I Made a Mistake

[mommyneedsadayoff]

I am really annoyed with myself right now. Last week, dcm kept dcg home because she was coughing and stuffed up. No fever or anything, so she brought her back on friday and told me to let her know if I want her to pick up if she doesn't seem well enough. She was fine and just coughed a bit at naptime, no big deal. Monday came and mom said she was still coughing, but no other symptoms. She did fine that day, just a light runny nose and cough. Yesterday was booger central. Wiped her nose all day. Today is the same and it is every 5-10 minutes that she has snot running down her face and she is sneezing constantly. She is two, so doesn't quite know to cover her mouth and doesn't know how to blow her nose, so I am literally following her around with a kleenex. She hasn't been super fussy, but her voice is cracking (sounds strained) and the boogers are just grossing me out. Since I let her stay on Mon/Tues, I am not sure I should call for pick up. My own daughter has started coughing now, and I am so annoyed with myself, because I feel like the fact that I let dcg stay is the reason we are all starting to cough and snort. My other daycare boy who comes really early woke up with nasty boogers too. No cough, but runny nose too. Since they are all coughing and/or have runny noses, should I just suck it up and deal with it or do you think it would be okay to call for pick up and request everyone take tomorrow off so we can have a long weekend to recover?

[Heidi]

It really sounds like a cold, so I would not exclude. Gross, yes. Contagious, yes. Excludable? No. If I excluded for every cold, I'd have no kiddos, because it's on/off/on/off all the time with 6-8 kids. Some are more resiliant and don't get them, but some of my kids (specifically my grandchildren) seem to have constant runny noses.

[Controlled Chaos]

Hand sanitizer and drink some EmergenC. I don't exclude for nose stuff. Especially if others have already been exposed. I know it stinks. I have a 3yo whose nose and cough have really taken off this morning. I am monitoring his temp (normal) and he is participating normally so I am just cleaning everything non stop to try and minimize the spread. 'Tis the season

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by mommyneedsadayoff

I am really annoyed with myself right now. Last week, dcm kept dcg home because she was coughing and stuffed up. No fever or anything, so she brought her back on friday and told me to let her know if I want her to pick up if she doesn't seem well enough. She was fine and just coughed a bit at naptime, no big deal. Monday came and mom said she was still coughing, but no other symptoms. She did fine that day, just a light runny nose and cough. Yesterday was booger central. Wiped her nose all day. Today is the same and it is every 5-10 minutes that she has snot running down her face and she is sneezing constantly. She is two, so doesn't quite know to cover her mouth and doesn't know how to blow her nose, so I am literally following her around with a kleenex. She hasn't been super fussy, but her voice is cracking (sounds strained) and the boogers are just grossing me out. Since I let her stay on Mon/Tues, I am not sure I should call for pick up. My own daughter has started coughing now, and I am so annoyed with myself, because I feel like the fact that I let dcg stay is the reason we are all starting to cough and snort. My other daycare boy who comes really early woke up with nasty boogers too. No cough, but runny nose too. Since they are all coughing and/or have runny noses, should I just suck it up and deal with it or do you think it would be okay to call for pick up and request everyone take tomorrow off so we can have a long weekend to recover?

I think like parents, we really can't pinpoint where or who an illness or virus came from.

It could very well have come from a non-sick daycare kid as everyone is a carrier. It could have come from the grocery store clerk you saw the other day when picking up milk or from a co-worker that a DCM works with.....

I know the close contact that we have with our daycare kids automatically makes them seem like the petri dishes that started it all but in reality, that just isn't true. Unless we live in a bubble and never come in contact with anyone else. ever.

I exclude kids that require more care and attention than I can provide WHILE maintaining a safe and sanitary environment and depending on the age of a child, a cold may be exclusionary although in most cases it isn't.

What I would do is maybe instead of closing all together is just have a quiet, relaxing and low key couple of days so that everyone can rest, eat well and just feel better.

I hope it passes quickly for you.

I exclude for super runny noses for children who can't wipe it and wash up. It's a sanitary issue for me. I also have in my policy that I can have the child wear a mask if they can't cover their coughing. Again, sanitary issue.

[e.j.]

Originally Posted by Heidi

It really sounds like a cold, so I would not exclude. Gross, yes. Contagious, yes. Excludable? No. If I excluded for every cold, I'd have no kiddos, because it's on/off/on/off all the time with 6-8 kids.

I look at it the same way. I've got several kids right now who have what sounds like the same kind of cold you're describing. I've gone through 2 boxes of Kleenex just since yesterday! I'm crossing my fingers that my family and I don't come down with it but, honestly, it just comes with the territory as far as I'm concerned. I would send a child home if he or she couldn't take part in all day care activities. Otherwise, I just suck it up and hope that it passes quickly.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Well, I guess I will just deal with it and invest in Kleenex stock I normally don't try to pinpoint illness, because I know it can come from anywhere, but I do think dcg spread it to the rest of us. She was here on friday and everyone was fine before that. I had dcb this weekend, so we stayed home all weekend. No trips out at all actually, so I can never say for sure, but it is definitely convenient that no one was sick and now we all have exactly what she has after not being around any other environments. It is my fault and doesn't matter anyway. Colds are common and inevitable and I will just deal with it. I did get a bit annoyed with dcm though, because she said that she can't believe dcg is still sick after so many days, but since everyone here seems to be coughing and stuffed up, she is probably just getting reinfected
She also asked me if I think dcg has croup? I was like, no, but if YOU do, you need to see the doc, because that is contagious and treatable from what I know of it, but I really don't think it is that anyway. Just found it funny that she brings her here after thinking she may have it. Quit googling stuff and see your doc if you think it is something more than a cold. I am almost doen with daycare, so we will ride out these colds and just keep the hands washed and boogers in check! Thank you for the feedback!

[Ariana]

I exclude for green boogers as it is usually a sign of something more serious going on. Regular colds with clear runny nose is fine, albeit disgusting!