Please don't send your sick kid to daycare!!!

[Lou]

What boggles my mind and always will, is WHY would you want anyone else to take care of your sick children??? YOUR babies are ill! Don't you want to be the one on top of it and helping them feel better? And why on earth would you think that it is a daycare provider's job to take care of sick children??? People confuse me.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Lou, I agree with you. If it were me, I would want to look after my sick child myself.

HOWEVER, I have worked at places that made it difficult to just leave when needed so I do understand it from a parent's view as well. Both my fields, healthcare and childcare, were at places that had ratio's to follow. So leaving when your child was sick was not easy. You either had to wait until a replacement could come in or be pulled from a different area or you had to call your back up to pick up your child. The thing that always made me laugh was my dc centre coworkers would complain about a parent not coming quick enough or not being able to come at all when their child needed to be picked up but than if the school phoned and needed them to pickup their own child up they couldn't leave work either!! They just didn't understand the irony lol.

Having children in dc and/or school and working at a job that isn't easily flexible must be very tough on parents!!

[Lou]

And so drop off your already sick child??? Nope. I worked in childcare centres for years and if my daughter woke up ill or was sick in the night I would call in early to say I would not be there. I don't care. My child comes FIRST, they can figure it out. I would never ever even consider dropping my sick child off at daycare.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I meant when the child becomes sick during the day

[Lou]

I get that to a certain extent, but I also think there should be back up arranged to come and pick up the child if sick. I don't see any reason why it should take hours for a throwing up child to be picked up, you know? Under no circumstance do I see that as excusable.
The OP was talking about children being dropped off ill, so that's where my original rant came from

[5 Little Monkeys]

I agree!! Back ups are a must for me!

Knowingly dropping off ill is just plain inconsiderate!!

[Judy Trickett]

I get that to a certain extent, but I also think there should be back up arranged to come and pick up the child if sick. I don't see any reason why it should take hours for a throwing up child to be picked up, you know? Under no circumstance do I see that as excusable.
The OP was talking about children being dropped off ill, so that's where my original rant came from

I agree. This is your CHILD. You should be willing to move mountains to rush to come and get them and take them to the comforts of their home and momma. If a parent were suddenly puking at work I KNOW they would be exiting that building within 5 minutes and high-tailing it home. They should offer their child the same consideration.

[mamaof4]

that said. with jobs like my husband (a firefighter) its not easy to get a hold of them and even harder for them to leave. So I can see both sides, and I agree the importance of back ups

[mom-in-alberta]

My parents are pretty good for picking up when I ask them to. And rarely do they drop-off a kid that I look at and go "Really? You thought they were ok to come to daycare??"
Having said that, I think you can tell the difference between a poop that is teething related (looser, but only because of the extra drool, etc) and actual diarreah (everything is off- color, texture, and of course FOUL odor).
I will call after the first actual diarreah. I am confident that I know when a child can stay and when they MUST go home.
And I agree. Although I understand that it is difficult to leave/miss work, I need to work with families that will make EVERY effort to come get a sick child. It is important to me, because that is a core value (ie; kids are the most important thing of all).

[hannahjo]

I second that! It is sooo difficult to protect other kids from getting infected. Dear parents please do not send your kids unless and until you are sure that they are absolutely alright. Kids in the day care center are vulnerable and are likely to get affected by the same! We would be held accountable before other parents for their kids being sick!