Getting sick

[Bushpig]

What is your stance with sickly mindees?

I know what the general rules re sickness are, but it's difficult to gauge sometimes. I have been poorly (have been off work and so loss of income!), due to my youngest mindee I am sure... but parents sent her along anyway... they hate having to pay for care not used. She had a cold but her nose was running something terrible.. a lovely green colour. This says infection to me? I mentioned this to the parents... 'Oh no, she has no infection, its just a cold'... I am told.

What is your stance on a child being a bit poorly? If I get sick I do not get paid... so if a parent sends their child to me sick, they might not have a childminder available for a few days! And I won't be paid...

I also had a child that vomited... and they sent her to me the next day - now I am sure we shouldn't have them for 48 hours after... but as I only had her brother in my care and no other kids for those 48 hours, she felt it fine to send her... is this fine though? What about me becoming ill??? She plays on me being a softy, and I am :blush:

Winter approaches, and so will colds etc. and I want to enforce a stricter attitude in my setting. What are your ground rules?

[crazybones]

One of mine is that if the child has been ill enough to have Calpol (infant parcetamol) for anything other then teething then they should be kept away. I had a bad week last week 3 snotty noses and a teether.

We have to trust the parents though. When I told one that their daughter had 2 very dirty nappies she said she had been the same the previous day/night but it was teething. She was probably right but I should have been warned. If they think we might refuse care they arent going to tell us stuff we need to know - very dangerous.

[sarah707]

48 hours clear from last sickness or diarrhea...

6 doses of antibiotics in case of allergic reaction...

Colds ... well it's up to you really, but like you say, if you were ill you might not be able to work.

Baby was ill last week... we've all been ill this weekend. :(

[Chatterbox Childcare]

This is a hard one but all of my 3 have green snotty noses and are not old enough to blow it out.

I have them all and do lots of hand washing and carry the anti bacterial gel in my bag.

[breezy]

48 hours clear from last sickness or diarrhea...

6 doses of antibiotics in case of allergic reaction...

Colds ... well it's up to you really, but like you say, if you were ill you might not be able to work.

Baby was ill last week... we've all been ill this weekend. :(



Hope you feel better Sarah, why do we always get ill at weekends, not fair!!!!!!!

[Bushpig]

Thanks all.... I am typing a letter to my parents right now! I need to get stricter. I have been ill due to a mindee and am not happy about it - as it's always the same parents that send her, never mind how she is.

I always get told how difficult it is to get time off work when the kids are sick etc.... but I am not a nurse and am going to nip this in the bud before winter sets in.

I had to take Friday off work (I have another job on a friday), so it did not affect the parents, but it affected me... no work means no pay! :(

[Bushpig]

This is a hard one but all of my 3 have green snotty noses and are not old enough to blow it out.

I have them all and do lots of hand washing and carry the anti bacterial gel in my bag.

Debbie, none of mine can blow their noses yet either. So you are OK with green snotty noses?

[Mollymop]

I know what you mean Jenni. A week or so ago one of my mindees had a bad cold (she is on holiday now) and she always wants kisses and hugs (she has Down's) well her nose is running and she was coughing. Dad said she has coughs and colds all the while, but they are not contagious it is all part of her condition.
Well a few days later I came down with it too and I ended up having to take a day from work. I never take anytime off from work for a cold, but this hit me hard.
I would never send a child away for having a cold, esp when parents say it is "part of her condition" but it made me ill too, which is kinda of worrying and something I have to think about in the future.
I think if they are not well with their cold they should be sent home.

[Bushpig]

Wow, the letter worked!!!!!!!!! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

The child who made me ill last week... and who has never had ONE sick day off, called in sick today... I cannot believe it... is it a mere coincidence I wonder?

Just goes to show, I must be stricter. I am glad she called in sick though, would have hated to have sent her back home (would have felt so guilty)... have any of you had to do this before? What was the parents response?

[angeldelight]

Well done to you Jen

I have sent children home - I always sit there for ages dreading making the call some of my parents are not great or understanding when it comes to sending their children home - when I call them they always say " Are you sure x was fine this morning "
Grrrrrrr

I dread making the call but its something that we have to do

Hope you have a nice easy day

Angel xx

[Bushpig]

Thanks Angel! I have 2 under 3s today and they are both fine. Little coldy but otherwise fine. We are off to the park this am!

There are some parts of this job that are difficult, like having to send a child home (and asking to be paid!;))... I just hope parents don't think we do it to have a *free* day... as we are still paid if the child is sick. I guess this depends on the parent.

Have a lovely day :)

[kiddiwinks]

I had a baby that came out in chicken pox while in my care, rang mum she could not get time of work said dad would pick up normal time. (She knew that my children have had it and i had no other children that week, she also knew that i have not yet had it.) Dad was 15 mins late.
Mum rang on evening asking that could i still have child as know one to have child as they used all holiday, i said i could not have on the one day as have my neice who's mom is 7 months pregnant so that was a def NO. was still going to bring sister though. They only paid holiday for that day even though it should of been normal pay. Child was still brought the last 2 days of week while still very spotty grumpy and contagious my children suffered as i could not take them out on outings or the park etc all because parent would not take time of work to look after there sick child who all wanted was mommy.

[Bushpig]

What i do not understand is how a parent will send a sick child to nursery/minder , so they don't have to get off work (which is paid sick leave more often than not), plus don't have to pay us for their child being off sick.

Repercussions are the childminder and/or other mindees get sick and the sickness is amplified. If the childminder cannot work then the parent HAS to take time off work then, but this time won't pay for it, as the minder does not get paid when they are off sick. And what about the other mindees then too? :(

NOT all parents do this of course, but there are some that do for sure.

So.. this leaves us with no choice but to be stricter with the children we mind and not be soft. Difficult I know, most of us are such softies! :( Also, when a little one is ill, they want their MUMMY or DADDY, not their minder.

[Lottie]

I have 3 policies regarding sickness. One states that any child or immediate family member who has been ill in the past 24 hours means that I will not look after the child. The second is my Childminder sickness policy which states that if I am unwell or my family I won't be able to mind. The third is a strict policy on Influenza, which says that I won't mind any children with the symptoms and that if a child is brought to me knowingly with influenza the contract will be terminated immediately.

I know all these sound harsh but I have had parents in the past who have made excuses and recently as yesterday, bringing in their child who had diarrhea over the weekend, said the child was fine and then child vomited all over the carpet. She called me later saying he was fine again, however I am bringing the 48 hour policy into force, which I am not looking forward to but it has to be done.

Its also very important that viruses such as Influenza aren't brought into my household due to my partner having MS, which could subsequently bring on a relapse.

Like other replies on this thread it amazes me how parents don't think! If I become ill because of their child that means waiting even longer for them to get back to work. Not only that but most of these parents get sickness pay anyway.

Oh and in my contract if the child is unwell the parent still has to pay full rates. However if I am unwell they don't.

.....crikey I sound like I am having a rant. :blush:

[wendywu]

Do you know i must be immune to germs because in all the 11years i have been minding i have never called in sick. A few pre arranged days for small ops but nothing else. Can i have a gold star please.:littleangel:

[Bushpig]

Well done Wendy!!! :)

I had only had 1 day off sick prior to the last 2 weeks (and 2 sick days off work), but have found that if I am going through a particularly stressful time, then my body is less resistant.