a fever, or even full-blown vomiting and diarrhoea.

So to help make your decision easier, we’ve outlined below when you should keep your child at home, and when they are likely OK to come to swimming lessons.

When your child has vomiting, diarrhoea or a virus

If your child is sick with vomiting, diarrhoea or a contagious viral infection, they won’t be allowed to enter the pool. In these cases you must keep them at home.

The reasons should be fairly obvious: vomiting, diarrhoea and viruses can be very contagious. Germs can easily be passed on to other children and our teachers. You also risk the temporary closure of the whole pool.

The best thing to do is to forget about swimming lessons for at least a week. Instead, try to book a make-up class for your child. You can do so with our smartphone app or by emailing us via info@hamptonswimschool.com.au.

When your child has a cold, flu or fever

If your child has a cold, flu or fever, you should also keep them at home. Even if you feel your child is well enough to attend, it’s better that they don’t.

While swimming is usually a great way to improve a child’s immune system, when they are sick, lots of exercise is likely to prolong the illness or even make them worse. To ensure they get better as quickly as possible, we recommend that you keep your child at home.

Also, as your child will be in very close proximity to other children and our teachers, they can easily pass on a cold or flu to someone else. So, for everybody’s sake, keep them at home until they are better.

When your child has a lingering cough

Obviously there are different stages of sickness: a beginning, middle, and an end. Sometimes your child will continue to have some signs of sickness for days or even weeks after first falling ill.

Consider seeing a doctor

If your child was sick a week or so ago, and still has a lingering cough, they may be well enough to swim. However, before recommencing swimming lessons, you may want to get the cough checked out by a doctor. It could simply be a post-viral cough that will pass with time, but it’s good to rule out anything more serious.

A lot of General Practitioners (GPs) offer bulk billing for children under 16. So having them checked out shouldn’t cost you a thing.

Use common sense

If your child only has a minor cough (that isn’t chesty) and has otherwise recovered from being sick, they are probably OK to attend swimming lessons without passing anything on to others or getting worse themselves.

These decisions come down to common sense and knowing your child. Every child is different when it comes to illnesses and getting better.

Still not sure is your child should attend a swimming class?

If you’re still not sure whether your child should attend swimming lessons, contact us, or your local GP.