DCG Bringing In Fleas

[Heidi]

We are not allowed to have fleas attend the daycare. We have specific regulations about insects. I wouldn't be able to care for the child. It is too costly to treat the environment and the risk of disease is too high. I have three pups. I don't want them to get exposed and I don't want my son, me, or the kids to be exposed.

She doesn't have the right to bring her child to a child care business carrying these bugs. She needs to pull her out of care until she can afford to rid her environment.

You have the cutest way of expressing things. When my oldest used to claim to be scared of monsters, I would say "oh, no, we don't allow monsters in our house, they'll have to go elsewhere", then spray some Lysol labeled "monster spray". Tada! No monsters..

[cheerfuldom]

I would also think that mom refusing to treat the house and sending the child covered in bites is grounds for a CPS call......you have to wonder if she is not seeing this as a major issue, what else is she not doing at home, you know?

[Leigh]

I would also think that mom refusing to treat the house and sending the child covered in bites is grounds for a CPS call......you have to wonder if she is not seeing this as a major issue, what else is she not doing at home, you know?

Great point.

[Josiegirl]

"I would also think that mom refusing to treat the house and sending the child covered in bites is grounds for a CPS call......you have to wonder if she is not seeing this as a major issue, what else is she not doing at home, you know?"

A year ago I was caring for 3 boys on Saturdays. One weekend the 5 yo came in covered with flea bites. I hadn't noticed them before because I'd never helped him in the bathroom so he probably had them right along and I just didn't know. When I asked g'ma about them, she said her dd couldn't afford stuff to bomb the apt. or Frontline or anything. She said when she moved the curtain in her dd's apt. fleas would just fall out. OMG did I ever cringe. There were other problems too that I ended up terming over. I did call about the flea issue to my dc resource person and she said it didn't really constitute neglect or abuse but putting a call into CPS wouldn't hurt, so they have a record of the issues.

[Shell]

I used to transport a SA girl from her house to school, and the house was a mess! These people were wealthy, just didn't see cleaning/disinfecting as a priority.
Well, one day I showed up to pick up the girl, and the carpets smelled wonderful, and I was shocked. Dcm smiled and said they had just steam cleaned the carpets (completely out of character). Well, she didn't say anything else, and a few days later, I was feeding my ds on her couch while waiting for her to get ready, and a flea jumped on my baby's head I had never seen one before, but I knew their reputation for jumping.
Anyway, I confronted dcm, and she was very casual, "oh yes, we have fleas" like it's no big deal SA girl also had bites all over her ankles.
I was petrified that they were going to get in my car, infest everything, and come back to my house, which I read online is a real possibility. I told dcm that SA girl had to have her clothing run through the dryer before I would take her in the car (another tip I read online), but I still didn't trust dcm. It was 3 weeks until she finally decided to bomb the house. Money wasn't an issue for this family- I just don't understand parents sometimes.
I will never deal with this issue again, and strongly recommend you don't either. They need to take care of it, so it doesn't become your problem, plain and simple.

[MotherNature]

agreeing w/ the others. They need to nip this in the bud quick. Try a low-cost vet. Our city has one where anyone can go, not just financially struggling people. 3 mos of Advantage or its like will only cost $20 there. Microchipping for $10, etc. This could be very costly to treat on your end, both in money and energy.

[countrymom]

I think they can get a month for under 20 dollars. I think its irresponsible on the parents part and I would be angry as a parent of another child knowing this child has flees.

[Cradle2crayons]

I wanted to bring up something important.... Just placing the animal on flea prevention isn't the only step. The animal needs to be bathed in dawn dish soap prior to treatment. Also the areas in the house need to be treated. The dog needs a bath every day for sebveral days. To kill the live fleas and the ones that will keep hatching from the eggs. Carpets needs to be vacuumed and sprayed. Couches need to be sprayed. Bedding needs to be taken care of. Anywhere there is fabric like rugs need to be treated. One live flea or a clutch of eggs turn into millions in less than a week.

Mom needs to be aggressive about this and if she can't afford a flea pill etc she can afford a bottle of dawn.

[JenNJ]

I understand the financial issues, I do. But dcg cannot attend until this is taken care of. You are putting your pets, your family, your business, and others pets and families' health at risk by not tackling this issue head on. Dcg cannot attend until the home is flea free. Period.

Do you really want to be liable if a dc child ends up with a life threatening infection? Because that is what is at stake here. You know and are allowing her to bring pests into the home. It is not ok and has to stop TODAY. You are putting yourself in the bullseye of a dangerous situation.

[MCC]

This would make me sick.

She can get a med called CAPSTAR that will kill all of the live fleas on the animals for 48 hours, and hopefully she can treat with a flea bath and then Advantage. She also needs to vacuum vacuum vacuum, and so do you. Fleas lay eggs EVERYWHERE. I would be going crazy with the vacuum, and make sure you dump it out in the outside trash, b/c the vacuum doesn't always kill the eggs.

In all honesty, if DCM was refusing to treat, for financial or other reasons, I would term. It's disgusting, unsanitary, and unexceptionable.

[ihop]

Figured id update... they have treated the cat and are carpet shampooing once a week, vacuuming daily.

She has half as many bites and I haven't seen any live ones on her but their apartment is so packed that they won't flea bomb.

I don't see this problem ever going away... she is about 25% covered in flea bites and picks them until they bleed. I can't afford to term.

I told dcm that if I find one on her she is getting sent home.

I am contemplating a cps call but don't know if it is appropriate or not. I feel so bad for this child but her parents don't seem to take it seriously. I'm sure they are living off of her since the cat is treated.

[countrymom]

if they have fleas in their apartment, I bet you her other neighbours have them too.

[dalman]

ihop, you said you can't afford to term. But really, you can't afford not to. You are knowingly putting the other children in your daycare into a potentially dangerous environment. All it takes is one flea to start the infestation of your daycare. And all it takes is one of those fleas to bite one of your other daycare kids. And all it takes is for that child to have a life threatening allergic reaction to that bite. And the legal battles would be on. You can not afford the legal liability that this family is exposing you to. I would terminate immediately. Not next week or two weeks, but immediately. Put your daycare opening on craigslist and it won't take long to fill the spot. Good luck. It's a hard thing to do, but it's the wise thing to do.

[ihop]

ihop, you said you can't afford to term. But really, you can't afford not to. You are knowingly putting the other children in your daycare into a potentially dangerous environment. All it takes is one flea to start the infestation of your daycare. And all it takes is one of those fleas to bite one of your other daycare kids. And all it takes is for that child to have a life threatening allergic reaction to that bite. And the legal battles would be on. You can not afford the legal liability that this family is exposing you to. I would terminate immediately. Not next week or two weeks, but immediately. Put your daycare opening on craigslist and it won't take long to fill the spot. Good luck. It's a hard thing to do, but it's the wise thing to do.

I understand what you are saying and agree mostly, as far as the replacing her thing... I have has 6 openings for 6 months. I can't replace her. The only ones that I can fill are infant, and I can only have two.

I check her everyday for fleas when she comes in and I treat my pets regularly.

I just Wish I could sneak in to their house and flea bomb it

Rock(me)hard place

[Soccermom]

I had this exact same thing happen to me and after DCB came here 3 times with fleas on him and in his hair I termed.

I understand you don't want to term for financial reasons but the only way to be sure that they will take care of it is to do it yourself. Even if you buy the flea bomb and they use it, they still need to wash all bedding, rugs and curtains in hot water as well as vaccum the entire home, ducts, mattresses and furniture extremely thoroughly. Good idea to treat their car as well since the car seats and interior can be full of fleas that have been tracked in on them.

How close are you to the family? Could you offer the help as a friend? Maybe just say that you really love DCG and don't want to term her but if this doesn't get taken care of you will have no choice so you want to help?