Do You Accept 'Clear' Runny Noses?

[Kimberli]

As we head back into the cold and flu season, I am rethinking the wording of my illness policy.

I have seen other posts here recently related to DCKs exposing the entire DC as well as provider and provider's family. Last year I ended up with the stomach flu twice, two sinus infections, pneumonia and my assistant had bronchitis - all in the course of one Fall/Winter.

Believe me when I say I wash hands like a fiend and clean constantly, but last year even Bleach and Lysol couldn't save me!

Like many others here, my illness policy states that I will accept 'clear runny noses' without fever as the only symptom through the door - but even with that standard being upheld, we had a very sick year. Many a morning was I met with a DCP stating, "Johnny has a bit of a runny nose, but it's CLEAR and he doesn't have a fever, so ..." - but by the end of the week, every other child had Johnny's runny nose, a cough, and worse ... etc. - and we ALL got sick from Johnny.

I guess my point is that a 'clear runny nose' without a fever does NOT guarantee that Johnny is not contageous, so now I have an area that I use in a pinch in my media room where I give a mildly ill child their own toys and activities so as not to expose anyone else - But I really wish parents just wouldn't bring kids at all when they have stuff voraciously dripping continually out of their little bodies - even the clear stuff!

Is it reasonable to strike the 'clear runny nose' allowance from my sick policy and not accept them at all or is that too severe? Sometimes colds take a couple of weeks to recover from and I know my DKP wouldn't be able to keep a child out that long - but I don't think they know how to tell when a child is no longer contageous, and sometimes neither do I.

What do you all do in regards to this?

I want to be reasonable, but I want to keep the kids, myself and my family healthy also.

[providerandmomof4]

I will only disallow dck from dc if they are throwing up, diahrrhea, fever of 101 or higher or so sick that they cannot participate in activities. Therefore there are a lot of colds all winter long. Also, like you said, the children have most likely already been exposed, so there is really no getting around being around sick kids. I don't think you can or should disallow for every runny nose. I know that it can get tedious...wiping noses every five seconds and kids sneezing all over everything. But, ino it's one of those things you can't prevent with all the Lysol in the world. And parents can't take off work for every cold.

[cheerfuldom]

I agree with the PP. I feel that if you exclude for runny noses, you are going to start losing families. That is just too strict. How long have you been doing daycare? I find the more I do it, the more my immunity becomes bullet proof LOL Look into things you and your assistant can do to boost immunity and give yourself the best change possible!

[sharlan]

If I excluded for runny noses, I'd never have any kids here. (Hey, maybe that's an idea, except that won't pay the bills.)

So many kids in this area have runny noses from allergies for months on end.

[Kimberli]

Yeah ... I know. This is my 3rd year doing full time day care, but I raised 5 kids of my own and NEVER got sick until this past year - and wham! So far, two of my 6 kiddos have had non-stop runny noses and coughs all summer but I have remained healthy - I just want to avoid a repeat of last year.

Hey - maybe I reached my 'sick quota' and this year will be a breeze!

... a girl can dream!

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

clear runny nose as apposed to? yellow gunky? Actually the yellow gunky means that the child is actually at the end of the cold. Had a doc tell that to me and one of my parents was told the same thing the other night. He thought he was worse because the discharge was now greenish and took him. Doc said oh no he is getting better!
My policy is no vommiting, diarrhea, or temp over 100 OR they are not able to participate and be comfortable.

"Many people think that a green or yellow nasal discharge means a bacterial infection, which requires antibiotics. This is NOT true. Colds will often begin with a clear nasal discharge, but after several days it usually turns creamy yellow or green. Colds are caused by viruses, and antibiotics will not help. A green or yellow nasal discharge is not a sign that you need antibiotics."

http://www.mylittletonhospital.org/body.cfm?id=161&action=detail&aearticleid=003051&aeproductid=adam2004_1

[clep]

I just reworded my illness policy. Basically if a child has a clear runny nose, they are welcome to come to care. If it is running like a tap and I can't maintain it while caring for other children they need to stay home.

I had one family leave when I reworded my policy.....the one family I had that tried to bring their child sick often.

The other families were happy about the change, but they are all responsible parents that know the line of when their child is too sick, and they just inform me their child won't be coming for that day, sometimes two or three.

[nanglgrl]

I'm in the same boat but I'm still temped to do the same thing that CLEP did. I wonder if I will loose any children? I love my group, they do great together but I don't remember the last time we all didn't have runny noses (even throughout the summer). I bought a air purifier/sanitizer for the daycare but they are all around 2 so a lot of germs are still passed around. I have asthma as do a couple of my daycare kids, a normal cold to some people makes us cough so hard we can't breath and I don't know about the littles but I feel horrible when I get like that. I have no problem with a slightly runny nose of any color because I know the color doesn't matter. What I do have a problem with is everything having snot on it because of one of the kids snot that just keeps coming. It's even worse when the child isn't quite old enough to take care of it themselves or even care that it's running down their face.

[daycare]

One thing you need to remember is that usually you are contagious before symptoms even appear. So really there is no way to exclude for that.

Each morning when children arrive I run a quick assessment, ask parents about the children's night/morning and always touch them to see if they are warm. This all happens before the parents leave.

Just two weeks ago I sent one right back out the door.

We can't prevent it all we can only do our best to prepare for it by practicing good hygiene with ourselves, the daycare environment, sleep well, and eat well.

If you are not getting enough sleep your going to run your immune system into the ground.

[Meyou]

I accept clear runny noses but I don't accept kids that I deem too sick to play and participate like normal. This gives me the freedom to send any runny nose home that I think is too bad regardless of the color. It also means that clear, faucet noses are only something I have to deal with if I chose to not because they're a loophole in my policies.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

another thing I encourage my parents to do on little ones is use saline and to suction their noses! This cuts down on the runny, runny noses. Saline works wonders

[saved4always]

I always accepted clear runny noses. There are some kids whose noses run all season long either from colds or allergies. I also did not exclude for the kind of cough that most colds end with that can linger for days or weeks. There is just no way to exclude for colds without fever or other symptoms that keep a child from acting normal. It just would not be practical for my income or for the daycare families that I had. It seems I always had someone with a runny nose or cough. I disinfected constantly, washed my hands constantly and hoped for the best.

[rhymia1]

I accept clear runny noses but I don't accept kids that I deem too sick to play and participate like normal. This gives me the freedom to send any runny nose home that I think is too bad regardless of the color. It also means that clear, faucet noses are only something I have to deal with if I chose to not because they're a loophole in my policies.

This is my policy as well.

I am of the thought that we often put too much in writing sometimes, which actually work against us. A provider in my town has a written "crying babies" policy in which she states that a baby who is crying inconsolably (sp?) all day long will be sent home. Now, if she didn't want to watch infants this would probably work in her favor, but she does and can't understand why parents choose other providers. I actually have wound up with some of those families. BUT I also have a similar policy...in my head We all know babies can cry so a parent reads that and thinks they will be getting calls every day.

Long story short, I would not have a written policy but I would use my best judgement. If Susie is actually using tissues, wiping her nose properly and washing hands - it's all good. If Billy is constantly wiping his nose with his sleeve/hands, touching toys/other kids, spraying his sneeze and coughs all over the play room despite repeated reminders/interventions by me, then I would call the parents and say "he isn't feeling well and needs to be picked up."

[Blackcat31]

My handbook says:

"There are times when a child may be excluded due to the required amount of care he/she needs when experiencing a common cold or illness. For example, a cough that is disruptive to normal daily activities, when a child is unable to cover his/her mouth while coughing or when the amount of nasal discharge or fluid becomes unmanageable for the provider to continue maintaining a sanitary environment. This will occur at my discretion and will be handled on an individual basis."

I said it like that because every child is different. I have an 18 month old who uses a tissue properly and is no trouble when having a runny nose but on the other hand I have 3 year old who will wipe themselves on the back of my pant leg if given the chance, will wipe snot on the carpet, rug or anything they get their hands on and of course NOT tell me and since that is really gross and unsanitary...they get "excluded" from care when their nose is running badly.

[Crazy8]

I accept clear runny noses but I don't accept kids that I deem too sick to play and participate like normal. This gives me the freedom to send any runny nose home that I think is too bad regardless of the color. It also means that clear, faucet noses are only something I have to deal with if I chose to not because they're a loophole in my policies.

this is my policy as well - the "must be able to participate in our normal routine" can cover a lot of the grey areas. I also don't come out and say clear runny noses are allowed - I just don't say they aren't.

I've had kids who have never ending runny noses - I would lose families if they weren't allowed. I've also told parents to imagine their child is perfectly healthy and another child is the one with the symptoms their child has - would they want their child sitting with/playing with that child all day??? If not, I recommend keeping them home.