When your own child is sick

[CountryRoads]

I'm just curious if I handled this appropriately or not.

Our own child (3yo) had a very rough night last night and woke up with a nasty cough. It sounds like his throat is so raw. Everyone in my care has a cold (runny nose, cough, no fever), but there's no knowing where he got it from.

He woke up about 20 min before my first family was supposed to be here. I sent out a text letting my families know about his cough, and they could still send their kids if they choose but I wouldn't charge for today if they kept their kids home.

Would you have just closed or given them the option?

On a side note, dcm showed up a couple minutes after I sent the text and said she hasn't seen it yet. She asked if I was going to take him to the doctor, I told her no since he doesn't have a fever. She said "well, MIL doesn't have a carseat, so I have no one to pick him up." And that's my problem??

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by CountryRoads

I'm just curious if I handled this appropriately or not.

Our own child (3yo) had a very rough night last night and woke up with a nasty cough. It sounds like his throat is so raw. Everyone in my care has a cold (runny nose, cough, no fever), but there's no knowing where he got it from.

He woke up about 20 min before my first family was supposed to be here. I sent out a text letting my families know about his cough, and they could still send their kids if they choose but I wouldn't charge for today if they kept their kids home.

Would you have just closed or given them the option?

On a side note, dcm showed up a couple minutes after I sent the text and said she hasn't seen it yet. She asked if I was going to take him to the doctor, I told her no since he doesn't have a fever. She said "well, MIL doesn't have a carseat, so I have no one to pick him up." And that's my problem??

My kids are grown and gone from home now but when they were younger, I followed my own illness policy and if my DH was unable to keep my children home with him (I have a separate daycare house) then I closed.

I would never give parents a choice.
I understand it can be a hardship sometimes but it is what it is and to me the clearest, easiest way to never muddy the waters in regards to illness is to follow the illness policy I expect others to follow.

[CountryRoads]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

My kids are grown and gone from home now but when they were younger, I followed my own illness policy and if my DH was unable to keep my children home with him (I have a separate daycare house) then I closed.

I would never give parents a choice.
I understand it can be a hardship sometimes but it is what it is and to me the clearest, easiest way to never muddy the waters in regards to illness is to follow the illness policy I expect others to follow.

If I could go back, I would close. I even told my husband that I would send a child home if they were acting like ours. I just knew a family would here soon and everyone would be upset over the last minute closure. UGH. Lesson learned, I suppose.

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by CountryRoads

If I could go back, I would close. I even told my husband that I would send a child home if they were acting like ours. I just knew a family would here soon and everyone would be upset over the last minute closure. UGH. Lesson learned, I suppose.

Hoping your child is better soon.

If it gets to be too much, I'd call the parents for pick up. The one parent that said her MIL didn't have a car seat.... tough. As a parent she'll need to do what she needs to do if necessary.

I always tell parents, they are choosing an in home care provider. If they want services 24/7 they'll need to use a center. Otherwise, life happens in a family child are and when illness occurs within the family, clients need to have a back up plan.

NEVER apologize for meeting your own family's needs.

[Ariana]

I don’t close but let them know what my child has and they still have to pay if they don’t come. If my kid was really bad my husband has the flexibility to stay home as well. This week my daughter had strep. I washed toys and let parents know and only one kept her child home. She wasn’t that sick and her fever went away with the first dose of antibiotics so I took care of her and my husband went to work.

My thought is that children are most contagious after symptoms appear so I don’t bother to close BUT it depends on the number of kids you have and how sick your own kid is.

[Jo123ABC]

I always let parents know when my kids are sick so they can decide whether to bring theirs. I still charge if I am open and they decide not to come. I always charge if I'm open. If my kids are sick enough that I feel they need more mom snuggles I will close. I have paid sick days and vacation days built into my policy that I use but sometimes if I feel like giving families a break I will credit the day to their next statement and take it without pay.

[hwichlaz]

When they were little I only closed if what they had was reportable or included vomiting. Now that she's older, I don't close at all. She stays in my master bed and bath with a phone to call me if she needs something. Worst case, I close a bit early to take her to the dr.

[Jupadia]

When my own are sick thankfull I have an option of using my MIL (lives 5min away so husband will drop off) or my husband takes a day off.
When the my youngest was still under a year I would keep him, but was able to keep him separated. Once they are about 6 or 7 ish I'll di the same just have them stay upstairs. (But I dont have to have kids in same room si this works for me).
So far in 6 years I've closed once. Could have had my MIL take over but I closed. I was in the hospital cause they thought my water may have broken (it was not and baby was fine) but I just did not want to worry about the daycare. I was able to text at 10 or 11 night before. And credited for day. I would have still closed if it was 5 mins before parent was here or for the rest of day if happened during daycare hours.
If I did not have the above options yes I would have just closed. I do my best to make sure they had more notice but sometimes it not possible.

[LittleExplorers]

My kids are old enough to be confined to their room, so I let parents make the choice. If they are sick enough to go to the doctor or are vomiting or have influenza, I close. Parents like the option to attend.

[littlefriends]

I give mine the option to come but they have to still pay for the day regardless. I’ve never closed for my own kids illnesses. My husband would stay home if I needed him to when mine were little but now they’re old enough (10 and 15)to stay in their own rooms and too old to play with any of the dc toys.