Do I say something to these parents??

[Faloola]

I'm a childminder, I look after two sisters who are 4 and 1. I have two kids of my own (9 and 13) and I sometimes watch friends kids if needed.

On Tuesday, I was watching my mindees and my friends daughter popped in for an hour. She was having problems with her skin and was due to go to the drs which is near mine so waited with me. She's 14. She played with the babies then went off to her appointment.

Today, my mindees dad dropped off the kids, and the 1 year old had a scab on her stomach and neck. He told me it was nothing serious, they'd been to the drs it wasn't infectious, and gave me the cream to put on it. Fine. But later on, my friend who's daughter had popped round came by, and told me her daughter had had impetigo. I showed her the babys scab and the cream, and she confirmed it was the same cream her daughter had.

So the daughter has given the baby impetigo, at the time I had no idea that's what it was, and wouldn't have let her around the babies if I had. Do I mention this to the parents? They've obviously lied to me regardless of the fact that they know me or my kids or anyone else could be infected.

Impetigo is not just a skin condition and can make people feel very run down.

And once you have had you can be prone to getting it again and again ....

Op you need to take your responsibility as a child minder seriously .

It's not uptight to expect confidentiality with regards to medication.

A child has the same rights to medical confidentiality as an adult.this means people who have a need to know being told but not anyone you just fancy chatting to about it. Imagine if this was a school and a teacher was discussing a childs medication with a random, most of you would probally go mental

Are you going to still charge them if you tell them you can't have their DD because she now may have this?

I was quite curious about that as well

Are the baby's parents going to have to pay while you can't have her ?

You're fine to have the baby once treatment has started. DS1 has impetigo at least once a month (he is a habitual skin picker). DD has only caught it once, DS2 has never had it an nor have I. It's been in the house for 3.5 years now. DS1 occasionally has to have oral antibiotics as well as the fucidin to sort it out, poor little sod.

If you are aware and catch it early, it isn't a big deal, and OP, you're aware now!

We are a lucky family too then I think. Dd1 caught impetigo from her stepsister, the step sis then passed it to her little sister, her mum, her younger cousin and other cousins. By the time dd had it I knew what it looked like so rushed her to the doc who confirmed. She had it on her backside too so it was easier to keep covered.

She was off school for a week. Its so infectious and yy to the poster who said it makes you feel grotty

Wouldnt a child minder have to go through some basic training re childhood illnesses? Ive never used cm only nurseries so I dont know.

We didnt catch it from dd, managed to break the cycle

IME you don't need to go mad boiling stuff. I worked in schools with kids who had it very frequently and were not kept off school. Normal handwashing with hot water and not poking at the rash (looking at YOU, DS1 ) stops the spread.

People get hysterical about it.

no you dont need to go mad cleaning, normal handwashing, use gloves if you can when applying the cream and then wash hands, make sure the baby has its own towel/flannel etc that is not used by anyone else and keep the affected area covered at all times if you can. keep nails short to discourage scratching etc.

DD1 got impetigo when DD2 was a newborn and the GP was very laid back about the whole business.

I can't believe the hysteria about "random 14 yo" and medication. Teenage girls playing with babies is entirely normal. It was in your home under your supervision. WTAF is the problem?

OP, I don't think you were very wise given the skin condition but you know that. It's done. Kids do catch things at nursery, preschool, CMs. God knows where DD1 got impetigo from as I was a FT SAHM in those days.

Tell the parents so they can go back to their GP and get the tx adjusted if necessary. As a registered CM I do think you should do a deep clean and especially make sure the toys are clean or disposed of.

Sorry you got a pasting on here.

Hmmm, I would be annoyed if a random 14 year old aged with my child and gave them an infectious disease. It's one thing if my child was playing with someone at a playgroup or a play date or whatever, but for a daughter of a friend of the person looking after my child to come in such close contact that my child suffered harm as a result I would be pissed off.

But presumably the parents are aware that you have a completely open house and are okay with it?

And as other posters have said, the medicine could be for something completely different to impetigo.

My Dd caught impetigo as a 14 month old and still has the scars clearly on her face over a year later. It develops quickly and is extremely contagious. If there is a chance your mindee might have caught it, please, you must tell the parents so they can keep an eye out and get it treated ASAP before their child suffers a severe bout of it.

Do you know that the cream the baby has is only for impetigo? could it treat other things too?

Whether or not the OP is at fault for allowing the teenager to play with the baby has nothing to do with whether it was ok for the babies parents to lie.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

The big difference is that the OP didnt knowingly put the baby into contact with impetigo, but the baby's parents probably did - assuming that it really is impetigo. It may well not be, the cream they give out for that works for plenty of other things too, and the parents might have been telling the truth about the doctor saying it wasn't contagious.

I would just ask the baby's parents if the doctor has actually diagnosed anything, or if he just gave them a catch all cream then go from there. It won't help anyone to be jumping to conclusions.

I'm a childminder as well and what are you doing showing your friend the baby's medication???

I'm shocked that the op showed her friend the baby's tummy, never mind the medication.
That certainly is an invasion of the baby's privacy and a safeguarding issue. Don't CMs have any training on safeguarding?

Insancerre - yes that as well! Babies have a right to privacy and medical confidentiality as much as adults do. We do have safeguarding training, and the OP should have a confidentiality agreement with the parents.