Very bad runny nose, do you call parents ???

That was suppose to be posted yesterday but didnt know how it worked :
Ok so I had a situation this morning. One of my daycare kid (21 month old little girl) started a bad runny nose yesterday. I wiped her nose easily every 5 minutes, screaming and crying her head off every time, even scratching me to stop me. She ended the day with a red nose, red checks and reddish around her mouth. Obviously she was starting to get sick. This morning they brought her in, I did say that if she would get more sick, I will call them and he agreed no problem. She seemed fine, although I would find odd that she's not sick anymore. As I suspected, one hour later.. not even, I called the parents to pick her up. Her runny nose was so bad, thick, between clear and yellowish, she was wiping her face with her arms and hands, it was all over. Every moment here and there sneazing and big chunks came out down to her chin almost. She also started coughing, her nose and cheeks were red and around her mouth as well and her eyes were watery. Although smile, she was sitting in her chair zoned out. When the father arrived he was really pissed off, saying this is the second time I call them to pick her up (last time was 3 months ago), and he said that they might find alternative if this is how I work (meaning finding another daycare) I said I understood completely, that I will not call for just a runny nose, I have had runny nose quite often in the daycare and never called because... it is normal, it will happen I know that. I have been very sick also quite often and still keep the daycare open to take care of their kids. I dont specify anything about cough in my contract because it is to elaborate, its really about common sense and the well being of the child, the other kids in the daycare and me as well. I am very bad at confrontations, I get really stressed out and can not find the right arguments to prove my point when face to face. I find myself to usually being very kind, calm and understanding with the parents, I listen to them and I do the best I can, but now I feel disrespect a lot. Anyways, that said, I need you guys opinions : WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT SITUATION, WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?? DO YOU SPECIFY ANYTHING ON THAT SUBJECT IN YOUR CONTRACTS ?? SHOUD I WRITE A EMAIL TO ALL PARENTS TO BE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT THIS ?? Oh please help me soon thank you. -------- today being the day after this episode, they kept her at home and I dont even know if they will come pay me for the week (I texted them the message to please not forget the payment today).

I don't know what other "way" he can do this. A centre won't keep a sick child either. I wouldn't call for just a runny nose, but mucus that is yellow or green is the sign of an infection and I would certainly call the parents for that. Plus if a child feels sick, they are not able to enjoy the daycare activities and you are right, they need to be home in their jammies.

I would have a copy of his contract on hand. You don't need to argue with him. "She needs more care than I can give her currently in a group care situation regarding her symptoms. As per the contract and illness policy you signed, I am sending her home until her symptoms resolve themselves enough to participate fully in the day." Honestly, I don't keep people who threaten to leave. I would fill the spot and then terminate them, because they don't value if they will threaten that every time you enforce a policy they already agreed to.

Only you saw the child and if the child was unable to cope with the normal daycare day...was miserable and crying and really not well, then I would have sent her home too. If it was simply a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, but her mood was okay and she was able to cope with the day even if she was a bit lower energy and bit fussy, I would have kept her. For me, they have to be really miserable or have a fever in order for me to call home. I find kids get thick yellow or green mucuous in their noses quite frequently and if I sent them home every time, their parents would be pretty ticked off too because they would be home for half of the winter. It was not cool of him to threaten leaving, but he was possibly frustrated at having to pick her up for a cold if she was coping okay. For me though it does come down to how well the child is coping...is the child okay to play outside, not crying too much, hanging in there although not at their best? If yes, I don't call.

My policy is similar to Sunnydays ... I do not send them home for the common cold as long as there is no fever and they are coping in the program with minimal disruption to the other children .. aka if they want to be laying around all day just watching everyone else and not truly participating but not bugging anyone either that does not bother me to me that is one of the benefits of home childcare there are more 'quiet options' to go for kids who need it while still being able to supervise my whole group.

I do have yellowy or green discharge listed as one of the possible reasons for children not to attend daycare in my contract but I have never used it as a reason to call a parent yet. I might enforce it if it was a bad as you are describing. Having a child getting it all over themselves and then touching toys and others sounds like a germ nightmare. I would probably be standing over her with a tissue box though.

I guess it must have been really severe.

My group has had runny noses the last 3 weeks...I am going through tissue and toilet paper like crazy but I think the runny noses should clear up in about 4 more months - lol :D

I would immediately advertise because even if they plan to stay - they may now start looking and it is better you be prepared and have a back up family rather than being desperate to replace them in a few weeks or months when they terminate. Having them threaten you by saying maybe they would find alternative care is a big no no.

My policy clearly tells parents they need to have a backup plan in place in case the child is sick or I have an emergency. Things happen.

He might have just been frustrated and thought you were blowing it out of proportion but it was quite rude nonetheless and ideally you would think that the parent would consider there are other children that could potentially get infected from all that mucus.

I dont send kids home for a runny nose. Thats part of group care in the winter. If there was vomiting, a fever or uncontrollable crying associated with the running nose then yes I would. If the child was coping well, as others have mentioned, I would have left them. I also wanted to point out that this is a good time to be teaching your dck proper coughing and blowing their nose techniques. At 20 months, she is perfectly capable and then it relieves some of the stress on you

I wonder if they medicated her in the morning and that is why she seemed fine at drop off but then got worse as the morning progressed.....
I would also not appreciate the threats.
I have never sent home due to a 'cold'. BUT if the child is clearly 'zoned out' and not wanting to participate and needs one-on-one care then I would expect you to call parents. They shoudl have empathy for their child and know that this comes along with being a working parent. Sometimes they need you at home with them, in jammies. :)

Thank you all for your feedback, I often cope with runny nose, cough and all of the above, yes it is the season for it. I actually kids who were sick in the summer. I guess if he would of called me and said nicely that he HAS to work no way out of it, is it possible to keep her and he would do as much as he can to pick her up earlier, I probably would of said fine, and just keep her in her playpen so she doesn't spread her mucus germs everywhere. Yes I did put an add already, I have a bad feeling about this so...

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Originally Posted by KingstonMom

I wonder if they medicated her in the morning and that is why she seemed fine at drop off but then got worse as the morning progressed.....
I would also not appreciate the threats.
I have never sent home due to a 'cold'. BUT if the child is clearly 'zoned out' and not wanting to participate and needs one-on-one care then I would expect you to call parents. They shoudl have empathy for their child and know that this comes along with being a working parent. Sometimes they need you at home with them, in jammies. :)

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Yeah I have wondered that too... I had another child like that on monday... fine in the morning and worse as the day went (she started getting sick on friday).

I stick to my fever policy and if it goes near 101 F I'm making a phone call to the parent to come get their child because that could mean a chest or ear infection while a child has a bad cold. But otherwise a cold is a virus and you can't get away from them. You just know it's going to spread through the whole daycare and you are going to get it too when they are sneezing and coughing all over you. But it's one of the worst parts of our job. I have a clear policy on vomit, diarrhea, fevers and contagious diseases and even though a virus can make us all sick too it's called the 'common' cold for a reason.

However, I really love my clients who are smart enough to call in the morning and tell me that their child is feeling so crappy that they are going to keep them home. It sounds like the little girl in your daycare really should have been at home, but I don't make the call and send a child home for a runny nose normally.

However, we go through their wipes really quickly because to try to keep the contamination to a minimum I use their diaper wipes on their hands and face and on my hands until I can run out to wash them while I'm cleaning up a runny nose all day.