I have a 5-month old in care FT. She is very needy but it is usually manageable. Well she is sick and of course my sick policy covers green mucus, pink eye, fever and the regular stuff. Well this little one has clear mucus a cough that just sounds like it hurts. So nothing I have in my policy to exclude. Mom took her to doctor yesterday and she has a left ear infection as well as the other stuff. She has been so cranky and screaming so loud that even my dog howls. I have two others that have this very same thing which I think family that brought it in lied about the diagnosis. Anywho! Well this baby momma can't miss anymore time from work because she has missed 12-days since school started. I'm not sure how that becomes my issue but here I am. When mom picks up today I want to kindy but assertive that if baby is screaming crying like she did today (I took video) then she is going to have to pick her up. I refuse to medicate kids that are not my own and mom keeps insisting I give her Tylenol to take off the edge. I won't do it. This is something else I need to obviously say another way. The screaming today woke up all four other kids and that's not fair to them. It was so loud that my husband could hear her in the driveway. He came running in thinking I had dropped her. she can be a sweet lovely baby. Is it fair for me to tell mom she needs to keep her home a day or two?

Reply

I've been saying 'Too sick for daycare', meaning they need to be home. Mom's sick days are not your problem.

Reply

My contract is written that although I have a excluded symptom list, it is a guideline and I reserve the right to determine whether the child is too sick to attend, regardless of symptoms.

Reply

I have had to say "Junior needs to stay home tomorrow because he's too ill" before. Not your problem that she is out of work days.

Reply

If they're sick enough to need pain medication to get through the day then they're too sick to be at daycare.

I do not give ANY medications at daycare, either (except life saving medications for chronic illness that cannot be given at home).

I'm not sure how I would word it, but you're definitely right to exclude a child who is screaming inconsolably due to illness.

Reply

first thing first, the child should have stayed home for a full day after starting any new form of medication.

I would be excluding the child for failure to participate as normal and needs are higher than normal therefore affecting my ability to care for all of the other children.

I always tell parents we love the kids to be here, but we need for them to be well.

I would send home and exclude for one full day allowing to return on thursday.

Kids need extra TLC when they are sick and this is not something that is possible to do in group care. It's not that we don't want to, it's that it's just impossible.

I wanted to edit to add that the fact that DCM does not have anymore time off of work is not your problem. They are responsible for arranging back up care when their child is not able to attend childcare for any reason. If DCK stopped breathing is DCM not going to come to her rescue because she has no time off of work left? May sound like a harsh comparison, but we can't worry about other peoples personal problems. We have a job to do and that is to offer a safe, healthy and secure enviornment and you can't do that when you have sick children there.

Reply

Maybe you could tell her that technically her child is on an antibiotic. Common child care rules dictate that every child needs to be on an antibiotic for 24hrs prior to returning to the child care. Even thought this is an ear infection and not contagious, she obviously is very uncomfortable having screamed and disrupted the child care today, if it happens again, you will be calling her for pick up. And for future reference, if dcb requires an antibiotic in the future, the 24hr timeframe prior to re admittance must be followed.

Reply

It is your company. We can't list every possible reason a child might not be able to attend daycare in our contracts. I would simply tell the parents that the child is too ill to be in daycare. If the child can not comfortably participate in the day's normal activities without needing you to tend to their nose, bottom, etc. too often and without crying/fussing because they don't feel well, then they are too ill to be in daycare.

The fact that the mother has taken too many days off work for whatever reason is not your problem. If mom fusses about that, you can suggest that maybe Grand-mom or the child's father, or someone else might be able to take care of the child for a day or so until he/she feels better. But the mother's lack of a back up babysitter or her not having more days to take off work herself is not your problem.

Now, of course, with the fact that you know mom won't be happy, you do take a chance on losing the child if you demand that they don't attend because they are ill. But if the child is too ill, they have no business being at daycare.

Reply

I have in my handbook that I will make decisions on sickness based on the safety of all children in my care. Doctors notes do not work at my daycare, I get the final say...sometimes dr notes are worthless just like the time the kid kept coming back for days in a row and then found out the kid had rotovirus....

Reply

Thanks ladies. I let her know at pick-up that if she is fussy at all tomorrow she will be called to pick up. It wasn't fair to her to be here around other kids and it wasn't fair to the other kids to be woken up from nap by a screaming sick child. I understand her situation about not having time to take off, but that was something she was going to have to work out because I was not going to put her or the other kids through all the screaming they and I dealt with today.

Reply

I have in my policy "if the child isn't feeling well enough to participate in regular daycare activities then they should stay home"
A screaming child isn't

Reply

Good, can't blame you at all. HOw did she take it?

Reply

She didn't like it. At first she said well I'll just give her Tylenol before I drop her off. I reminded her that I have a no drug and drop rule and that if she did that she would have to find immediate alternative care. I let her know if she brings her and she screams like did today then I was calling for immediate pick up. She said she understood. So we shall see. I fully expect a phone call in the morning.

Reply

when I cant tell that parents don't like that I am making them keep their child home, I tell them this is the same safety that I provide for your child as well. That usually gets them to settle down and be more understanding.

Reply

Might want to make sure all emergency contacts are up to date. I can see this Mom really trying to drag out picking up the baby.

Reply