Baby with a bad cough

[Fireyesblue]

I have a baby in my care. Last day in my care Nov 18 with me. Has had a cold and phlem in his chest for a month now. Mom refuses to get him checked out assuming he may have asthma. This morning she drops off and says he has another cold and is coughing really bad. I mention taking him to get checked as its been ongoing etc. She saya its may be croup. This baby is coughing a lot. What should I do? She refuses to get him checked out because she knows if its a chest infection or croup he has to stay home. But I have my own daughter to worry about here. Thoughts? I cant make her take him in but at the same time... when is enough enough of an ongoing chest cold and awful cough? I assume its croup myself too or at the least he needs antibiotics.

[lemondrop]

You can't force her to take him to the doctor, but you can refuse to provide care unless she does.

[Fireyesblue]

You can't force her to take him to the doctor, but you can refuse to provide care unless she does.

Yep. I know - has anyone ever had to do that? This fam always said their children sick (fevers, etc) and I send them home. Just so close to them finally leaving my care, and its one thing after the other with them.

[Van]

Nov 1st today so make sure you have someone ready to take her spot for Nov 18 or Dec 1st or Jan if it is slow in your area, then it is move on to the next child - good luck :)

[Busy ECE mommy]

I send kids home if cough comes with low fever, or if cough sounds barky/wheezy/ causes a child to vomit/ or child is having difficulty getting air in or out. I do tell parents to visit a doctor if its wheezy/barky/difficulty breathing/causes child to vomit, for child's sake, and to ensure it is not contagious.

[kindertime]

This is my illness policy from my handbook. You can use any of it if it is helpful to you. And, now that I am going over it today, I think I will print out a copy for the parents as a refresher, too.

Illness Policies

There are many illness and infections common to early childhood. Young children are more susceptible to illness because they have not developed immunity to infections and because they are not yet able to practice good hygiene.

I will use the following resources for identifying control methods and exclusion periods for common illness found in childcare.

The first is a book from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia

http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/ch55_staying_healthy _5th_edition_updated _140616.pdf

And the second is from Minnesota called Infectious Diseases in Childcare Settings and Schools Manual

http://www.hennepin.us/residents/health-medical/infectious-diseases#Sec7

When I don't have a note from the child's doctor, and I am told that the child has an illness, I will follow the guidelines listed in these resources to determine how long (if at all) they should be excluded from daycare.

These are the general rules I will follow.

• If the child has an illness that requires exclusion, that child cannot be at daycare.
• If the child is not able to focus or follow the routine and daily activities like they normally do, they will be sent home.
• I use Celsius and 38 is considered fever.
• If the child's temperature rises to 38C, they will be sent home. I do not administer medication for fever.
• If a child has vomited, for any reason, they may be sent home at my discretion.
• When a child needs to go home, I will call the parent immediately and the child will be prepared to leave. It is the parent's responsibility to have them picked up in a reasonable amount of time. That means approximately 30 minutes.
• A child who has a fever must be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to daycare. This means that if medication was given for the fever, they must be fever-free for a full day after the end of the medications effective period.
• I must be informed of medications the child is on. Parents must not give their child a medication for fever and bring them to daycare without telling me.
• If the child has an illness or condition that requires a diagnosis, I may request that they be taken to a doctor. I may also require that the doctor give a written note saying when they are allowed to come back to daycare and/or they require medication. I have a form for that.
• When I take a child's temperature, I use an oral thermometer for children out of diapers and a rectal thermometer for children in diapers. If the child is unable to hold the thermometer in their mouth, I will take it rectally.
• Parent's contact information must be kept up-to-date.


When a child is to be given medication at daycare, the following rules will be followed;

• It must be a prescription medication, prescribed by a doctor.
• It must be in the original prescription container. Please pay attention, if the medication is in a bottle, the label must be on the bottle, not the box.
• It must be labelled with the child's name, the doctor's name, dosage and expiry date.
• I will provide an authorization form that the parent must fill out. The parent's instructions for administering the medication must not differ from the prescription.
• I will keep the record of when I gave the medication until the prescription is finished. At this time, the parent will be given a copy.

[Fireyesblue]

UPDATE: denied care until baby was seen by a Dr as he wasnt sleeping or eating while in my care due to his severe coughing fits. Both he and older sibling ran fevers all that day. Mom kept home on Tues (yesterday) and said he had "bronchial irritation". I asked that he be kept home for one more day to be monitored (today) now I was up ALL night with my own 3 yr old who is now running a fever and super miserable and sick. I will be using my last two sick days and closing for the rest of the week. This fam terminated care with me and their last day is Nov 18 which I have decided is my official day of operating a dayhome.

[Van]

Are you saying Nov 18 will be your last day as daycare?