if LO not well enough for school surely he is not well enough for CM?

Sanfairyanne, I can see where your coming from with regards to being reliable etc,
but
Im a childminder, This is my JOB, it also goes towards paying the Bills and our Mortgage.
I do not get paid if I have to take time off work because I am ill or my own kids are ill.

I have had to take time off work recently, UNPAID, because a parent had thoughtlessly brought their child to me without telling me, said child had been ill in the night!
V & D. The other mindees and my family caught it!!

I had took take time off to look after me and mine, so all in all she had to find childcare for several days, longer than if the child had been kept at home for 48 hours to recuperate.

I hope this reply doesnt sound to harsh, but it really is annoying when parents dont see beyond the loop, iykwim.

it is nice to have a cm who will take them though. i never expect mine to but she does. she's ace and the reason why I can actually hold down a job rather than being unreliable and have to take time off all the time

I had to laugh at this comment
'He basically lay around watching TV for the morning and in the afternoon did jigsaws, and by 1.30 was probably fine for school, but my mum saw no point.'

Do you really think thats what happens at a childminders house!!!!

If a child came to me not well enough for school but mum wanted him to rest, it would mean he would first have to go to a toddler group,an active start session or a music group.He may have to go for a walk in the woods etc why should the other children stay at home just because one child needed to rest.
I may not have space in the car, it also may take me over safe numbers if the child normally is at school.Why presume a childminder should take the child if they are not well enough for school.
He would get to rest in the afternoon but by then he would have been begging to go to school!!

pippin26 i know exactly what you mean what amazes me is the grief from parents like that when you say you can't work because your children have caught whatever illness they came to you with

I am really shocked by Shiney's response. A childminder provides childCARE they are not a nurse nor a substitute for parents when the child is ill. surely if your child is ill then you'd want to stay with them - care and comfort for them. Its a PARENT's job first and foremost to CARE and NURSE their own sick child.

Lots of responses saying that its unreasonable and unfair to expect a childminder to mind a sick child (and yes that depends on how ill/type of ill) - a childminder has other children to care for and a responsibility to those children and families, there is also the responsibility towards her own family and not least - ensuring that she stays fit and well to be able to carry on minding and providing a service.
I know when a parent insisted on sending their child to me when they were ill(well pretending that their LO wasn't ill) - S&D - it ended up going round my family and i had to close my business for 10 days (large family) resulting in 3 other families having S&D as well not to mention having to find alternative care and my huge loss of income - all because of this one very inconsiderate family. I felt like billing them for my loss of earnings - which was considerable.

As for taking a schoolie who is too ill to be in school - then absolutely not. If it was caring for a child with a broken leg for example - then yes, but if they are too ill to be in school then they are too ill to be with me.

Charges - if I close the setting no charge, if I am open and you are not using the service as contracted - you pay

Dreamteamgirl - but if he had gone to the childminder he wouldn't have been able to lie around watching TV all day. He might have had to go on school runs, to toddler group, the park. If he was fit to do that then the cm probably wouldn't mind.

the flip side of this is if you send your sick child to a childminder they may infect other children and if like has just happened to me they infect your childminders children your childminder can not work so you may end up taking more time off than if you had just kept your sick child home to start with. Also why should younger children miss their groups etc so the childminder can let your sick child stay on the sofa sick children should not be sent

I am fairly suprised by the reactions here
I mean yes of course it depends and if the child is REALLY sick then no the childminder shouldnt HAVE to have them.

But yesterday, for example, DS was up half the night with a cough and so slept late and I didnt send him to school because he didnt wake up till 9.15 -9.30 even with me trying at 7.30.

He went to my mum who had him all day along with my convelescing dad

He basically lay around watching TV for the morning and in the afternoon did jigsaws, and by 1.30 was probably fine for school, but my mum saw no point.

He wasnt contagious or holding anyone back just a bit tired. I would have been a bit suprised if a child minder hadnt agreed to do some extra hours to have him if I used childminder

if a child is ill and cant come on a day that has been booked in for them to come then the parent still pays for that time, the childminder can not get other work as they wont know if theyre off for half day, one day, one week, theres no certainty..thats why we have contracted so parents know if they just dont bring them in (as i have had) they DO still pay if theyve already requested that day/hours.

re: charging if c/m refuses to take sick child.
this is what contracts are for!
if it says on your contract that c/m charges if child is sick and you signed the contract then you pay - simple.

it isn't fair if c/m has less money that week due to no fault of her own.She still has a mortgage and bills to pay. Now if parent is self-employed and can't work due to caring for their sick child that is a shame but unavoidable.

hmmm coming back to this

If you have a sick child policy then you can implement it, No4

WHen you next review contract then update all your policies, hand copies over and then ta daaa problem solved.

here is mine in toto:

SICKNESS POLICY

I cannot care for a child who has sickness and /or diarrhoea. In the interest of infection control they must not return until at least 48 hours after the last symptoms of illness.

I cannot care for a child who is not well enough to participate in their normal activities eg Toddler Group, Music Class or School.

If a child develops a temperature I will contact their parents/carers to arrange collection as soon as possible.

I can administer medicine only with the prior express written permission from the child?s parent/carer for each day that the administering of medicine is required.

Child?s name ???????????????????????..

Parent/carer?s name ???????????????????????..

Signature ???????????????????????..

Date ??????????????????? ????..

Childminder?s
Name ????????????????????????

Signature ????????????????????????

D ate ????????????????????????

Then there can be no misunderstanding and all know where they stand

(now I'm looking at mine and thinking is it now 72 hours for D aV ?? I think it is)

I mind a child who has had really bad colds for months it seems and I've not been well for weeks myself. But he never has a fever, vomits or has runny nappies so I can't really exclude him.
His parents have had the same bugs but whilst they had time off work, he still came to me.
I can take it...up to a point

I agree it does depend on WHY the child is off ill. A child recovering from chickenpox is not "ill" in my opinion. I recently had a mindee that had it and once the spots had scabbed over and he was no longer contagious then he was fine to come to me. If a child is too ill for school, too ill to join in normal day to day activities and/or poses a risk of infection to others then they should remain at home and yes I think that day should be charged for (as it would be at nursery, childminder is available and therefore should be paid). A child that just wants to lie on the sofa all day and watch dvd's should be at home, why should other mindee's and the CM have to stay at home because one child is unwell? Parents do have to take responsibility for their own unwell child, it is not and should not, in my opinion, be the responsibility of the childminder.

There does of course have to be common sense applied, I wouldn't turn away a teething child, a child with a common cold/runny nose, a child that was no longer contagious with chicken pox etc and I would expect parents to respect my home and my children enough not to bring a child that is clearly ill.

if a CM refuses to have a little one as they are ill, can they still charge for that child??

simple as abc - yes a nanny would have ill child/ren

thats is a huge advantage of employing a nanny to a cm/nursery

yy

my sick child policy excludes a child who cannot participate in our normal day to day routine viz:

I cannot care for a child who is not well enough to participate in their normal activities eg Toddler Group, Music Class or School.

Obv there is more on it than just this bit but relevant

I'm very shocked that someone thinks that because CMs are 'childcare' that means that they should accept children that are too ill for school. Surely the fact that they are too ill for school means that they've obviously got a bit more than just a snotty nose ....

I'm a nanny and if kids are sick I still work (one of the benefits of having a nanny!). If it was something that would put be at risk - like chicken pox, swine flu or German measles while pregnant - then I wouldn't work. Employers have to do a risk assessment when you're pregnant which would cover this kind of thing.

i need to update my policies with this..i had a child whose mum constantly sent him when he was ill, keeping him off nursery as he wasnt well enough and said oh he can just rest at yours...well this little boy was poorly a LOT..it got to the point where me and the other mindees had to cancel playgroups as this little boy was laying asleep on the sofa most of the day...mum gave me notice becuase i said we couldnt carry on like this!, she felt i was asking too much of him expecting him to get up to do a school run for the other chldren inc my own dd when he was ill...Go figure!...hes in a nursery as well as full time ed now..they point blank refuse him if he cant join in!so she has to take time off or get help from family...she lost a bloody good childminder here!

aww my Mum's are all lovely too - isn't it great

there are so many nasty bugs going round atm.

i agree too ill for school = too ill for childminder.

i think that parents sometimes forget that there are other people to think of - the c/m doesn't get sick pay and if she doesn't work she doesn't get paid - if her own children pick up a mindee's illness then it is likely she can't work then either - plus passing it on to other mindee's - i wouldn't turn away a child with the sniffles but neither would school. I've heard plenty of cases of parents dosing up child with calpol before taking to minder so they look/seem ok until it starts wearing off.

number 4 - sounds like the Mum is nice and sensible