Help!!!

[smileyface]

*sigh* I talked to the dck's parents and they say this very rarely happens at home. Something isn't adding up. He's only here part-time and every time he's here, this happens. I asked if he could be intolerant to lactose and they said no. I'm back at square one. If this continues over the next couple of weeks, it sounds crazy, but I may have to terminate over this. I can't follow him everywhere and keep checking his bum every 10 minutes and then bath him every time he's here because he's made such a huge mess. It's also so unsanitary to have poop smeared all over the floor, furniture and toys. The other kids could easily step or touch it or get it on them!

[treeholm]

I would call the parents the minute this happened, and tell them he needs to be picked up. I would not be able to bathe him and leave the other children unattended. I would also tell parents that if it happens again, he won't be permitted to come back because you need to put the safety of the other children first.

[playfelt]

Would using the next size up in diapers help any. It would also mean you could get them tighter because the tabs would wrap around better which overlaps the sides better.

Does the child eat a different kind of breakfast on daycare days such as a smoothy and toast instead of his usual cereal and juice. In other words it could be something he is having for breakfast that is too harsh for him. I mention the smoothy because I had one that had stinkiest poops not runny just stinky and parents finally discovered at home that when they mixed orange juice and milk in a smoothy she reacted. Either milk or juice was fine just not at the same meal.

[bright sparks]

How can the parents say he isn't lacto intolerant???? How the hell do they know?? I would have asked them if the child had ever been tested because without the test how can they know for sure. IMO you should have insisted that he goes to the doctors before he will be allowed to return to daycare. I would document every bowel movement, time and also what the child is eating and at what time so the parents have something to take to the doctors. Sounds like once diagnosed its probably a simple fix, but if you don't insist they go to the doctors then they won't and you'll be forced to terminate which in my opinion could be avoided. Do you have a sickness policy?? My policy states no child with diarrhea will be allowed into care. They can not return to care without being 24 hours symptom free. If you have a policy and they aren't sticking to it, you need to enforce it immediatly for the safety of the other children. Regardless of whether the child has an intolerance, and allergy or something else, faeces are extremely dangerous and it just wouldn't be acceptable to have this child in my daycare without having sort medical attention. I couldn't give notice to this family without having done everything in my power as the caregiver first. I think this kind of thing comes with the territory of this job and while I appreciate it is a huge problem to deal with while caring for the other children, I think it would be much more productive and helpful to the child to insist on them seeing a doctor rather than just terminating and leaving it to someone else to deal with.

[playfelt]

Sounds like the child has always had loose movements and the parents just consider them normal now. As a result they probably are constantly checking the child or evenings/weekends are one on one with child anyways so know right away.

[smileyface]

Ya, the parents told me he's always been a "good pooper"... But, maybe that's the problem! This isn't normal, and that's what I'm trying to communicate to them. Should I just write in the journal that if this continues with every poop, that he needs to see a doctor before he can come back into the daycare? I'm tempted to just not feed him any dairy here. I do have a policy on no diarrhea, but this kid always seems to have it. I know some kids tend to be more constipated and others tend to be runny, but for it to constantly be so leaky, it's just not normal. I have two kids of my own and have never had to deal with this.

[Momof4]

Smileyface, guess what? It NEVER happens at home, no matter what the issue. Get used to that answer! Go with your gut. Enforce your diarrhea policy. I cannot tell you how sick and tired I am of this problem at my daycare.

[cfred]

It sounds like lactose intolerance to me, but who knows....A friend of mine is severely lactose intolerant. One serving of milk and he bloats right up and disappears to the bathroom for a long time.

You could, if you were so inclined, take him off dairy and see what happens. I would probably buy a carton of soy or lactose free milk and put him on that for a week and see what the results are....just out of curiosity. At least if it's not a lactose issue, then it's been ruled out, no harm done. No child should have stools that loose and plentiful and you're right, it's not normal.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to take a pictures of him over a week's period to show the parents the 'explosions' for themselves? I find it very hard to believe that they're not seeing it over weekends, but perhaps they don't.

[sunnydays]

I had an issue like this recently, although thankfully the poop was not running out of the diaper...just many very loose BM's every day. It took me a long time to convince the parents that it wasn't normal...they were used to it and jsut checked him more frequently at home. Finally they took him off lactose and it cleared right up. However, since then they went to the doctor because he had actual diahrea and the doctor just said all kids poop differently and not to worry! I still don't give him milk at daycare,..not sure what the parents are doign at this point, but I don't want to deal with frequent runny poops.

[cfred]

It's funny how people are soooo reluctant to consider lactose intolerance being an issue. I have a girlfriend who was having digestive issues for years. She was constantly having belly problems and it was becoming quite a discomfort for her. I told her for at least 3 years that it sounded like lactose intolerance. She argued and argued and argued for that whole time until finally, her stomach issues became unbearable. I asked her to please, please, please just consider going off dairy for a couple weeks to see what happened. If nothing changed, then at least it would be ruled out, right? Sure enough, 1 week later she admitted I was right and said her life was completely different.

I couldn't resist the 'I told you so'