{"id":713,"date":"2019-08-12T15:32:17","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T15:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https://theempoweredprovider.com/?p=713"},"modified":"2020-03-03T18:16:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T18:16:31","slug":"daycare-sick-child-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://theempoweredprovider.com/daycare-sick-child-policy/","title":{"rendered":"Day Care Sick Policy: How to Make Sense of it All"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most family child care programs have a daycare sick policy<\/strong>. This is a formal set of documentation between a provider and their client that is put into place to inform the client of when they should keep their child home in the case of illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common frustration I hear from family child care providers is that their clients don’t adhere to the policies that have been agreed upon in an effort to minimize the spread of illness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, my goal is to do two things:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Inform parents <\/strong>of when and why they should keep their sick child home. Help parents gain a better understanding of these policies from a provider’s perspective. <\/li>
  2. Support child care providers<\/strong> by helping them write an effective illness policy and how to address the dreaded gray area that accompanies things like runny nose and a persistent cough.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    Be sure to save this article to your Child Care Business board in Pinterest to refer back to later!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Save to Pinterest for later!\n<\/a><\/center>\n\n\n\n

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    \"ill<\/figure><\/figure><\/figure><\/figure><\/center>\n\n\n\n
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    When to Keep Your Child Home from Daycare: Tips for Parents & Providers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Knowing when to keep your child home can be difficult at times. Giving an explanation for various illness and offering experience-based suggestions can help your client uphold the ins and outs of your illness policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let’s start with the more obvious symptoms & conditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Disclaimer:<\/strong> The following tips on exclusion are only suggestions. Rules may vary from state to state. Check with your licensor when creating guidelines for exclusions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Daycare Fever<\/strong> Policy:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A common guideline: <\/strong>A fever can be a sign that the body is fighting off an infection. In most states, if a child has a fever over a certain temperature (typically 101\u00b0 F), they will need to be excluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal Experience:<\/strong> My policy was a bit firmer. Anything over 100 \u00b0F was grounds for exclusion in my program. This is about the level by which I would notice the fevering child to have rosy cheeks and watery eyes along with an onset of lethargy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When can they return?<\/strong> The child should stay home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the help of fever-reducing medication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Daycare Vomiting Policy: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A common guideline:<\/strong> If a child vomits 2 or more times in a 24 hour period they should stay home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal Experience:<\/strong> In my program, I held firm on one episode of vomiting in a 24 hour period. One episode was almost always followed up by another one…and another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When can they return?<\/strong> The child should stay home until they are symptom-free for 24 hours. Keep in mind, when a child has been vomiting, they may be exhausted for at least a day with little energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Daycare Diarrhea Policy: <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A common guideline:<\/strong> If a child has 2 or more episodes of diarrhea in a 24 hour period they should stay home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal Experience:<\/strong> Guess what childhood developmental milestone lends itself to diarrhea? Teething! However, if the child had loose stools I would send them home. 9 times out of 10, the child was indeed ill and was putting the other children at risk by staying for the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When can they return?<\/strong> The child should stay home until they are symptom-free for 24 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Strep Throat<\/strong>: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A common guideline:<\/strong> If a child has been diagnosed with strep throat, most physicians will tell you the child needs to stay home until they have been on the medication for 24 hours to reduce the spread of the virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal Experience:<\/strong> Once the child has been on the medication for 24 hours it is good to assess how the child is feeling. While they may not be contagious after 24 hours on medication, they may still be feeling miserable and need to stay home and rest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When can they return?<\/strong> The child should stay home until they are on the medication for at least 24 hours; only returning when they feel better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Major Injury<\/strong>: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A common guideline:<\/strong> Exclusionary guidelines will be dependent on the type of injury and what is agreed upon between the provider and her client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal Experience:<\/strong> Often times when a child gets hurt or injured, they may just want to be home in their own bed or in the arms of mom or dad. A child care program isn’t as quiet as home and when a child is suffering from an injury, being surrounded by kids who are running, jumping, cheering, crying or screaming might not be the best plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When can they return?<\/strong> This answer will be totally dependent on the child and the type of injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Illnesses that create gray area around a provider’s policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Kids experience a lot of illnesses that leave them feeling less than their best but are they well enough to attend their child care program? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let’s take a look at few common childhood illnesses that are the mild side and what to do when making the decision to exclude a child or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"young<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Runny Nose<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    What’s Up? <\/strong>A runny nose can be a sign of something contagious or simply a symptom of a seasonal allergy. It can be very difficult to distinguish between the two. Here is some helpful information to note about runny noses from healthychildren.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Issue: <\/strong>Kids can have runny noses that lasts for weeks…WEEKS! If a provider requires a family to keep their child home for every cough and sniffle, the child would be stuck at home quite often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Client Frustration: <\/strong>Clients grow frustrated because they fear they are running out of vacation days and other options for alternate child care if their provider insists that the child stay home when the only symptom is a runny nose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Daycare Sick Policy for a Runny Nose: Should the child attend<\/strong>?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Ask yourself the following questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n