What Would Cause You To Take A Sick Day?

[sahm2three]

I was awoken by a raging bladder infection at 2 AM after not sleeping well anyways, and am not pretty miserable. My bladder is throbbing and I have done everything I can to ease the symptoms, but am miserable and know I am going to be exhausted and worthless today. I am half tempted to call in sick, but I know part of it is being down about my baby starting kindergarten. But with all the kids here, not sure how I am going to get in to the doctor to get treatment. What would you do?

[Crazy8]

honestly, I never take sick days. I have closed unexpectedly probably less than 3-4 times in 11 years and most were due to things like my father having a heart attack in the middle of the night, my sister in laws funeral, etc.
I guess I'm lucky in that I've never been THAT sick that I need to close, my pain tolerance is pretty high though and I've always just been able to muddle thru the day and get a 5-6pm appointment.

[Countrygal]

I think I would try to schedule an appointment for late in the day and just close early, not entirely. I realize sometimes people can't come early, but at least you have tried to accommodate them. We all need to see the doctor occasionally. I had a bladder/kidney infection with a fever running over 103 and I couldn't do ANYTHING. My parents were very understanding. I had to close for three days and it was only a couple of months after I opened.

IMO, if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone. Most parents will probably act "put out", but I think deep down that most parents will also understand. We have a terrible mindset in this country that the "job" and "work" is more important than anything, even our health. I think this is way out of sync. My outlook has always been "God, family, work" in that order. (I am included in "family" ) When my own child was in daycare, I just understood that it was part of having kids in daycare. There are a plethora of problems associated with having children in daycare, and provider getting sick is just one of them. Shoot! I've even known of CENTERS that had to close due to things like something that happened that required the center to be totally disinfected, or even an epidemic of the flu! Everyone needs to close occasionally. My motto is that if I have to close, I'll do everything I can to get open ASAP.

[Mom&Provider]

IMO I'd rather keep my child home then send him/her to my providers home if she wasn't well and was questioning if she could provide her usual care. Not saying that you are incapable, just saying that I know how much work it can be, and when you aren't well, it makes it harder - then again I'm a provider so know what it's like, sometimes parents don't realize the extent of work going into caring for children and therefore might be upset!?

You need to do what you feel is best for you. As providers will always feel the need to be open EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. and while I do agree to a point, if you clearly have an infection it also needs attention since leaving it alone could mean you will be forced to close if it gets worse!

Hope you feel better soon!!

[SilverSabre25]

Bladder infection...yeah i'd probably close, if only because they make me impossibly miserable. Not that I get them often, but rare is often enough for me. My last one was when I was pregnant two years ago.

Otherwise, I have only ever called in sick once, when I was only scheduled to have one dcb that day--DH, DD, and DS all threw up within ten minutes of each other (one of them twice!) at 3 AM and I called dcm to let her know. Turned out that it wasn't really a call off when dcb threw up an hour and a half later! Even DCM agreed that at that point, it didn't count :P

[AfterSchoolMom]

Don't put off going to the Dr. if you can help it...even if you have to close early. I'm prone to bladder infections myself, and if left unchecked, they can become kidney infections and cause you to be VERY ill. I'd think parents would rather pick up early one afternoon than try to find alternate care for several days in a row because you let it go too long!

Hope you feel better soon!

[laundrymom]

Are bladder inf's common? I've never had one. Or a Iti, or anything really. I've only closed from food poisoning. I couldn't come out of the potty.

[SquirrellyMama]

I've never had a bladder infection but I think I would close for one and get to the doctor. Get an antibiotic early so you are feeling better for tomorrow.

I hope you feel better soon.

K

[NiNi.R.]

I always look at it this way. If a DCK had the symptoms I have would I send them home?

I don't take very many sick days at all but I do use them when I need to. How can we expect parents to follow our health policy and guidelines if we don't do so ourselves.

[lindysmiles]

This is why I love the Walgreens Take Care Clinics! I love that I can make an appt for 6 p.m., without the charge of a urgent care. I actually had to go Monday after the last dcb was picked up for a clogged tear duct that got infected. Started antibiotics that night, and felt WAY better by Tuesday morning. My eye now looks almost back to normal, which is great because they were talking about hospital admission for IV antibiotics. (It started Saturday and by Monday evening had turned into cellulitis.) Please get seen quickly! Bladder infections are no joke, and can become very serious if left untreated...do you have the Walgreens or Kroger clinics near you? They are amazing! Hugs!

[Countrygal]

Wow! what are the Walgreen's take care clinics? I've never heard of them. To my knowledge they don't have them here...... They sound really nice!

[Country Kids]

We don't have those here either! Sounds like it would be nice.

[saved4always]

This is why I love the Walgreens Take Care Clinics! I love that I can make an appt for 6 p.m., without the charge of a urgent care. I actually had to go Monday after the last dcb was picked up for a clogged tear duct that got infected. Started antibiotics that night, and felt WAY better by Tuesday morning. My eye now looks almost back to normal, which is great because they were talking about hospital admission for IV antibiotics. (It started Saturday and by Monday evening had turned into cellulitis.) Please get seen quickly! Bladder infections are no joke, and can become very serious if left untreated...do you have the Walgreens or Kroger clinics near you? They are amazing! Hugs!

In my area, some CVS drugstores have a Minute Clinic that is walk-in and open weekends and evenings. I think it is a nurse practitioner, not a doctor on site but I beleive they are affiliated with Cleveland Clinic or something like that. It is great for diagnosing things like strep, ear infections, stuff like that. They also do sports physicals, I believe.

[SilverSabre25]

So what did you end up doing? Did you get to the doc?

[saved4always]

I haven't ever had a bladder infection, but I did have a urinary tract infetion (UTI) once. It was on the weekend so I didn't have to call off, but I would have if it had been on a weekday. That was miserable! I was lucky that my doctor prescribed over the phone that Saturday so I didn't have to suffer too long.

I didn't close for my own illness very often. In 8 years of doing in home childcare, I remember closing once because I had the worst headache I had ever had wake me up at 2 a.m. By morning, it hurt so much to move my head that I texted all my dcf's and closed. Other than that, I think most closures were due to a child's illness. I would usually let my dcf's know about what was going on with my sick child and they would decide whether to expose thier kids. Usually, they would find alternate care with my best friend down the street or with a family member. I would call in for sure if I was vomitting or had bad diarrhea...probably for a fever, too, although I cannot remember the last time I had a fever.