Can my child go to daycare with pink eye?
It depends on the state: in Texas, not until a doctor or the local health authority clears them or the symptoms have been gone for 24 hours, but under the American Academy of Pediatrics’ national guidance most children with pink eye can go. The AAP says they don’t need antibiotics or a note to go back, and California leaves it to each center.
Updated Oct 16, 2026. State rules and national guidance, not medical advice: if you’re unsure, call your child’s doctor.
Return to daycare: Texas, national (AAP) and California rules
| Texas centers | National standard (AAP) | California centers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stay home? | Yes. | No, unless the child can’t take part, has other symptoms that call for it (such as fever with behavior change), or two or more children in the group have watery red eyes. | Up to the center. State health guidance says staying home isn’t necessary unless there are vision changes, an eye injury or pain the child can’t tolerate; UCSF’s child care program says keep home a child with pus-like discharge until a doctor examines them. |
| Back when | With permission from a doctor or the local health authority, or after 24 hours without symptoms. | Any time; antibiotics aren’t required, and if prescribed there’s no set wait. | When the center’s policy allows. |
| Doctor’s note | Yes, unless 24 hours symptom-free. A child a doctor diagnosed also needs documentation that they’re no longer contagious. | No. | Only if the center’s policy asks for one. |
Texas: 25 TAC §97.7(a)(5), applied to centers by §746.3603; §746.3601(4). National: AAP quick-reference sheet. California: CDPH symptom guidance (2023); UCSF CCHP (Dec 2025). A Texas child sent home sick may also come back after 24 hours without symptoms or with a health professional’s statement (§746.3606). California leaves illness rules to each center’s written policy; its column is the state health department’s guidance.
How it spreads and how long it’s contagious
- Viral and bacterial pink eye spread through close contact, droplets from coughs and sneezes, and hands that touch something contaminated and then the eyes. Pink eye from allergies or irritants isn’t contagious.
- Viral pink eye is contagious while symptoms last and usually clears in 7 to 14 days without treatment; bacterial pink eye usually clears in 2 to 5 days.
- Antibiotics don’t help viral pink eye. The AAP says almost all children get better in 5 to 6 days, with or without antibiotics.
Sources: CDC: causes; CDC: treatment.
When to call the doctor
- Eye pain, sensitivity to light, or blurred vision that doesn’t clear when the discharge is wiped away
- Intense redness, or symptoms that get worse or don’t improve
- Bacterial pink eye that doesn’t improve after 24 hours of antibiotics
- Any eye symptoms in a newborn: see a doctor right away
Sources: CDC. Call 911 if your child is struggling to breathe, turns blue or is hard to wake.
What the center has to do
Both states have general rules on sending sick children home and on telling Licensing and parents about outbreaks, and a center’s own written illness policy can be stricter: ask for it at enrollment. The Texas and California rules →
What the state records show
Texas inspectors’ notes name pink eye in 5 citations at 2 licensed centers since October 2021, 1 of them for not reporting it to Licensing or not notifying parents in writing.
California has cited 2 licensed centers 2 times since February 2021 under its outbreak-reporting rule (22 CCR §101212) in findings that name pink eye.
Since February 2021, California has investigated 5 complaints whose allegations mention pink eye, and substantiated 1.
From Texas and California inspection, complaint and investigation records for centers licensed today; Texas counts are citations under the sick-child and parent-notice rules whose inspector notes name pink eye. See all sick-child citations in the sick-day guide.
Common questions
How long does a child with pink eye stay home from daycare?
In Texas, until a doctor or the local health authority clears them or the symptoms have been gone for 24 hours (25 TAC §97.7; 26 TAC §746.3606). Under the AAP’s national guidance, most children don’t need to stay home at all, unless they can’t take part or several children in the group are affected. In California it depends on the center’s policy.
Does my child need 24 hours of antibiotic drops before going back?
Not under the AAP’s current guidance, which says antibiotics aren’t required and sets no waiting time if they’re prescribed. Many centers still ask for 24 hours of drops; their written policy is the rule that applies to you. In Texas, a doctor’s clearance is one of the two ways back.
Do I need a doctor’s note for pink eye in Texas?
Usually. Texas rules let a child with pink eye return with permission from a doctor or the local health authority, or after 24 hours without symptoms. If a doctor diagnosed it, the center may not take your child back without medical documentation that they’re no longer contagious (26 TAC §746.3601).