Nursery Policies

[mamalovesminky]

My child had a temperature last night but it went down this morning so DH dropped her off to nursery with a bottle of Calpol to be administered by staff in case it rose again.

They asked DH if it was prescribed by the doctor or bought. He said it was bought.

A few hours later, the nursery staff range me to say her temperature had risen but they couldn't administer the Calpol as it wasn't prescribed. I said it WAS prescribed - the doctor gave prescribed it a few weeks ago when she had chicken pox.

They said that's not the info they had received from daddy so they couldn't administer and I had to come and collect her. I said that daddy wouldn't know as she's with me when she's not at nursery but they said they HAD to take the word of whoever drops her off (even if the person who drops her off is not the person with the correct info).

AIBU to think this is madness? I'm obviously more than happy to take time off from work and collect her from nursery if she really does need to be at home but if DH had said the Calpol was prescribed, they would have administered it, her temperature would have gone down and she would not have had to be dragged away from nursery in tears.

She loves her 2 days a week at nursery and it is really not nice to see your child upset completely unnecessarily IMHO. What do others think?

[HorryIsUpduffed]

If he's uncomfortable with tooth pain that is completely relieved by a dose of Calpol, he is not ill.

[maja00]

Teething doesn't cause fevers.

[LimitedEditionLady]

I was told teething can cause a slught temperature?

[laracroft2001]

Wow... Our nursery is obviously much more relaxed... They have capol on site, and If child develops a temp, they call to confirm you are happy for them to administer. If temp is not down within 30-45 mins they ask you to collect. I think I signed something when I registered my child to say I was happy with this, and also with sunscreen being administered.

And I have to say.. There is hardly any kids off sick/Ill

[mamalovesminky]

PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND BEFORE FORMING OPINIONS AND REPLYING.... It seems quite a few people are missing the whole point of my gripe here...

Just to clarify, my problem is NOT
a) DD was sent home because she was ill
b) My nursery requires the bottle to be prescribed and labelled before administering medicine

My problem IS:
a) They sent DD home instead of administering Calpol because they decided to take the word of the person dropping her off (DH), rather than the person with the correct information (ME).

b) They made me lose a day of work as when I picked her up and gave her a single dose of Calpol she was perfectly fine (she's just teething).

c) It feels from this incident like the nursery don't trust me which makes me very uneasy to leave DD there.

Here's my most recent conversation with the nursery...

Nursery: I'm calling to explain why we couldn't administer the Calpol for DD last week as we need it to be prescribed.
Me: It was prescribed - for chicken pox.
Nursery: Daddy was asked and said it wasn't so we had to take his word for it.
Me: Daddy wouldn't know as he's at work and I'm with DD when she's not at nursery. Would you have administered it if he had said it WAS prescribed?
Nursery: Yes, we would have taken it on trust. Well if you bring in a bottle that is prescribed by the doctor, the next time she has a fever we can give it to her.
Me: (INTERNALLY) But it WAS prescribed, and you didn't administer it, costing me a day of work and causing my daughter to miss her favourite day of nursery as she loves her Tuesday dance class!
(ALOUD) Ok.

AT THE PHARMACY:
Me: Please could you put the label on the bottle because if not, DD's nursery won't accept it.
Pharmacy: We usually put it on the packaging but I'm sure it won't be a problem.
Me: That's what I thought. But the nursery was insisting if it was prescribed it would be on the bottle.
Pharmacy: Oh, how strange.

ps. Confused Pixie - you are indeed confused. I didn't give DD Calpol in the morning as she no longer had a temperature. She was hopping about happily and demanding to be taken to nursery. Nor did she want me when I got there- she was playing perfectly happily with the other children according to the nursery. Nor is it my nursery's policy only to give Calpol for the ailment it was prescribed as going forward they are perfectly happy to keep a prescribed bottle in nursery for DD 'just in case'. The issue here is that they believed the wrong person (DH instead of me) to know the ins and outs of DD's childcare and as a consequence I missed a day of work. Moreover, I feel that if they are simply going to believe whoever drops her off, not the person with the correct information, more problems could arise in the future as I simply cannot anticipate every question the nursery would ask DH about DD's care. Please read and understand fully before you form opinions and comment.

Thanks x

[maja00]

Your problem then is that your DH needs to tell the nursery he doesn't know if he doesn't know something.

You both have parental responsibility, you are both authorised to deal with your DD's care, it's not up to the nursery to decide which of you to believe.

[meditrina]

If she is still symptomatic from CP, then she probably shouldn't be at nursery.

If the illness isn't CP, then the calpol was not prescribed for this illness, so the nursery is right to say it falls outside their policy.

I think it's a dreadful waste of NHS drugs budget, and GP time, to get calpol for every illness that requires it. But if that's the policy at the nursery you chose, then you just have to live with. If they accept a bottle "just in case" then they simply don't understand their own policy!

[OneStepCloser]

Blimey every nursery I know will happily administer calpol if a parent has signed to say its ok. Teething can cause a fever. YANBU!

[Sirzy]

If the nursery were given a bottle of calpol with no label on it and told it was not prescribed do you really expect them to believe you when they phone you later to pick her up when you suddenly say it is? If I was the nursery nurse I would simply think you were trying to get out of having to pick her up!

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

The OP has said that the child WAS NOT ILL in the morning. She had a bit of a temperature overnight, but woke up right as rain with no temperature. Do piss of with the 'lack of love' bullshit. She didn't send an ill child to nursery. If I kept my child off nursery every time he had a slight raised temperature overnight, or needed calpol because of teething, or got a viral rash, he would never ever go. Seriously think a lot of parents need to get a bloody grip.

[Maryshoppins]

I know this wasn't what OP was referring to. But, those people that assume nurseries 'should' administer medicine such as paracetamol for temperatures astound me. I work in childcare. I ask that parents provide me with paracetamol - prescribed. However, I expect parents to collect their child. I will administer the medication and ask that's parent signs the book, but on the assumption that the parent is on their way

Teething does not cause fevers! A raised temperature yes, but anything over 38 degrees is unlikely. By administering paracetamol, you are canvassing the underlying problem. It may not come to anything much, but why take the risk? I would not wish to risk spreading infection or illness to the other children in my setting.

Nurseries or any childcare setting should not be allowing the use of paracetamol for fever - unless they have asked the parents to collect

[ReallyTired]

I totally agree with Maryshoppins. Many nursery nurses are working mums as well and they know what it is like.

"The OP has said that the child WAS NOT ILL in the morning."

Prehaps the symptoms were masked by calpol. Children often go up and down when they are ill. A poorly child needs a quiet rest.

"If I kept my child off nursery every time he had a slight raised temperature overnight, or needed calpol because of teething, or got a viral rash, he would never ever go. Seriously think a lot of parents need to get a bloody grip."

I completely agree a lot of parents do need to get a grip and think about their priorities in life. Surely the health and happiness of your child is far more important than one day's work. Which comes first - your career or your child?

It is not OK to send a sick child to nursery. Nurseries with strict polices on illness have less sickness and the parents need less time off work. DD's day nursery refused to give calpol and would not accept a child who had been on prescribed anti biotics in the 24 hours. In our experience our dd was less ill than our son was at the same age who attended a different day nursery.

[MammaTJ]

I would have told them to ring the person who had dropped her off to come and get her then, but I'm a stroppy arse at times.

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

It's not about putting my career first, its about getting on with things. I don't send my child to nursery when he is ill, but if he is fine in the morning then I would send him. I do not begrudge picking him up or staying home with him, but only when he is actually ill. And he does get a fever with teething, either that or he has had a virus every single time he has cut a tooth.
I also don't know what kind of calpol you are using but it only lasts for a few hours here, so wouldn't be masking anything in the morning.

[Twattybollocks]

Yabu. The cp

[Twattybollocks]

Yabu. The calpol wasn't prescribed for teething it was prescribed for cp which your dd has recovered from. Nursery were quite correct not to administer.
Also, for those who say "if I kept my child off nursery every time they had a temp they would never be there" perhaps if everyone showed some social responsibility and kept their sick children at home rather than sending them in to nursery, your child might not be ill all the time!
I say this as my sisters dd has been at nursery 5 times in 4 weeks (she goes one day a week) and 4/5 weeks she has been ill a couple of days later with temp/virus. She's getting it from somewhere!

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

Or maybe if we all stopped making a massive drama about every little sniffle we'd all just get on with life and working parents would get taken more seriously.

Bowing out now, happy that the nursery we use seems to be run by people with a decent amount of common sense.

[Sirzy]

As surely nobody in their right mind gives calpol for a "little sniffle" then that's not what this is about!

It's about children who are poorly enough to need medication - if they need medicine they shouldn't be at nursery because a) they need rest and snuggles with parents to recovery and b) they could easily be passing the bug around every other child in the nursery.

Also it may be teething but Nursery staff aren't qualified doctors and are unable to diagnose the cause of the fever!

[DuttyWine]

No nurseries should be telling parents their children have temperatures either imo. If they are using thermometers they might not be using them accurately and if they are just guessing that's even worse!

My dd's nursery rang me to say she had 'a really high temperature' and could I immediately come... I rushed panic stricken to find her sat in the hot baby room wearing a fleece jumper zipped up to the neck sweating and red cheeked. Once I'd unwrapped her and gave her a drink of water she was fine!

The nursery I work at wont give calpol unless its been prescribed for that occasion and if they are on antibiotics they have to stay off 48 hrs too. And no talking of temperatures either, we just tell parents they feel warm and we try to keep them cool until parent or carer arrives. All sensible advice really.

[TheDoctrineOfAllan]

Eh? Why wouldn't you take a temperature? Surely that's more likely to be correct than feels warm or feels cool?

[Icantstopeatinglol]

I think it totally depends on the illness, some kids do get temperatures very easy and to be fair if I kept my ds off nursery every time he had a temp I'd not have a job now! He was never ill, if he had been I would never send him in. The nursery my dc both went to have been fab and have agreed that giving calpol is fine, they always ring if they are concerned. Most the time calpol was administered they were fine pretty much with minutes! If they weren't I went straight to get them no questions asked. It could be anything from colds to teething, you can't keep your kids off for every little thing.

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

Good lord if I had kept Ds1 off nursery for every raised temp he'd never have been in during his first year. Clearly lots of people on this thread don't have to worry about work and taking time off willy nilly.

Yanbu op but my nursery had the same policy about giving medicine but also they said if the child is generally ok they don't have to go home. Luckily I had family that could nip in to give him a dose

[Sirzy]

If people had kept children off with a raised temperature perhaps DS wouldn't have spent so much time in hospital during his first 3 years... it works both ways!

By parents sending their children in when ill it simply keeps the bugs floating round even more and meaning the children will get ill more. If parents took sensible precautions the number of bugs going around could be reduced.

[Icantstopeatinglol]

Omg I've just read some of the posts on here and in shocked at how just because some people are parents that gives you absolutely no right to be so bloody rude about other people's parenting skills!! Opinions yes but there is no need or reason to be so rude!
All kids are different for christs sake! My ds used to get a temp at the drop of a hat whereas my dd hardly ever did. I'm their mother and I know when they're poorly. If (and I'm sure that goes for everyone on here!) I thought for one second one of my dc was ill I would never send them in but seriously you can't keep your kids of nursery/school for every little snuffle......but if you do them that's your call but don't judge others if they don't.
My dr always said it does them no harm at a young age to pick up colds etc and builds up their immune system.