Diarrhea and sick policy

[AmandaKDT]

I have a 16 month old that had two bouts of watery poop yesterday and apparently she pooped 5 times after she got home last night. Her mom dropped her off today with a bad diaper rash from all the pooping. She had one diarrhea type poop so far today and is in a pretty decent mood otherwise, no fever or anything. I ended up washing her bum in the bathtub today because I didn't want to use the baby wipes on the diaper rash.

Anyway, my sick policy is after two bouts of diarrhea the child is to be sent home. She has only pooped once today (so far) but I am thinking of telling her mom that if things don't improve by tomorrow morning that I would rather she didn't come. I worry that she should be getting more care and attention than I can give her with a house full of kids. Thoughts?

[mickyc]

I think my policy says that at number 3 they are called. I did have 1 time where a 3 year old had diarrhea and pooped herself so bad where I had to put her in the shower and hose her down that I called mom instantly. If it is so bad that she can't make it to the bathroom I certainly didn't want to have it happen again. Little ones with diapers are a bit different.

IMO the mom shouldn't have even sent the child to daycare seeing she had diarrhea so much last night. Poor kid could be dehydrated. If it happens again I would call mom to pick up and tell her that she needs to be diarrhea free for 24 hours before she returns to daycare.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I agree with Mickyc. My policy is either 2 or 3....can't remember it's been so long since I've had to send one home for that reason lol.

Does she have any other symptoms? Could it be teething issues?

[AmandaKDT]

Well, she just woke up with a fever so she will ge going home early.

Yeah, I wasn't too happy to find out she had pooped so much last night and has a diaper rash. If it were me I probably would have kept her at home, but I also know how hard it is to miss work when you aren't sure how sick they really are.

[Blackcat3168]

If a child has diarrhea in my care they are sent home until they have been free from loose poops for a FULL 24 hours without the aide of any over the counter meds.

I would NOT have allowed that child to return to care today.

Now that she has a fever, I'd send her home and not allow her to return until she is free from diarrhea, fever and or other illness symptoms for a full 24 hours WITHOUT any meds.

It IS hard to miss work as a parent, but your child should still come first. Any time a parent tells me that they can't miss any more work I tell them "Well, now would be a good time to make sure you have back up care set up because I will not be the one to have care for an ill child."
They can have a neighbor, friend and/or relative on call to care for the child if necessary.

[Fun&care]

Yep, not cool that mom brought her in today. Do you think she dosed and dropped? I don't want to start anything, but typically fever meds last 4-6 hours so if they were given in the morning it would be around naptime that they would wear off???

After two watery poops parents would have gotten a warning that if there is any more in the evening child will have to stay home until she is diarrhea free for a FULL 24 HOURS. We are not doctors or nurses, we have other kids to care for and this mom was inconsiderate. I would never want anyone else to have to be responsible for my child with diarrhea.

[AmandaKDT]

Yes, she caught me off guard this morning. The kids were already undressed and off playing, and she mentioned the 5 poops and the diaper rash pretty much as she was walking out the door. The girl seemed fine and didn't have a poop until late morning, she was playing happily and eating normally. Then it all went down hill so quickly in the early afternoon. Who knows if she medicated her before bringing her.

They are a nice family and the mom just told me yesterday that she and her husband have officially separated (he hasn't been living at home since the summer but they hadn't told me anything more than he had to go away for work). So it was in my thoughts to feel bad for the mom when she brought them this morning, she has the two kids pretty much full time all by herself, her husband is in another town 2 hours away and only comes to see the kids about once a month.

I know their home situation doesn't excuse dropping off a sick child, but it would have been really hard for me to tell her to take her child home this morning unless she was by obviously sick.

But she isn't coming tomorrow, so we will see how things are on Friday