Just a part of the job? or....

I have a section of my illness policy to cover this worded like this

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Communicable Illnesses
.... Due to the flexible nature of our schedule and routines my general requirement for attendance when under the weather is that children need to be to cope within the program, with minimal impact on the other children’s enjoyment, in order to attend.

Children may not participate, and will be required to be temporarily removed, if any of the following diseases and/or symptoms develops:
followed by a list of communicable diseases that the health unit requires exclusion for

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I admit that if I had already discussed an outing with the other children that they were looking forward to and a client arrived with a child who was 'under the weather' but not out right needing to stay home for sure I still would have gone on the outing as well cause I agree it is not fair to upset the apple cart of 4 other paying clients because 1 clients child did not sleep properly ~ this is group care and we have to balance the needs of the group while trying to meet the needs of the individual! I would have given the parents a heads up 'Well we will try the planned trip and if they are not coping I will give you a call' ... and than played it by ear if we needed to cut it short or if I needed to send the child home or not either from the outing or back at home ... typically in my experience children generally perk up by the distractions at daycare unless they are truly not well!

I will also admit that while I have a policy stating that I WILL send home a child who is not participating because I want that option to be clear for parents as a possibility ~ I have not yet done it cause I truly hate sending children home unless they have a fever / vomiting / diarrhea and so forth .... they would have to really really not be coping ~ aka I would have to have tried every trick in my book to make help time so if holding them does not console them at all or putting them down for an extra nap does not work or they are screaming type crying verses just moaning / whiny ... I have always been lucky at being able to distract children who are just tired / teething and if it has been more than that than the fever usually pops up and I can send them home for that reason verse the not coping part.

Hope he wakes from his nap in better spirits!

Opps ~ you posted while I was posting ~ poor thing!

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Originally Posted by Lou

awwwww he woke up at 100.9 crying :( Poor muffin. I knew it seemed beyond just being tired :(

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He was most likely given a fever reducer before he arrived and it wore off during nap. Theres a REALLY good chance the parent knowingly sent a sick child to your home with medication on board. The "up early in the morning" info is often enough to let you know to keep an extra eye on the child without coming clean about the illness. Now you will need to be on alert that the other kids and you have been exposed.

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Originally Posted by Lou

I know what you mean about taking a day off because the child is overtired...that why I'm torn about this! But he is acting exactly how he would if he was sick with fever, crying on and off, not eating and affecting the whole mood of the day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a monster! I gave him plenty of cuddles and hugs but I find it hard to change the whole plan for the day based on one child. I also think he might be coming down with something, the way he keeps crying out in his sleep :(

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I haven't read through the responses, but here's mine:

As quoted from my manual:

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If the child cannot participate in the daily activities of daycare, then the child will be sent home.

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I would have sent the child home with his random crying. Why should you stop your daily plans for this one child?

Lou, I hope you called the parents immediately and had him go home. I agree with the poster who said they probably medicated him and brought him to daycare and that would make me so mad. I tell parents not to do that because as soon as the fever comes back they are going to have to leave work anyway and come get their child so why not take the whole day off.

I've cancelled trips to the park before when a child or sometimes two are feeling crappy with colds and try to do what's best for all of the children that way. But it's ok to be flexible and stay home sometimes. Our park and library visits always take between 10-20 minutes to walk and I think getting there and back is part of the fun because we talk all the time about everything we see along the way and I consider it learning time for them. But if the children have runny noses and congestion and I can't send them home but I know they don't feel well enough for that, then we stay in for an easy day.

I have sent a child home for crying once. His drop off time was about 8am and by 11:30 he was still crying. This was the 2nd day in a row of this behaviour so I called the mom and said I am unable to properly care for the other children, please come get him. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't play. She was PISSED and in fact informed me when she picked up that she "would not take time off work again for something as trivial as crying". Pretty much told me to suck it up and deal.

Sometimes you just have to do it as it's too disruptive to the other children in the program.

I'm not sure if this helps at all, with the problem of a child feeling crummy.....

I have right in my contract that if a child is feeling ill, has teething pain, what have you, I'll always try to contact a parent to discuss medicating. However, if I'm unable to reach anyone, I have the parent's automatic permission to use my own judgement and medicate should I deem it necessary to ease a child's discomfort until he/she can be picked up, be it early or at the end of the day. I always have baby and junior Advil and Tylenol, Tempra drops, children's Gravol and Benedryl. So far, I've not had an issue with anyone on this matter and they've all said they're happy with that scenario....seemed relieved actually as they wouldn't be called early from work so often. Typically, if a child's not quite right, the parents will mention it to me and verify they're ok with me administering whatever meds are necessary. I generally only make kids stay home for vomiting, diarrhea, fever of 101 and up, strep, pox, head lice, impatego (sp?) and those sorts of things. If I didn't let them in with colds and such, I might never see them all winter!

For the record, I think it's pretty crap that a parent would drop a medicated child without telling you. Not cool in my opinion. I've had parents do that too which was awful for me and the daycare kids. Not to mention that I took my kids to Spain the following week (a trip they knew of months in advance) during which we all got sick and passed it to my sister and her husband who went with us. Dad claimed to not realize it was contagious though his whole family got it. There were choice words :)

Sorry you had such a crummy day. Hope next week is better....and hope you don't get what he's got!

cfred, I never medicate a child. I won't do it! It's in my contract that parents shouldn't medicate and bring a child to daycare and that I only administer from a physican prescribed medicine.

If you use the reasoning that medicating with a pain or fever reliever is only masking a symptom of a greater problem the parents can't argue with that. The parents are responsible for getting to the root of the problem, not us. We must use our best judgement because we get to know the children so well because we spend 40ish hours a week with them, but it's up to the parents to make sure their children are healthy.

I agree to a point Momof4. However, sometimes a cold is just a cold, a fever is just a fever and teething pain is just teething pain. I've always medicated when necessary, both with daycare kids and my own. We've still been able to spot bigger problems while allowing the medication to make the child more comfortable. If a fever continues to return after tylenol has worn off, then we understand there's a likelihood of infection and the child likely needs a doctor's visit, but it sure made the wait to get the prescription a lot more comfortable for the little guy. Everyone who medicates to relieve discomfort recognize that's it's also important to allow the meds to wear off to monitor the progress. And what to do in the case of a child spiking a very high fever and being unable to get an early pick up? I had a kid who woke up with a temp of 104 and I couldn't reach the parents or emergencies. That's approaching dangerous and I think not medicating could have made the problem worse. I dont' medicate for everything, but won't hesitate if it's needed.

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Originally Posted by Momof4

Lou, I hope you called the parents immediately and had him go home. I agree with the poster who said they probably medicated him and brought him to daycare and that would make me so mad. I tell parents not to do that because as soon as the fever comes back they are going to have to leave work anyway and come get their child so why not take the whole day off.

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Not on a Friday. Friday is one of the riskiest days to receive sick kids. The parents have nothing to loose by dopeing and dropping. You can't prove it and any exclusion won't extend until Monday.