Just wondering if you close, or are required to close, if your own children are sick?

My poor girl is sick today with a stomch bug but thankfully all I have is my 20 month old nephew during the day and he is really good. I told my sister in law before she brought him and told her I hope he won't get it, but she just said "it's ok, kids get sick"

I had one other time she was sick last summer and I should have closed because I had a houseful of school age kids...they were old enough to take care of themselves but the house was WAY too loud (even though I told them to be quiet, that's a sour story because the kids that were not listening are gone now) so I know not to do that again with a full house.

So what is your policy for your own kids being sick? Do you charge, or not charge if your own child is sick? I wouldn't charge but having a hard time financially right now so finding it hard to call off.

Reply

If my kids are sick with a fever or stomach bug, I call the parents before hand (if I already knew) and give them the option the bring them. They have to pay because I am not closing. But, I do keep my child away from the others and have a gated daycare area so it is easier to exclude my sick child than if the daycare used the whole house.
I have never had a parent not bring their kid when mine was sick. However, I also have 5 personal /sick paid days off a year so I would use one of those if necessary.
It is kind of hard to care for a sick child and the daycare kids so it ends up being a "free day" mostly just playing and not our normal preschool schedule.

Reply

I give parents the option depending on what our family illness is. If they choose not to bring their child I will give them a credit for the next week of care for the day they do not come. It's not their fault if we are ill. That being said when my school age kids have been ill (they are 6 & 8) they can stay in their room & rest with little disturbance from the daycare kids. In most cases our daycare kids have still come excpet when we all (daycare kids & my family ) suffered some major colds/fevers. Then everyone stayed home. I did close two days a few weeks ago as my school age son had lice. I had tons of cleaning/laundry to do & nit picking so I did not want any of the daycare kids to get it.

Reply

I would say if your closing then you shouldn't make them pay since your the one to close. If they choose not to come then they can pay.

If your child is really sick, high fever, vomiting stuff like that I think you should close if your going to have to deal with your child too much to deal with the children your watching. If they are older and can basically care for themselves with little help from you that's different.

If my son was sick at this age (3) I'd have to close since we have a small house and there would be no way to keep him away from the other children.

Reply

I give my parents the option to come or keep their child home. Since I did not close, they are still required to pay me for the day. My son became ill once and was admitted to the hospital. I intended to close but a parents was worried about my loss of income and watched the children for the day for me. She of course called and gave them the option to use her. Most parents used her and the ones that didn't thankfully still paid me.

Reply

That was very nice of her. I hope you give her a few free days! LOL

Reply

Usually I let them know & stay open except for the time he got the flu this last fall then I closed for 3 days.

Reply

Wow that was very kind of her to offer that. None of my parents would ever think of that. LOL!

Reply

I almost never close if my child is sick. Both of my daughters are very rarely get sick. A year ago, my 7 year old daughter (she was 6 years old at that time) hits high fever and I gave her a medicine to keep the fever down. She stayed in her room the whole time and she never complained about it. She can take of it herself but I do check on her every 30 mins to make sure if she needs anything. She slept the whole time but I have woken her up to eat soup or drink and she refused. She is not getting better so I decided to take her to a doctor. It is a good thing I have a back up provider who can take my place while I take her doctor. I found out she had strep (that makes sense since she refused to eat or drink anything). It was her first time to have that. Of course, my daycare parents know about that but they dont mind at all as long as my daughter stays in her room. No one gets sick at all. My daycare children never get sick in my home but they usually get sick on the weekends at their house. I dont know why. I also havent been sick for almost five years.

It is up to you if you want to close or not.

Reply

I dont close, I leave my kids in their room. lysol like crazy and go on with my day. Since the daycare doesnt use those rooms I dont see an issue.

Reply

The only time I tell parents not to bring their children is if my little one is throwing up or has something that is very contagious/dangerous. They all recently had a bad cold, so when my little one was running 102 temp, I called and gave the moms notice and told them it was up to their own judgement if they wanted to expose their kids to it (all of the d/c babies were getting better by the time my little one got it of course lol).

One mom kept pressing me to take my little man to the doc, but I saw no reason whatsoever to take him. He did not have a dangerously high fever, he was still eating and drinking (although he was throwing up 1 or 2 times a day from coughing), and he showed me no signs of being in danger. He was just sick with whatever nonsense was going around at the time. She wanted me to take him to the doc so she would "know what he had" so she could decide if she wanted to bring her daughter or not. I explained that with a 102 temp and vomiting/diarreah, plus a green runny nose and terrible cough, it was almost certainly contagious no matter what the name of it was lol! We did end up taking him to the doc when we thought he had an ear infection, but that was only after he had been sick for over a week. Nope, just a bad cold.

I always give my parents the option when my kid is sick, like I said, unless he has symptoms that require me to be with him constantly. In that case, I call them and let them know he is too sick to be around anyone.

Like the others above, my older boys (17,13,12) all just stay in their rooms upstairs and aren't around the d/c babies at all when they are sick.

Reply

I too give parents the option of rather to come or not if my children are home sick. They all have rooms upstairs and daycare doesn't use that space, so they aren't around them anyway. I do not charge if they do not come.

Reply

I ended up getting the puke bug too today. Hit me at noon. Thankfully I only had one daycare child (my little nephew) here and my sick 4 year old daughter.

My mother is my substitute and lives next door to me so it was so nice of her to come over and take care of me and the 2 kids. I don't know what I would do without her!!

No way would I have been able to run a full daycare today...I couldn't even move out of bed without throwing up. Yuck!!

I text my school age kid's parents and they all arranged to pick them up at bus time. Thankfully it all worked out today.

Reply

I have only taken 2 days off besides my Holidays in 8 years. One of those days I was in the Hospital w/ pneumonia. I actually tried to close on a Monday a few weeks ago after my kids had a stomach bug, as I had been cleaning, washing pukey bedding etc and knew/could feel that I was next. Two of my moms showed up anyway- basically saying they couldnt afford to miss etc. I greeted them with my puke bowl in pJ pants- and they acted like nothing was amiss. It's as if they didn't really think I was sick. Of course Tuesday one threw up at the lunch table and mom had to pick up- the week continued w/ the kids , like dominoes getting the bug. The mom who insisted on bringing kids actally griped about having to clean where her daughter puked on her carpet etc- as if I was to blame. From now on, I'm CLOSED and locking the door, not answering if we are really sick. Colds etc I can keep my kids in their rooms, and warn the families- but I changed my contract to say I charge now when I'm closed for illness since so many families have abused the policy and brought sick children, to discourage families from doing that.

Reply

I can't believe that they showed up after you told them you were closing!

Reply

I couldnt either- hence the PJ pants- no bra etc. I was actually really happy when the mom told me she got it & had been puking. Mean- but this particular mom is starting to wear on me.

Reply

I use to call when my kids were younger and if they chose not to bring their child I would not charge them since really you're suppose to close, but now that they are older I don't call, they usually stay in their rooms in their beds. I suppose depending on what it is I would call, but thankfully my kids or myself dont' get sick very often at all.

Reply

I cant believe they showed up at the door anyway!! The nerve of people sometimes! Serves them right.

Reply

Ugh, that is crazy. What is wrong with people? I would not have allowed them to stay unless they wanted to pay me double since it would take double my effort being sick and all!

I feel bad for the children involved, but it does serve that mom right!!

Reply

It depends on why/how my children are sick. I can confine my daughter to her room and my son to mine (as I have the tv (w/dvd and vcr) and he doesn't).

We had a bout of strep throat at/after Thanksgiving that I ended up with too. I felt fine other than my throat. I was on antibiotics for 36hrs (because of Tgiving holiday) so didn't close, but left the option for my parents to not bring their children and not charge them. They all came as scheduled. Nobody got sick.

New Years Day I had planned on being open, however I had some bad pizza the night before and ended up with food poisoning. I was able to contact most of my parents and inform them I was sick and taking the day off by the time it hit. I had one dad that I couldn't get a hold of because he was already on his way here. My husband watched that boy (5yrs) and our son play all day. Of course I got teased over this one big time because my parents knew I was going out the night before. I am pregnant (6 almost 7 mos) and sober cab. The guys all drank like fish and me, obviously not a drop of alcohol. Well, they had no hangover, no nothing. I had a bite of undercooked pizza at a bar and end up sicker than sick. They had the same pizza, but figured they had enough alcohol in their systems to kill whatever germ it was that got to pregnant me.

Reply

Aren't they supposed to have back-up?!?! Insane? I would never take my child into a home where people had recently been ill & the caregiver was ill. I'd like to know what you told them (when you said you needed the day off) & how they responded. Ridiculous! I'm sort of glad the mom got ill too!

Reply

But let me guess, when your child's illness is spread to a DC child (gates and hollow core interior doors are not a bio-membrane), you not only require them to keep their child home, but you also charge them since you were open?

Reply

If my kids are young and can't stay confined to their room safely, I close. If they are old enough and not so sick they need onene, I give the parents a heads up and let them decide. I let them know I will have them stay in their rooms during daycare hours.

Last Friday, my little one was throwing up constantly and needed a ton of onene. We were up from 12M til 10am and constantly needing a bucket. That, I closed for. All of my families were totally ok with that. They didn't want their children getting that, either.

Reply

You are exactly right Chicken Hauler. Because every child deserves to be under to one-on-one care, attention, and love when they are sick that only a parent can provide. And, yes, I run what I like to call a business. So yes they have to pay.

Reply

At least you're honest about your double standards.

Your kid's sick, forcing people to pay during YOUR closure dates due to YOUR child's illness and pay when THEIR child is out when ill isn't right.


That's like the plumber canceling due to his being ill and still sending you a bill for a service call.

Reply

I've only closed once this year - unfortunately, it was for a full week - my youngest had the "dreaded" H1N1. I told the parents they didn't have to pay, but one did anyway. It was so nice of her and I have given her a couple of breaks since then.

My policy states that if I close for my own illness or for my kids' illnesses, I don't charge. However, the parents are paying for the spot and not the days, so if I'm open, then they pay if they choose to stay home.

Reply

If I or my children have anything that I would send a daycare child home for I call all parents and give them the option of coming. If they come I just keep the sick / not sick seperated and wash hands like crazy and the parents pay like normal. If they catch whatever we had because their parents sent them they pay me on the days they end up calling out too. If they choose not to come when we're sick, I give them credit on next week's tuition, so they can pay a backup sitter.

Reply

If I close for my kids illness, I use one of my 5 paid personal days for the year that is in my fee contract. If I go above my 5 days the parents dont have to pay. Most times I dont close and my kids stay out of the daycare room. As of yet I have not had any child get sick directly after my own kids sickness unless it was the common cold that all the kids get at about the same time. I dont have double standards I have policies that arent uncommon (at least where I live).

Reply

I would like to add to this. The problem I have with this is that I care for two families. One family will ALWAYS keep their kids home if one of us is ill & I applaud them for it! However, my other family will insist that they still come & likely would still want to come even if we had the plague. They seem to have no back-up care & mom has a limited amount of sick time & apparently even though dad runs his own business he never seems to pitch in. I have CLOSED once & I think it inconvenienced them (I don;t make them pay when I close) but I guess my point is some parents don't seem to care. . . they still want you to provide your service even at the risk of all of their family getting sick. I will never be able to understand this mindset.

Reply

Now that you explained further your contract (with the 5 paid personal days), it sounds fair.

Reply

Thanks!

Reply

I read comment after comment that many providers "give parents the option" if they want to bring the child or not, when the provider's child is sick. If the daycare parents can't (and shouldn't) bring their sick child to daycare, why can the daycare stay open if their children are sick? There is no difference. Two things wrong with this:

1) That is putting the daycare children at risk for becoming ill.
2) This is questionable ethics. Giving parents the "option" to bring their healthy child to be exposed to a sick child? Of course parents will not bring their child! But since the provider wasn't the one to cancel, then they still get paid. Which makes it a free paid sick day.

Be ethical here and just use a sick day. Build sick days into your contract if you need to, instead of sneaking in a free sick day unfairly. If you were in the parents shoes, you wouldn't want to be put in that situation. Don't think they don't know what you are doing. Parents want to have good relationships with their daycare providers and this deceitful act makes it difficult for parents. Most parents would not bring their child, but not complain because they don't want to jeopardize their relationship with the person whom they trust their children with everyday.

Please run your business with honestly and integrity.

Reply

I have always given the option. My sick children have had to stay out of the daycare area if they are ill. I have NEVER, not one single time in 10 years had a parent not bring their child when one of my kids was home sick. Not once.

Reply

It depends on how sick. Really sick, needing lots of extra snuggles/care, then yes I will close. I didn't used to but then the one time they got really sick and my attention had to be slipt between the dck's I felt terrible. Just minor stuff though, nope. I'll let parents know what symptoms they have and leave it up to them to decide. They still pay if they choose to come. They may get a slight reduction to their bill if I have to close and it effects how manyndays they can have. I.e. full time family who needs 5 days, yes I'll give them a credit for a day I have to close. Part time family, not so much. The way our contract is written is the still pay the same amount unless I am closed more days then I said I would provide. So if I'm closed 4 days (highly unlikely) they would get a credit. By as long as I am open 3 days out of the week the rate stays the same (they're days change every week, which is why it can be any 3).

Reply

If your own children are old enough to fully take care of themselves and kept completely isolated from everyone, then sure, the chances of spreading illness is less than having the sick child coughing directly all over another child. However, spreading the illness is still at risk.

In most cases "complete isolation" is not quite the case. Most in-home daycare providers do not have a home conducive to have two completely separate spaces without any sort of cross-contamination. When a provider's child is not old enough to be isolated, they ARE going to cough all over another child. (Maybe this sounds dramatic, but the point is they are going to share their sick germs)

And, of course, discretion should be used. If a provider's child just has a runny nose, that is not reason to close down the shop. (a runny nosed DCK should still be welcomed at daycare, as well) Rules need to be equal on both sides. If a certain sickness/symptom prevents a child from coming to daycare, a provider's child with that same sickness/symptom warrants reason for closing to prevent exposure to other children. Unless said sick child is able to be cared for by someone else in another home and leaves/returns while the DCK are not present.

When a provider states that daycare children are welcome in their home (with a sick child present), it sends a misleading message to parents, even if the symptoms are stated. The message is, "Your child will be safe here." Parents have to trust the provider's discretion and when a provider knowingly exposes their ill child to other children it violates that trust and discredits the provider's integrity.

We have to remember that BEFORE this business comes the children. My children, your children, everyone's children involved.

Reply

lolol.. I wish! I have some families that will always use back up if I let them know another child is ill. Then I have families who will bring their kids, even on the days my own DD can't even keep water down (and she's 4, so I can't leave her alone in her room all day).

Reply

If your daughter is that sick, you should take the day off to care for her. Unless I am missing something, wouldn't that be your fault for remaining open?

If you have families that always use back up care instead of knowingly exposing their children to illness, do you think they might be thinking you should be closed? They may not bring up the issue for fear of upsetting the person they trust their children with everyday. Try thinking of this situation from a different angle. Would you like it if they said "Our child is sick so we aren't going to pay you." Same thing but in reverse, really.

Reply

Well said. Might I also add, getting a call or text late at night also gives the client no time to find back up care.

Reply

I don't enroll clients who don't have back up care. For this exact reason.

Reply

I agree wholeheartedly with the statements you quoted but expecting a parent (including a provider parent) to be able to give advance notice of illness is completely unrealistic.

IME, most of the time your child will go to bed fine only to wake at 2 am with a fever or vomiting. Or they spend the day as normal only to appaer ill at bed or bath time once the day winds down so those last minute or late night calls/texts are usually unavoidable.

Reply

I give them the option and if they don't want to come, I don't charge them. If my kid has a really bad illness, I would close at no charge. It is not that big of a deal in my experience. I don't think it is unethical to give the option and still charge them either. As with anything, if it is in the contract that you signed, then you follow the policy. For me, I would probably not choose a daycare that charged me if I chose to keep my child home, but to each their own

Reply

The problem is this is usually NOT written into contracts. It's usually an unwritten standard followed by daycare providers so they don't have to skip a day of payment when their own children are ill.

And there IS an issue when they give the option, because if the child is contagious, there is no reason they should be exposing other children. Like stated in a previous comment, sick daycare kids should not GO to daycare either, as to not expose others. Just as the providers children should not be exposing others as well.

Reply

I do agree that providers SHOULD close when their child is so ill that they require 1:1 care or that the illness is highly contagious. No day care child should be in attendance if the provider's child has a stomach bug and is throwing up every ten minutes.

Buuuut, the flip side of that is clients complaining when the provider closes. Or pulling their child when the provider closes. And parents making the *informed* decision to send their child even though they know the providers child is sick.

When my kids were little, I closed, period. Because we already know some clients do not make the best decisions. So I made it. Now that they are older and don't need or want as much nursing when ill, I don't always close. And in fact my contract DOES state
"At times a member of the providers family MAY be home during the day due to minor illness. As that person will NOT be in the main day care area and will NOT be in contact with the child care children, the provider will NOT notify the families in that event. In the event of a serious or contagious illness, or one that requires 1:1 care, then child care will be CLOSED. Per the contract it is the parent's responsibility to have back up care in this event. Failure to do so will result in termination of care."

Oh, and I absolutely charge for sick days. I didn't when I started out and guess who was always sending their kids sick? And then getting me and my kids sick? If they know they are paying either way, they tend to be more cautious about it

Reply

This.

I would add that my dcps will drop their kids off as long as I am upright and dressed.
Except they might not notice whether I am dressed. Or upright.

Reply