Have the Parents pay in advance. For example today is my pay day for the next two weeks. I have 5 paid sick days for myself amd two personal days...and 3 weeks paid holidays. I remind parents they are paying for the spot .....not necessarily by the day. As far as parents bringing sick little ones I ask would you want me to let other peoples children in if they were this sick? I will admit my children are older....so they don't really catch daycare illnesses anymore .... I have had a few showdowns with parents in the past over paying when there child is sick. I have stuck to my guns, not always easy....we all worry about the bottom line, but in my experience the parent doesn't want to go through the hassle of finding a new provider..