Sorry for the rant, and i may get slammed, but please, for the love of God, keep your sick children home from day care!!
Yes, I know kids get sick often. Yes it is inconvenient to have to take time off to care for them. However, when you send your sick child to day care the germs spread. Other children get sick. Educators get sick. In the case of family day care educators it means they need to close their service until they are well meaning ALL families need to find alternate care and the educator loses their income. Imagine needing to take a day off a week after your child was sick because your educator is sick. Annoying much?
Some children may get the virus in a mild form. Others may end up hospitalised. Younger siblings and pregnant mums often suffer the most. Fevers, coughs, runny noses etc are a sign something is wrong. It is not necessarily teething.
You have 40 allowable absences a year so do not have to pay full fees for those missed day. In exceptional circumstances you can apply for additional days.
Please consider the repercussions of when you send your sick child to care. The cost for you to take a day off when your child needs you is minimal when the ripple effect can escalate substantially. If everyone is considerate sickness is kept at bay. Everyone is happier and healthier!
And yes, I do know it is sometimes hard to make that call when they are sick over night but wake up full of beans, or are sick in the morning but well by lunch time. Sick kids need rest. They don't get that chance in day care. They are on the go all day which makes the illness last longer.
And lastly, PLEASE tell your educator if you dose your child up before sending them to care. It is scary when you put a seemingly well child to bed only to have them wake with a raging temp thanks to meds wearing off!!!
Refer to the Staying Healthy In Childcare guidelines. It is a fantastic document full of great scientifically backed advice.
24 Replies
Well said.
Working in the school system I’ve seen all sorts of sick kids at school.
You're preaching to the choir with me sister!!
Sick kids shouldn't be at school or daycare. Period!
Sick adults shouldn't be at work. Period!
Sick people in general shouldn't be in public unless it absolutely cannot be avoided. Period!!!
The excuses "oh I'll get fired" "I can't afford the time off" etcetera, the inconsideration for the heath and wellbeing of others in the community - it seriously grinds my gears so much!
I teach in special ed, children with autism. Parents continuously send their sick children to school. We have to clean up vomit, poo, snot. We get sneezed on and coughed on and physically assaulted because the child is not feeling well and doesn’t want to be at school doing work. When we call the parents to pick the sick child up 9 times out of 10 they ignore the call. If we then get sick and are absent parents complain as their child has autism and doesn’t cope well with change and having a fill in teacher. Selfishness at its finest 😡
Yes!!! Thank you from a mum whose little boy has missed more preschool this first term than attended! Every time i send him he brings a bug home..my other three kids get sick so they miss school. Hes had three colds and gastro!
Bloody wish people would keep their sick kids away! My son is now battling bronchiolitis and tonsillitis in one hit and it’s heartbreaking to see. Now I’m battling a nasty cold too, having to take time off work uhh!
I agree with what you’ve said
but I’m curious on the not paying full fees? I know your allowed 40absences but in 14yrs of using daycares we’ve never had a half price sick day?
Only for booked holidays we get 2 wks at half price
Sorry for confusion... When I said full fees, I meant total fee before CCS, not out of pocket fees (which is what it should be) as some people think an absence means paying the total full fee. In most cases, when you use an absence if the child is sick you pay the same as any normal day of care, per their booking schedule. For example, if your normal daily out of pocket expense is $25, then that is what you'll pay for the absence, whether sick or time off for a holiday.
Once you have used over 40 absences (allocated for the financial year) the full fees (no CCS) apply for any additional absences unless you apply for more, in which case CCS will apply. Still confused, lol
Some centres and family day care educators reduce their fees if they can fill the spot with someone else, but that is a gesture of good will only and not one of the regulations.
I've be doing this many years and the rules and regs are always changing and not always clear.
It should be standard for parents to take kids temperatures on arrival, above normal and they need to go home.
This! My daughter caught gastro on her first day. She’s 6 months old and has been sick for a week, hospitalised once and still can’t keep anything down. I have my first day back at work tomorrow at a new job and now can’t go and may lose a job or hours over this. My poor baby is suffering because of others selfish behaviour.
Perfect example!!!
So sorry your little one is suffering. I hope she is better soon xoox
She could have picked it up anywhere - shopping trolley, park or maybe the parents didn’t even know their child was sick?
When my kids get a cold they’re sick for 3 weeks with said cold. Then they get another cold because someone else sends their sick kid to school. Any child missing 3 weeks of school is unreasonable especially when schools are on you to make sure your kids go to school and you’re not just letting their skieve/wag etc
I get it, I honestly do. Kids get sick if they’re super sick of course keep them home but if it’s a cold and they’re gonna have a cough for 3 weeks what are you supposed to do? I keep my kids home for 48 after their last slew/sloppy poop. I teach them how to cover their mouths and cough into their elbows. My daughter was sickest when she started day care and by the end of her time there her immune system had built up so much she rarely got sick. If you’re casual anc you don’t work you don’t get paid. One day off for a part timer or a full timer is nothing. One day off for a casual is food/fuel/day care fees/electricity/gas bill money any one of those things could not get paid becasue they have one day off. No it’s not ideal and in an ideal world there would be no one needing to work as a casual and everyone would be receiving a fair wage and getting sick pay when they need to have a day off. Unfortunately this isn’t the case. You were unlucky to get sick. I’m sorry you got sick. But unless my kids have gastro or a full blown flu I don’t keep them home. No one can get a whole 3 weeks off without suffering some financial hardship or putting themselves out in another way.
A little common sense doesn't go astray here though.
Sending your kid to school/care when they're on the tail end of a common cold (ie, lingering cough and runny nose but otherwise well) is fine.
The OP is obviously talking about parents who dose their kids up to disguise fevers and viral symptoms , knowing full well they're too sick or parents who send their kids back before they've recovered enough.
Almost every winter my son ends up with bronchitis and chest infections, which are usually triggered by a virus that would take most kids a few days to get over but as an asthmatic it hits him hard. 10 consecutive days off school for him is what usually ends up happening. We cant afford it either but what choice do we have?
I feel for people who end up in this position where they are stuck between sending a sick kid to care and taking a day without pay, i do. But at the same time i dont really care about that person's situation because it isn't my problem, until it becomes my problem when their sick kid makes my kid sick!
So I sympathise but I'm never going to feel that it's ok to do, regardless of ones employment status!
Exactly my point!!! Exactly, thanks for getting it!!!
I sympathise too, but if that first child took time off then the infection halts, not spreads like wildfire.
Common sense really.
Agree with what you are saying about school children, who can manage their germs, but younger children in day care can't.
Obviously you know your child well enough to know when they need a day off school and when they are ok to attend. School is often a shorter day than day care as well don't forget. School children have more ability to self regulate than younger kids. Different situation.
This post is not talking about a bit of a runny nose or the tail end of a cold where the child is otherwise well and happy within themselves. It is about sick kids. Glassy eyes, thick non stop discharge from the nose, chesty coughs, ear and body aches, temps etc and obviously vomiting and diarrhoea, all of which I have seen children sent into care with, often dosed up on something without being told what that wears off leaving the child in real distress.
My oldest is in grade 5, even they aren't great at managing their germs. They still cough, sneeze, splitter and occasionally vomit on each other lol
You're most contagious prior to getting symptoms and daycare aged kids are gross. Toys in the mouth, hands in mouths, not washing hands properly etc. Viruses and bacterial infections will spread through daycare centres regardless because by the time the first child displays symptoms, the incubation period has already started for the next 10 kids. By all means follow guidelines for exclusion, but it's not going to make much difference really. And I hate how stay at home mums with kids in daycare for time out would abuse me for sending my 'sick' son (who actually had allergies and asthma so wasn't actually sick). I've seen a manager abuse another mum too even though her GP had written a letter saying that her child wasn't contagious and could attend. The mum was hysterical because she was at risk of losing her job and therefore couldn't take days off if they weren't required. Every year someone posts this on pretty much every social forum/group for mums leading up to winter. Honestly, I think most mums are just doing the best they can.
As an ex child care worker, i have to disagree with that last statement a bit.
Some parents are just doing their best, some are just selfish and don't care how their actions have a negative effect on so many others!
It's not just working mum's who do the old dose and drop either, plenty of stay at home mum's aren't willing to let go of their "break day" when their kid is sick.
And yes, daycare and viruses are unavoidable to an extent and yes most viruses are contagious before symptoms begin to appear but they are still contagious when the symptoms are at their worst (and in some cases like gastro, it's contagious for some time after too).
It's not just about spreading illnesses either, trying to calm and soothe a sick child who wants nothing more than to be at home with mum or dad is distressing for the child and the staff, it also messes with the staff/child ratios and takes away from all the other children who need supervision/interaction etc.
I think it’s really easy to say “keep them home” but reality is in most cases parents don’t want to send them. When I worked full time I often had no choice or I would lose my job. I’d do my best to ensure they weren’t a risk to others. But it was work or we don’t eat.
Now as a SAHM I never do it but I haven’t always been lucky enough to have that option. Let’s consider why parents are doing it before we start slamming them. Maybe you should get involved with starting an appropriate and affordable care service for sick kids seeing you are so passionate about it
This is such a selfish attitude. You send your sick kid getting everyone else's kid and educator sick.
The ripple effect is huge. Why do you think it's okay for other families to take days off work because you send your kid to care sick.
Why is it ok for the educator to get sick and have to take time off.
I get money can be tight but you're not the only one in the world that has kids and has to work. You make a decision to get everyone else sick.
AMEN!! I hope more people listen to this.
How about sharing the care of sick kids with the other parent?
Another idea - maintain good health and stop vaccinating them with so much toxic poison ☠️
Agree, I have taken so many days of work(parents get super annoyed because lack of consistency) I often take stuff home(I have amazing immune system) and my immune compromised child gets sick. I take the time off. Getting super over it. He isn’t even allowed to cuddles me until I shower as we have had so many dosing parents at my work with serious illness.
This should stand all round, not just in daycare situations. That being said just last week i dropped my seemingly healthy kids off to school only to get a call 10 minutes in to come and collect one of them as she had been sick! No warning, unless i consider all the students sent home the previous day with the same virus. this day however seen 48 out of 130 odd students being sent home along with all but 3 staff members! SO yes if you are aware your child is sick keep them at home! Although it may not always be so obvious.