Reasons child care send your kids home

[Patooties]

When i worked in Childcare, we would ask parents to collect a child if they had a constant green snotty nose. We would also ask them to bring in a doctors certificate the next time they came - to know that they weren't contagious. There are differing opinions of the green snotty nose - and many do say that it's the infection clearing. I guess when other parents see children walking around the centre with green snotty noses, they want to know why those children are there spreading their germs around.
It's really hard, because many directors do understand how difficult it is for the parents with regards to taking time off work.

[Bathsheba]

Yep, we had the same policy as Jazmum's centre. If we had to constantly wipe the green snot we couldn't let the children stay. But a lot of it was discretionary.

Another thing we had to send children home for (by law) was head lice. The child had to be treated at home and a form signed with the name of the product used to treat the lice.

I have been on both sides of the fence: been a staff member and working mum dependant on care (and a casual worker that wasn't paid if I had to stay home with my child). I can see both arguments. i know how inconvenient it is to have you child at home and running around with a minor complaint. However i can see the big picture and have also been a childcare worker who caught chicken pox from a child who was brought into the centre I was off work for 3 weeks without pay!

At the moment I am a SAHM because I know that with 2 little ones at home I would have to have a very understanding boss because at least once a week my children, if they were in care, wouldn't be allowed to attend or would be miserable being packed off to care. Even when they are not sick they are teething etc or simply have a rough night with bad dreams. It's just not worth the grief for all concerned.

However I know that most mums work and need to place their children in care... most childcare workers are sympathetic I think but they need to put the health of the whole centre above individual children and the careers of the parents. I think in an ideal world there would always be a caring Nana available to help out at times like this but unfortunately even poor old Nana has to work these days too or she is far away like ours

[sassy123]

i am a family daycare carer. it is hard with somethings like snot. it now is if the snot is yellow not green. but if u have a child that has a full on run constant all day and is wiping snot oevr everythign then they r to be sent home but if it is the occational dribble and they come wipe there nose then it is fine. also if u chicld has vomited or had diahorea (sp) then u rnt ment to put them in care for 24hrs after the first full on solid poo.

i have had some parents bring kids days in a row when poo is running out everywhere and then get the ****s when i call them.

[Bathsheba]

I agree with Sassy, nearly everytime a parent that is called to come and collect their child from care expresses some degree of annoyance and frustration... to varying degrees. Staff are often asked if it is really necessary and many parents take out their frustrations on them. They forget that we are just trying to do our job, just like they are. We often were made to feel that we were asking them to take the children to ease our workload

And regarding the headlice: yes I agree it is frustrating but what is the alternative? let them stay and spread them? I think it's a case of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". The child can return once treatment has commenced.