A survey of 1,000 parents and 100 nursery heads conducted by the Childcare Recruitment Company in Manchester found that 28 per cent of parents also confessed to deliberately disguising signs of a child's contagious ear or eye infection.
Others said they had administered a dose of Calpol before dropping a child off to 'perk them up', or had not divulged that a child had diarrhoea.
All the nursery heads interviewed expressed concern about what they saw as a 'growing trend'.
Susan Fruhman, head of the Lillian Harris Day Nursery in Cheadle, Cheshire, said, 'Parents' attitudes can be quite irresponsible. If we do accept their ill child, it is not only other children who get sick but staff too. In the most severe cases this can lead to a nursery actually having to close.
'I think there needs to be a clear distinction drawn between what a nursery is geared up to do and caring for a sick child, which is something altogether different.'
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, 'Nurseries need to have a clear policy for dealing with illness for the benefit of the child who is ill and to minimise passing on infection. We understand the difficulties parents experience in trying to arrange cover at work when a child is sick, but we must put the best interests of children first.'
* The NDNA's policies and procedures pack gives guidance on dealing with sick children. See the publications page of www.ndna.org.uk for details.