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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>What If You (The Provider) Are Sick?
EarthyMom 11:00 AM 09-17-2012
What's the plan? I mean I am not talking about a lil run down. I mean what if you get the flu with fever and vomiting or something that puts you down for a week? Has it happened? What do you do?
Blackcat31 11:52 AM 09-17-2012
Many providers have built in policies about them being sick and when they would close and how they notify the parents. Some providers have an assistant or back up provider they call in when they are too sick to do care.
Personally, I don't really have a plan in place other than notifying parents as soon as I realize I am too sick to care for the kids since I have been doing this long enough to have built up an immunity to most everything out there.
I have been in business for 20 years and in that time I have taken one sick day. (knock on wood
) I am lucky enough to be one of those people who are rarely, if ever, sick. My siblings (all 5 of them) are the same way.
Personally, I don't really have a plan in place other than notifying parents as soon as I realize I am too sick to care for the kids since I have been doing this long enough to have built up an immunity to most everything out there.
I have been in business for 20 years and in that time I have taken one sick day. (knock on wood
) I am lucky enough to be one of those people who are rarely, if ever, sick. My siblings (all 5 of them) are the same way.
cheerfuldom 12:04 PM 09-17-2012
I have done this for five years and have also only taken one sick day (due to complications with a pregnancy). I do get sick, but I just keep chugging away. I have 3 kids of my own so even a sick day is not restful. If I get anything contagious (one time I had the flu), I let the parents know and it is up to them if they want to chance bringing their kids or not. Everyone always brings the kids anyway. I am not saying that is the ideal way to do things or that a provider should not take any sick days, but for me, I am working all the time anyway, no matter how sick I am so whats another few kids? As long as the parents understand the risk and I dont have any kids in care that have fragile health issues, I keep working when sick. I do have an assistant and I can call her to work extra if I need to. I am just so used to not slowing down even if I am sick.
providerandmomof4 12:41 PM 09-17-2012
Luckily.....or maybe not so lucky I have only been stay in bed sick once or twice over the last two years. It just so happened that it was on the weekend. I'm not sure if I subconsciously knew that I could actually slow down and be sick for a day, or if it just worked out that way!
I have only been stay in bed sick once or twice over the last two years. It just so happened that it was on the weekend. I'm not sure if I subconsciously knew that I could actually slow down and be sick for a day, or if it just worked out that way!
daycare 12:46 PM 09-17-2012
I am going on 10 years and knock on wood never closed for a sick day or personal day.
I do have my husband and sister cover for me if needed. My sister lives in another state, so it has to be something huge to get her to come here to cover for me.
I have had a few colds here and there, really bad sinus infection once, kidney infection, and even other more serious illness, but have just worked through them.
When I am this way, I tell the parents and we cancel our day of activities. We free play and get to watch movies. TV is not something my DCK ever get, so I have to be really really sick for that TV to be on..
I do have my husband and sister cover for me if needed. My sister lives in another state, so it has to be something huge to get her to come here to cover for me.
I have had a few colds here and there, really bad sinus infection once, kidney infection, and even other more serious illness, but have just worked through them.
When I am this way, I tell the parents and we cancel our day of activities. We free play and get to watch movies. TV is not something my DCK ever get, so I have to be really really sick for that TV to be on..
MrsSteinel'sHouse 12:53 PM 09-17-2012
almost 16 years and I have been sick where I have had to call off two times. My plan is I inform parents as soon as I know I am sick and they are responsible to have back up care.
Willow 01:12 PM 09-17-2012
I had to take an entire week last November. I contracted histoplasmosis which is pretty common and usually no bigger deal than the common cold or flu. I battled it for months leading up to that with nothing more than lingering cold symptoms. Loads of lung nodules were found while ruling out pneumonia and my blood work was monitored to be sure I wasn't dealing with cancer. I pushed to work through it, started taking vitamins, I didn't want to burden my parents. And then it nailed me out of the blue. I went in to hopefully get more meds from my doc on a Saturday and when she put a pulse oxygen deal on my finger my rate was alarming. She ordered me to go to the hospital for iv fluids, meds, oxygen and a breathing treatment and threatened to admit me if I didn't take some time off. I literally couldn't breathe at that point so I relented and took the week. I still have to go in and see a pulmonologist every couple of months because of the damage pushing myself so hard did to my lungs, I really shouldn't have second guessed taking care of myself and now have permanent organ damage because I did. I was a runner, still am, but can't go nearly as far and have to work twice as hard.....all because I was concerned about how my daycare parents would cope. So stupid...........
I also had to take a week this past January not because I was sick but because my daughter was. Her shunt malfunctioned and we got to spend most of the week it happened three hours from home in a Children's hospital while she recuperated from brain surgery.
Luckily the malfunction occurred on a Saturday. I simply called parents and let them know I would at the very least not be available for the first half of the week but to make plans for me to be out the entire week. I was able to resume care that Thursday and all went just fine.
My parents know they need to have their own backup available and have never had a problem with that. I am only human and I have a family I need to take care of too. I push that I am not superwoman in all regards, especially this one.
They've never given me any guff, and to the contrary have always been incredibly supportive and sympathetic.
I also had to take a week this past January not because I was sick but because my daughter was. Her shunt malfunctioned and we got to spend most of the week it happened three hours from home in a Children's hospital while she recuperated from brain surgery.
Luckily the malfunction occurred on a Saturday. I simply called parents and let them know I would at the very least not be available for the first half of the week but to make plans for me to be out the entire week. I was able to resume care that Thursday and all went just fine.
My parents know they need to have their own backup available and have never had a problem with that. I am only human and I have a family I need to take care of too. I push that I am not superwoman in all regards, especially this one.
They've never given me any guff, and to the contrary have always been incredibly supportive and sympathetic.
AnneCordelia 01:17 PM 09-17-2012
In two years I have called in once for a flu with copious vomiting. My handbook says I will call before 11pm or after 5am if I am closing due to illness. I try to give as much notice as possible.
rhymia1 01:18 PM 09-17-2012
I have 5 paid sick/personal days in my contract. All parents are aware that they are responsible for back up care (it's in my contract about 4 times all in BOLD
) plus I verbally tell them about 6 or 7 times in the interview process. I called out more when I first started out (caught everything!) but now I probably have called out 2 times in the past 2 years. If I can't take care of the kids, then I'm not going to "push" through. That's not fair to them or me.
) plus I verbally tell them about 6 or 7 times in the interview process. I called out more when I first started out (caught everything!) but now I probably have called out 2 times in the past 2 years. If I can't take care of the kids, then I'm not going to "push" through. That's not fair to them or me.
Blackcat31 01:28 PM 09-17-2012
Originally Posted by Willow:
I had to take an entire week last November. I contracted histoplasmosis which is pretty common and usually no bigger deal than the common cold or flu. I battled it for months leading up to that with nothing more than lingering cold symptoms. Loads of lung nodules were found while ruling out pneumonia and my blood work was monitored to be sure I wasn't dealing with cancer. I pushed to work through it, started taking vitamins, I didn't want to burden my parents. And then it nailed me out of the blue. I went in to hopefully get more meds from my doc on a Saturday and when she put a pulse oxygen deal on my finger my rate was alarming. She ordered me to go to the hospital for iv fluids, meds, oxygen and a breathing treatment and threatened to admit me if I didn't take some time off. I literally couldn't breathe at that point so I relented and took the week. I still have to go in and see a pulmonologist every couple of months because of the damage pushing myself so hard did to my lungs, I really shouldn't have second guessed taking care of myself and now have permanent organ damage because I did. I was a runner, still am, but can't go nearly as far and have to work twice as hard.....all because I was concerned about how my daycare parents would cope. So stupid...........
I also had to take a week this past January not because I was sick but because my daughter was. Her shunt malfunctioned and we got to spend most of the week it happened three hours from home in a Children's hospital while she recuperated from brain surgery.
Luckily the malfunction occurred on a Saturday. I simply called parents and let them know I would at the very least not be available for the first half of the week but to make plans for me to be out the entire week. I was able to resume care that Thursday and all went just fine.
My parents know they need to have their own backup available and have never had a problem with that. I am only human and I have a family I need to take care of too. I push that I am not superwoman in all regards, especially this one.
They've never given me any guff, and to the contrary have always been incredibly supportive and sympathetic.
Wow! Glad to hear you made it through all that alright and hoping your DD is doing well too! I had to take an entire week last November. I contracted histoplasmosis which is pretty common and usually no bigger deal than the common cold or flu. I battled it for months leading up to that with nothing more than lingering cold symptoms. Loads of lung nodules were found while ruling out pneumonia and my blood work was monitored to be sure I wasn't dealing with cancer. I pushed to work through it, started taking vitamins, I didn't want to burden my parents. And then it nailed me out of the blue. I went in to hopefully get more meds from my doc on a Saturday and when she put a pulse oxygen deal on my finger my rate was alarming. She ordered me to go to the hospital for iv fluids, meds, oxygen and a breathing treatment and threatened to admit me if I didn't take some time off. I literally couldn't breathe at that point so I relented and took the week. I still have to go in and see a pulmonologist every couple of months because of the damage pushing myself so hard did to my lungs, I really shouldn't have second guessed taking care of myself and now have permanent organ damage because I did. I was a runner, still am, but can't go nearly as far and have to work twice as hard.....all because I was concerned about how my daycare parents would cope. So stupid...........
I also had to take a week this past January not because I was sick but because my daughter was. Her shunt malfunctioned and we got to spend most of the week it happened three hours from home in a Children's hospital while she recuperated from brain surgery.
Luckily the malfunction occurred on a Saturday. I simply called parents and let them know I would at the very least not be available for the first half of the week but to make plans for me to be out the entire week. I was able to resume care that Thursday and all went just fine.
My parents know they need to have their own backup available and have never had a problem with that. I am only human and I have a family I need to take care of too. I push that I am not superwoman in all regards, especially this one.
They've never given me any guff, and to the contrary have always been incredibly supportive and sympathetic.
Sometimes as women, we need to be able to say "I can't do it all". It is nice to think we can, but it obviously isn't healthy.
I also have in my handbook that should I need to close for the day (planned or unplanned) ALL parents are required to have their own back up in place.
Country Kids 01:35 PM 09-17-2012
I missed about 9 days last year-
. Two vacations had to be cancelled. The daycare kids brought everything in and I caught it all.
The last illness put me in bed for 8 days-over two weekends and my vacation. I kept trying to push through it and push through it and then was to sick to go on vacation. 3 or 4 rounds of antibiotics later and I was doing better.
I took out how many specific personal/sick days in my contract and left it at just parents needing back up care for them. I was getting parents telling me they were out of sick time because they didn't use a back up. Not my fault!
. Two vacations had to be cancelled. The daycare kids brought everything in and I caught it all.The last illness put me in bed for 8 days-over two weekends and my vacation. I kept trying to push through it and push through it and then was to sick to go on vacation. 3 or 4 rounds of antibiotics later and I was doing better.
I took out how many specific personal/sick days in my contract and left it at just parents needing back up care for them. I was getting parents telling me they were out of sick time because they didn't use a back up. Not my fault!
EarthyMom 02:46 PM 09-17-2012
Wow!
Thank you all for sharing your personal stories and information with me! I appreciate it so much as a newcomer to this. Willow your story is terrible! I am so sorry for your suffering. You are a strong woman. I understand you doing all you could to save your livlihood. The damage to your body though.... I am so sorry. I hope your health continues to improve.
I can definitely appreciate the backup plan being put into the contract. That sounds really smart, along with the paid sick time. Thats really neccesary IMO. You ladies have so much important information to offer and I am very thankful for it. I too hope to work up a good immunity resistance. I will definitely be looking at a cleaning schedule, and maybe even hiring someone to come in and clean proffesionallly once a month in addition. I bet I could find out who the school system uses.
Also with time off do you generally follow the regular school district with the exception of summer break?
Thank you all for sharing your personal stories and information with me! I appreciate it so much as a newcomer to this. Willow your story is terrible! I am so sorry for your suffering. You are a strong woman. I understand you doing all you could to save your livlihood. The damage to your body though...
. I am so sorry. I hope your health continues to improve. I can definitely appreciate the backup plan being put into the contract. That sounds really smart, along with the paid sick time. Thats really neccesary IMO. You ladies have so much important information to offer and I am very thankful for it. I too hope to work up a good immunity resistance. I will definitely be looking at a cleaning schedule, and maybe even hiring someone to come in and clean proffesionallly once a month in addition. I bet I could find out who the school system uses.
Also with time off do you generally follow the regular school district with the exception of summer break?
Blackcat31 02:57 PM 09-17-2012
Originally Posted by EarthyMom:
Also with time off do you generally follow the regular school district with the exception of summer break?
I schedule my vacations and time off a year in advance and print out a calendar for my daycare parents highlighting these days. Also with time off do you generally follow the regular school district with the exception of summer break?
I don't follow the school schedule at all.
daycarediva 03:05 PM 09-17-2012
I caught more when I first started, but now I rarely get sick. I do tend to get the 24 tummy bug annually, but so far that's all been on the weekend.
Now I get to use my 5 personal/sick days for fun things or long weekends instead of sick days!
Now I get to use my 5 personal/sick days for fun things or long weekends instead of sick days!
Willow 06:51 AM 09-18-2012
I don't follow the school schedule either.
In fact, any pre-K, or school agers a provider has those days off of school are a great time to make some extra money
((I'm fine now for the most part, it's just when I try to distance run that I really notice a difference. TBH I was more relieved it wasn't cancer than anything. Seeing my first xray lit up with little spiderwebed out balls of who knows what, and then the subsequent CT scan that made them look even worse..... I thought my life was over! I had two options beyond that, lung biopsy or wait to see if the nodules calcified (which meant no cancer). Having no insurance made the decision for me. The waiting was excruciating but I'll take this over that nasty c word any day....and lesson learned indeed!
My daughters shunt malfunctioned at her collar bone, the line right over her bone basically became weak and broke apart due to the stress it was under (it had been in since she was 15 months old and she was nearly 9 then so no surprise it was finally toast). She told me after her shower that night that it looked funny. When I checked it looked like a purple golf ball was stuck under her skin After a ridiculous amount of testing it turned out the valve in her brain and the bottom of the tube that drained the fluid into her intestine had been blocked for some time. Since it hadn't been working properly for who knew how long and she never ended up with any pressure sickness we took the chance of having them take it out completely to see if she could do without it. So far, so good.
She was actually sad to see it go, she'd known that lump on her head for as long as she could brush her hair. They took a picture of her shunt when they pulled it out (her request.....yeah...) and gave her an unused one to bring back to school to show all her friends when she got upset that they couldn't give her original back (apparently if it can't be sterilized in an autoclave they won't let you keep anything that comes out of your body). I'm sure it was the grossest show and tell the poor teacher ever had but she's been a bit of a celebrity ever since 
))
In fact, any pre-K, or school agers a provider has those days off of school are a great time to make some extra money
((I'm fine now for the most part, it's just when I try to distance run that I really notice a difference. TBH I was more relieved it wasn't cancer than anything. Seeing my first xray lit up with little spiderwebed out balls of who knows what, and then the subsequent CT scan that made them look even worse..... I thought my life was over! I had two options beyond that, lung biopsy or wait to see if the nodules calcified (which meant no cancer). Having no insurance made the decision for me. The waiting was excruciating but I'll take this over that nasty c word any day....and lesson learned indeed!
My daughters shunt malfunctioned at her collar bone, the line right over her bone basically became weak and broke apart due to the stress it was under (it had been in since she was 15 months old and she was nearly 9 then so no surprise it was finally toast). She told me after her shower that night that it looked funny. When I checked it looked like a purple golf ball was stuck under her skin
After a ridiculous amount of testing it turned out the valve in her brain and the bottom of the tube that drained the fluid into her intestine had been blocked for some time. Since it hadn't been working properly for who knew how long and she never ended up with any pressure sickness we took the chance of having them take it out completely to see if she could do without it. So far, so good. She was actually sad to see it go, she'd known that lump on her head for as long as she could brush her hair. They took a picture of her shunt when they pulled it out (her request.....yeah...
) and gave her an unused one to bring back to school to show all her friends when she got upset that they couldn't give her original back (apparently if it can't be sterilized in an autoclave they won't let you keep anything that comes out of your body). I'm sure it was the grossest show and tell the poor teacher ever had but she's been a bit of a celebrity ever since ))
renodeb 07:10 AM 09-18-2012
I have been doing this 6 years and have only had to take sick time 3 times, once for my daughter, (nasty case of pinlk eye), and two seperate times sick with cold /flu. I took a week off when my grandma died (which didnt count as sick time). Lucky for me the sick time occured on the weekend for the most part. My parents know that they have to find other dc if I am sick. Dont really have a plan other than that. I have to be pretty down and out to call off though.
Deb
Deb
EarthyMom 07:32 AM 09-18-2012
Willow I am in awe of your strong and positive attitude. I cannot imagine going through what you did and not falling to peices! Your child gets her bravery from her mom, clearly!
Awesome story!
Thanks for sharing all this info with me everyone. I really hope I dont get sick, but now I know that if I do it doesn't mean the end of the daycare business!
Sorry about your grandmother RenoDeb!
Awesome story!
Thanks for sharing all this info with me everyone. I really hope I dont get sick, but now I know that if I do it doesn't mean the end of the daycare business!
Sorry about your grandmother RenoDeb!
Snowbunny 12:25 PM 10-14-2012
My husband was diagnosed with a non-curable cancer just over 2 years ago. He has been hospitalized twice with pneumonia (the most recent was this past week). Both times I spent the entire time with him at the hospital. He is my everything, so I'm not leaving him. We have no children...it's just he and I. My daycare parents know that they are responsible for finding alternate care when I am not available. They don't pay me for my time off, so I don't want to hear any complaints from them. I've already decided that if they give me any crap, I'll be more than happy to show them the door.
BABYLUVER 03:12 PM 10-14-2012
Originally Posted by EarthyMom:
What's the plan? I mean I am not talking about a lil run down. I mean what if you get the flu with fever and vomiting or something that puts you down for a week? Has it happened? What do you do?
My contract stated that if I was sick, I would do my best to give 24 hrs notice but if I couldn't (for example, I woke up with something) I would notify asap and give my backup # but that parents should always have their own list of back ups just in case mine was not available. What's the plan? I mean I am not talking about a lil run down. I mean what if you get the flu with fever and vomiting or something that puts you down for a week? Has it happened? What do you do?
I had to be out for just over a week once because I had pneumonia/5ths/strep all at once. I was pregnant with triplets and lost one of the children due to the medications and one is now special needs. The third is perfectly fine, no affect on her. There were 2 daycare parents who were understanding. There was one who got herself kicked out because of her attitude....which she had no right to have because BUT FOR HER bringing her sick kids and medicating them to the point that I was exposed repeatedly when it was not necessary for me to be, I would not have had the illnesses. The others were irritated but did come back once I healed.