Is it normal for the daycare to ask parents to take their kid home?

[Anonymous]

Today is the fifth day that my 13 month daughter is attending this daycare. She is going there for just half a day for the transition although we are paying for the full day care. When I dropped her off, I told the teacher that she is teething and could be fuzzy. After I said good bye, I stayed outside for a little bit and watched her through the window. She stopped crying in less than a minute then I left. One and a half hour later, I got a call and was asked to pick her up because she has a temperature of 100.5. When I picked her up 20 minutes later, I didn't feel she was hot at all. Her energy level was good and she wanted to play outside with her classmates (it was the outdoor time for her class). The teacher told me that more than the high temperature, my daughter was fuzzy and didn't want to be moved from one place to the other place to follow the program. My daughter didn't even want to go outside to play which is supposed to be her favorite activity. 20 minutes later, we got to home and took a measurement. It is only 97.5. I really question what the teacher said earlier and how they handled a fuzzy 13 month old. I am worried that they are going to call me and ask me to pick her up whenever she doesn't have a good day.

[Anonymous]

What does "fuzzy" mean? Cranky? I am happy to pick my child up from day care if she is legitimately sick, but no, I am not going to come get her any time she's a bit cranky. I think that's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

No, it's not normal for parents to be called to pick up a perfectly healthy kid who is fussy.

[Anonymous]

She is whiny and cranky and she wants to be held.

[Anonymous]

I am mostly troubled by the fact that they actually told me she was having a fever, but in less an hour she doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am mostly troubled by the fact that they actually told me she was having a fever, but in less an hour she doesn't.

She could have very well had a fever. No need to jump on the teachers and assume they were lying. They did not ask you to pick up the child because the child was cranky. They asked you to pick up the child because the child supposedly had a fever. Huge difference.

[Anonymous]

It is protocol for teachers to contact the parents when a baby's temperature hits 100. But, I have never heard of a daycare professional having a parent pick up a child for being fussy. Uh, handling a fussy child is a fundamental part of being a caregiver, is it not?

[Anonymous]

I hope they are not, otherwise, I cann't imagin dealing with them later.

The teacher who i talked to when I picked her up told me that the other teach measured her tempreture and it was 100.5. She was trying to do it but the baby was moving a lot, so she gave up. When I picked her up, I knew she was not hot at all. I could not understand how she could just get better without any treatment in such a short time.

[Anonymous]

Well, my theory is that explains why the teacher said my daughter was having a fever.

Anonymous wrote:
It is protocol for teachers to contact the parents when a baby's temperature hits 100. But, I have never heard of a daycare professional having a parent pick up a child for being fussy. Uh, handling a fussy child is a fundamental part of being a caregiver, is it not?

[Anonymous]

If they get a fever reading, period, they ask the parents to come and get the child. it does not matter if the fever is brief, or inaccurate, for that matter. This happened to me fairly often, but you really can't do much about it.

[Anonymous]

Really!!!!

I guess I got a lot to learn being a first time mom to a young baby who is going to daycare...

Anonymous wrote:If they get a fever reading, period, they ask the parents to come and get the child. it does not matter if the fever is brief, or inaccurate, for that matter. This happened to me fairly often, but you really can't do much about it.

[Anonymous]

I hate to say it, but I think sometimes daycare workers look for any reason to send a child home if the child is being difficult (or the teacher is having a bad day). While I won't go as far to suggest a teacher is making up a temperature reading, there have been one or two times when I was asked to pick up my son because he had a fever - but when I got to him he was fine.

If they do get a fever reading, they have to send the child home. But I would watch out for this becoming a habitual problem (assuming the child isn't really sick). Although it could be they just noted your child's fussiness as another sign he/she may be sick - not as the real reason they wanted to send him/her home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to say it, but I think sometimes daycare workers look for any reason to send a child home if the child is being difficult (or the teacher is having a bad day). While I won't go as far to suggest a teacher is making up a temperature reading, there have been one or two times when I was asked to pick up my son because he had a fever - but when I got to him he was fine.

If they do get a fever reading, they have to send the child home. But I would watch out for this becoming a habitual problem (assuming the child isn't really sick). Although it could be they just noted your child's fussiness as another sign he/she may be sick - not as the real reason they wanted to send him/her home.

This is very true.

[Anonymous]

This has happened to me before. I am sure it will happen again. It is a PITA. They also don't use an ear thermometer.

[Anonymous]

Childcares are required to send home a child with a fever. At ours, we try to take the temp at least twice to confirm, with a different person taking. If the two temps don't mesh, we try again.

As to the "fuzzy" comment, the caregivers were probably just trying to let you know of other possible symptoms to help you narrow down the cause. "Fuzzy" to me would be "her behavior's a little off, not her cheerful self, not engaging/showing interest the way she usually does but not actually showing sick symptoms."

And caregivers don't really like to send children home but must look out for the welfare of your child (who if she is sick would probably rather be with you) and other children with whom she is in contact.