When Your Own Kids Are Sick

[LadyPearl]

I am curious what others do when their own kids are sick. Do you call all daycare parents and cancel or just take care of your child while the others are there? I am probably keeping 1 of mine home tomorrow and never know when/if I should notify parents.

[e.j.]

When my own kids were young, I would call to let the dc parents know if they were sick with something contagious. That way, the parents could decide whether or not to bring their kids for day care. Most chose to risk it because they couldn't or didn't want to take time off from their jobs.

I hope your child is feeling better soon.

[Solandia]

I have handled this is a bunch of different way, depending on circumstances/licensing.

In the early years, my dh had a rather flexible schedule (could go in early/late or on Saturday). He would stay home with the sick kid upstairs. i would still be working the daycare. If that wasn't possible, I would call the parents & close. Depending if I was just at home with the kid(s), i would give the option for the daycare kids to come if they wanted to risk it.

Once the kids got older, they could pretty much stay by themselves in their sick room, TV & nap with me peeking in on them & getting them stuff.

Then, licensing rules changed and MY kids(except the high schooler) could no longer be on another floor than me, they had to be under the same "rules" as the daycare. And unless there was a fire escape(ladder didn't count), then no child under 12yo could be upstairs during daycare hours.

That was one of several reasons why I switched to unlicensed a couple years ago(and eventual closed last year), after being licensed for 10 years. My 5th grader should be able to go to her room after school to chill out without me having a panic attack if licensing shows up. I couldn't put a load of laundry in the dryer during nap. It was suffocating.

[Play Care]

I do NOT notify my dcp's if my own SA kids will be home for the day. My contract states "there may be times a family member is home with a minor illness. They will stay out of the dc area, away from the children. If someone in the home contracts an highly contagious illness (flu, stomach bugs, etc) then I will be closed."
I used to call families and found parents would get upset with me because they felt I was putting an unfair burden on them. If they kept their kids home and I was open, payment was still due. If they sent their kids then they felt like terrible parents. I also feel that MY family deserves the same privacy afforded to dcp's. But my kids are also older than the dck's so it's not as if they are playing with the same toys/ in the same room with them.

[Play Care]

I have handled this is a bunch of different way, depending on circumstances/licensing.

In the early years, my dh had a rather flexible schedule (could go in early/late or on Saturday). He would stay home with the sick kid upstairs. i would still be working the daycare. If that wasn't possible, I would call the parents & close. Depending if I was just at home with the kid(s), i would give the option for the daycare kids to come if they wanted to risk it.

Once the kids got older, they could pretty much stay by themselves in their sick room, TV & nap with me peeking in on them & getting them stuff.

Then, licensing rules changed and MY kids(except the high schooler) could no longer be on another floor than me, they had to be under the same "rules" as the daycare. And unless there was a fire escape(ladder didn't count), then no child under 12yo could be upstairs during daycare hours.

That was one of several reasons why I switched to unlicensed a couple years ago(and eventual closed last year), after being licensed for 10 years. My 5th grader should be able to go to her room after school to chill out without me having a panic attack if licensing shows up. I couldn't put a load of laundry in the dryer during nap. It was suffocating.

Rules like that infuriate me. To make rules regarding dc kids is understandable. To make rules regarding the providers own children is a overstep of government. It made me sad when a provider in another state said her 10 year old son couldn't go be with his own grandfather during dc hours away from the dc kids because the state regs don't allow it.

[Unregistered]

Backup dc if your own kids are sick

I'm about to start my own in home daycare, and have two toddlers of my own, plus a nine year old. I was thinking about getting a back up for the dc kids when my kids are sick, but I'm not really even sure if it's feasible or not. I know I would have to pay this back up person/dc, but finding one who would be wiling to help and take on extra kids also seems daunting(I'll only be taking in 3 children). On the other hand, it just seems to be good business practice. The parents wouldn't have to take a day off of work just cause my kids are ill, which seems to be a bonus. I don't know, just throwing it out there. Thoughts are welcome!

[Second Home]

I do not notify dcp if my child has a cold . Vommiting , major illness or anything contagious I give them a heads up and they decide whether or not to bring their child .

[finsup]

I will notify parents and say they are sick, this is what they have and if they're contagious. I tell them if I'm willing to remain open or will be closed, depending on the sickness. 99% of the time, kids still come even if mine are sick so I take that into consideration if I'm going to remain open for the day or not. I just decide it on a case by case basis

[craftymissbeth]

For me it depends on contagiousness and whether I can take care of him while still properly caring for the dck's.

Mine is 7 so it's not as much work for me when he's home sick. Unfortunately, my regs state that he cannot be upstairs during daycare hours so he has to hang out down here with us... and my entire first floor is daycare. Our living room is upstairs in a spare bedroom. So when he's here he can't relax much without exposing the dck's to his ickies. So that's a factor, too

I've never warned my DCP's but ds has never had anything especially yucky. It's usually his encopresis that keeps him home.

[butterfly]

When I first started and my kids were very small, I would always call all the parents and let them know that my kids were sick with X and I had planned to remain open but I was leaving it up to them as to whether to come and expose their own children to it. 99.9% of the time, the parents always brought their kids. If I felt I needed to close to properly care for my kids, I did.

Now, my kids are older and can care for themselves. So if they have to stay home due to illness, I don't even notify the parents. My kids can stay upstairs and my daycare is downstairs.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

It honestly depends.

In the past, I have informed them and said that my youngest would be quarantined with Dad. Now, Dad has an outside of the home job and my youngest IS currently sick and I did not say anything. I kept her as isolated as I could when she was running a fever but otherwise I just let it be. I had 4 other children come down sick and give it to her so by that point everyone had been exposed.

I do tell them if I am super ill (has happened about 1x per year) but all children still attend so they obviously aren't too scared. To date, none of the children have contracted anything from me. ::

[preschoolteacher]

I don't mention it. 100% of the times my son got sick in the last year were from illnesses the daycare kids had first. I swear he's never given anyone any illnesses, but he's certainly received them!

[DaveA]

I send a text to DCPs saying that one of my kids is home with (insert illness). Most of the time they bring their children anyway. My kids are older so they pretty much stay in their room if they are home sick.

[TheGoodLife]

I have handled this is a bunch of different way, depending on circumstances/licensing.

In the early years, my dh had a rather flexible schedule (could go in early/late or on Saturday). He would stay home with the sick kid upstairs. i would still be working the daycare. If that wasn't possible, I would call the parents & close. Depending if I was just at home with the kid(s), i would give the option for the daycare kids to come if they wanted to risk it.

Once the kids got older, they could pretty much stay by themselves in their sick room, TV & nap with me peeking in on them & getting them stuff.

Then, licensing rules changed and MY kids(except the high schooler) could no longer be on another floor than me, they had to be under the same "rules" as the daycare. And unless there was a fire escape(ladder didn't count), then no child under 12yo could be upstairs during daycare hours.

That was one of several reasons why I switched to unlicensed a couple years ago(and eventual closed last year), after being licensed for 10 years. My 5th grader should be able to go to her room after school to chill out without me having a panic attack if licensing shows up. I couldn't put a load of laundry in the dryer during nap. It was suffocating.

Does this mean that if your husband is home, they STILL can't be upstairs or away from you during DC hours? Or just if you're the only adult and they are home during DC hours?

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Does this mean that if your husband is home, they STILL can't be upstairs or away from you during DC hours? Or just if you're the only adult and they are home during DC hours?

In my state, I had to ask permission to have my child upstairs with her Dad. Seriously. They "approved." ::