At my care I have a 2 yrs old kid who has symptoms such as fever that goes up every other 2 days or 3 up to 102.3, also had a yellow discharge from eyes, seems very sad during the day, but has good appetite. I've told his mom to take him to the doctor, since the kid was acting different for the past week. And i have a policy at my care, no kids with fever (wait 24 hours). Even the yellow discharge didn't make kids mom to see a doctor. She said if the both eyes are infected, its not contagious. I don't understand what kind of sympotms they are, but the kid is not himself for a week. Yesterday, after a nap, he had a fever 102.4. I called the mom again, and she came and pick him up. Its been about a week, and kid is sleeping a lot about 4 hours even longer. Just need some suggestions, I am not beeing paranoid or overprotective, I just care about other kids who are at the care, but the parent still bring the kid and thinks there is no need to see a doctor.
Thanks
Thanks a lot for all responses, for taking your time. I told the mom yesterday not to bring her child back till the child will be healthy and able to participate in all activities. I am pretty strict with my illness policy, since we had same problem before. I just wanted to see other peoples' opinion on that. That's not fair to other kids. I just don't understand why parents would sent their kids to daycare or school. Myself i have 2 kids, I never send my kids to school when they have fever. I put my question here to make sure I don't sound too panic or overprotective. I just like to have a good attendane in my care and when kids are happy and healthy. It seemed like we're playing games. She'd keep her child at home 1 day than would bring her child back.
Yellow discharge from the eyes can be a sign of a fairly serious sinus infection. She really does need to take him to see a doctor.
You have every right as a care provider to tell the parent that her son can not come back until he's seen a doctor.
Tell her that you will not take the child back into your care without a note from the doctor saying the child has been seen and is not contagious. The fever could be from any number of things, and the eye goop as well. But if the child does have an infection like pink eye, that can be very contagious and it is highly irresponsible of that parent to let it go for a week unchecked.
She needs to see a doctor period. Maybe she doesn't have money for the co-pay or doesn't have insurance. Follow up and make sure. God Bless you for going the extra mile and caring!!
A sinus or ear infection is my guess and those are not contagious. If it were my child we would have stayed home.
Did you ever find out what it was? I am going through a similar situation with my niece...She is acting exactly how the kid you were watching was acting. yellow discharge from the eyes, sleeping a lot, a fever that goes up and down, and still has a good appetite. I know she needs to see a doctor but I know her mom won't take her..
Could be pink eye. My daughter had a couple rounds with that, totally freaked me out when it came out of her eyes and I was running to the DR. Could be a sinus infection, and yes they are contagious. Trust me my dad had a nasty one at Christmas that he shared with me, my daughter and my mother in law.
What's that mother's problem! Sorry I'd like to slap her upside the head and call stupid....! Glad you stuck to your guns.
I agree ... especially if you care for other kids, you have a repsonsibility to all of them. These symptoms are not "normal" and they aren't going away. Let her know that you have to follow state and/or CDC guidelines, and that he won't be able to come back without a Drs note, or until the goo is gone and no fever for 3 days.
It may be that she doesn't have insurance. You could go the extra mile and look up if there are any places in your area where she could take him for low cost - it might help (if you don't think she'll get upset at you "butting in")
the poor little boy! you really do need to be the advocate for the other children. I think if i were you I would tell the mom that since this has been going on for a while, that you will need to know that he's seen a doctor before he can come back. Tell her you will require a doctor's note before he can return. That way you protect the other children and hopefully are instrumental in getting this poor child to a doctor!
Oooh, that little one needs a dr. asap. Poor thing :-(
my kid has had this when she has a nasty (and really nasty) cold. the mucus starts exiting wherever it can...eyes, nose etc. Fevers are good because its killing the cold virus...however if that were my child, I would not let her go to daycare nor would I expect my daycare to allow her back. If this has been going on for more than a day or 2, he/she needs to see a doctor...could be an infection.
It's a real possibility that she can not afford to take days off from work to stay home with her child when he is sick. It's a shame that the well being of her child and all the ones at day care aren't her top priority, but financially she has to make a decision. If she misses too many days at work she may lose her job and then she would have to pull her child out of your daycare and you lose income too. I had an in home daycare for a long time and tried my best to not have sick kids. But what I found is we can't run our kids to the Dr everytime they have a cold or rash and it's not always easy for every parent to stay home with their child when they are sick. Is there a way you could call your own Dr and ask questions about the symptoms and give the M. some suggestions as to how to handle it?
