Sick Kids
I have been doing daycare now for over 12 yrs and have absolutely no backbone! We live in a very small town and there are 3 home daycare providers, all of us seeming to have similiar contracts/policies. I have a great contract and handbook but so many families don't seem to uphold the rules and I seem to have an issue confronting them on it! How do you all handle sick kids?? I seem to often have parents come in my door at 7:30 am and inform me that their child had a fever last night or threw up but they think it was just a fluke thing, etc. I get so frustrated that these adults don't seem to think there's a problem with this behavior but also frustrated at myself that I can't be more forceful! Any ideas? Suggestions???
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Originally Posted by Sdcp16: Good luck, hun. :Sunny: Wish there was an easy button answer, there just is not. ;) |
Originally Posted by Catherder: |
Originally Posted by Blackcat31: |
Originally Posted by Catherder: |
LOL, yes I do know the answer.....you'd think after 12 plus years,I'd be able to speak my mind and have a bit of a backbone! And I know that since they know they can get away with things, they continue to do them! Like not paying on time! Ugh!! The worst part of the sick kid thing is my 12 year old now has mono! We're going on two weeks now! Thankfully, for the most part now, my own kids don't catch the daycare kids illnesses since my kids are 12 and almost 15.
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Throwing up isn't a fluke, running a temp isn't a fluke.
It's quite simple. I decided a long time ago that if someone has something that could potentially get me or my children sick, they can't come. If they are whining a lot and it's apparent that they don't feel good, they can't come. If a child can't participate unassisted in any and all activities, they can't come. No puking, no temp, no contagious illness! And, rather than having parents take their child to the doctor and get a note saying the child can resume daycare, I implemented this: If your child visits a doctor. A note stating your child's illness is required to return to daycare. It will then be at the discretion of the provider to determine when your child may return to daycare. |
I hate confrontation, and have very little backbone. Luckily I've got great parents who usually respect my policies. But for me, if I notice parents are starting to take something for granted (like not paying on time), I reset everything by giving them all a letter reminding them about the policy and how I will be enforcing it. And for some reason, I find it easier to actually follow through with enforcing it. I guess it's because I want to be a woman of my word and I want people to be able to trust what I say. So if I reiterate that I'm going to be charging late fees for late pick-ups, I am more motivated to do it. Weird, but it works!
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Oh, and I forgot to mention I added a motivator in my policies a while back. :ouch:
If they are sick at home/enroute here the parents have to keep them out 24 hours after resolution of symptoms. If I send them home or decline them at the door they have to stay out a minimum of 48 hours. ;) AKA "Doorstep Manipulation" penalty. I RARELY ever have this issue any more. :p |
Originally Posted by Catherder: |
Originally Posted by Blackcat31: I think I added that one after a former client said "Yeah, I figured you'd be calling soon, haha. I'm done anyway, I just needed a few hours to catch up on charts before I had to call out. I am on my way." :eek: :mad: Strep....with 2 newborns in our group. :mad: |
Question for you
Originally Posted by Sdcp16: |
I guess if you don't have a "face-to-face" backbone, maybe you could communicate in writing??? Letters, newsletters, signs & posters???
Also, if you are licensed you can lean on your regulations. I am a "Well-Child Facility" so it's against regulation for me to contaminate my home or the other children in my care.:D |
Yes I am licensed. In Massachusetts, you have to be. I also have all of my rules/policies in a handbook, I discuss it all at the interview and I also do a monthly newsletter which always has a section about one of these issues! I know the only way to fix any of this is to call people out on it. It's so hard to do! I guess I expect too much from some of these parents. I would never not pick my kids up on time, never not pay my provider and I would never in a million years expect someone else to care for my sick child! My own daughter has mono and I have her up in her bedroom or mine. My daycare is in our finished basement and I run up and down two flights of stairs checking on her!! There's no way I'd want her around any of the kids!!
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For me I think the parents help keep me accountable...lol!! If one parent see's a child at pick up coughing or hacking they look at me with why did you let him in here...lol!! I don't like that so I try and stop it before it gets to that point. I am still working on my illness policy but since summer I haven't had any sick kids....I have a parent who is a teacher and I think that she gets sick and passes it to son and family and then everyone here gets sick. She has told me in the past that she can't keep missing work bc her sons sick...I said sorry but I can't risk everyone else here getting sick bc of her son. If he's contagious he's not coming...plan and simple. I was like you and didn't have much of a back bone but it was things like this when I started feeling taking advantage of and no concern from the parent that I started growing one. I would hate to loss them but I could loss all my families if I allowed a child who had a contagious virus into daycare. It just wasn't worth it.
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I have a solution:D
I have a big sign taped to the side window beside my front door that says: Out of respect for myself, my family and the other children that attend my dayhome, No child will be accepted with any type of cold or flu. Please have back up childcare. NO exceptions will be made. Thank you for your cooperation regarding this matter. I have had this sign up since March. I have had one parent pull their child out 2 weeks after the sign went up. (they were the reason the sign went up in the first place) And every other DC family has fully understood and no one has been sick since then.:D |
Originally Posted by mrsp'slilpeeps: |
Sick policy
I hate it when I hear "Oh, dck's just teething..." and then all of a sudden, more kids are "teething" and before long, so am I! Same goes for "allergies". I didn't realize that kids could pass "allergies" to one another.
I'm a home daycare provider and I rarely have to send kids home sick. I owe it all to having an illness policy that doesn't leave room for interpretation. I owe it to every child in my care to enforce the illness policy that's in my contract which all of the parents sign. Doctors have different opinions about what teething and allergy related symptoms are. It's not fun to exclude kids from care when their parents are chalking their symptoms up to something that is not contagious. I understand that it's hard to leave work to pick up a sick child from daycare. I know that employers get angry over things like that. That's one of the big reasons why I expect parents to have a back up provider available to them. I'm not arguing that providers aren't capable of sending a kid home who is questionable as far as fevers go. I just think that the door swings in both directions. If a child arrives at daycare and doesn't have a temperature and then spikes one about 3 or 4 hours later, then I'm inclined to think that the parents gave the child a dose of tylenol or motrin right before drop off. I've seen temperatures of 102 and higher being called "teething" fevers. I've heard excuses for fevers, coughs, yellow & green thick snot, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. I don't think that it's fair to compromise every other child's health just because one parent doesn't think that their child is legitimately sick. It's a slippery slope. If I let my illness policy slide for a family, then how long will it be until I'm letting everything pass as an illness that's not contagious. I have more than just one daycare family. I don't send kids home so that I can close for the day. I sanitize and circulate toys all of the time. I don't even charge for sick days because I don't want to end up with sick children sent to me because the parents feel like they've already paid for the service so they might as well use it. I don't stand to benefit from sending a child home sick. In fact, it is a financial hit for me to send a kid home sick. I am acting in the interest of all of the kids in my care, including my own. |
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