daycare illness notifications

[Anonymous]

What's normal? What's too many? Recently our daycare seems to be sending out a lot more. We have kids in two rooms, and one of those rooms often does activities/rest time with another room - increasing exposure.

With two kids, two working parents, and limited PTO, it's stressful to hear HFM or strep is once again spreading through the building. My nightmare is two siblings swapping HFM back and forth for a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's normal? What's too many? Recently our daycare seems to be sending out a lot more. We have kids in two rooms, and one of those rooms often does activities/rest time with another room - increasing exposure.

With two kids, two working parents, and limited PTO, it's stressful to hear HFM or strep is once again spreading through the building. My nightmare is two siblings swapping HFM back and forth for a month.

This won't happen. Kids are more or less immune to strains of HFM they've already had. At most, they will get a very mild case; even then, that's usually after their peak immunity has declined, so certainly not within a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Just wait until they're a bit older and the notification is for lice/nits. Nothing makes you feel itchier than an email telling you your kid has been exposed to lice.

[Anonymous]

We get them often, but all the kids in the age-groups play together on the playground (or in the gym depending on the weather). In the toddler room (12-24 months) we got them what seemed like weekly. Our teachers are amazing though, while there was a child or two who brought the case to the room it rarely spread to the entire room. DD (knock on wood) hasn't caught anything more than a cold at school/daycare. She's 4.

[Anonymous]

I don't get why you wouldn't want to know. If you know strep is going around, and your kid is sick-then you know to be on the lookout for strep and not just assume it's a run of the mill sore throat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you wouldn't want to know. If you know strep is going around, and your kid is sick-then you know to be on the lookout for strep and not just assume it's a run of the mill sore throat.

OP here. Obviously I want to know, and I believe licensed centers have a requirement to notify. My question is - what frequency of illness notifications is cause for concern, indicating a bigger issue with the center?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wait until they're a bit older and the notification is for lice/nits. Nothing makes you feel itchier than an email telling you your kid has been exposed to lice.

Yeah, I started scratching my head just reading that. I know it doesn't do much, but I do a lice repellent spray every morning as some sort of prayer to the gods of mothers of school age children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's normal? What's too many? Recently our daycare seems to be sending out a lot more. We have kids in two rooms, and one of those rooms often does activities/rest time with another room - increasing exposure.

With two kids, two working parents, and limited PTO, it's stressful to hear HFM or strep is once again spreading through the building. My nightmare is two siblings swapping HFM back and forth for a month.

Do you mean how many notifications does a center typically issue? The answer is, a lot, because children get childhood diseases. Centers are required to report certain communicable diseases, and ours generally notifies us of any of those, even if the sick kid is in a totally different classroom. FWIW, my center has had cases of HFM, pinkeye, and a few other things, and my kid has never gotten any of those diseases.

And there are probably more because kids are back in school sharing germs. Older siblings who are exposed in their schools may be passing them along to younger siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you wouldn't want to know. If you know strep is going around, and your kid is sick-then you know to be on the lookout for strep and not just assume it's a run of the mill sore throat.

OP here. Obviously I want to know, and I believe licensed centers have a requirement to notify. My question is - what frequency of illness notifications is cause for concern, indicating a bigger issue with the center?

I would only be worried if there were none, because kids get this stuff, and there's nothing a center can do about a kid contracting pinkeye from a family member and bringing it in to school. If the center is handling it appropriately (like, there is an outbreak of lice, so they wash all linens), then this is just a fact of life. They can get it now, or they can get it later, but anytime kids are together in groups, they are going to share germs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you wouldn't want to know. If you know strep is going around, and your kid is sick-then you know to be on the lookout for strep and not just assume it's a run of the mill sore throat.

OP here. Obviously I want to know, and I believe licensed centers have a requirement to notify. My question is - what frequency of illness notifications is cause for concern, indicating a bigger issue with the center?

I would only be worried if there were none, because kids get this stuff, and there's nothing a center can do about a kid contracting pinkeye from a family member and bringing it in to school. If the center is handling it appropriately (like, there is an outbreak of lice, so they wash all linens), then this is just a fact of life. They can get it now, or they can get it later, but anytime kids are together in groups, they are going to share germs.

You bring up a good point. We were at a daycare where we very rarely got notifications. The director got fired - with cause - and suddenly we were hearing about pink eye and strep all the time. Hmmm...

[Anonymous]

I work in a center and even though we regularly disinfect all the toys, wash all the soft items and linens, frequently wash our hands, keep the kids' noses wiped, etc., diseases still seem to spread frequently. Also, HFM is incredibly difficult to keep from spreading because by the time the tell-tale rash appears, the disease has already been shared with many other kids. I can't speak for every center, but I know we do our best and childhood diseases just seem to be a way of life. The good news is, while unpleasant, most are mild and nonthreatening and I am very thankful for that. I would just be glad your center is informing you so that you can keep an eye out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you wouldn't want to know. If you know strep is going around, and your kid is sick-then you know to be on the lookout for strep and not just assume it's a run of the mill sore throat.

OP here. Obviously I want to know, and I believe licensed centers have a requirement to notify. My question is - what frequency of illness notifications is cause for concern, indicating a bigger issue with the center?

It may be related to the season as well. Large centers will also have a lot more reports than smaller ones (there are just more kids, i.e. more chances of someone being ill in a classroom...) I'm not sure there's a good rule of thumb here.