why do parents bring sick kids to daycare?

Question

I do home day care & right now in my town the flu is going around like mad! my question is why do parents bring sick kids to daycare knowing they are sick? i have people bring me kids & tell me they had a fever all night & they were throwing up but i gave them some Motrin & so they are fine!( as a lethargic child is being carried in side) Then when i say sorry per my contract that you read &signed they cant be here when they are that sick they now are mad at me! i understand they need to work but all my parents have sick time & vacation time but don't want to use it when their kid is sick but are the first ones to leave work when they feel bad & tell me oh i am just dying yeah you caught what your poor kid had that's why! They take days off to have a me day or go on a trip and i understand everyone needs this but then when you have no time left & your kid is sick don't get mad at the babysitter! am i being unreasonable to think they should keep their kid home?

i am glad i am not alone i do try and work with parents i only ask that children with a fever of 102 or higher or who are throwing up non stop stay home but if they have a cold or cough runny noise or are on antibiotics then i let them stay its the ones who have a 102 and are pucking their guts out or are crying non stop that i send home and even if they trow up i have a 3 strikes rule so i see if its just a gag reflex of something they did not like first before i call! So i am glad that i am not being unreasonable in doing this and that others understand! thanks a bunch!

i am glad i am not alone i do try and work with parents i only ask that children with a fever of 102 or higher or who are throwing up non stop stay home but if they have a cold or cough runny noise or are on antibiotics then i let them stay its the ones who have a 102 and are pucking their guts out or are crying non stop that i send home and even if they trow up i have a 3 strikes rule so i see if its just a gag reflex of something they did not like first before i call! So i am glad that i am not being unreasonable in doing this and that others understand! thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

i worked in daycare for 11 years and i have gone through all the above and have come to the conclusion that (unless it's a single mom but still they should have back up) it's all about money and keeping up with the jones's there can be no other explination except that i've been pooped on, puked on, infected with chicken pox(at 23) there was a mom who tried to drop off her kid with hand foot and mouth disease which is deadly to infants so i can understand your frustration but after all this time the most common excuse i've heard is "i'll leave as soon as i can " which i know u know is in about 2 to 4 hours from now hang in there stand your ground and explain that illness is spread by contamination and under no cirmcanstances will you allow there child in yes it's going to anger many but in the long run it'll payoff because you'll have less ailments going around and rember your not being unreasonable they are

Answer 2

Yes, they should keep their children at home !!!

Honey, I don't know why they do it. I work as a daycarer also, and there's hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't show up sick. And they get sent home. A sick child needs their mom and their own bed.
If the children are ill, I refuse to have them in care where they can make the other kids sick. If a child has vomited or had diarrhea within the last 24 hours, they are NOT able to attend daycare until they get a note from the doctor stating that the child is non-infectious.


I also now tell them - especially during school holidays ( I'm an American in Oz) that I will do NO respite care ! If THEY don't work, I don't work.....plain and simple. There are too many working parents on my waiting list and I won't make a parent miss work because of a parent wanting to go shopping with their friends


I've caught Whooping cough, ended up with shingles due to a child having chicken pox, had colds and the flu and on and on. I don't get sick leave, vacation time or anything else, yet when I tell my parents that I have a wedding to attend 2,000 miles away and will need to take a week off, they get angry with me. Mind you, I haven't had a vacation or break in over 7 months ( and work 18 hours a day 12 days in a row) and as much as I love the kids, they're not MINE !!

Answer 3

the daycare I used to send my kids too, never enforced sick kid rules. Kids actually came in with whooping cough. At the time I had twin girls in the daycare, from 3 months to 3 years and during that time they were alway sick! But it was the only daycare with in an hour of my house. Trust me, parents may complain a little, but it's way better then if you diddnt enforece the rules.

Answer 4

I have a family member who is really guilty of this, she goes to college full time so she can someday have a career to support her children (she's a single mom, the dad is a deadbeat). She's missed so much class from sick kids (who got sick in daycare from other sick kids) that she will fail if she misses anymore school, a few classes have grades based on attendance. If she fails she won't get anymore aid/grants. It's like a vicious cycle, I'm sure the kids that her kids got sick from-their parents were in the same situation since they live in a college town. She doesn't get mad at the daycare, just life in general! She's never had a "me" day though, I don't believe that exists when you're a single mother!

Answer 5

They have NO reason to be mad at you. What would make them think it is ok to bring a sick kid into school? We've had the flu go around the family all week, my oldest daughter hasn't caught it, but I'm not letting her go to preschool tomorrow. Why? Because she might have the germ, just hasn't come down with it yet. Parents need to start using their common sense. I would turn away kids too. Tell them to use their sick time, that's what it's there for. People need to take care of their kids and stop worrying about themselves.

Answer 6

Probably because they have a very unreasonable employer. I used to work at the post office and they were complete jerks when my children were sick. They would always tell me that I had to find someone to take care of them and just harass me to the point that I actually quit. I was a single mom who did not have anyone else and did not want to take my kids to daycare when they were sick. I never appreciated it when other people did and my kids got sick from them! I wish more employers were more sympathetic to this all. I would just tell parents that I could not accept their kid if he or she was ill. Just say that you don't want the other kids to get ill too. If people can't just drop off their sick kids--they won't. They'll have to take care of them or find a friend or family member who will. Good Luck!

Answer 7

I am so grateful to know that I'm not the only one to think like this! I used to watch kids, but it was so annoying. They would bring their sick kids. I think the most annoying thing is when they bring their sick kids to have you babysit on the days that they do stay home and are also sick! I've had that one before. The mom complained that she was just too sick to take care of her sick kids. Give me a break, if you're a mom, that's what ya do!

Answer 8

A sick child should be taken care of by its parents and a doctor, not by a daycare. I'm sorry you've had to deal with this. Any boss that has kids would be ok with a parent taking time off to care for a sick child.

Answer 9

Not at all, and I agree with you. They are putting everyone at risk. Poeple should have a back-up parent, grandparent or friend to watch the kids on these occasions. I would stay firm on this rule, and next time she shows with little SICK johnny, point to the large sign that your going to put up, and say, you no the rules. That should be the end of it.

Answer 10

It's not always that easy to take sick time off even if you have a lot saved up. I lost a very lucrative job because while I had almost two weeks of sick leave saved up I abused their sick leave/family sick leave policy of only taking three days during a quarter off for sick leave/family sick leave. During the quarter I abused I had to stay at home with my daughter who was out of day care for a week because of strep throat. A week later I came down with strep throat and pneumonia and had to take another day off...Thus going OVER the three day limit even though I had two weeks of time saved up. When I returned to work I was giving my "walking papers" and told to clean out my desk.

And yes it was perfectly legal since I signed the contract that included the sick leave/family sick leave policy.

"Poeple should have a back-up parent, grandparent or friend to watch the kids on these occasions" That's so easy to say when you live NEAR family or in a neighborhood where everyone doesn't work for a living." The time I spoke of my now ex husband was in the mlitary and on TDY for a month. There WAS no back up parent, those in the military don't get to tell theri boss "gee ummm my wife is in jeopardy of loosing her job if she takes more time off right now so I have to go home and watch our daughter for a week while she is out of day care for a week" Yeah I'd LOVE to see someone deployed to Iraq come up with that one! We also lived in a neighborhood where Both parents in the families work (something about the cost of living and being able to provide a safe, healthy home for their kids) during my maternity leave after the birth of my daughter I was the ONLY one in our neighborhood who was at home during the day during the week.