Cold Fact Sheet for Parents??

[SunflowerMama]

So many of my dcks have the non-stop runny nose (green and clear) and horrible sounding cough. I haven't sent anyone home but I've been tempted with some of these coughs because they are just non-stop.

Do any of you pass out fact sheets to the parents on the common cold and when it's ok for them to be in childcare and when they should maybe keep them home for a day or so?

[DCMomOf3]

i don't but it's informative if you want to. The problem here is that if i sent kids home with a cold I'd never have kids in my care for more than half of the winter.

http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/pubs/videoresource/fscommoncold.pdf

[Jewels]

No, I personally think everyone knows about a cold, The only time they can't come is when they have a fever, otheriwse colds last 7-14 days, and they have like 25 of them throughout the winter, there is just nothing that can really be done, a parent can't take of a full week every time a child has a cold. Or if its a little one, and they are just super unhappy, and uncomfortable crying alot more than normal, I will inform the parent.....but I think snotty noses and coughs non-stop, just come with the territory of working with children, they are un-avoidable.

[Unregistered]

Personally I focus more on the importance of covering your cough with your sleeve, not your hand, and washing your hands very well with soap and water. I have peds masks that I use for those who have the barky cough and aren't covering but otherwise it's part of working with young children in the height of cold and flu season.

Elmo and Sesame Street did a song with the US Department of Health last year called the right way to sneeze. There is a video on Youtube that you could share with your daycare parents. We sing that song a lot around here.

[MarinaVanessa]

I do, but because I'm very strict with my illness policy especially now with my own 2mo old infant. I give out a "Keep me home if ..." sheet that everybody gets in their parent packet at sign-up and starting right around October/November (right before the cold season) I send sheets home each month with our newsletter about illnesses and what medications actually do etc.

I hate to disagree about how everybody knows about colds and such because I've had plenty of parents try to explain to me that little "Johnny" has a harmless cold and he has green or yellow snot running down his face ... um, no. Yellow or green means some sort of an infection or virus and can be contageous, keep Johnny home. I also have a DCM that swears that her child's fever is gone after giving him a fever reducer. No lady, the fever is just being masked because you gave him meds not because he's all better that's why when he gets up from nap his fever is back. So there's those parent's that really don't know and then there's those parent's that try to get by you like acting like they (or you) don't know. I send these home to remind them (sometimes with special points highlighted) so that they know that, yes I know.

Here are some of of the ones that I have:

Keep me home if ...

http://w2.cocokids.org/_cs/downloadables/cc-healthnutrition-keepmehome.pdf

Safety and Effectiveness of Cough and Cold Medicine in Children

http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=N03GBjePkpU%3D&tabid=80&mid=1411

The Common Cold (I don't hand this one out, it is meant for providers)

http://www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/pdfs/healthandsafety/coldsen032404_adr.pdf

[Blackcat31]

Obviously if there is a fever they go home but for the common cold I take each kids case as an individual.
This is in reference to green snot....If they are really young and mouth alot of toys or cannot get a tissue or do anything but let the snot run into their mouths etc, then they have to stay home. If they can help me keep it under control by using a tissue, covering their mouths and not getting snot everywhere then they can stay. If the discharge is clear, they stay. I will send someone home if it gets REALLY bad and is just down right disgusting because after a certain amount of time if they are not better then it is probably a sinus infection so they gotta go.
I grit my teeth when I wipe noses so after a week of wiping 10 little noses my jaw aches so I can gage how bad the season is by how my jaw and neck feels...LOL!

[jen]

I do, but because I'm very strict with my illness policy especially now with my own 2mo old infant. I give out a "Keep me home if ..." sheet that everybody gets in their parent packet at sign-up and starting right around October/November (right before the cold season) I send sheets home each month with our newsletter about illnesses and what medications actually do etc.

I hate to disagree about how everybody knows about colds and such because I've had plenty of parents try to explain to me that little "Johnny" has a harmless cold and he has green or yellow snot running down his face ... um, no. Yellow or green means some sort of an infection or virus and can be contageous, keep Johnny home. I also have a DCM that swears that her child's fever is gone after giving him a fever reducer. No lady, the fever is just being masked because you gave him meds not because he's all better that's why when he gets up from nap his fever is back. So there's those parent's that really don't know and then there's those parent's that try to get by you like acting like they (or you) don't know. I send these home to remind them (sometimes with special points highlighted) so that they know that, yes I know.

Here are some of of the ones that I have:

Keep me home if ...

http://w2.cocokids.org/_cs/downloadables/cc-healthnutrition-keepmehome.pdf

Safety and Effectiveness of Cough and Cold Medicine in Children

http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=N03GBjePkpU%3D&tabid=80&mid=1411

The Common Cold (I don't hand this one out, it is meant for providers)
http://www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/p...032404_adr.pdf

I gotta disagree...green goo, as bad as it is, isn't necessarily caused by infection. It may very well be a virus, the cold virus. I know if I excluded for every runny nose, I'd be out of business pretty quick. Kids get way too many colds for parents to stay home every time they have snot.

In your last handout it states:

Sinus infections. Green-yellow mucus does not mean the child has a sinus infection unless it continues every day for more than seven to 10 days. Yellow or green mucus does not require exclusion unless it’s accompanied by a fever.

[MarinaVanessa]

Sinus infections. Green-yellow mucus does not mean the child has a sinus infection unless it continues every day for more than seven to 10 days. Yellow or green mucus does not require exclusion unless it’s accompanied by a fever.

Correct, and the way I explain it to parents is how am I to know if it's a sinus infection or not until it's too late? Green or yellow, stay home. Clear, come on in. It's better to be safe than sorry. Last month a DCG had very light green boogies, so light that they could have passed as clear so I let her stay (no fever & a Wednesday). Two days later she has a fever and has to stay home (Friday). She's sick all weekend and stays home Monday & Tuesday. I get sinus pressure over the weekend which I chalk up to allergies. She comes back Wednesday with no fever, gets up from nap cranky and hot so I take her temperature and it's 102! (mom must have given meds and thet wore off). I call mom to pick her up and by 4pm that day I get a fever. I call my sister and she takes over for the rest of the week because I feel terrible and by Thursday I have a fever of 102 also.

I know that every case is different and I know that green doesn't always mean serious illness but because I can't know for sure if it is or not I choose to have them stay home. I had to pay my sister to take over for me because I didn't follow my gut or follow my own policy so I lost out on that money. I would rather it be an inconvenience for 1 family than have to close because I am sick or have all of the other kids get sick and inconvenience all of my families. KWIM?

[Jewels]

I would just like to point out, and feel free to google this, but a sinus infection is NOT contagious, Be it a viral sinus infection or a bacterial one, simply not contagious..........now the virus that starts the sinus infection, better known as the common cold, is contagious.. you can not "catch" green snot.

[jen]

I would just like to point out, and feel free to google this, but a sinus infection is NOT contagious, Be it a viral sinus infection or a bacterial one, simply not contagious..........now the virus that starts the sinus infection, better known as the common cold, is contagious.. you can not "catch" green snot.

Ditto this!