The Daycare Dilemma

My son is getting over croup.  We’ve been to the doctor and we’ve pulled D from daycare for the last few days.  Our school, like most every school in the area, has a policy of being symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to school.   When we visited our pediatrician, I specifically asked if we should notify D’s school of the croup.  Our pediatrician flat out said “I wouldn't if I were you. If you must, tell them that he had croup, but don't tell him that he has it.  But then you’ll have to keep him out another day since your school probably has the 24-hour policy.” 

Really?  Our pediatrician telling us to lie to the school?

Well not technically lie, but not disclose the illness.   Technically D isn’t quite “symptom-free” now.  The fever is gone, but he’s still a little tired from the terrible sleep and the cough.  Oh the cough.  But the fact that we still have to pay for the days that he isn’t there and that our professional lives suffer, there is some motivation to get him back into the school.  Even if he isn’t 100%. 

In Silicon Valley where most mom’s work (and quite a few of us are the primary bread winner), how do you handle the daycare dilemma?  Do you pull your kid until they are completely well?  Or do you only wait until they are “well enough” to go back?