Sick Policy Letter (Giving to DCP Monday)

[mickey2]

I have been working on this since yesterday morning. I think I have it tweaked and ready to print out! This is what I have come up with and going to give to each parent!! I just added the last line from missnikkis letter. Thanks!

Please let me know what you all think.

Sick Policy


For the protection of all of the children in my care as well as the health of your own child and my family, this is a reminder of my sick policy. In order to protect the group as a whole, I ask that parents assist me by keeping sick children at home.

In the event that a child becomes sick while here the family will be notified and prompt pick up arrangements will be made.

If a child is sick, unable to play outdoors, and/or unable to participate in regular daily activities, alternate arrangements for care must be made.

Children with infectious illnesses can not attend.

When child may not attend daycare

Fever 99.9 degrees and higher
this includes the night before/morning of daycare ~ No fever for 24 hours without taking fever reducing medication. If you had to give your child medicine the night before then that still means they can not come to daycare the next morning.

Rash ~ Unexplained rash ~ Consult doctor/Need a note stating your child is not contagious.

Vomiting or/and Diarrhea ~ All symptoms must be gone and no Vomiting or Diarrhea for 24 hours

Strep Throat ~ Consult doctor/Need a note. Child must be on antibiotics for 24 hours and be without a fever without medication for it.

Flu/Bronchitis/Pneumonia ~ Consult doctor/Need a note stating it is ok to come back to daycare. This usually takes about 2-3 days before they can come back to daycare. Must be on antibiotics and no fever for at least 24 hours without taking fever reducing medication.

Ear Infection ~ Consult doctor/Need a note. Child must be on antibiotics and no fever for 24 hours before returning.

Conjunctivitis (red eyes with yellow discharge)/Pink Eye ~ Consult doctor/Need a note.Child must be on eye drops/antibiotics for 24 hours.

Head Lice ~ Usually takes 24 hours to treat head and house ~ When all nits have been removed and child is cleared from the doctor. Need a note.

Common Cold Policy

Children suffering from a common cold will be assessed on an individual basis.
Factors of consideration include the developmental level of your child in congruence with my ability to limit the spread of germs.
The younger your child, the more difficult it is to keep the spread of germs down. For example: hand to face contact, mouthing of toys, uncontrolled nasal discharge, uncovered sneezing and coughing etc.

(Also when caring for an ill child, the ability to provide high quality care to all of the other children is jeopardized)

A child may return when he or she is free from symptoms and no longer infectious. The child should also be well enough to actively participate throughout the day. In any case of serious or unexplainable illness, a doctor’s medical clearance may be required prior to admission back into care.

If you have any questions concerning this policy and whether your child should attend, please call me before bringing your child.

PLEASE BE COURTEOUS OF ALL CHILDREN IN MY PROGRAM, AND REFRAIN FROM BRINGING AN ILL CHILD UNTIL 24 HOURS HAVE PASSED SINCE ANY FEVER, VOMITING, DIARRHEA, OR ANY OTHER COMMUNICABLE SYMPTOMS HAVE OCCURRED.

[Michael]

This is great and helpful.

[SilverSabre25]

That's a wonderfully worded sick policy. The only thing I might consider adding is a statement naming some of the infectious illnesses that a child must be excluded for--such as, chicken pox, hand foot and mouth, pertussis/whooping cough, etc (those are all I can think of off the top of my head).

[Abigail]

That was great, thank you for sharing. Is there any particular order of how you decided to write it? I think you should put them Left-Aligned instead of center alignment when you print it because it would be easier to go down the left-hand side of the paper to find or reference a specific illness. I also noticed that you might be missing a word.....
"When child may not attend daycare".....should you put 'your child' or 'a child' and instead of underlining 'may not', I would put that in all capital letters.

[misol]

I think this is a good too!

In the event that a child becomes sick while here the family will be notified and prompt pick up arrangements will be made.

So that there is no misunderstanding about the word "prompt", I would sugget saying that that parent will be contacted and the child must be picked up within 1 hour of being notified.

Also, I love your common cold policy. Mind if I borrow it? I have been trying for a while now to figure out how to professionally say "If your child is sneezing and snotting and hacking and coughing all over the place and is not old enough to cover their mouth, then keep them home!"

[lvt77]

sounds great!! I like it....
this is the only thing that I did not see...

The final decision to exclude a child from care is made by the staff of the child care program.

[missnikki]

Haha, as I read that, I thought to mention the 2 things that misol and lvt77 said. So yeah, all good and nice catches, ladies!

[mickey2]

Thanks everyone.

I have printed it out and given it to all my dcps and I also have it up in my entrance!

I just got so tired of parents trying to bring in snotty, feverish kids! Done with it now! Especially when my own family gets sick for two weeks after!

[dEHmom]

http://www.skinsight.com/diseaseGrou...usDiseases.htm

This is a really good site. It has a great paragraph in there, which I will adapt to my sick policy about
"contagious diseases are often caused by spread of bacteria or viruses in droplets of saliva/mucus, especially during coughing/sneezing. I think that will go great with the section about younger kids not covering their mouth, and stuff.
I know you already printed it off and handed it out but for next reminder season!

[misol]

Originally Posted by Baybee0585

http://www.skinsight.com/diseaseGrou...usDiseases.htm

This is a really good site. It has a great paragraph in there, which I will adapt to my sick policy about
"contagious diseases are often caused by spread of bacteria or viruses in roplets of saliva/mucus, especially during coughing/sneezing. I think that will go great with the section about younger kids not covering their mouth, and stuff.
I know you already printed it off and handed it out but for next reminder season!

You're right. Adding this too.

[dEHmom]

This is what I put in the notice...

Contagious diseases are often caused by the spread of bacteria or viruses (like chicken pox, measles, hand-foot-and-mouth diseases, etc) in droplets of saliva and mucus and can easily be transferred through an uncovered cough or sneeze, or by sharing toys. Often these diseases are most contagious during the incubation period prior to symptoms showing, but fever often is a good indication that there is something wrong, thus the need to keep your child home for a minimum of 24 hours without fever reducers.