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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Illness Policy And Vent...Long, Sorry
melskids 05:16 AM 01-31-2011
ive never had an issue w/ illness until now. all of my families are pretty good about it, except for 1. they insist on sending their kids to school everyday, aiming for perfect attendance records. last week 5 yr old dcg got off the bus everyday sick. it was only a typical cold, or so i was told. my biggest issue is that at 5 years old, she doesnt know how, or is refusing to cover her mouth and was hacking and sneezing all over everyone and everything. when i asked her why she didnt stay home she said "because mommy and daddy have to work". of course, my son ended up sick friday, all weekend, and is home again today. two other dc kids are now sick too. i took mine to the DR over the weekend, with a high fever. the dr. said it was a viral infection, so that sounds like more than just a cold to me. so i wrote up this letter this morning and plan on handing it to everyone tonight. please tell me what you think. does it sound OK? to harsh, or not harsh enough? thanks!!!!



Illness Policy
In order to protect all of the children in my care and to help keep the spread of illnesses to a minimum, I ask that if your child is sick that you please keep them at home. If they have had a fever, have thrown up, or had diarrhea, or any other contagious illness, they must stay home for 24 hrs. AFTER the last symptoms have subsided, without the aid of fever reducing medication. A Dr.’s statement may be necessary in some cases in order for your child to return. Sick children are more comfortable at home in their own bed with mommy or daddy taking care of them. Please do not give your child Tylenol to mask a fever and send them to care. I am aware of when this happens, and as soon as the Tylenol wears off their fever will spike again. If illness should occur while in my care you will be called and asked to pick up your child. These illnesses include (but not limited to) fever over 102, diarrhea more than three times, flu or flu like symptoms, conjunctivitis (pink eye), yellow or green mucus from nose or eyes, severe, persistent, or barking cough, rapid or labored breathing, vomiting, unusual skin rash, impetigo, ring worm, signs of head lice, the inability of your child to cover their coughs and sneezes, or any illness that requires extra attention that results in the other children not being properly supervised. Please pick up your sick child as soon as possible, (within the hour) as to reduce the risk of spreading the illness to the other children. Children who exhibit these symptoms will be separated (yet still supervised) from the group until they are picked up. Have a plan in place for your child’s possible sick days when he/she will not be able to attend daycare.
I know how difficult it is to juggle work and a sick child. I also understand that illness will happen, and spread quickly despite taking all the necessary precautions. However, per regulations, I must follow the health care plan that I have in place for my program. If at any time you would like to see a copy of this plan or speak with my health care consultant, just let me know.
At times your child may have a common cold or allergies that can last for several days or weeks. I understand that you cannot take that many days off from work to care for a simple cold. Precautions will be taken to limit the exposure to other children. Children must cover their mouths and noses when coughing and sneezing. They will be required to wash their hands after every cough, sneeze, or touching their nose and/or eyes. Children must wash their hands when entering the daycare from home or school, before and after eating, after messy play, coming in from outdoors, handling pets, or anytime they appear dirty. Children must also be able to cover their own coughs and sneezes, preferably with the crease of their arm. Children who cough and sneeze repeatedly throughout the day without covering their mouth will be sent home, even when no other serious symptoms are present. Children who appear sick, with coughing, sneezing, and runny noses will not be permitted to play in my children’s rooms, or in close contact with other children. Please practice covering mouths and handwashing with your children at home so they understand what to do!!
Again, I know how difficult it can be when our children are ill. Keeping your child home when he/she is sick is the best way to cut down on the spread of illness that occurs so easily in a group setting. It is important to keep the spread of illness to a minimum for the health of the other children in my care and myself as well. If I become sick, I must close for the day, and this will inconvenience everyone! If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this policy further with me, please don’t hesitate to ask!!
Thank you for your cooperation!!!






Please sign and return this portion to me by 2/15/11….




I have read, understand, and agree to the illness policy in place for my child while attending ***** Daycare.


_______________________________________ ___________
Parent Signature Date
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lil angels 05:49 AM 01-31-2011
Sounds good to me. I have something like this in my contract and have one family that doesn't seem to have to follow it either. I sent dg home 3 times last week and today she called and said I think we need one more day. Then she should be great. Really are you keeping her because she is still sick and I will just call again. Whatever at least she kept her today.
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countrymom 05:50 AM 01-31-2011
its too long, I think nowadays parents need it to be short and too the point. I know you want to say, "keep your snotty, cough spewing kids at home"
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Lilbutterflie 05:52 AM 01-31-2011
I think it sounds pretty good. One thing I'd like to say is that a 5yr old CAN cover their mouths, my DD who is in kindy even covers her sneezes and coughs with the crook of her arm. So your dcg is just refusing to do so. She's plenty capable!

The other is that it seems your fever threshold is a little high... 102? You could have some pretty sick children in your care with fever between 100 and 102. I know mine is 100.
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DCMomOf3 05:54 AM 01-31-2011
I would never be able to exclude kids for not covering coughs/sneezes or for basic cold symptoms. I would not have any clients left to send home. I will say though that you allow for a much higher temp than I do, I send kids home with 100.0 or higher.

If your parents will agree to this that is great, it will make your home quite a bit more germ-free.
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DCMomOf3 05:57 AM 01-31-2011
Originally Posted by melskids:
my biggest issue is that at 5 years old, she doesnt know how, or is refusing to cover her mouth and was hacking and sneezing all over everyone and everything. when i asked her why she didnt stay home she said "because momm
Oh, and they can cover coughs at 5, they can cover at 3 if they are shown how.
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marniewon 06:03 AM 01-31-2011
Originally Posted by DCMomOf3:
Oh, and they can cover coughs at 5, they can cover at 3 if they are shown how.
My 2 1/2 yo grand-daughter can cover her mouth/nose when coughing/sneezing - your 5yo dcg should be able to also.

I agree also with the max temp being pretty high. Mine is 100 like a lot of others on here. Even the health dept and school standards are between 100 and 101.
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melskids 06:14 AM 01-31-2011
thanks ladies. i think i will tweek it a bit, and maybe shorten it.

for some reason, i though it was 102. i will lower it....

i'm more frustrated that the dcg wont cover her mouth, then i am that she was here sick. i kept telling her to cover, and she looked right at me and coughed right in the baby's face

as i sit here, i cant feel the headache and fever coming on. great, now i'm gonna have it
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melskids 06:16 AM 01-31-2011
Originally Posted by DCMomOf3:
I would never be able to exclude kids for not covering coughs/sneezes or for basic cold symptoms. I would not have any clients left to send home. I will say though that you allow for a much higher temp than I do, I send kids home with 100.0 or higher.

If your parents will agree to this that is great, it will make your home quite a bit more germ-free.
i wouldnt for little kids who dont know better, or send a kid home for just a basic cold, but like i said above, this girl was not covering on purpose. thats what i'm so frustrated about.
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momofboys 06:51 AM 01-31-2011
I also think 102 is quite high. Mine is 100 or higher.
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momofboys 06:53 AM 01-31-2011
I would definitely remind DCG EVERYTIME she coughs to cover her mouth/nose with her arm. Once a child is constantly to they will eventually begin to do it. My 3 year old even can do it! I would tell the offending parent also that they need to remind her to do this so she doesn't spread germs. Good luck!
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melskids 07:22 AM 01-31-2011
Originally Posted by janarae:
I would definitely remind DCG EVERYTIME she coughs to cover her mouth/nose with her arm. Once a child is constantly to they will eventually begin to do it. My 3 year old even can do it! I would tell the offending parent also that they need to remind her to do this so she doesn't spread germs. Good luck!
you know, thats what i really need to do. instead of sending home a long letter of policies everyone else already follows, i should just tell mom i'm frustrated that dcg wont cover her mouth.

i did tell her constantly to cover....ALL WEEK!!!! the broken straw was when she looked right at me and hacked in the baby's face. like she knew she was doing it
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mickey2 07:29 AM 01-31-2011
At 5 years old she is perfectly capable of covering her mouth!! I would remind her a couple of times today and then she plays ALONE away from the other kids!! I would tell her that if she can't remember to cover her face when she coughs or sneezes that you will have her play far away from the others so they don't catch her sick germs! Then do it! Remove her from the others for the rest of the day. Tomorrow do the same thing again and everyday until she gets it! It may sound mean but in a couple of days she will be doing it!
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Blackcat31 07:42 AM 01-31-2011
I also want to add that I recently (Dec 2010) put in my policy that if they get sent home during the day, they automaticaly have to remain home the next day......I am honestly floored by how well that one little rule has curbed those that medicate and send or those that think their kid is "only a little sick". I have had parents that I spent years complaining about now suddenly keeping their "sorta sick" kid home rather than waiting for me to call and send them home and then enforcing the stay home the next day rule.....try it, it REALLY does work like a charm.

I also have 100.0 F as the fever rule.

Oh, and in your first line you state "I ask that you keep your child home...." I personally wouldn't ask anything...I would say "Your child MUST stay home...."
asking anything just leaves the door open for negotiation. IMPO
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Gurdy 08:34 AM 01-31-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I also want to add that I recently (Dec 2010) put in my policy that if they get sent home during the day, they automaticaly have to remain home the next day......I am honestly floored by how well that one little rule has curbed those that medicate and send or those that think their kid is "only a little sick". I have had parents that I spent years complaining about now suddenly keeping their "sorta sick" kid home rather than waiting for me to call and send them home and then enforcing the stay home the next day rule.....try it, it REALLY does work like a charm.

I also have 100.0 F as the fever rule.

Oh, and in your first line you state "I ask that you keep your child home...." I personally wouldn't ask anything...I would say "Your child MUST stay home...."
asking anything just leaves the door open for negotiation. IMPO

I agree with everything Blackcat said here and would like to add, Do not ask please do not mask fever with tylenol- but put something like they must be fever free without the aid of medication. Also, the line about pick up your child as soon as possible should be changed to children must be picked up within an hour of you notifying them. In my state that is actually a regulation.
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