So dcm bring dcb (age 13 months) in yesterday with goopy eyes. Dcm ensures me at the door that he has seen a doctor and the doctor said his goopy eyes were caused by his cold and it’s just his eyes draining, he is not contagious. For lack of better judgement I accepted dcb into care yesterday, my mistake.

Last night the same dcm texted me and asked me if I knew that another boy that attends my daycare had pink eye. She is neighbors with this family and read the mom’s status on facebook stating that dcb had pink eye. I informed dcm that I was not aware that dcb had pink eye but when he was here on Tuesday his eyes were clear and he was not here Wednesday as he had school and mom transported him herself that day. Dcb also only attends two days per week so he would not be back for the rest of the week. Dcm then makes that comment to me that maybe this is why her son’s eyes are now starting to get more red. This is when my judgement started to come back and I informed dcm that she was to take dcb to the doctor to have his eyes checked again and to please bring me a doctor’s note when she returns. Instantly she responds with the doctor said that dcb’s eyes were goopy because of his cold and not an eye infection and that they would not treat them. Ok, but you just told me that dcb’s eyes were starting to become more red and you were worried he may have the pink eye that the other dcb has??? Needless to say it takes me 3 more text message and 3 separate ways of dcm telling me no she would not take her son in and he would be coming to daycare tomorrow before she finally agrees to do what I asked her to do.

Fast forward to this morning. Dcm texts me and informs me that dcb will not be attending today because he was up half the night with a bad cough but his eyes look better today. UGH!!! I texted back, “Ok. Please make sure you bring me the doctor’s note on Monday so I have something on file!”

I am super frustrated, how do you deal with families like this??

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I think you handled it just fine. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to trust that the information being given to us is true. I am sorry she probably lied to you initially, and now you have had a pink eye exposure.

At least she kept him home, rather than send him for you to have to deal with it.

It can be so frustrating. I can feel your pain on this one!

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its obvious that boy had been sick because why would you bring him to the dr's, just for droopy eyes, sounds weird to me. I think he was sick and brought him to you still.

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I have this handled in my illness policy - a child with discharge coming from any orifice (including eyes) or extreme redness in either/both eyes will not be admitted into daycare without a doctor's note stating diagnoses and treatment plan. Pink eye is super common and way too contagious to just assume symptoms are from a cold - and I NEVER believe a parent about what a doctor says, never, ever, EVER!

When I request a doctor's note (no matter what for) a child will not be admitted back into childcare until it's in my hand and I approve readmittance based on diagnoses and treatment plan provided - a doctor writing "fine for daycare" won't do - *I* decide, not a doc.
If a parent refuses, then they basically term themselves and they are not entitled to any sort of refund.

You may want to revamp your illness policy to include symptoms of pink eye that you will exclude for and perhaps include a blurb about doctor's note requests being non-negotioable??

Best of luck!

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I do have eye infections covered in my illness policy. Again as I said is was lack of better judgement that I allowed the boy in to begin with. I took mom's word for it, which at this point in my career I should know better than to do!

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Don't they make OTC drops for pinkeye? I think they do & would've recommended these if she was worried & didn't want to go back to the dr. My son has very runny eyes right now too. Just started this morning & he has had cough & cold all week.

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Ah, ok. I misunderstood, because if I have something in my policy book I have learned to just say "Nope, it's covered on (this) page of the handbook (which I will grab and point out if need be) and say "I have to follow my own policies or I can't expect anyone else to!"so that I don't even have to have the conversation about letting the child in to begin with.
My parents are pretty good and if they aren't sure about something they will call and describe a situation before coming. If this happened, I might very well have also let DCB in and risked infection (it happens!) BUT I know that if I requested a doctor's note a parent who had enough respect to call and talk about the issue/intial doctor visit would likely also respect my request for a doctor's note.

When a parent refuses to follow policy (in this case, you asked for a nother doctor visit and the parent said no several times) they end up getting a talk to about respect/the importance of following policies, plus a warning - or in serious cases, end up being termed.

Even though she kept dcb home today, I'd still mention to her that you have an obligation to keep the entire household safe/healthy and she needs to cooperate in that process when requested.

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Yes, but the issue isn't really the kid's symptoms - it's that the OP requested a doctor's note and the parent refused. I don't trust parents when it comes to illness - AT ALL - how would she know if the parents actually gave the child drops. It's more likely if she had to take the time to go back to the doctor and get another diagnoses that she would follow through if treatment was necessary.

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In a situation like that how do you even word the "talk" about them showing respect ? Wouldn't it be easier to just do a 3 strikes your out kind of thing, if they are the arguing type?

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This is hat I do also. Don't think that because a Dr says that your child is ok to come back to DC that you're cleared to come back.. I make that choice.

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It sounds to me that Mom did take the child to the doctor for his bad cold and the doctor probably DID tell her it was non-contagious. It is very common for young children to have icky eyes when they are ill and if they weren't "glued" shut when he woke up, I would also think it is a symptom of the virus. I don't believe she would have contacted you later about another child having it (that she found out after her child had been seen on facebook) if she was trying to hide it from you. I think that is when she got concerned that it might be something more than just a symptom of the cold virus.

That said, she probably put up a fight about it with you because she was going by what the doctor said. Fortunately, she now knows that the child cannot return without the note and has agreed to do so.

My concern would lie more with the OTHER parent who had not informed you that her child had pink eye. Even if he wasn't there, there is still a chance that other children were exposed prior to the dignosis, and out of respect for you and the other children, as well as a common courtesy, she should have called you right away so that you could inform ALL families that a child in care has pink eye and to please pay close attention to their children for symptoms. I would be having a talk with HER about that.

On another note, if I ever question whether a parent has actually taken their child to a doctor, or if I was suspicious about symptoms they had been seen for and did not have a doctor's note, I would tell the parent to call the doctor NOW and have him fax me clearance for the child to attend care. It should only take a few minutes, and if Mom has nothing to hide, she will not argue it.

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the peds office around here is so busy they will not work a kid in just to get a note. parents with sick kids are told to take them to urgent care. if there are no appts left.

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I don't know what it is like where you are, but where I live we have walk-in clinics. I don't think that this particular symptom/illness require a visit to an actual ped, and the child could just see any family physician.

In any event, the visit wouldn't be "just to get a note" it would be a second opinion to determine if the child had pink eye or not, as he was exposed to a child who did have it (and likely he caught it as it is so contagious)! The note would just be the end result fo the diagnoses.

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Neither daycares or schools exclude for pink eye around here.

They also no longer treat it unless it is really bad.

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