So... Our son is kind of spirited (i.e. difficult to handle) and at that age our new daycare was sending him home 2-3x a week saying he had a fever. In one month, he got sent home more than 10 times but I was only able to confirm a fever only once even though I picked him up within 20 minutes of them calling and our home is about 5 minutes away.

Now I tried over and over again to give the teachers the benefit of the doubt but at some point it was clear that I was the dummy here and they were taking advantage of us. I talked to the director who backed up her teachers. One day, I finally took a thermometer to the daycare and in front of the teachers and the director when they asked me to pick him up took my son's temperature which was a perfect 98.6 degrees. We immediately disenrolled him.

I don't think it's fair to assume that all teachers are lazy or trying to use any excuse possible to send fuzzy/hard to handle kids home but these teachers definitely do exist!!

Daycare employee here....

I do not send children home that only have a temperature of 100 degrees. They must have other symptoms as well, such as, lethargic, runny nose, not eating, not able to participate in the daily activities, etc. I do give a heads up call to the parent and let them know that Little Johhny is running a slight temperature of 100 degrees and we will continue to keep an eye out on him to see how it progresses. Some parents will pick their child up right away and some will say thanks, just keep me posted. Like others have said, a written illness policy should be posted and available to you. Also, our center is only allowed to take the child's temperature underneath the arm, and we must add a degree.

Centers should have a written policy about what temp constitutes a fever that requires a child to stay home. At ours it's spelled out by measuring device (i.e. x if taken under arm, y if taken by mouth, etc.). If below a certain level, a fever alone doesn't require a child to go home. But if there is a second condition (child is lethargic, doesn't want to participate, is crying) a child can be sent home. If above a certain level, a fever alone can require a child to go home.

So yeah, at that age you can expect quite a few calls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sounds fishy. If it were me, I'd ask them to take the temp again when I arrived so everyone can see the temp at the same time.

I've done this after repeated calls to pick up child and then no fever present at home. Last time I went, my child was happily playing, I felt his forhead it didn't feel warm. I asked them to take the temp in front of me and it was NORMAL. I then left. I also keep my own thermometer or will stop and get it if I get the call to pick him up. Sometimes they are tight on numbers--no joke- and the place make this crap up. Can't wait to get off of the waitlist where we want to be!

That is just nonsense. If they pull this again, tell them to text you a picture of the thermometer reading with your child right there.

Anonymous wrote:This sounds fishy. If it were me, I'd ask them to take the temp again when I arrived so everyone can see the temp at the same time.

I've done this after repeated calls to pick up child and then no fever present at home. Last time I went, my child was happily playing, I felt his forhead it didn't feel warm. I asked them to take the temp in front of me and it was NORMAL. I then left. I also keep my own thermometer or will stop and get it if I get the call to pick him up. Sometimes they are tight on numbers--no joke- and the place make this crap up. Can't wait to get off of the waitlist where we want to be!

This sounds fishy. If it were me, I'd ask them to take the temp again when I arrived so everyone can see the temp at the same time.

Don"t worry for how much time you are paying (full or part), your child's health is most important to you.

Just watch for fall-winter season when some kids with a little high fever will bring tons of germs for everyone. Policy is a rule and you have to respect it.

their fever policy should be written. are the infants kept to a close to room environment? this helps with germ control.

Exactly, you should be happy that they are really checking your baby temperature and monitoring her day.

I know it's a PITA, but honestly I would rather them send my child home a million times for a non-existent fever than ignore a serious issue. My daughter was in a daycare recently that was not looking out for her best interest and it ended in seizures and a trip to the hospital. I dropped her off one morning, she was a little cranky but no fever so I thought she was just a little sleepy. Well at some point during the day she became lethargic and spiked a fever. I never received a call about anything being wrong with my daughter so I assumed her day was going well. Looking back maybe I should have checked in... Anyways when I picked her up the teachers reported that she had been sleeping most of the day so they left her alone. When I picked her up she was scorching hot! When I got home I took her temp and it was 104.8! I rushed her to the ER where she ended up having seizures and getting admitted. This issue kind of seems minor...be thankful you have a center that is taking care of your child

Most daycares can only take temps with the old fashion thermometers and using it in the armpit so they add a degree to make it"more accurate" the same thing happened to me about three times in a month for my kids. When I got home they had NO FEVER. The last time I called the school back and brought my kid back in and they were fine the rest of the day. I told the daycare that I would now be keeping my ear and temporal thermometer in my car so I could measure the temperature when i came to pick them up. I haven't been called in the last year and a half for a fever. If a child is playing, crying, outside, by a heater these crappy thermometers that they use will be effected easily. It is not an accurate read.

Anonymous wrote: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.

You probably that kind of mom that never happy. Teachers are really care for your child, that why they are calling you. Specially, it is a FIFTH day in the DAYCARE. It take time for your child to feel comfortable in the daycare, at list 2-3 weeks. The best is to start for 1 hour per day and add an hour each day, so it will be less STRESS for your child. 13 months baby already has separation anxiety. Please be understandable, and don't blame the teachers for them doing good to your child. (I am not a teacher at your school)

I have twins in daycare and over the last 9 months, I have had to pick them up several times for fevers. And if one has a fever, I have to bring both home because it's over half hour each way to daycare/work. It's too hard to pick one up, the have to go over an hour round trip later in the day to pick the other one up (which dragging along the one that had the fever).

That said, while I understand the hardship (I now count my remaining leave balance in hours rather than in days), I also prefer this policy. My children have caught *ALL* of their colds at daycare and I can usually point to the child or adult who has had similar symptoms just before my child had them. I personally feel that if the daycare wasn't as vigilant on this policy for other children that my kids would be getting sick more often than they already are. So, the daycares do this for the benefit of the other families.

I also don't think out daycare uses this as a ploy to send a difficult child home. Both of us have stopped in at various times during the day (the daycare is in the building where my spouse works and I work 5 minutes away) and we have seen some horrifically bad behavior by some child (rarely ours, but even they have moments) and the child in question usually stays the entire day. As they get older, they're having these bad moments less often, but there are still some days that I really feel bad for our teachers. But, as was already pointed out, we pay daycare so that we can actually work during the day and still have our children cared for, on good days and bad...

This has hapened to me as well. I work very close to the daycare and the owner called to tell me that my child seemed to be having a bad day...would I mind coming to get her? I felt like a horrible parent, but I told her no, that is why I pay her staff--to take care of my child while I am at work.

As for the fever, make sure you ask about the temperature taking policy at your school. For some reason, our school takes a forehead temp and then adds one degree. Why they do this I have no idea. But it's frustrating when they say they took the temp right after nap (when yes, kids are warm) and then add a degree....all of a sudden BOOM! fever!