Sent home from daycare for a runny nose?!?!

[Anonymous]

OK, I know there will be lots of people who disagree with me, but I am so frustrated.

For background, I work only two days a week and my son is in daycare those days. I do contract work, so if I don't work, I don't get paid. Husband has a decent job, but money is TIGHT.

Last week (on Tues) I got a call at work from my not-quite-two year old son's daycare that he kept putting his hands to his head and saying "head hurt." This seemed odd to me, and as my son has history of ear infections and tubes in his ears, so I didn't want to chance anything. I called and made an appointment with his ped and picked him up early. They reported that he had woken up from his nap saying "ears hurt" and calling for mommy, poor little guy. Ped said he had a slight fever (100.3), ears were fine, he was probably just coming down with a virus. I took him home, and overnight he developed a fever of 102.5. Next day (Wed) the fever was lower in the morning and disappeared by midday, but he had a lot of coughing. I called out of work the day after that (Thurs) and stayed home with him to make sure he was ok, and because OF COURSE I think it's reasonable that he shouldn't go back to daycare the day after a fever. (although the lack of work hours that week will hurt us). But husband (who gets sick days) had an obligation at work he absolutely couldn't miss, so that left me.

He was fine all weekend. Yes, he has some lingering coughing. It's called getting over a cold. Yes, his nose is occasionally runny. But he is by no stretch of the imagination contagious. So today (Tues) I took him in to daycare, only to get a call at 10am that he needed to be picked up because his nose was running. My husband left work to get him, because I really need to get some work done.

Am I unreasonable that I think this is ridiculous???? It was a runny nose. That's it. While he was dealing with chronic ear infections, he was way more snotty than this for weeks at at time, and they never said a thing. Sometimes I'm coughing/have a runny nose for WEEKS after I have a cold. Am I supposed to keep him home for weeks??? I'm just totally irked.

[Anonymous]

Easier said than done, but I'd look for new childcare. That is over-the-top reactionary and completely stupid.

hey, maybe the center is trying to keep costs lower by making all their kids stay home two thirds of the winter!

[Anonymous]

Maybe other parents complained, and didn't want their kid exposed....

[Anonymous]

I just subbed at my kid's preschool full of runny-nosed three year olds. They had a lot of runny noses. We wiped them.

[Anonymous]

Our daycare would be empty this week if they sent home every kid with a runny nose!

[Anonymous]

THey all have runny noses... schools would be closed if they sent all kids home. Though if the snot was green that with other symptoms often indicates an infection

[zumbamama]

At DC's school, they only send them home if they have green coming out of the nose. If its clear, no worries.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm dealing with the same thing right now, although I haven't had a call yet... DS was totally fine last week, and on Thursday comes home from daycare with runny nose, that developped into greenish yuk and coughing but is now just runny nose and occasional coughing. both yesterday and today his teacher pointed it out (and tonight that has basically ruined our evening trying to figure out what to do). both DH and I have work stuff we can't get out of tomorrow and hope his symptoms will be even less tomorrow than they were today. I think your daycare (and potentially all, including mine) sometimes exagerate symptoms. I know many people will disagree with me/us, but if the stuff is not green, then cut us some slacks. I'm doubly frustrated because he got it from there (always does and we never complain; comes with the turf i guess), but when it's ours, here comes the stern look, while at the same time wiping some other kid's snotty nose (seriously happened to me today: "your son's coughing" while holding a 3-yr old's face to get a good wiping)...

[Anonymous]

In my son's first daycare, they sent him home everytime he got a watery eye and I had to have a doctor's excuse to get him back in. After about the fifth time in a month, the doctor was as frustrated as me. My son never once had conjunctivitis - just allergies. I was lucky enough to be able to find a space in a different daycare and never again got a call about picking him up for a watery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare would be empty this week if they sent home every kid with a runny nose!

Ours too! Although they are one spot lighter since DD has a cold with a double ear infection and has been home (and will be likely the rest of the week...).

[Anonymous]

You might want to send the director an email asking for clarification on the sick policy.

And next time you get a call ask....
...does he have a fever? Oh - he doesn't .. OK, thanks for the heads up on the runny nose, I will be sure to have some tissues in my pocket when I pick him up at 5 as I always do.

[Anonymous]

That's dumb. I finally took my son out of daycare and got a nanny because of the ridiculously low threshold for sending kids who were "sick" home, lack of motivation to potty train my son, and other policies that seemed more designed to suit the staff than make parents' lives easier.


You need to become more assertive and ask questions, as another poster said. Don't just agree to pick up your child because they're asking you to.

Regardless of what the symptom is, ask how your child looks. Is s/he alert? playing? happy? Any differences in behavior? If the answers are yes/yes/yes/no, then reply that you'll pick up your child but it will have to be after XX or at your usual pick up time or whatever you feel is reasonable.

Low-grade fevers (102 or below) are probably due a viral infection and as long as your child's behavior is unchanged, isn't likely to warrant taking your child home.

If your child has "diarrhea", ask if it's runny and watery or just loose, or just more frequent BM's. Ask if there is a fever or vomiting or child seems to be in distress. Has your child been given a food that might give him loose stools? e.g., dairy? the point is that not all diarrhea means gastroenteritis.

If you child has "vomitted", ask what the circumstances were. Was s/he eating a chunky piece of food that make him/her gag and throw up? Did s/he vomit after a nap (rather than after during the meal?) Was he having a tantrum? Are there other symptoms that are suggestive of gastroenteritis - diarrhea, fever? Are the vomitting episodes recurrent? Check for reflux and make sure they cut food into small pieces or encourage your child to take smaller pieces. Those were all reasons my son would vomit but it took a lot of questioning on my chart and on my request, monitoring on the staff's behalf before they figured out the vomitting was not due to stomach flu.

They say your child isn't ready to potty-train and want to keep him in diapers but you think differently? Just send your child to daycare in underwear and stop bringing diapers. I finally did that after hearing for nearly 2 years that my son wasn't ready to potty train. He was trained in 4 days once we started.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the responses. I'm more chilled out, but still annoyed.
First PP, you said what's been in my heart for awhile now. This isn't the only thing about this daycare that has frustrated me, and I am sick of talking about the same issues with them over and over. W/ #2 on the way in June I was hoping to keep him there and keep things simple, but no I realize that their arbitrary decisions make life more complicated. Thanks for the push in the right direction!

[Anonymous]

they should have a policy book that states when a child is sent home. I know a fever of 100 is enough at my school. A runny nose??? No child would ever be at daycare!

[Anonymous]

What really makes me mad is the total lack of logic involved here. By the time a child starts exhibiting cold symptoms, they've already been contagious for a good 48 hours. Contagion begins in the incubation phase. So sending a child home for a runny nose is just locking the barn door a couple days after the horses were stolen.

It's as if people are willfully stupid, as long as it makes their lives easier.