Fevers

I have a little guy that has been home with a fever of 100 - 101 for 2 days. This morning his fever remained so mom took him to the dr. The dr. said it's just viral and it will run it's course. The rest of my daycare has had the runny nose and I had a bit of a head cold last week. Mom contacted me after the apt and let me know it's viral and he has been in good spirits for 2 days (most likely from the fever reducing medicine I'm assuming) and asked if she could bring him so she could go to work this afternoon.

I'm going to stop my story there as I'm curious what all of you would do in this same situation.

I have a standard sick policy, no high fevers, have to be able to participate in today's activities etc.

I would definitely say NO! I don't allow children with fevers...in fact if it is viral that is even more reason for him to stay home as it is contagious! I also don't give over the counter meds nor do I allow parents to medicate the kids before sending them to me. I understand it is hard for parents to take time off work, but if the child is sick, he should be at home.

Hmmmm, well since he has seen a doctor, is in good spirits and is on fever reducing meds (though I as a parent really prefer to limit the meds especially in the case of a low grade fever) and since he will nap in the pm, I think I would work with the Mom and take him for the afternoon. Of course what happens if the fever is still there the next day? Have you now opened the door to allowing dcb to come with low grade fevers now? To answer my own question, IMO, I would take him for the afternoon and then state if fever remains the next day, he should still stay home. Have I confused things? LOL

As long as he is able to participate in the program without negative impact on the other children, has no communicable symptoms that require exclusion as per the health unit in my city (vomiting / diarrhea / unexplained or diagnosed rash / etc) and the fever remains 'low grade' aka UNDER 101 than I would allow him to return to program since he has seen the Dr and the Dr is not saying he requires exclusion.

Fevers can be 'tricky' cause I have had children who were brewing something nasty but had no fever at all and so did not have anything to warrent 'exclusion' except that they were not coping in the program and on the flipside IME children can have a low grade fever just due to their body reacting to the increase in acidity levels from teething but otherwise are perfectly fine in the program so I do not keep them home for just 'any' fever so in the absence of any symptoms that make it unsafe to be in care or raise a red flag I would allow him the benefit of the doubt that its just something minor like the cold that everyone else is also fighting ~ at least until I had more information to go on to warrant exclusion ;)

I would take him. If he's feeling well enough to be in good spirits then he'll probably be fine in daycare. I take them a bit sick. In the winter months, I might never see any of them if I don't! No matter how much we disinfect and wash our hands, they get sick. And the hard fact is, once the symptoms are showing, it's already too late....they've been their most contagious for some time already and everyone's been exposed.

Nope. No special. He still has a fever, and I don't care if he's on meds or not.

So what did you do?!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cfred

.... No matter how much we disinfect and wash our hands, they get sick. And the hard fact is, once the symptoms are showing, it's already too late....they've been their most contagious for some time already and everyone's been exposed.

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I so totally agree cfred ..... I tell parents openly that my 'illness policy' and requiring exclusion for certain things is not so much about preventing the spread of illness but ensuring that children recovery quickly in the comfort of their own home until they are in a position to enjoy the program again and also because honestly it is too hard for ME to care for multiple sick children as they tend to need more one on one attention when truly under the weather ... I have yet to have an issue with clients trying to send 'sick' children into care not sure if I am just lucky or what or if I just have a different definition of 'sick'?

Thank you for your feedback...

I took him.

I shouldn't have. LOL

He was fine when he got here... had lunch... ate great! then I put him down for a nap where he slept silently for 2 1/2 hours. (this is my screamer by the way) I got him up at 2:30 and he crashed. He followed me into the kitchen to make lunch, layed down on the floor and closed his eyes... poor little guy.

So, I let mom know that this was how he was behaving. I put him back to bed and he slept till dad got here.

I'm certain it wasn't any more then a head cold and congestion, but it's his first big cold and his body is reacting to it.

Thanks for all of your feedback, that was fun to see what everyone else would have done.

Poor kid....it's so hard to tell sometimes how far into recovery a young child is...for providers and parents alike. I've always found they plummet in the afternoon, but, as with your little guy, just lose steam later on. Sometimes they seem perfectly fine, then spike a fever during nap. It's a tough position for everyone. On the one side, we certainly would prefer to not have sick kids. On the other side, if the parent takes too much time away, their job is at risk, which also doesn't help the provider. I don't think there's any right answer really. Everyone just has to do what they feel is right and hope it meshes with a client's needs. I have no issue taking sick kids (with restrictions of course)...they're super cuddly :) But I can totally understand other providers' reservations.

I let the client know at pick up last night that he was able to come today only if he can participate with the other kids without the assistance of medicine. If that means she stays home in the am and doesn't medicate and he's doing ok by 11 then she's welcome to bring him by for the remainder of the day. It's hard as a parent to take 4 - 5 days off of work because your child is sick. What do you do when you're sick??? That was always my dilema when I worked outside of the home.

If the rest of the kids hadn't been sick recently I wouldn't have risked it, but there's a very strong chance he has the same bug, his body is just reacting to it differently.

He ended up staying home today... still has a fever (that's 4 days now!) and was very sleepy this am.

I have a unwritten rule as well as my policies and that is:

If you as a parent are questioning if your child should come today your little one should probly stay home. You have "gut feelings" for a reason.