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?

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

Agree with sensible precautions, sensible being the key word. There is no way I could have kept DS off for every temp, just not feasible, if he wasnt ill, no other symptoms at all, perfectly fine apart from the temp, he went in because I had no other choice.

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

IIRC one week he had a temp Monday, ok Tuesday - Thursday, temp Friday.

Can just imagine how THAT woudl have gone down at work. Day off Monday AND Friday so all round. Not to mention two days unpaid would have meant massive problems for me money wise. Oh and because my work hated women with families because they were a "drain" on them a nice little black mark against my name.

[maja00]

It's simple really - if a child has a mild temperature but isn't ill, then they don't need any medication and they don't need to stay at home.

If they have a fever and are ill enough to need calpol, they are too ill for nursery.

Nurseries don't need to take temperatures as it is obvious if a child is ill with a fever.

I understand it is hard for working parents to take time off for sick children, but how is that the nursery's problem? It's hard for the nursery staff to take time off when a child has made them ill too, or when their own kids are ill.

[Maryshoppins]

If a nursery is happy to administer medicine for a temperature and the parents feel under pressure with work or think a raised temperature is potentially harmless, then fine - send them!

But in my honest opinion, all childcare settings should not allow a child with a temperature to stay in their setting. They should be allowed to administer paracetamol with the knowledge a parent is on their way to collect their child.

Teething can cause an elevated temperature, but anything over 38 will be due to an underlying illness. Yet I know of several people who have happily dosed their child up with calpol and sent them to nursery for a very high temperature because they assumed their 39 degree temp child was teething. It's really not fair to send a child to school potentially spreading an illness or infection.

It's common sense that by getting a fever, your child is likely fighting something. I think there would be less illness if nurseries and childminders were a little stricter on their policies.

I know this is not the op's original problem. This is just in response to some of the latter posts.

[rainbowbrite1980]

my childrens nursery would give calpol, signed consent form when they started - we didn't send our own calopol in either, it was theirs. Seemed to be standard policy for local nurseries. I wouldn 't have snet them in ill but they were given calopol a couple of times when they developed a temp at nursery and were waiting for me to pick them up. Or if they were teething.

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

Well thank the lord that my nursery isn't that strict and understand the problem some working women face. Id have lost my job within the first year otherwise.

[Maryshoppins]

Surely if the nursery give calpol to a child with a seemingly mild fever, they would not know if it was something more serious seeing as the calpol would effectively bring down the temperature? I think it's madness on the nurseries part.

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

Also various website including nhs state that some temps don't cause any problems and can be due to teething, as most of Ds's were. How can people seriously be expected to stay off work for every single bit of a temp in a child that is otherwise fine?

[Maryshoppins]

TheToys- I am a working mother too so I understand how difficult it is. But there would be far less illnesses if everyone kept their child home rather than potentially spreading illness and infection?

[insancerre]

some temps
how are the nursery supposed to determine which high temps are going to be problematic?
the nursery is there to care for children who are well enought to be there
not to make a decision about the health of each child and certainly not to care for poorly children
that is the parent's job, no?

[Maryshoppins]

The NHS website states that a teething temperature is slightly raised and not a fever. Also, the NHS website states that children should not be sent to school with a raised temperature or fever

[Maryshoppins]

That's my point. Calpol will bring their temp down. How will they know the temperature wouldn't have developed into a high fever because the child has an illness?

[maja00]

A mild raised temperature in an otherwise well child wouldn't mean a child needs to go home though, and doesn't need medication.

A child who is uncomfortable or distressed with a fever so needs calpol shouldn't be at nursery - they need to be at home.

So the issue with calpol is - if a child needs it, they are too ill for nursery. Nurseries should not be administering calpol at all.

[Sirzy]

Exactly maja.

[TheToysAreALIVEITellThee]

Marys - you misunderstand me.

If DS was ill OF COURSE he wont go to nursery, there have been a few instances where I have had to take time off work. If all he had was a bit of a temp, no other symptoms, then he'd go in.

In all the time of him having temperatures every single instance where that was all he had, no other illness materialised. None.

and I did inform the nursery of his temp when I have sent him in, their response was they'd keep an eye on him, let me know if he developed other symptoms - he never did.

[Icantstopeatinglol]

I don't see the problem in giving a child calpol for a raises temp in a child with slight illness or teething. Just the same as if we weren't feeling well we'd take paracetamol to take the edge off. If it was something more serious calpol wouldn't mask it, it just wouldn't work. If you mixed calpol and ibuprofen then yes that would mask symptoms which is why you're told not to do that unless you know exactly what the problem is.
I think raised temp is fine to administer calpol but if they're actually behaving differently and it starts to hit 38.5/39 then I'd be concerned.
Seriously as a working mother you can't take time off work for every little thing. I do keep them off if they're not well though and I think they need to stay at home. I used most of my holidays last year taking time off for illnesses and I'm happy with that but you can't be expected to keep them off for everything.

[maja00]

Nursery staff aren't medically trained, they are on dodgy ground administering unnecessary medication that has not been prescribed.

[Sirzy]

Giving children medicine isn't a problem. Dosing them up with medicine and then sending them to nursery/school is.

That said nice guidelines say that mild temperatures don't need medicating and are best left so the body can fight. High temps and other symptoms should be medicated but not mild fever.

[Icantstopeatinglol]

I just think it's upto parents to decide, you know your child. My nurserys always been great and if they're concerned they ring me straight away. My ds used to get a temp for every little thing, I seriously wouldn't have a job if I'd picked him up every time.

[WilsonFrickett]

Another way of looking at this is you and your DH gave nursery two completely different stories about the calpol. (which, no matter how you dress it up, was not prescribed for your child's current illness.).

In that situation I would be very nervous to give a further dose because how could I be sure when the child's last dose was? One of the reasons nurseries are careful about calpol is because it's paracetamol and too much paracetamol is a really bad thing. They have two separate stories - I wouldn't want to be the one to administer what could actually be the child's second dose that day.

You and your DH really need to sort out your communication. That's what you should take away from this.