Are centers less strict about sick policies?

[Anonymous]

Our daycare center in Alexandria has been really strict. Not only COVID testing for every illness/cold but still doing 10-day quarantines for any exposure and requiring PCR tests to return to class, even for asymptomatic kids who had a classmate (or sibling's classmate) with COVID. The general illness policy is 72-hours symptom free, so even if it's not COVID, you're basically out an entire week if your kid has anything beyond clear sniffles. I'm so beyond tired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...but home daycares are so much better, this is why they should be more expensive. There is no quality relationships your child would have in the center, with 15 kids and 3 teachers, who to be honest dont care, vs private daycare lady who obviously cares. And, kids get sick a lot more in the center. Your home daycare should be allowed to administer quick covid test because it looks like the real reason behind sending your child home was fear of covid.

This is plain nonsense. My home daycare had 2 providers for 8 kids. Now my center has 3 providers for 12 kids, so same ratio. And the care is just as great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...what really dumb is keeping your child under 3 in a center, especially during covid. Home daycare has very small chance of exposure compare to a center. Also, kids' food in the center is disgusting (hot dogs? cheap pizza? chicken nuggets?) and mostly processed/sugary stuff every day (muffins or sugar packed cereal for breakfast) while my home daycare makes steel cut oats oatmeal fresh every morning, nice homemade beef meatballs and what not for lunch, and kids get organic blueberries for snack vs goldfish crackers at the center. But to each their own.

What’s dumb is sitting and making judgements on other people’s choices so you can feel superior. What is your evidence that kids get less sick in a home daycare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our son goes to a home daycare in Bethesda that he loves. It’s $500/week (he’s 2) for full time M-F, and just 5 mins from our house so super convenient since I WFH.

I’m currently solo parenting while my spouse is out of state for the rest of the year (military). Today I was asked to pick up my kid because his nose is stuffed up so he’s breathing loudly and wasn’t interested in eating his lunch, plus they think “he’s probably going to get a fever later”. He doesn’t have a fever, his energy level is fine, and his nose isn’t runny, so there’s nothing present that goes against their own sickness policies. He’s also fully vaccinated for COVID and daycare is literally the only place we’re exposed to other people right now since I WFH.

My mom says we should try to switch to a center instead of a home daycare because a center won’t send kids home for little stuff like this. But is that advice from “the before times” or is it still true?

If your child is presenting as starting to get sick, you keep them home for a day. Vaccinated has nothing to do with transmission. Be considerate to others.

You must not have a child or be joking. If I kept my child home every time he was presenting early symptoms, I could never go to work. Ever.

[Anonymous]

You should realise that teachers are veru scared of getting covid, that is why there is shortage of staff in centers. So, just be happy that centers are open at all. And wear mask when grocery shopping, btw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should realise that teachers are veru scared of getting covid, that is why there is shortage of staff in centers. So, just be happy that centers are open at all. And wear mask when grocery shopping, btw.

Aren't the majority of daycare teachers young women? Like 20-30yos? As long as they are up to date on vaccines (boosted, 2x boosted if high-risk) then what are they worried about?

[Anonymous]

Your daycare in incredibly expensive. That's about $150 more than other in home daycares in Bethesda.

As far as sick policies, each center and home daycare is bound by licensing for sick policies but each individual business can their own threshold. Some are very lenient and some are very strict.

A couple of things can be happening here, your daycare may have been burned by parents who medicate their sick children before dropping off and so are not as trusting. Or, maybe you have a history of sending in your sick kid either because you don't recognize the signs or on purpose.

They may also be afraid to catch COVID and have to close and then everyone is out of care. I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...what really dumb is keeping your child under 3 in a center, especially during covid. Home daycare has very small chance of exposure compare to a center. Also, kids' food in the center is disgusting (hot dogs? cheap pizza? chicken nuggets?) and mostly processed/sugary stuff every day (muffins or sugar packed cereal for breakfast) while my home daycare makes steel cut oats oatmeal fresh every morning, nice homemade beef meatballs and what not for lunch, and kids get organic blueberries for snack vs goldfish crackers at the center. But to each their own.

Not all in-homes are created equal. The one our kids were at up till the age of 3 also served amazing homemade meals, but I definitely toured many when pregnant that served mainly processed stuff. I do miss our in-home daycare's food, the center we are at now actually served a decent lunch pre-Covid but eliminated it so I have to pack lunch every day, oh well.

As far as the sick policies go, it's been a mixed bag between the two. There was one time my in-home provider asked me to pick up one of the kids, who was maybe a year old at the time, because she had the sniffles and "wasn't fully participating" in the activities, lol. But then a few months ago the center called me for a slightly red eye and I had to take her to the pediatrician to rule out pinkeye and Covid before returning (it was neither, my pediatrician actually laughed that I had to bring her in for this).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should realise that teachers are veru scared of getting covid, that is why there is shortage of staff in centers. So, just be happy that centers are open at all. And wear mask when grocery shopping, btw.

You sound like our daycare director. They keep raising prices while taking away services and requiring 2yos to wear useless cloth masks but we're supposed to be grateful they're open at all.

[Anonymous]

That is how much I pay for my younger kid in a center with 7:30-6:30 hours and 1 Saturday a month and no they don’t send kids home for a stuffy nose. They follow Health department so it’s cut and dry

[Anonymous]

In my experience most at home day cares tend to be more lenient than centers in terms of sick policies, but obviously it’s case by case dependent and yiu seem to have found one that is on the opposite end of the spectrum (and way overpriced to boot!)