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Littledragon
05-02-2012, 09:48 AM
So about three weeks ago I got sick. I caught a random cold, three days later, my son got sick, two days after that my charge got sick. Now, it seems they've been passing the cold back and forth. My son was "healthy" for about three days, then about 4 days ago, he woke up from his nap congested with a runny eye. He's had a cough since he was sick last time and now the charge has a cough too (his nose has been running since the first time they got sick). Now I have a SORE THROAT! Good lord! I've decided to close the daycare for the remainder of the week. Hopefully, four days will give us all time to get healthy.

I'm wondring, how do you guys handle asking the child to stay home when YOU'RE the one who got them sick in the first place?? What are your sickness policies? Like, neither of the kids are ACTING sick, but this runny nose is killing me. It's been three weeks that they've had runny noses!

gcj
05-02-2012, 10:03 AM
I work through colds and runny noses. I close for the stomach flu or infections.

Spixie33
05-02-2012, 10:10 AM
There are days I DREAM of closing for a sick day. Laying on the couch with nothing to do and pretty much guaranteeing that I don't get up. It has been a few years since I have been sick to that point.

I wouldn't close for a runny nose. You won't get rid of them until about July. The runny noses seem to go from one to another and then you get a week or two of dry noses and then someone starts again. No big deal.

personally I try to ensure that I get lots of Vit C and my own kids do and then we do lots of hand washing and nose wiping.

I hope it works for you though

apples and bananas
05-02-2012, 10:35 AM
I'm the same. I make sure my own kids get lots of the right vitamins so they're fighting it off. It's usually my daughter who brings it home from school anyways.

I don't close unless I'm physically unable to take care of kids. If my kids come down with something I always send the parents a text in the morning letting them know what it is and I'm open regardless, but if they choose to stay home they will not be charged for the day.

This week I have 2 with runny noses and coughs when they lay down, my own little guy has a cough too (and a ton of hives eek)

I make sure the bedding is changed regularly while everyone is runny too.

Hope your few days off resets everyone and next week starts off better.

michellesmunchkins
05-02-2012, 10:40 AM
i would never close for a cold and would never send a child home with a runny nose. If that was the case I'd only ever be open a couple months a year haha. Runny noses are all a part of the job. I work through them. Lots of vitamin C and fresh air!

Lou
05-02-2012, 10:57 AM
I wouldn't close for a cold either...I'm having a horrible one right now! My son too. And actually you can't pass colds back and forth, once you've had a cold virus you won't get it again..only a new one. It's a gross time of year for bugs and it sounds like you guys just keep getting different ones. Once it dries up some and warms up, everyone will be feeling much better! In the meantime, double your sanitizing routine!

Mamma_Mia
05-02-2012, 11:04 AM
Unless I had fevers or strep.....something that would make me bed-ridden, OR if my own daughter is ill, I'm open.

runny noses are a staple it's like dirty diapers - part of the job. If they have a high fever or eye discharge or puke etc. they stay at care as well. Just a runny nose....sorry no

Make sure you lysol everything once they leave, mop the floors daily and change pillow cases daily...that should help the passing it around. Also be extra on top of washing hands for everyone after everytime a nose is blown....heck I'd make them do it every 30min because we all know they are wiping it off with their hands too!

Crayola kiddies
05-02-2012, 11:05 AM
I don't close for colds either ..... Sheesh I'd be closed from October to may. As much as I'm not a fan of wiping snot all day it is part of it

sunnydays
05-02-2012, 12:00 PM
Same goes for me. I wouldn't/couldn't close for colds or send kids home because of colds or I would be closed most of the time. You actually CAN get the same cold more than once...just not flus, so it is very possible that it is being passed back and forth. However, this is your new reality as a daycare provider I am afraid. Most of the year I have at least one and usually several kids at a time with runny noses, coughs etc. If they have a fever or some infection, I send them home or if they are totally miserable and obviously feeling really unwell, but otherwise, we just have to put up with it and do your best to keep healthy.

lisjoh
05-02-2012, 12:34 PM
Hi all, I am new here and reading my way thru. I was just wonder if you have parents pay for days their child is not in daycare due to illness.

playfelt
05-02-2012, 01:08 PM
Yoiu can ask but the parent will likely be very upset and especially if there are no grandparents to help out. This is one of the downsides to daycare for sure. Good news is after the first couple of years you build up a greater immunity and no longer catch everything going around. Be prepared to have the parents protest and start looking for another caregiver. Unless you are so sick you are likely to fall asleep when you should be watching he kids then unfortunately that is just what happens in home daycare that you are there and struggle through as the parents are counting on you to be available and some will become so ticked off they look for someone more reliable. Since this is your first time closing it might go over better but not likely. The good news is that there is a long weekend coming up if you can hang in for that. A cold just has to run it's course - about 14 days of acute phase and another week of recovery. And yes that makes it just about time to catch the next cold.

Spixie33
05-02-2012, 03:25 PM
Hi all, I am new here and reading my way thru. I was just wonder if you have parents pay for days their child is not in daycare due to illness.

Yes of course:) . I think it is pretty standard that parents pay if their child cannot attend. If I am open and ready to do daycare then they are expected to pay. Payment is by enrollment -- not by attendance

Inspired by Reggio
05-02-2012, 03:55 PM
Ya - for me runny noses are a 'given' in the program from Oct - May at least than the 'allergy nose' kicks in for many from May - August' ... September tends to be the 'kleenex free' month ;)

I personally would not expect a child to stay home if the only symptom was the annoying nose ... for me it is fever or vomiting or diarrhea that are the big NO CARE things - other than that I play it by ear with are they coping, have they already exposed everyone else, does the public health require exclusion for their illness and so forth.

It is the downside to this field - exposure to childhood illnesses in your direct home verses just out and about in malls and social gatherings!

Momof4
05-02-2012, 04:55 PM
I wouldn't close for a cold either. In 4 years I've worked while deathly ill with colds in my chair under a blanket directing the play as much as possible without standing up. I finally took a sick day this January because I was unable to get any breath due to nonstop coughing fits and was afraid of passing out when the children were here. Normally, I would only close for the stomach flu.

But samroo, your daycare Dad is kind of obnoxious, so if I were you I wouldn't feel too very guilty if you have to take a day off from his nonsense!

To the new poster who asked about the clients paying for days off, my contract states as follows regarding fees:

Weekly fees are payable regardless of closed daycare holidays, missed or sick days. Fees are not due when the daycare is closed due to caregiver’s vacation or illness or emergency.

Littledragon
05-02-2012, 08:36 PM
Sorry, I think maybe I didn't explain properly. When a child is sick to the point where they can't properly participate in daily events, you request that they stay home. But what if you're the one who got them sick?
And I decided to close because my son has what sounds like bronchitis and the other little boy has a really thick cough. Today, my charge slept for seven hours in total throughout the day. It wasn't just because of a runny nose. Sorry. Guess I didn't communicate properly :s

My main question was how do you turn a child away from care when you're the one who got them sick? Like, if I came down with a gastric flu and then passed it on the child, obviously, I don't want them coming back and giving to the other kids who may not have caught it from me. Just wanted to know, I guess, how you deal with the guilt lol

sunnydays
05-02-2012, 08:47 PM
I don't think you should feel guilty. You did not intentionally make the child sick. We can't help it if we catch a cold and it spreads no more than the kids who come to us can help it if they pass it to us. You will catch stuff from them, they will catch stuff from you...this is life. Don't beat yourself up!

Littledragon
05-02-2012, 08:52 PM
[QUOTE=playfelt;15266]Yoiu can ask but the parent will likely be very upset and especially if there are no grandparents to help out. This is one of the downsides to daycare for sure. Good news is after the first couple of years you build up a greater immunity and no longer catch everything going around. Be prepared to have the parents protest and start looking for another caregiver.QUOTE]

Wish I'd read this earlier lol But it turned out ok. I emailed the mom around lunch time and told her that I would be closing. She thought it was a good idea because the cold was just getting passed back and forth between the two boys. And now the adults are getting sick too. They boys are young - under 1 so a cough is relatively serious, especially since our neighbourhood had been seeing croup and whooping cough. Honestly, I think she was glad to be able to take that time off work. She's been struggling with being away from her son.

If it were that they were older, or a cough wasn't involved, I definitely wouldn't have closed. But I also have to remember why I am doing this in the first place: one reason is because I LOVE kids but the biggest reason is that I want to be able to be home for my son. He is my number one priority so I need to keep his health in check. He was diagnosed with Bronchilitis when he was 6 months old and if not kept in check, it could become quite severe.

I just feel bad because I'm the one who started eveything! haha But thank you everyone for your help! I really appreciate everything you guys have to say :)

Littledragon
05-02-2012, 08:56 PM
But samroo, your daycare Dad is kind of obnoxious, so if I were you I wouldn't feel too very guilty if you have to take a day off from his nonsense!

Haha!! thanks!

Momof4
05-02-2012, 10:06 PM
The children make us sick more often than we could possibly contract a sickness anywhere else, that's a fact! My sick policy is very strict regarding certain things like fevers and infections to force parents to take their child to a doctor, but a virus is a virus and they are everywhere and can't be escaped. It will run through a daycare over and over, runny noses can't be helped and it really doesn't matter who gets it first.

If you are sick or your child is sick you have to close for a day without pay unless you have written paid personal sick days into your contract. If the child you care for is sick with the flu they have to stay home and they have to pay, but I hope you put that into your contract.

mom-in-alberta
05-03-2012, 09:06 AM
With no way to really tell who got whom sick... I don't fuss about it. As the above poster said, it's not like it was intentional.
Like it or not, passing germs around is one of the drawbacks of both running group childcare AND having your child in group childcare.
Hope you (and everyone else!!) are on the mend soon.