Sibling Illness

[i<3kids]

HI!
I don't know that I have ever posted here but I have been reading for a while I have a question about illness policies and siblings. I have a sibling set and the younger of the two just came down with something contagious and I am worried about the older sibling still coming even though they aren't sick. My illness policy I feel is pretty comprehensive but I don't have anything about excluding a sibling and I was wondering if any of you do?
Thank you!

[AslansG1rl]

I'd have them both stay home, personally, but I can see it both ways. It's really up to you.

[Second Home]

I too would want them to both stay at home .

How would this be worded in an illness policy . Since I am doing a complete over haul of mine this would be a good time to add something about siblings being sick .

[taylorw1210]

I was getting frustrated with my multiple child families bringing siblings of sick children, or taking home one sick child and leaving the other, and thought I wanted the same until BlackCat explained to me why she does not have this policy included in her own sick policy. I'll try to find the link to her post...

[taylorw1210]

It is in this thread... https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69481

[Blackcat31]

It is in this thread... https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69481

Sibling illness exclusions just really don't make sense to me personally.

Here is my reply from the other thread:

Nope. IME, when a sibling gets sick it doesn't mean the other will. My DD got strep if you said the word. My DS never had it in his entire life.

Not all siblings get the same illnesses.

The only successful way I've seen a provider implement a sibling sick policy is if the provider also discounts the day for the second, non-ill sibling.

Plus when a parent is home caring for a sick child, having another well child running amok makes it difficult.
Also, if a parent took the day off to care for sick child, they might also still be working from home so that well sibling running around like crazy would make it hard to get any work done.

I know a lot of providers feel that if one child has an illness the other is contagious too but I just don't believe that.

When you exclude an ill child, odds are most of your other daycare kids have already been exposed so you are mostly just minimizing the potential for spread....making a well sibling stay home with their sick sibling is probably just forcing extended exposure to that well sibling and increasing his/her chances of getting sick.

If they are at daycare, they aren't being exposed to their sick sibling a bulk of the day, which I believe will help lower the probability of picking up the virus themselves.

The only things I have excluded a sibling for are things like H1N1. That was simply too dangerous to mess around with.

[NeedaVaca]

I honestly can't remember a time that more than one person in my family has been sick at the same time. I don't exclude siblings.

[Rachel]

Totally agree with blackcat. As a matter of fact, I have a kid who is usually here only when mom is working. He all of a sudden started showing up early and leaving late (I have open / close hours and this is fine by me it was just unusual). I asked dad what was going on and he said the older brother had a version of hand, foot & mouth and they were trying to prevent spread. Sure enough, by having the kid wake up and come straight to daycare, get picked up and go to grandma's, and go home just for bed they were able to still spend time with him (one parent with sick kid and one with him & healthy sister) and prevent both siblings from catching it.

[TaylorTots]

I do not have a sibling illness policy. If one child is home sick and the other is not showing any symptoms, I am more than fine wtih DCP to bring the well child - they can avoid constant exposure by being here instead of at home with the germs.

I would take one of my own children to DC and keep the other home sick. And it made a HUGE difference in the contagiousness of the disease between the kids. I only had to keep them apart in the evening and during the day I was able to focus on cleaning the germs rather than keeping them apart.

[i<3kids]

Thanks guys! I was pretty stressed about it last night but mom ended keeping both home for the rest of the week. I guess in the future I will just leave it to the parent to decide weather or not to bring the other child. Thank you!!!!!

[mema]

I don't exclude siblings unless they are showing symptoms also. They are all already exposed anyway unless they have been on vacation or something. In 1st grade, my dd had strep 6 times. I kept her away from dc kids, but my ds would hang with her before/after school-never got it and neither did anyone else.