Do You Have a Policy About Low Grade Fevers Between 98.6-100?

[Unregistered]

Think about the parents...

I stumbled upon this thread after googling for my own daughter's being sent home from daycare. I have to say, I am glad I do not send my child to any of you who have posted in here. I am a teacher and have been in your shoes, wishing kids would just stay home.

Please think about the service you are providing to these parents. If they could stay home, I am sure they would. Most parents would love to stay home every time their child has a slight fever or a snotty nose. Yes, kids who don't feel well would rather stay home. As a working parent (who works outside of the home) and an employee, you have to be able to send your kids to a reliable person when they are not feeling themselves. Now, vomiting and high fevers, I am right with you. Those kids need to leave the center asap. But really, green snot?!? If you are requiring that child stay home, the parent could be forced to take a week off of work. For a cold. Really? I thought you called yourselves daycare PROVIDERS. Provide the care. No, it's not easy, but if you sign up to do it, hold up your end of the bargain.

P.S. Babies need to be on their own schedules, not yours. This is something called child development, don't know if you have heard of it. Read a book. I hope she found a new provider...

[Lilbutterflie]

I stumbled upon this thread after googling for my own daughter's being sent home from daycare. I have to say, I am glad I do not send my child to any of you who have posted in here. I am a teacher and have been in your shoes, wishing kids would just stay home.

Please think about the service you are providing to these parents. If they could stay home, I am sure they would. Most parents would love to stay home every time their child has a slight fever or a snotty nose. Yes, kids who don't feel well would rather stay home. As a working parent (who works outside of the home) and an employee, you have to be able to send your kids to a reliable person when they are not feeling themselves. Now, vomiting and high fevers, I am right with you. Those kids need to leave the center asap. But really, green snot?!? If you are requiring that child stay home, the parent could be forced to take a week off of work. For a cold. Really? I thought you called yourselves daycare PROVIDERS. Provide the care. No, it's not easy, but if you sign up to do it, hold up your end of the bargain.

P.S. Babies need to be on their own schedules, not yours. This is something called child development, don't know if you have heard of it. Read a book. I hope she found a new provider...

Unregistered... I was a full time working mom for a LONG time before I was a daycare provider. I also was very aware that when my children were sick; it was my job to take off of work to be home with them. Not only that; but when I knew my children were sick; I WANTED to be home with them!! I can't imagine my child being absolutely miserable at daycare without the proper motherly care they needed. Being sick enough to stay home from daycare is a fine line; but for me when I was working; the rule of thumb was that if they were miserable (despite not technically vomitting or having a high fever), that means I needed to stay home with them. Did I get warnings at work for missing too many days? Sure I did. Did I sometimes have to work later on some days and sometimes on the weekend to make up for my lost time caring my sick children? Sure I did. But it was something I had to do because I was their parent and they needed me.

The service that I provide to parents and their children is very clearly stated on my contract; I am a WELL child daycare ONLY. If they are miserable and cannot participate in the activities of the daycare, they need to go home. Parents understand that prior to enrolling, and if they disagree then it means we are not the right fit for each other.

In regards to the green snot; there are many public schools I know of that also send home for bright green snot. It usually implies an infection and that is contagious to all of the other children. It's also in my contract; so she was aware of this prior to signing up. Plus in this particular circumstance, he was MISERABLE.

In regards to your last remark about baby schedules. Sure, newborns absolutely need to be on their own schedules. They need to sleep when they are tired, eat when they are hungry. Once babies hit around 5-6 mo of age; they start developing a routine of eating and sleeping at consistent times during the day. But this is where you have to try to imagine yourself being a daycare provider. This is the time when most daycare providers will start trying to put all of the older babies on the same napping schedule. Imagine taking care of multiple babies, all having their own consistent (but different) napping schedules. You would NEVER get a break, you would NEVER have time to go to the bathroom, NEVER have time to eat. You would constantly be caring for the babies b/c they were all on different schedules. These babies depend on YOU to care for their every need, but you would not be able to do that without any sort of consistent routine. In addition to that; babies THRIVE on routine. Once they are able to start napping, eating and playing based on a consistent routine; they are much happier babies.

[Angelwings36]

Teething can cause:
Increased drooling.
Restless or decreased sleeping due to gum discomfort.
Refusal of food due to soreness of the gum region.
Fussiness that comes and goes.
Bringing the hands to the mouth.
Mild rash around the mouth due to skin irritation secondary to excessive drooling.
Rubbing the cheek or ear region as a consequence of referred pain during eruption of the molars.

Teething has not been shown to cause the following:
Fever (especially over 101 degrees).
Diarrhea, runny nose and a cough.
Prolonged fussiness.
Rashes on the body.

I do not give tylenol to children at all. In fact it states in my contract that children must be tylenol/advil etc... free within 6 hours before attending my daycare. In this way I am able to further avoid the dope and drop procedure.

I personally would not give this child tylenol even with a doctors note and I would add this to your contract. Change your policy on illness and have this mother read and sign it. If you have anything in your contract at all that states that children must be well enough to attend to all regular activities and this child is not capable of doing so due to fussiness, etc... I would exclude him for the day.

Good luck.

[meganlavonnesmommy]

This is where a detailed illness policy is so important.
It doesnt matter if the dr said the kid isnt sick, sometimes kids are too sick to come to daycare, but not sick enough to go to the dr. This is when the parents need to stay home with them!

This is my illness policy
Health: To ensure the health of all children and adults in my home no child will be admitted to my home without proof of the required immunizations and a health exam. Your child will not be accepted for care at any such time that he/she has a contagious illness. All children will be visually screened upon arrival for any symptoms. Children with a temperature of 101 degrees F or higher ( or 100.5 with one additional symptom), vomiting, any rash other than heat or diaper, unless it is severe, complaints of a sore throat, greenish runny nose, eye discharge of any kind, complaints of severe abdominal pain, severe cough, cough with mucus or discharge, lice, unusual sluggishness or behavior will not be admitted for care. Any child displaying signs of illness will be separated from the group and the parents/guardians will be called. Parents must take immediate action to pick up their child. Child must be picked up within one hour of parents/guardians notification. Symptoms include but are not limited to those listed above. Parents will be notified immediately of any illness that develops while the child is in my care. If the parents/guardians are contacted the child will only be allowed back into my FCC with a doctor’s note stating that they are no longer contagious or have been without fever, vomiting, diarrhea or severe cough with or without mucus or discharge for twenty-four hours. Any child that does not meet the criteria for removal but is showing signs of not feeling well will be permitted to stay in my home as long as he/she can participate in normal activities.


Sometimes kids arent truly sick, but sick enough they just want to be home, snuggled up on the couch with mom or dad.

My licensing dictates that I ABSOLUTELY will not give medicine without a drs note. Even tylenol. The note from the dr must state exactly how much and how often the medicine must be given. It cant say "as needed", because its not my job to determine when medicine is needed. THat is too much of a liability. If its tylenol, the drs note must state "2cc's tylenol to be given every 4 hours", it has to be specific, and then I have the parent sign a waiver stating the last time they gave the meds, and I document when I give it and have them sign it at the end of the day. Most drs wont give prescriptions for tylenol.
So if the parent wants the kid to have tylenol, they can leave work and come and give it to them.


Unregistered needs to take a flying leap! Whe has a completely ingorant attitude and I can tell has no idea what running a home daycare is about!

EVERY provider I know excludes from care for green discharge from the nose. Yes it ****s for the parent, but we are not excluding from care so we can have a day off! It doesnt make us unreliable, it makes us responsible. We are excluding from care because the child is ill, and we are putting that child at home, where he belongs, and protecting the illness from spreading to the other children in care. If your child was the healthy one, wouldnt you want us to protect them from other sick children spreading germs to them? If you have a child in care who is ill and constantly fussy, they require more of your attention, which isnt fair to the other kids in care.

This is why working parents need to have a backup plan for when their child cant be in daycare. A friend/neighbor, who can watch that child if they are unable to take off work.

Stick to your guns and your policy, and dont let the parents push you around.

[MrsB]

Once per illness

In Maryland the law is over the counter medications have to be once per illness, (except diaper rash cream, teething gel, and sunscreen), unless they are prescribed by a doctor. My requirements are: if it is prescribed by a doctor the medicine has to have a prescription label on it with the doctor information, the patient information, and the dosage instructions, in addition I require a seperate form with the same information and a date in which to stop the medication. I also have in my contract that if a believe a child has something where they need to see a doctor I can exclude them from care until they have seen by a doctor. As providers we also have the option to state in our contracts that you will not give medicine at all! I know some providers who do this and the parents have to come at such and such time and give the child their prescribed anitbiotic or whatever. A little overboard for my taste but a policy I certainly understand!

Because of all the recalls on over the counter meds for children/infants is the reason I require more than just a doctors note stating what to give them. I want the medicine to come from a pharmacy, even if you can normally buy it over the counter.

The reason I put the stipulation about me requiring them to be seen by a doctor is, I had a little boy that limped for about 2 weeks. His mom said he jumped off the couch one time and must have turned his ankle a little. I was really upset after the 2 weeks that this little guy was still limping and his parents wouldn't take him in. Eventually she did and turns out he did have a broken bone. When the doctors questioned her at first, she said that he must have done it at daycare and a whole investigation broke out. Eventually I was cleared. Mostly because one of my other dcms reported that one of the first few days he came to care with the limp she noticed it and asked me what happen, and I said that he came to care with the limp and few days before that.

I hope that it is teething and this poor little thing isnt struggling with the pain of an ear infection!

[Lilbutterflie]

This is where a detailed illness policy is so important.
It doesnt matter if the dr said the kid isnt sick, sometimes kids are too sick to come to daycare, but not sick enough to go to the dr. This is when the parents need to stay home with them!

Stick to your guns and your policy, and dont let the parents push you around.

I'd like to point out that this thread is about 2 years old; and give an update!! About a month after this happened we ended up parting ways. However, if you can believe it; I am still very good friends with this mom (she is my neighbor)!! This is where I learned never to do business with friends, neighbors, or relatives. I ended up telling her that I loved her as a friend, and b/c I knew this business relationship would eventually end our friendship I needed to give her a two week notice. She mutually agreed and found another provider. We are great friends (just don't really talk about daycare anymore!). She has gone through two providers since; both of which she tells me she has never had to sign a contract! Oh dear...

Yup, I agree about detailed illness policies. It was actually because of this situation that I now have a VERY detailed policy, one that states that a Dr. will never be able to write a note to override any one of my policies.

[MarinaVanessa]

This issue is why I won't give medication at all. Well this issue and because I think that we as parents are quick to medicate our children to make our day easier. It's really not good to give children medication regularly especially if they are under 2 years old. It's so easy to over medicate and pain reliever is also a fever reducer which masks symptoms and if used regularly (such as every time that a child is teething) it can cause liver damage. Children under 2 really shouldn't be given a pain reliever/fever reducer unless a Dr. tells you to.

I've told so many friends and family who regularly gave their babies/young tots pain reliever for everything even if all they were was fussy and they all get it now. Medicine is ok to use when it's necessary, but not at daycare. My position is if they need a fever reducer/pain reliever then they aren't well enough to be at daycare.

PS: to the teacher. My DH has had to take off 7 or 8 days off of work since school started in August because my DD has had fevers at school (most of which I checked at home and was unable to get a reading past 99 degrees), had diarrhea and twice just because she complained about a tummy ache and was unhappy. He took the day off because I could not take care of her if I had daycare kids here and I didn't want to inconvenience all of the other families by closing my DC. He picked her up each time and cared for her upstairs and away from the other kids just in case she did have something so that none of the children would sick if she was sick. We never complained and we never thought twice about it. It is our responsibility as parents to be prepared for these situations. Kids get sick, it is my responsibility as a parent to take care of my sick child ... mine and my husband's. I don't send kids home at the smallest indication of sickness however when they have a fever of 100 degrees or more or any other symptom on the long list of symptoms for exclusion that LICENSING REQUIRES me to send a child home for, then yes the child will go home.

[wdmmom]

If he is unable to participate in regular daily activities, he must go home.

If he don't feel well, wants to sleep all day, etc, he can't stay.

And if he has a persistent runny nose or a persistent cough, that's grounds for going home too.

Parents need to realize when to keep their kids home. To me it doesn't matter if there is a fever present or not. It's my call on whether they need to go home and it's stated in my handbook.

If you think he needs to go home, call mom and tell her. It's your daycare and your rules.

[daycare]

If she gives you a doctor's note, I would give the tylenol.

I don't have a policy about low-grade fevers, but if the child is not feeling well or cannot participate in normal activities, then my policy is that they have to stay home. My handbook says something like, "when children are not feeling well, they are mcuh more comfortable at home with mom or dad, not at child care...."

My own daughter is teething right now and she had a fever of 100.6 and has been fussy and just seems to feel yucky. And I know it's teething (well, I'm pretty sure), so it would **** to not be able to put her in care for today, but for her comfort, it would be the right thing to do.

I hope that helps, good luck!

I agree with this...
1. its need to be in your rules, if this is what you want.
2. If they can not participate as normal, they need to go home, also put in your rules
3. (my suggestion) don't give any form of OTC medication without written directions from doctor, along with diagnosis. I tell my parents, if they need OTC to function, they need to be home.
4. Go with what you gut is telling you.

Good luck..

oh btw... a temp that low could be caused from even being dressed to warm. that is not a temp for a baby.

[AnneCordelia]

I don't administer OTC meds. My fever policy is that if it is low grade and accompanied by other symptoms of illness then they go home. If it is over 100.4 then they go home regardless of other symptoms.

[Childminder]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This is a debate that will continue as long as children go to school or daycare. I only send children home if their fever is over 101 or if they are spewing out of either end. By the time symptoms show the child has probably gotten or given the virus from/to someone else. Nature of the beast so to speak. Tis true I'm pretty immune to the sickness that is passed around and have only had the stomach flu 3 times since 1998, a cold maybe once a year. I have no problem letting a child lay around if they are feeling bad, parents need to work, the day might just be a lazy day so to speak. We really don't have much illness here, the occasional cold or whatever. And bleach is used here to disinfect.

[MarinaVanessa]

I have no problem letting a child lay around if they are feeling bad, parents need to work, the day might just be a lazy day so to speak. We really don't have much illness here, the occasional cold or whatever. And bleach is used here to disinfect.

Same here all the way around, I think the point of the original post was that the child was fussy. I don't send kids home for a common cold, only if they get a fever. Again, because that's what licensing requires me to do. I'm not going to risk my license over a fever. As long as the child doesn't have any symptoms for exclusion they can stay ... or if the child is fussy and makes everyone around them unhappy then it's time to go home. I don't give any type of medication at all whatsoever, OTC or prescription. It's not the norm here but I do it because of the liability KWIM?

[momma2girls]

I wouldnt take the doctors note unless the child was actually SEEN by the doctor. I had a child that was teething and had a low grade fever - so I kept her in care well the next day her temp was 102 - her low grade fever wasnt teething..it was Roseola. I don't give tylenol unless it is for pain only, I do not allow children to be dropped off with tyelnol in their systems either.

I also have in my contract/sick policy that if a child is extra fussy and cannot participate in normal activities and requires more one on one attention that they may need to be at home where they are more comfortable.

I have this same thing written in my contract. Plus if a child has a fever over 100, parents will be notified to pick up immediately.