How Low Is Too High?

[coolconfidentme]

My policy say "Any child with a fever of 100 degrees or above, may not attend XXX Childcare." Twice this week kids have came with temps under 100 degrees at arrival, but were sent home with in hours. I would like to revive my policy to the obvious..., DON'T BRING YOUR SICK KID HERE!! What does your policy say? Should I change my to NO TEMPERATURE?

Suggestions Please!!!


My policy also states:
For the health and safety of your child and all of the children in our childcare, please do not bring your child(ren) when sick. In which case we in turn may become sick making it difficult to care for the children at the high standards that we have set for ourselves. We can only care for children with mild cold like symptoms that are otherwise feeling and acting well. Mild cold like symptoms are clear runny nose, slight cough, and a slight or no fever. If you are not sure if your child(ren) should be brought to here, then please call and check with us. If a child(ren) becomes ill during childcare hours, the parent/guardian will be contacted to pick up their child(ren). Parents/guardians need to pick up their child(ren) within one hour of being notified. If parents/guardians are not available, the emergency contact person will be notified.

[craftymissbeth]

For one, I'd remove the "please" in the bolded sentence. It makes it seem optional

[Maria2013]

I accept sick kids unless they have a high fever or are vomiting

...if I were you I would put something in writing for all parents to sign, but then you need to be prepared to follow through with consequences (whatever you have told the parents) for your rules to be respected

[nanglgrl]

What worked for me was modeling what another provider on the board does (blackcat maybe?). If they get sick at daycare they have to be gone 2 full days and at least 24 hours after the fever broke without medicine (or the last vomiting or diarrhea episode). So if a child develops a fever at my house Monday afternoon and is sent home they can't return until Thursday morning even if they had no other symptoms since Monday. If they get sick at home they can return 24 hours after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhea or 24 hours after the fever broke without medicine. It's really stopped people from doping and dropping which is usually the case when a child is dropped off with no or mild symptoms and gets worse as the day progresses.

[TheGoodLife]

I would suggest an exclusion policy as well- 24 hours fever-free. I know there's a few that up it to 48 hours if they have to send home (to try to stop he dope-and-drop parents)

[Maria2013]

For one, I'd remove the "please" in the bolded sentence. It makes it seem optional

sad some of the things we end up doing to try getting respect for our rules
:hug:

[Willow]

I'd say more parents than not simply don't care.

You can write up perfect policies, come up with consequences and follow through to the letter -won't matter. There will always be that majority who are too selfish to be bothered with caring for anyone but themselves.

I seriously wish there was a network where those who are chronic abusers of sick policies could be reported to protect other providers from ever taking them on after they've been booted.......I realize it's a taboo topic but I believe in blacklisting whole heartedly when it comes to licensed home daycares.

(Can you tell I'm a bit jaded on this front as of late?? Lol)

[Maria2013]

about charging more? would that work?

[Cat Herder]

I don't send home for fever unless it is 101 and sustained for 45 minutes OR it is also accompanied by other symptoms (NVD, lethargy, rash, etc)

I add a parental consequence element to it too They must stay home until 24 hours fever free if they keep them home on their own; they must stay home a minimum of 48 hours fever free if I have to send them home.

[Blackcat31]

I don't send home for fever unless it is 101 and sustained for 45 minutes OR it is also accompanied by other symptoms (NVD, lethargy, rash, etc)

I add a parental consequence element to it too They must stay home until 24 hours fever free if they keep them home on their own; they must stay home a minimum of 48 hours fever free if I have to send them home.

This is probably one of the BEST pieces of advice I have ever gotten from this forum.

It has 100% eliminated ALL doping and dropping and the re-occurring sick kids....

I have NOT sent one single child home from care since implementing the 24.48 hour rule. It encourages parents to really assess their child BEFORE sending.

If they want to make me the bad guy, there is a consequence for it.

[earlystart]

I updated my illness policy to a fever being 99.4 measured under the armpit. I know it's strict and I explained to the parents that I'm trying to reduce the number of times one child comes to school sick and spreads it to every child. Every time a kid here has had a temp of 99 it's been because they were sick. When I had it at 100 degrees previously, I would get the excuse that they were teething, or just flat out telling me it was 99 when their child was clearly sick, but they knew 99 was still ok to send to school. Here's an excerpt from my policy:

Children who have the following kinds of symptoms or illnesses may not attend my program:
• a fever of 99.4°F or higher, measured under the armpit
• a skin rash other than diaper rash or prickly heat. (To return the child to care, you must provide a written statement from a doctor saying that the child does not have a communicable disease.)
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• an excessive cough
• any parasitic infestation (lice, scabies, etc.)
• pink eye
• excessive discharge from the eyes or ears
• an excessively runny nose with colored discharge
• chicken pox (The child may return when all the blisters have dried and formed scabs, usually about 6 days after the onset of the rash.)
• any other communicable disease (tuberculosis, etc.)

The reason I put excessive cough or runny nose is because at this age they don't know how to cover their mouth all the time and keep their nose clean, so they're just spreading their illness all over the place. There's probably only been two times when a kid was so snotty that I wish I could send them home because they were still pretty sick and rubbing snot all over their clothes and hands every 2 minutes. Same with the cough, I was just cringing seeing this child cough all over everyone and everything without covering their mouth. This rarely happens, so that's why I was ok with adding it to my policy. Regular colds and light coughs are still ok because it's not likely to make any child ill enough that they'd be too sick to participate and have to stay home.

[coolconfidentme]

For one, I'd remove the "please" in the bolded sentence. It makes it seem optional

Sad, isn't it? I'm a please & thank you person, but an enforcer. I use to be a police officer in a land far far away,

[Familycare71]

I updated my illness policy to a fever being 99.4 measured under the armpit. I know it's strict and I explained to the parents that I'm trying to reduce the number of times one child comes to school sick and spreads it to every child. Every time a kid here has had a temp of 99 it's been because they were sick. When I had it at 100 degrees previously, I would get the excuse that they were teething, or just flat out telling me it was 99 when their child was clearly sick, but they knew 99 was still ok to send to school. Here's an excerpt from my policy:

Children who have the following kinds of symptoms or illnesses may not attend my program:
• a fever of 99.4°F or higher, measured under the armpit
• a skin rash other than diaper rash or prickly heat. (To return the child to care, you must provide a written statement from a doctor saying that the child does not have a communicable disease.)
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• an excessive cough
• any parasitic infestation (lice, scabies, etc.)
• pink eye
• excessive discharge from the eyes or ears
• an excessively runny nose with colored discharge
• chicken pox (The child may return when all the blisters have dried and formed scabs, usually about 6 days after the onset of the rash.)
• any other communicable disease (tuberculosis, etc.)

The reason I put excessive cough or runny nose is because at this age they don't know how to cover their mouth all the time and keep their nose clean, so they're just spreading their illness all over the place. There's probably only been two times when a kid was so snotty that I wish I could send them home because they were still pretty sick and rubbing snot all over their clothes and hands every 2 minutes. Same with the cough, I was just cringing seeing this child cough all over everyone and everything without covering their mouth. This rarely happens, so that's why I was ok with adding it to my policy. Regular colds and light coughs are still ok because it's not likely to make any child ill enough that they'd be too sick to participate and have to stay home.

A fever of 99.4 under the armpit is equal to a fever of 100.4 oral.

[Cradle2crayons]

A fever of 99.4 under the armpit is equal to a fever of 100.4 oral.

Yes, they now say oral would be anywhere from 0.5 to 1.0 degrees higher than armpit or lower than rectal/tympanic

Here's the chart

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/rectal-ear-oral-and-axillary-temperature-comparison

Right above the chart it says a child 11 and under has a fever with a temp 100.4 measured rectal or tympanic.