Caring for a risky child

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

I have to weigh in on this post. IMO I'm in a unique position to comment since I have epilepsy (diagnosed at about the same age as your dcg) and I am a caregiver. My best advice to you, and to this child's parent's, would be that until the seizures are completely under control (seizure free for 6 months) the child should not be in a daycare environment. Once the parents and doctors have identified what triggers this child's seizures, and established an effective drug therapy program, you could then assess whether the risk of caring for this child is too high for you to take on. My personal thoughts/take on the situation go something like this: if anything was to happen to their child while she was in my care, I would be terrified that the parents would go after me legally. I'd worry that my daycare could be shut down, I could lose my livelihood....all that kind of stuff. Another concern that I haven't seen commented upon here, would be how are the parents of the other children in your care going to feel about their young children possibly witnessing a seizure/paramedics arriving. Children are very tolerant, and they can be taught to understand almost anything. However....I would understand if parents felt that this might be too upsetting for their child and they chose to place their child with another caregiver. (heaven help you if you happen to have parents who are not well informed about seizures and have antiquated, ignorant or hurtful opinions about epilepsy/seizures )I would also want to talk with the parents about what would happen if their daughter had a seizue while she was in your care - specifically, the fact that she will be transported to the hospital via ambulance on her own since you will have to remain with your other daycare children. They may not have thought about this. I fully appreciate the monkey wrench that this development has thrown into their back to work plans. However, the reality is, that their "plan" has changed radically and they should seriously consider taking the next few months to get a better understanding of their daughter's condidtion and how to effectively manage it before they plan on leaving her in someone else's care.