One of my day care kids just came down with this. Has anyone else had to deal with this? How long do you ask parents to keep them home? My contract says 24 hours after symptoms go away for general illness, but from what I read of this, kids can be contagious for weeks. Keeping him home for 2-3 weeks seems a bit extreme!

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Here is the provider fact sheet http://www.hennepin.us/files/Hennepi...AND%20FOOT.pdf

Here is a praent iformational sheet http://www.hennepin.us/files/Hennepi...t%20parent.pdf

Both have good info on them about causes, treatment and exclusion rules

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Not fun! And expect them all to get it, very contagious. It takes about a week, but make sure all blisters if they have any, have popped and closed up or they can still spread and be super super careful with diaper chnaging because still in feces weeks after symptoms are gone. Sanitize EVERYTHING EVEN CARPETS. some kids may not have obvious symptoms but sores in their mouth and throat do make sure parents check or u

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It might seem extreme but it's EXTREMELY contageous. My son came down with it after throwing him a bday party at Chuck E Cheese when he turned 1. My DH had to take a week off of work and kept themselves separated upstairs from the rest of the family and the DC kids. My mom was on vacation the following week and helped us out the second week. I would prepare meals for my DH and DS and I'd walk it upstairs and leave it at the gate. They'd eat and leave the dishes in the same spot. I go up, take them and wash them right away then wash my hands very well. None of my DC kids got it but my nephews did (they were at the party and play everyday with my DS). It was awful.

Signs of infection show up 5 days after contraction. If your DC kid has been in DC within the last 5 days you need to sanitize EVERYTHING. Walls, toys, surfaces, EVERYTHING. Otherwise it'll only keep running in circles. You'll probably want to alert your parents so that they can look out for symptoms in their own kids. It's contageous even before signs show up

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We just had that at my daycare and everyone got it anyway. All the parents kept their kids home for at least one day. One parent kept their child home on a monday and tuesday but brought the sibling, then the sibling was sick wednesday. Then all the other kids got it..

I need a sibling clause.

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Yep, I kept my DD home until the bumps on my DS scabbed over because although older kids may not show or be receptive to the syptoms they can still be carriers and may have young siblings at home that can get it. I called my DD's school to let them know and as far as I know no one else got it but I don't think they'd have told me anyway if they did.

My SIL on the other hand took her 3yo son to her son's father's house even after I told her not to have him near any other kids (he only showed about 7 small red dots) and didn't even tell her sons father the reason why she needed child care (I watch her son and when he came down with the little bumps I had to exclude him from DC). Her son's father is in another relationship and has a 2yo son at home and the 2yo also got it. He was pissed. Exactly 5 days after the first day the 3yo arrived at his house his 2yo showed symptoms.

If you decide to allow the child back before the bumps scab over you'll need to disinfect everything throughout the day. If you are licensed then you have to report it to licensing. It's a communicable disease. They can tell you more about what to do.

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I learned this with my last bout of HFMD:

Lysol doesn't kill it.

You have to clean everything with a bleach solution, and wash all the bedding, etc on super hot.

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Very contagious. I recommend 2 wks. I had one guy who carried it in here have a couple dots on his chin and mouth. He is prone to cold sores so I thought that was what it was....They ended up leaving on vacation the rest of the week and then the following week called out sick letting me know that their son was just at the doctor and had HFM disease. Their doctor said 48 hrs and then could return. I had never experienced HFM before. I should of excluded him for 2 wks bc all the kids got it but our family and some of the parents got it. It's that contagious. My kids are in school so they weren't around it and I made sure I was always washing my hands. My husband never got it either. As everyone on here states...it's quiet a bit of cleaning you need to do. For everyones best interest I'd keep him out at least 1 wks til all the bumps are scabbed over. But, if you have children that put things in their mouths or always have their fingers in their mouth I'd say 2.

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Yeah the one family that had to be out in my care for two weeks I offered them 1/2 off as an incentive for not trying to bring their kid in to get their $ worth KWI M. It wasn't fun though, both of my kids got it, my sons fever was so high he had a febrile seizure, scariest thing ever

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Oh boy - both of my day care kids stayed home on Friday and I bleached everything. The boy who has HFMD never got a fever, so I was going to tell his mom he could come back tomorrow (my pediatrician said 3-4 days after the fever they are fine) but now I think I'll ask her to keep him home for the week. She is a SAHM, so it shouldn't be too big a deal, and maybe I can offer her a discount.

Oh well - surprise break for me! Fingers crossed my daughter doesn't get it! It will be a small miracle if she doesn't, she's 13 months and dcb is 20 months, so we've had tons of drool, fingers in mouths, toys in mouths, kissy faces, and boogers all week. Sigh...

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I don't even bother to isolate them. By the time we figure it out, all the kids are going to get it anyway. I hate HFM.

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My son never got a fever either and only a few red bumps. He never got the sores in his mouth either and was in a great mood the whole time he had it. He only got a few bumps on his palms and on his feet. My nephew that got it also got it from my DS's bday party at Chick'E'Cheese, both he and my DS showed bumps on the same day exactly 4 days after the party . My nephews half brother got it severely and was miserable the whole time. He got the fever and the bumps on his palms, feet and in his mouth and would cry when he swallowed. HFMD sucks.

Hopefully the little guy feels better soon but I wouldn't let him back in to DC until he's not contageous anymore which is usually a few weeks later. Even though they are most contageous during the first week a chid can still be a carrier and pass HFMD along to other kids even after they have no symptoms and seem like they are all better. Just be careful.

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