I have been dealing with green poopy diapers for a month now due to what a paren't calls "blue juice". When it 1st happened I brought it up to her thinking maybe it was a cold coming on as child had the sniffles that day and I reminded her of our illness policy. She then told me it was only "blue juice" and not to worry about it. Now it's been every day and today the stool is VERY soft and the child is tired. Normally that would be a send home thinking diarhea. There was no fever and I have only had 2 diapers like that so I kept the child but now I am upset that I can't go by normal color due to the blue juice. I told DCM REAL juice isn't blue she might want to read the ingredients. She said she knows it's not real juice it's a gallon of an off brand kool-aid that the kids love and "is ONLY 99cents!" so she buys that for them now. SOOOO unhealthy for the kids!! I told her they need milk and real juice and plain water through the day and her reply was "well they get that here all day right?" I can't imagine what the poor childrens insides look like if the poo is green every day!! Soo 2 questions for you all.

#1 Won't this harm the kids if they continue to drink this crap day after day? I know the blue is probably just basic food coloring but still. And all that sugar?

#2 Can I tell her she can not give that to her kids because it alters the poo color disabling me from telling if they are possibly ill. I feel stupid even asking that I know I can't TELL a parent what to give their child but there has to be some way around this.

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No, it's not good for them.

No, you can't tell her not to give it to them.

Drop ALL juice from your own program and give them just milk and water...as much water as you can get away with!

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Yuck! Bet it tastes super sugary...and great for them. Bet mom even waters that down.

Its not good for them, you cannot tell her not to give to them, BUT you can turn her away for too much diarrhea.

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Like the PP said, if the diarrhea continues, I'd start excluding...and then slip in "you know, it all started with the first green diaper...".

If she's the kind of mom who knowingly buys absolute crap on a regular basis because "its only 99 cents", she's not the kind who will want the kids off from daycare over water, sugar and blue food coloring.

I bet it's "Coolie". It comes in blue, and GALLON size. SMH.

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The first response is right. You cant tell the mom what to do. What you can do is make sure you feed him healthy good for him food while he is in your care. At least then you know he is getting what he needs from you.

Not everyone can be a good parent. The boy is lucky to have you to counter balance the moms stupidity.

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I don't know....I think you have a right to tell her to stop feeding him the blue juice. If it's impairing your ability to ascertain his health then I would press her to stop using it. Ask her if there are other crap juices she can feed them for 99cents! There has to be a ton out there.

If she doesn't comply then I would suggest that you may have to term because you're not able to do your job effectively. I know it sounds harsh but this mom has to cooperate with you. It's not simply a " the mom feeds her child crap" thing so I don't see it as you telling her what to do kwim? It's as if the kid came everyday without a hat or without diapers or something else that is effecting your job.

That's my 2 cents

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Giving a kid blue juice makes them not a good parent?

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Well I don't serve juice. Kids don't NEED juice, they need fruits and veggies, so that's what I serve. All my parents give juice, some starting as early as 5 months... so gross. And as much as I want to tell them not too, it's not my place, just as it isn't your place.

Just send home for diarhea. I send home after 2 runny poops - don't care what the reason is.

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I think it means that this parent is not making good choices. Not necessarily that she's a bad parent.

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I was talking to my hubby about this situation and he said that you should get the mom to sign a waiver stating that she knows his poop is green and that it's because of the blue juice and that she absolves you of all consequences related to the blue juice....or something to that effect.

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It's juice. Yeah, it's bad for the kid... but seriously, are we going to start getting all of our parents to sign waivers absolving us of consequences for the MANY poor choices often made at home?? That's ridiculous. I drink blue raspberry slurpees sometimes and it turns my poo blue. When I bake cupcakes with blue icing for birthday boys everyone's poo is blue.

Is this really such a big deal?

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nah, it isn't. It isn't good for the child, and it seems that all the chemicals present in the liquid crap is wearing out the poor kids system and giving him diarrhea. If she knows and is okay with that, and its important to her to give them to the drink, let her deal with it at home.

But I do understand why the provider might want to absolve herself if the child gets sick and she can't tell if it's illness diarrhea or blue juice diarrhea...

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you can tell her anything you want to tell her....Just don't expect for her to listen.

We have to remember that everyone has THEIR own way of doing things and even if we feel it is wrong, really there is not too much we can do about it.

I would just maybe make a joke like, Oh wow, blue poo! What did you child eat?When she told me, I would say Oh really only $.99 cents, glad you are saving all that money on juice, because all of the damage that the drink is causing to your sons teeth you are going to need a really good dentist.

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I understand that, for sure. But having a policy in place where she sends home for diarrhea no matter what would solve this issue FAST. If mom knows it's the juice giving this poor kid the squirts than she will stop giving it to him as soon as he starts being sent home with the runs.
Simple.

I have had kids who have had explosive diarrhea several times in a day and mom and dad have said "Oh, well it's from the McDonalds we had for supper lastnight" and I say "Oh, well I can't determine it's not from illness so s/he'll need to be picked up anyways, see you in about 20 minutes".

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The deal isn't with the juice it's with the inability for the DCP to ascertain this child's health. I could care less what a parent feeds their kid but if it's affecting my ability to do my job then yes I think it's important.

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Yes this is true!

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You're right. That's what I was saying in my first post.

But the issue for me is, where is the line that separates it from being the provider's problem or the parent's problem. Some providers would have said it's our job to change the poop - no matter what color it is , not dictate to the parent what she should and should not give her child to eat or drink.

Which is true to an extent. But it does become the provider's issue if a child in her care is showing signs of illness and bad effects from something we know the parent to be doing. Think if she were giving him expresso, or alcohol for that matter. Obviously, there would definitely be some telling of the parent what NOT to allow the child to consume, and some reporting if she didn't stop. Vastly different levels, but same principle.

If a parent's actions negatively affect the child's well-being and the ability of us to do our jobs correctly, don't we have a say in it?

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Thank you for all the advise everyone!

Problem should be solved as I told DCM today that if DCB has anymore soft stools green or not I will be sending him home and he will not be permitted to return to daycare until he is symptom free for 24 hours as the handbook states. She said she told me it was due to the blue juice kool aid and not to worry about it. I got stern with her and told her that I am in FACT worried because it could be an underlying problem that we don't know about that could make everyone else in daycare ill. So if he has a runny diaper tomorrow please keep him home. She rolled her eyes and said FINE and snatched her kids and left. Hope he doesn't have loose stool tom or I am sending him home. He wouldn't even eat anything today, told me his belly hurts before he even sat down to breakfast. I asked him to stick his tongue out... it was blue before 8 AM!

For the record I only serve juice once per day and it's a 4oz cup at snack. Breakfast and lunch is milk, the pm snack is water as is all drinks throughout the day.

I don't have a problem with juice, I don't even have a problem with fake blue kool aid really. What I have a problem with is the fact that she said that's all she gives them now and has been for a whole month! And for what to save money? Fine give them water kwim? I don't care if the kids have blue poo once in a while it's just an every day thing and with other symptoms like sniffles and loose stools I just don't like not being able to tell. The blue kool aid is masking the poo so it's green everyday ( unintentionally I'm sure ) it's kinda like Tylenol masking a fever in an off way.

Thank you all for the advise and opinions on this.

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