I have a DCB who has a 102 temp currently and I cannot get ahold of his parents! He has had a feberile siezure in the past! I gave him Tylenol, but her seriously needs to go home! Do I start calling other people on their call list? Dad told me this am that it was a rough morning he was just really congested and wasn't in a good mood! He told me he didn't have a fever, but gave him some Tylenol to help him to feel better! Ahha I should have known better! I took his temp at breakfast which was about 45 mins after he was given Tylenol his temp was 99.5! I knew then that Yes he most definately had a temp if it is still this high with Tylenol! Grrr should have just called and had him picked up then, but thought well it isn't at 100! Well look at where I sit now! Poor baby!! : (

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Start calling his list, now.

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That's why we have the list, right? The poor little guy. Dad needs to learn- no return without a Dr's note, I'd say.

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Awww! I'd definitely re-call the parents & then call the back-ups. Make sure that it is clear that the child can not return until Thursday And/or will need a dr's note.

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K both parents both called me back at the same time! They are good parents, just new parents and don't know the ropes of sick kids and childcare I guess! I need to break them in I guess! He is home and out of my hands! They were both completely apologetic about taking so long to get back to me! Dad said I guess we will see you on Thursday when he left! Ahhh thanks guys just had a moment! LOL I'm good now, poor thing is at home where he needs to be! Has Tylenol in him, his blankie, his sippy and hopefully sleeping!! Thinking probably an ear infection, but I am not a Dr! LOL

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So frustrating isn't it! I've never NOT been able to get ahold of my DCP's. If I couldn't though, I would start calling the people on the list. I am about to redo my [color="Red"]ILLNESS POLICY and am going to hand it out on Monday. I am so tired of people bringing their kids and telling me they just had Tylenol or Motrin because they didn't feel well but didn't have a temp then 4 hours after drop off a temp appears! I am going to require a doctors note to come back in some instances. I hope I don't lose all of my families after this addendum goes home!

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I'm glad they got back to you and the child left. It is so frustrating. Like you said, sometimes new parents just need to be broke in. I went through that last year with a little boy who had H1N1. The mom does great now about not medicating him before bringing him. If he has a fever, he stays home.

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I guess they feel 4 hours at work is better than no hours, but now that they probably just got my entire daycare sick, me sick and my kids sick, I guess they will possibly be looking at having to take more time off! I get it the child probably exposed us all anyhow to what he had before today, but we currently don't have it and we don't need to keep the exposure going! I don't know it is tough and I have had a tough time with the whole sick kid thing, but my goodness taking care of sick kiddos is not my job, not what I signed up for and it sure as heck isn't fair to the child or any of the other kiddos here! He had a miserable morning and now because of going for a walk outside, playing outside and the constant activity here when he should have been resting they will probably be looking at MORE days off then if they would have just let him rest at home and get over what he has! I get it, it is tough to take off work, but think about the longevity of it! Ugh I don't know I just hope he gets better soon! First time I hadn't been able to get ahold of a parent myself!! Not a good feeling!!

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I really dont think that parents realize the domino affect that sending a sick child to daycare creates. We just went through this. I had dcb #1 show up on a Monday. He got sick after lunch. I called his mother immediately and she came to get him. He was out the whole week and both parents got it too. Unfortunately my son ended up getting this same illness a few days later. I ended up closing my daycare for 4 days as my son passed it to my daughters and then dcb#2 ended up getting it, he was out for entire week, and both of his parents and his 4 month old brother got it. The parents lost out on wages and I lost out on 4 days of daycare pay. It doesnt take much to pass these germs on and on. I am a fanatic about germ control at my daycare. My hands look awful because I wash them so often and these kids get their hands washed on average 8-10 times/day. I always sanitize anything that I think has been exposed to saliva, or any other bodily fluid, but even with that this illness spread like wildfire. I dont have the answer on how to keep parents from sending sick kids to daycare. I guess we just have to be diligent about reminding parents to keep sick children home and about sending them home the instant that they become symptomatic.

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Oh I remember one time I had a little boy who had 102 temp. I called mom at work. She left for the day..at 12:00!! This was 4:00. I called her cell. It was changed. I called EVERYONE on her contact list. They either did not answer or those numbers were changed as well. I knew work wasn't going to give me her cell phone but I called anyway. I told them that this was an emergency and I desperately needed to get a hold of her. Of course they didn't.

By some sheer miracle, mom waltzed in at 5 p.m. (!!!!!) That itself was a shock since she was normally at 6:30 parent lol. I was SOO furious and she knew it. I grabbed that er card and I said quite firmly...DS is running a very high fever and I called you at THIS number! (slamming index finger in the paper) and it was disconnected...I called you at THIS number (still slamming) and I went down the list. The witch turned around and said opps looks like I have to give you new numbers (giggle) Of course I wanted to slap her.

I then made it a requirement that around the first of every month to update all information. I had to verbally go up to every parent and ask them to check the information. Yes it was time consuming and all but I never had a problem like that again.

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Mom just called to tell me that he wasn't comming today and that they were taking him in because his temp is 104 this am! She said, but we did notice his eye teeth are comming in! I am so tired of every temp a child gets being associated with GETTING TEETH! I just said well that is a very high temp from just getting teeth! I said well either way if it is from teeth or isn't he cannot be here if he has a fever, no matter what it is caused from! She said oh yeah we know, we are going to take him in just to be sure! I am sure he has an ear infection or something! I just told them to keep me posted!

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So she brings me the little boy this am with some motrin and says "I gave him Tylenol at 6am, can you give him motrin at 8am! I said well does he have a fever she said no, but the doctor said to rotate it through to keep his temp down just in case! Ummmmmm Okay!!!! She took him to the doctor yesterday and they found nothing wrong with him, they even did blood tests! She said the doctor said if it is something it is probably just bacterial and not contagious! So my question at this point is, do you take in a child that has a fever, but was cleared by a doctor that nothing is wrong and isn't contagious! I am not sure how to handle this! Obviously he isn't going to have a fever if I give him meds every 2 hrs!!! He has suffered from Feberile siezures so I think this is where the rotation of meds is comming from, but I am not sure how to handle this!!!!

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In my contract I state "I have the final authority on whether your child can attend, not your doctor" just in case this ever happens. However, in this situation, where there is a history of febrile seizures, and with a doctor's note that there is no underlying condition along with instructions on the use of the medication (motrin), I would most likely go ahead and allow the child to attend. I'd have to see something in writing from the doctor, though.

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Well if he needs meds to keep the fever down then technically he still has a fever! Is mom just relaying the message about what the doctor said or does she have a doctor's note saying he is OK to be back in daycare? I agree with MyAngels - I would only take him with a something in writing from the doctor. I like that clause about the provider being the final authority.

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Exactly as the posters above said, I won't take a child in if he has a fever of 100* unless he has a written note from the doctor that says that he is not contageous and is cleared to return to daycare. It HAS to say that specifically.

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Don't blood tests usually take longer than that to come back? I don't think they're usually instantaneous! Without a written doctor's note I totally don't buy that. Actually, I still wouldn't buy it even with a doctor's note: fever is a sign of the body fighting off an infection. If it's something bacterial he is still fighting it and he is likely still spreading it to everyone else! Poor kid; he should be home with his mama!

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I follow the same rules as our local public school. No admittance with temp over 100. fever free for 24 hours without meds/fever reducer. Even without a fever children are sent home regularly from school if they are fever free but are behaving sick. Call the parents and say "your child is still not feeling well and isn't able to fully participate in today's activities. For the sake of everyone's health child will need to remain home until temp remains below 100 for 24 hours without fever reducer. Please come pick child up now." When parents ask at drop off to give fever reducer I say "why? Is he sick?.....can't be here if he is sick.."

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No, I do not have a doctors note! I just took her word!! Needless to say I did not give him motrin at 8am like she asked, because he fell asleep! He got up at about 10:15 and his temp is 101.6! Gave him motrin, but he spit half of it out, so not sure how much he got! She also said on her way out the door that he has a mild diaper rash, but it is probably just from getting teeth and all of the meds the last couple days! Well changed him when he got up and he had diarrhea and now his "mild" diaper rash which I am assuming was never mild is now bleeding! I don't know it is just one of those weeks! I feel bad for calling her because I am 7 months pregnant and I failed my glucose screening yesterday and so I had to close daycare tomorrow and do the 3 hour test and I had no choice but to do it tomorrow! I also measured at 31 weeks instead of 28weeks, so that is not a good sign! So I feel bad about calling her and her having to take another day off of work, but my gosh this poor baby! I am trying to love on him as much as I can, but I have 8 other kids I need to tend too! He is sitting on the couch with his blanky hasn't moved! They had to come early and pick him up last week Thursday, then they kept him home Friday and then they had to pick him up early here on Tuesday and then they kept him home Wed and now here it is Thursday - should I really call again! They just aren't getting it! I want to say Tylenol is a fever reducer, not a fever eliminater! I honestly don't really care what he has or whether he is contagious or not, we have all been exposed enough and are bond to get it! What I do care about and why I would send him home is because a fever is a fever, no matter what it is caused from be it teething, an infection, a virus whatever, he needs added attention, added liquids and extra rest and he isn't getting it here!!! Ugh I don't know I HATE this part of the job!!!!!!!!!!!

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Obviously he has no place being in daycare right now. Don't feel guilty, tell mom his fever spiked to 101 even on meds. He needs to go home NOW!

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Call the parents. There is no way with 8 other kids there that you can give this feverish child the attention that he deserves. If you are giving him all the attention he deserves that means that you are neglecting the other 8 while simultaneously exposing them to this bug. it is the parent's responsibility to care for their own sick kids. I know that if I kept a sick child here all day the other parents would wonder why I exposed their little one to a sick kid and they might figure ....hey, it's ok to bring sick kids here.
just put a smile on you face and make the call. This isn't your fault. I know that you probably are worrying about inconveniencing this parent but hey....
Parenting isn't always convenient and it going to much less convenient when you have to close dc because you caught this bug too.

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Is anyone else wondering if there isn't something more serious going on here with this baby? He has been running high fevers and been on fever reducer for a week now, but mom keeps downplaying it (isn't a fever during teething a myth?) and he's got a bleeding bum from a diaper rash she described as "mild." Never heard of a baby getting diaper rash due to a fever--that's usually from how clean they're kept, isn't it? IDK, OP, I really feel for you and that poor baby needs his momma

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Poor kid. I've had little ones get awful diaper rashes from taking antibiotics, and from yeast infections as well. You're right, there seems to be some bad mojo here. Hopefully they will get it figured out and be on the mend soon.

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K sucked it up and sent this little guy home! Thanks for the backbone today ladies! I have heard of a fever from teething and even sometimes a mild diaper rash, but not high temps like he was having! The poor guys was miserable and I had my hands full! His temp even on meds was 99 something, so I knew off meds he would be on fire!! I don't know, but when I opened up his diaper and saw what I did, I thought my gosh this poor child and he has litterally everything possibly wrong with him that is on my sick child being sent home list, thought enough is enough! She came to get him, didn't seem grouchy about it, said she understood! I told her that I would like to chat with her later and I told her I would call her tonight after all the kids leave, she just said okay and left with the miserable 1 year old! She is a good mom, they are just having a rough patch in life and I think they felt stuck! I think that was part of where my guiltyness came from! She got laid off about 2 weeks back from maternity leave, her hubby has his own buisness (that hasn't been doing the best in this economy), her mother was in a horrible accident on their farm (was hit by my daycare moms brother in law) was in the hospital for months and is still recovering, she finally found a job a few months ago (so it is a new job and I don't think she has alot of time off), on top of a number of other things, I could go on and on for this poor family! I think my honest opinion is that he is indeed teething and he also has an illness, probably a virus, but with all of the comming to daycare, not comming, being sent home, going to the doctor, this poor child with all of this going on isn't getting the rest and care he needs and that is what I believe is going on with him! After hearing from you guys, I thought he doesn't deserve this, the other kids don't deserve this, I don't deserve this - enough is enough! Plus you guys are right, the other parents wouldn't like it either! His parents probably wouldn't like it if I kept a sick kid here while he was healthy either! Oh well thanks again I needed the encouragement I guess! Thanks again and he is home where he needs she said when she picked him up that she needed to bring him back in tomorrow, so not sure what that is about - so I guess maybe she isn't being completely honest with me about his sickness, but he is home and that is what matters and hopefully he stays there all weekend and gets the rest he needs and deserves! K vent, whining all done! Waiting for all the kiddos to wake up and go out and enjoy the rest of my day!! Thanks ladies!!! : D

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fever during teething is NOT a myth, but it's a very low-grade fever--under 100. I often have described it as a fever that only a "Mommymeter" can detect--the child feels warm but the thermometer barely registers anything. It's most common with those really nasty eyeteeth or molars. Anything over 100 should NOT be attributed to teething.

OP at this point, I would totally require a doctor's note certifying that he is completely well before he can come back to care--healed diaper rash, no meds whatsoever, nothing. SOMEthing is going on with this baby and I wonder whether the parents really took him to the doctor. Especially that fishy bit about "blood tests" that came back so fast...

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I would call the mom and demand that he be picked up immediately. I would demand a note from the doctor stating exactly what his condition is and exactly when he may return to daycare. (BTW....if Doc said it is probably "bacterial" - bacterial is more dangerous than viral and just as contagious - that would have been a HUGE red flag for me.)

While waiting for the Mom to pick up, I would type up a letter stating my health/illness policies. I would highlight that no child will be admitted to or allowed to remain in care with a temp. over 100.5 and that said temp must be gone for 24 hours without any medication given within that 24 hour time frame. I would also include that the child may not return to care without a doctors note with the specific information listed and that you will be conducting a daily healthcheck upon arrival, prior to the parent leaving, and that the child will not be admitted without your clearance. Thank her for understanding that you are taking all precautions to ensure that the children in your care do not become ill and also for unserstanding that if you make an exception for her child, you would have to do the same for other parents, resulting in increased risk of her child getting sick again in the future.

Not only does this child need to be home with his parent who can give him undivided attention, the other children in your care need to be protected from the illness.....ESPECIALLY if it's bacterial.

Good luck!!!!!!!!

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Excellent You did the right thing for this little guy. All of the troubles this family is having is too bad. Isn't it the truth that these things seem to come in clusters for families. When you speak to her next be sure to be extra sympathetic but firm to your rules. Something like....I can't wait for X to be feeling better he is a great little guy and such an important part of our little group of friends. (here is the important part) Just so we are clear X can't return until he has been fever free without meds for 24 hours. if you bring me meds I won't give them to him. He needs to be completely healthy before he can come back here. The earliest he can return to my care is Monday. You know how much I care for X but I can't risk getting the other children sick and if I get sick it will inconvenience every single family I provide care for......
JJ...you really did the right thing for this little guy...I hope all of your families appreciate the fine care you provide.
It might not hurt to mention to your other parents that you sent X home early today. I believe that my parents appreciate it when they know that I am trying to keep their kids healthy by keeping the sickies at home.

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