Last week me and my daughter got a pretty horrible virus that knocked us both on our butts. I notified all the parents and gave them the option to come or not... everyone showed up. The youngest dcb (5 mo) got sick because of it and has still been here every day since. Both me and my daughter STILL have this and every day all the kids have been here. Today I woke up with conjunctivitis in my right eye and notify all parents of my suspicions of the infection, yet still I sit here with my two youngest infants... I had to send every one a message saying I'm fairly positive this is what it is and I will be going to the ER tonight after everyone gets picked up and will probably have to take a sick day tomorrow to start antibiotics and if any one would like to pick their kids up early as a precaution since it is HIGHLY contagious, to just give me a heads up. I get some thank you responses but I'm still carrying around both these young ones... I mean come on people. If they get THIS there's no way their coming back until its clear. Just my little vent for the day...

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I am a little confused why your caring for kids if your sick. Yes, parents need to be told "I am sick and can not care for your child today." Parents are going to bring them if you offer. Put on your childcare provider hat and tell them your sick!

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That sound about right to me.

You have to actually tell them to NOT come, or they will!
We have had kids show up when there was:
-Lice
-Pink eye
-Strep
-Vomiting
and those are just the bad ones..
I don't think it gets much worse than that. They all came and didn't care. I've learned to just say You CANNOT come, I'm closed!!!

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I used to always give the option, thinking it was a more polite way of phrasing it, but then was always baffled when they showed. I eventually learned.

Nothing like making early morning calls saying my 2 year old has been up vommitiing the past 5 hours, just want to give you a heads up. They show up an hour later saying "Guess who decided not to wear a diaper today? Big girl is wearing undies!!!" My stunned, unshowered, puke smelling, exhausted self fails to muster enthusiam. Mom looks at me and says "oh, guess you didn't get much sleep last night either." hmm you think. My kid starts hurling and she leaves. I clean up puke and turn arund to see a stream of pee across the carpet. We had not even discussed potty training yet.

Another time neither myself or the parents had power. They brought the kids.

If you do not say you are closed, they will come

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To answer the title of this thread ... no.

Close, girl!

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YOU need to take the initiative and stop caring for kids when you are sick and stop caring for sick kids.

I totally understand the theory that you are most contagious BEFORE symptoms begin but the only way to influence length of illness and/or severity is to minimize exposure to it.

I wouldn't give parents the option. Set rules and enforce them.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

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Yep sounds about right to me too.

That's exactly what will happen if you don't absolutely refuse to accept children in your daycare. I do the same as you and unless I am stuck on the pot, throwing up or just absolutely feeling awful ... I stay open and give clients the option to come or not. They know however that if their child then gets sick that they must stay home. I've been sick before with pink-eye and other ilnesses and so far none of my DCKs have ever gotten sick but I wash my hands all of the time and don't touch my face etc. Heck I even use gloves when I diaper . So far they've been lucky but I know there will come a day when they won't be so lucky .

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Yes, I agree, you will have to actually tell them STRICTLY that they cannot come for the day because you are ill and want a day's off. And if they send their kids would also get sick. If you don't then they would come each day.

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I don't close unless I need immediate medical care or literally CANNOT get out of bed. I have backup care for my kids when they are sick (it is easier for dh to reschedule his calls then it is for me to cancel. I always give parents the option) and I can keep them reasonably separated.

I always give parents the option and I ALWAYS have a full house (except for one with a less than fantastic immune system and a Mom that works from home). Unless you are closing, pretty much expect them all to come.

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Are you paid if they choose not to bring them but not paid if you close? If parents are paying for the day they will more than likely bring their kids. I'm not going to judge their motives since I don't know what they are.

I think you'll have to take the loss for a couple days and close if you really don't want kids coming.

You might also remind them that if their child gets sick and can't come they still have to pay the day, if that is how your contract is set up. Maybe they'll think on it then.

K

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The ER is no place for pink eye....that is why health insurance is so ridiculous. Go to your PCP or the urgent care. The ER is for emergencies.

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My physician closes at 4:15 and I have kids until 5:30. There is a local ER that is really quick (faster than urgent care).

To everyone else, if I closed every time me or my daughter (I'm a single mom and her father refuses to take her any extra days than he already has. Not his day, not his problem) got a cold then I might as well close for good. We would be closed most of the year! But it just baffles me when there is something like pink eye in the mix and people are like oh well what ever! I personally wouldn't want my 5 month old or even 2 year old exposed willingly. I'm putting my foot down tomorrow for sure until I can start my antibiotics.

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YES! Basically if I've got something that would exclude a child from care (fever, puking, etc) I close.

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No one said close every time you get a cold. You said you were "knocked on your butt" which sounds really sick.

I personally wouldn't worry about an adult with conjunctivitis around kids. I don't let kids come with it but I think I could keep the kids from getting it if I had it.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to close for the afternoon to go to the doctor to get your antibiotics instead of the ER? Have you called your doctor's office? They might just call in antibiotics for pink eye. Our doctor's office doesn't even have us come in for that. You might try to see if you can save time and money.

K

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Good rule of thumb....close for ANYTHING that requires antibiotics or a doctor's visit. (Just as you would exclude a DCK for the same things)

Everything else is not serious enough to warrant closing.

Also on a side note, if you suspect pink eye and that you will need an antibiotic, I would start calling parents now and close early so you don't have to use the ER.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

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This is the mac daddy of all colds. My daughter might as well have had the flu and I felt as such as well. She was couch ridden for 2 of the days last week and in tears most of each day. I haven't slept in 3 days just from coughing alone. But after taking my daughter to the dr the first day, it IS just a cold virus and there is no reason to actually CLOSE, no matter how badly it's hitting us since neither of us is feverish any more.. Now this eye infection is a different story. I did manage to get one of the infants picked up about 20 minutes ago and the others mom should be here before 5. This whole thread wasn't about me complaining about working while I'm sick, its just that when you give a parent a choice to either expose their child to something or not, they always tend to say whatever expose them. This is something I think is fine with, like I said, a cold which is why I give the option, but when I suspected pink eye this morning I felt liek more parents would have taken a step back and said oh hey that sounds serious. But again, single mom here, and my paid sick days are VERY important to me and I will not use them lightly.

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well, I hope you are feeling better quickly.

On a side note, the pinkeye is probably viral, since you have a virus already, but they may give you ointment anyway "just in case".

My 4 mo dck had bacterial pinkeye, then got a cold, then got viral pinkeye all within 2 weeks. poor bunny...

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Our schools don't require exclusion for pink eye?? I don't either. Especially since all the nurse practitioners in our small town call in antibiotic drops for suspected and siblings and parents without a visit. I wouldn't have a problem watching kids while I had pink eye either. But really, everyone is different when it comes to exclusions. If you are ever too sick to stay open, you kindly tell the parents you are closed.

In the case of the op, yes I totally agree you'd think people cared... And some may care and just have no backup. Now a days people are hanging onto their job by a thread and can't afford to miss a day. Not that that should be YOUR problem though

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