Sick Policy & Siblings?

[DBug]

So ... I have a pretty good sick policy and it has worked really well so far. Til this week . I've been allowing kids with sick siblings to come when they're not showing symptoms, so mom or dad will stay home with the sick one and the other parent will bring the well child and then head to work.

Well, this week dcb was away Wednesday but his dcg sister stayed home with the flu. On Thursday they both came, but on Friday only dcb came because dcg had then been hit with it. Last night (Friday night) my 4 kids and I all came down with it (poor hubby was running from kid to kid with a bucket). Then this morning (Sat) I found out at least one other dcb came down with it.

As a result, I'd like to amend my sick policy to say something like "if one sibling comes down with something contagious, both kids need to stay home" and I think that would be enforceable for the families where both siblings come to daycare. However, I have 3 families that have multiple children, but only one child comes for dc. How would I enforce a sick policy like that when I have no idea what's actually going on at home? How do I make sure parents don't take advantage of that fact? And anyone have ideas on the wording for the sibling amendment to my policy?

[Lilbutterflie]

There really is no way for you to know if a sibling who doesn't attend your daycare is ill. There is no way to enforce that. The way I see it, you can try and try to keep everyone in your daycare well; but sometimes there is just nothing you can do about it. It's part of the territory.

[Live and Learn]

I have a large family. If I had to keep all of my children home each time one was ill nobody would ever attend school.::

I understand COMPLETELY your frustration but I think if you try to exclude healthy sibs of sickies you will just alienate the parents.

I can tell you from personal experience that many times one of my children will be sick with a cold or the flu or something else contagious and nobody else in the household will get it.

My sick policy is the same as the local public school policy. They do not exclude for siblings of sickies.

The children that I have had in the past who are sick the most have been only children of teachers. Sometimes I wonder if my teacher dc parents ever wash their hands::::::!

[cheerfuldom]

I agree with the other posters. Keeping a strict sick policy that includes other members of the family outside of the sick child is not reasonable. There is no way that your families can keep up with this. Perhaps putting a note in your contract that this preferable would be one thing but if you make it a strict policy, are you willing to terminate for it? Its not like these families are doing it on purpose. Things just happen and its part of the deal when you are around other people period. Now if it was super contagious and dangerous, yes I would make all the kids from one family stay home but the flu is very common.

[SilverSabre25]

If I'm reading it right, dcg was sick Wednesday and Friday but came on Thursday, right? I would expect that she got everyone sick on Thursday when she was there; I don't think you can assume that dcb got anyone sick--therefore, no reason for the policy. Anyway, I would agree with the pps that you can't ask parents to keep all children home when one is sick.

[Abigail]

Do you charge for sick days? If you do I would think it would be really unfair to exclude all siblings. What I would recommend is adding a sentence about "The provider has the choice to send home siblings from care even if only one shows signs." Something along that line because then you will get to make the choice. I would probably reword it, but to give you an idea.

[DBug]

If I'm reading it right, dcg was sick Wednesday and Friday but came on Thursday, right?

You read it right, I wrote it wrong . Dcb was sick on Wed, dcg was sick on Fri. Also, both kids are normally only here Wed-Fri. Sorry about that, it must have been the Gravol speaking .

Now that I've had time to think about it, I think you guys are right. I am quite confident that this bug can be traced back to this dcb, but still, there really is no way I can ask families to keep kids home when their siblings are sick. I just wish there was ...

I guess it's just the Mama Bear in me speaking. I kind of assumed I'd be the one getting sick, or maybe my youngest would get something since she's with the dc kids all day. I never thought we'd ALL be sick at the same time. Oh well, at least I have today (Sun) to spend cleaning up all the puke splatters .

Thank you for your level heads, Ladies! Especially when mine has temporarily gone AWOL ::.

[Rachel]

I have a large family. If I had to keep all of my children home each time one was ill nobody would ever attend school.::

I understand COMPLETELY your frustration but I think if you try to exclude healthy sibs of sickies you will just alienate the parents.

I can tell you from personal experience that many times one of my children will be sick with a cold or the flu or something else contagious and nobody else in the household will get it.

My sick policy is the same as the local public school policy. They do not exclude for siblings of sickies.

The children that I have had in the past who are sick the most have been only children of teachers. Sometimes I wonder if my teacher dc parents ever wash their hands::::::!

I agree. My 4 rarely all get the same virus. Usually 1 gets it, sometimes 2, and that is with sharing rooms and not be extra special careful (I don't isolate the sick on).

The only time all 4 of my kids got something was when chicken pox went around, and you bet all the kids went when they were healthy to school. I'm not keeping a whole family home for up to 2 months because one kid came down with chicken pox. Until they are sick, they can attend their regular school / daycare IMO.

[DancingQueen]

I've always been in agreement with the majority. Last week however I did have a girl get sick here while in my care. she was throwing up. Thursday she and her brother stayed home (brother doesn't come on Thursdays anyways) Friday she was very sick - go to E.R. kind of sick - dehydrated, fever 103 for over 36 hours etc...
And mom dropped off the brother.

I was OK with it but it did cross my mind for a minute "why wouldn't you just keep him home too?"

But I let it go.

But a mom of another child questioned it and was pretty upset about it - especially because no one really knew for sure if the sister just had a tummy bug or something worse. I know that it isn't fair to make mom keep the brother home but at the same time I can see why other parents would have been upset.

[Unregistered]

For the parent who got upset over another parent not keeping both kids home when one was in the ER

Nooooooo..... if one child goes to the ER, don't bring the other one with you! Send the healthy one to daycare! The sick child will need more individual attention and the healthy one is more likely to get the attention they need from something other than the TV if they go to daycare. Especially in the ER, I can only imagine having both kids there creates more stress on everyone involved. Don't put them through that. And you do want the sick and healthy kids separated which is easier if you don't keep them both home. In terms of being contagious, whether you keep kids home or not likely won't make much of a difference because they're contagious before they're sick (so you wouldn't keep them home in that stage as you have no idea) and daycare or school is probably where they got it anyway so everyone else was already exposed whether you keep them home or not!
Any family will likely tell you that their first priority is their own family and they will therefore do what is best for their own family. It's not that they don't care about other families but it's perfectly appropriate and reasonable to set boundaries on how far they'll go for other families so as to not exacerbate their own situation. It's part of the job as a daycare provider that you'll be around more germs than if you'd pursued almost any other career and it's part of the deal for parents who send them there that children will pass germs along (it's just part of the deal with people in general), and that everyone's situation is different and we're all doing our best and that because they're not the only parents who send their kids there, it's not just about their family so try to exercise both reasoning and empathy. So I think it's a little narcissistic to expect that parents of a seriously ill child will willingly inconvenience themselves more than they already are purely for the other families whom such measures may or may not spare. If it was practical, enforceable, and appropriate for all parties involved to include in the sick policy that all siblings stay home when 1 is sick, that would be the norm, not just "something parents wish each other would do"

[Blackcat31]

For the parent who got upset over another parent not keeping both kids home when one was in the ER

Nooooooo..... if one child goes to the ER, don't bring the other one with you! Send the healthy one to daycare! The sick child will need more individual attention and the healthy one is more likely to get the attention they need from something other than the TV if they go to daycare. Especially in the ER, I can only imagine having both kids there creates more stress on everyone involved. Don't put them through that. And you do want the sick and healthy kids separated which is easier if you don't keep them both home. In terms of being contagious, whether you keep kids home or not likely won't make much of a difference because they're contagious before they're sick (so you wouldn't keep them home in that stage as you have no idea) and daycare or school is probably where they got it anyway so everyone else was already exposed whether you keep them home or not!
Any family will likely tell you that their first priority is their own family and they will therefore do what is best for their own family. It's not that they don't care about other families but it's perfectly appropriate and reasonable to set boundaries on how far they'll go for other families so as to not exacerbate their own situation. It's part of the job as a daycare provider that you'll be around more germs than if you'd pursued almost any other career and it's part of the deal for parents who send them there that children will pass germs along (it's just part of the deal with people in general), and that everyone's situation is different and we're all doing our best and that because they're not the only parents who send their kids there, it's not just about their family so try to exercise both reasoning and empathy. So I think it's a little narcissistic to expect that parents of a seriously ill child will willingly inconvenience themselves more than they already are purely for the other families whom such measures may or may not spare. If it was practical, enforceable, and appropriate for all parties involved to include in the sick policy that all siblings stay home when 1 is sick, that would be the norm, not just "something parents wish each other would do"

This is when a family uses a babysitter or family member:friend not a daycare.

Not has nothing to do with a provider being empathetic and everything to do with a parent being responsible, realistic and logical.

[Unregistered]

Sibling Illness: For precautionary reasons, to prevent the spread of illness among children in care and their families, the child care home requires families with more 1 child enrolled to keep other enrolled children home when their sibling(s) cannot attend due to illness.

[Ariana]

We had to take my child to the ER last year. When we got there, there was a huge sign that said siblings were not allowed in the hospital. Luckily we had a neighbour take my other daughter. Parents need to be responsible for their own kids and their care. It is not all on the provider!

I do not excluded siblings as it does not cut down on the spread of germs. Most germs are spread before symptoms occur.