To ask how those of you with nursery experience think of this...

[karmacoma1]

Dd is 10 months. I got made redundant on mat leave, had a dreadful time finding a job, and I now finally have one.

I found a nursery a few minutes from my new job, dd had the settling in sessions before xmas, all went well. Dd started nursery 2nd jan, the day before my new role started. I had a call half way through the day from nursery, saying dd had ‘gunk in one eye, that they’ve had to wipe three tines’ so I had to come and get her.
I went to pick her up, they advised that she need to see a doctor and if she had conjunctivitis and was given medication they wouldn’t take her for 48 hours

Cue an incredibly stressful evening of me desperately trying to sort c/care whiletvwaiting st the walk-in centre - mil finally came to my rescue, she had her the next day, I explained the situation to new boss when I went in, then I had the following day off to look after her, they let me take it as holiday.
Now today the sane thing has happened AGAIN. I’ve had to leave work early, completely stressed because what kind of fucking impression must they have of me already? Looks like I’ll be missing tomorrow as well.

My DH is furious with the nursery and says I’m being made a mug of as ‘they still get paid either way’ and said that I’ll probably lose my job if this keeps happening.

I’m sorry that was long winded, my question is, is this normal for the nursery to do this? Should I be looking to send her elsewhere? The doctor I saw with dd said the nursery should take her in?
She’s my first and I have nothing to compare it to.

Sorry, just seen Why!

This is the current 2017 recommendation from Public Health England for school and childcare settings. I would print it off and give it to them. There's no point in a non-medically qualified person insisting on antibiotic treatment, especially when in health terms we are in a crisis interns of antibiotic resistance.

http://www.publichealth.hscni.net/sites/default/files/Guidanceoninfectioncontrolin%20schools_poster.pdf

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/08/world-faces-antibiotic-apocalypse-says-chief-medical-officer

Suspected Conjunctivitis is the only thing my son has ever been sent home from nursery for. They never told me to get a prescription but I took him to the pharmacist who agreed it was not conjunctivitis, phoned the nursery who took him back the next day without any issues. I think it is quite a common thing for nurseries to do, understandably

I begged my GP for a spare tube of conjunctivitis cream, so I always had a spare one in the fridge, so I sent Ds1 back asap.

I'm not sure if ds's nursery ever phoned us for conjunctivitis but we definitely got told at the end of the day and told he would have to be under going treatment before he was allowed back. once he was being treated he was allowed straight back in though. 48hrs is stupid. Have they got a sickness policy you can look at? I would be looking for alternatives tbh.

It is extremely stressful, a similar thing happened to me with chicken pox that started literally the first day I went back after maternity leave. You feel awful and tbh my childless boss wasn't too happy but luckily my maternity cover was available to stay on.

Years ago my nursery allowed conjunctivitis as long as you'd started with drops or cream so it was mostly limited to a part day issue.

I couldn't have a nursery like some described here! It would be hell!! My nursery is very good, the kids arent often sick and the only time we've had to take time off was for chicken pox and vomiting bug. I wouldn't be impressed if nursery called me because of a gunky eye...or demanded an exclusion period of conjunctivitis...

Sadly this is the way of things

As it happens your child had a pre existing condition - but I found with mine particularly the first that he was off approx 35% off his first year with various things most of which were actually a result of him being at the nursery eg he caught the infections at nursery - I used to dread the call to go and pick him up as I worked over an hour away and we had no family to help

With second child I was lucky as by then husband worked away and therefore second child went to nursery later on and we had a bit of an easier ride

I'd look for a new nursery, not all have the same policies. Unfortunately bugs are often rife in this kind of setting and as my childminder says 'if she excluded for every cold, she'd never have any children'!

We use a mix of nursery and a childminder (until I got made redundant, finished this week), it does mean that if the nursery are over zealous in their exclusion and the childminder is less strict, we can cover. We have no family and I don't mind being off for genuine illness.

For example, DS has been a little out of sorts, not ill, just not quite himself, a bit clingy. CM happy to have him and call if necessary as she had a quiet day today. DS was totally fine, just tired it turns out. Nursery might have rung me because they can't give that closer 1-on-1 when there's 20+ kids in the room.

Good luck, I'm actually quite pleased to no longer be working and not having the sickness / school holiday stress.

It's common I'm afraid. If they let her in then they will all get it.. and afraid to say your dd prob will catch everything going for the next 6 months till they build up a better recentence to bugs.

It's not the nursery fault but maybe itd be a good idea to find a emergency person? It sucks though

My dp works miles away too, we have a deal that if I have to leave work to pick the dc up then he has the day off after that to look after them.
It is hard finding someone to look after dc when they are ill. Especially when they are really little.

They need to check up on there policies, conjunctivitis can be caused by teething and allergies, not always treatable by antibiotics or even contagious. If possible make a doctors appointment they can usually tell the difference

I'm afraid it's really normal for them to get ill when they start nursery so be ready for more days off.

Are you BF? Breastmilk really good for eye infections.

It's really stressful when they first start and trying to make a good impression.

Once my DS was about 2 his immune system coped much better and he'd caught most of the contagious things by then.

It was extremely stressful going back to work. My first day back from mat leave we got the call to say ds had chicken pox. We paid for full time and he probably went 3 days a week for about the first 9 months.
I would start looking for a different kind of childcare if at all possible.

My son started nursery two days a week in Dec. He's has every illness going, including conjunctivitis twice. The first time he didn't have drops and nursery were fine with him going, the second time it was worse and I just bought drops over the counter but told the pharmacist they were for me (I'm a health professional and was confident it was just conjunctivitis). Nursery asked how I'd got drops without a GP seeing him and I explained - they were happy to administer them without a prescription.

I’m sure the nursery aren’t stupid. Lots of nurseries are aware of the advice and guidance but will stop conjunctivitus where there is gunk etc as it can often be just so contagious. Fair enough if it’s in their policy.
Sorry OP, I know how tough things can be with childcare and illness x

After we had more than one situation like this we had the GP write a letter to the nursery and explain it was unnecessary for the child to be excluded for 48 hours. Nursery weren’t happy but did change their policy. It is already stressful enough with TFL and the fines for being late - hope the situation improves OP

I’m with Oblada on this... my DC has been at her current nursery since she was 10 months (now four) and has never been sent home.

When I first went back to work after mat leave she was at a different nursery - for 6 weeks; each week I got a call saying she was running a temp and needed a doctors appt before returning. My GP got sick and tired of me taking appointments for no reason - there was nothing wrong with my DC. In the end the GP advised me to change nursery which luckily i was able to do with family childcare over the interim.

As a working parent it is really important for you to find good quality childcare. Wishing you the best OP.

Public health England advise that there is no need for exclusion with conjunctivitis. Most conjunctivitis is viral so will clear up without treatment. I am a GP and this drives me crazy when nurseries have this policy which is not evidence based. I prescribe for the parents as I know how annoying it is if your child is excluded in this way!

My daughter has conjunctivitis at the moment. Nursery know and don't mind. They said conjunctivitis is always going around and they'll just wipe her eyes when they need doing. They know she's not on any medication for it.

Their only policy is can't come in for 48 hours after sickness or diohrrea (I can't spell that word!) or if they're on any kind of medication must have a letter from the gp.

Find a different nursery. We have a no exclusion policy for conjunctivitis as do many settings. It sounds as if they are mugging you off, maybe your DD is finding it hard to settle (understandably) and the staff are taking an easy route out.

Also 48 hours for eye drops WTAF, we have 24 for a new antibiotic. I'd ask to speak to the manager if you haven't already, but if I were in your shoes I'd be looking elsewhere.

A gunky eye doesn’t even necessarily equal conjunctivitis.

If you’ve got the energy I would challenge them. They may have their own policies but they should at least be based on NHS/PHE guidance. 🙄

When DS was younger and in care, I kept getting phone calls to pick him up for really minor things ('oh, he has coughed a few times', 'his nose is a bit runny'). Then one day, after yet another phone call, I arrived to pick him up, and was waiting at the desk to pay a bill and overheard a conversation between the manager and a staff member, saying that I was on my way to pick him up, so they didn't need to worry about the ratios as he would be gone soon, and the manager said 'do we need to find reasons to send anymore home before X goes off her shift at 3? I don't want to call anyone else in to take the shift'. So they had been sending children home due to being short staffed or not wanting to call in extra workers. I was furious, and confronted them about it, and they actually admitted that they called me all the time because I was 'only studying' not working and therefore it meant other parents didn't need to leave work. Needless to say, I pulled my ds immediately and made a formal complaint, not that anything was done about it. I'm sure that other centres do the same thing when they are short staffed.

Oh, my god midnite - I’m gobsmacked and fuming on your behalf!!!

Thank you all for your responses - I’ve spent a good part of the evening looking at alternative childcare... we’ve paid up till the end of the month so shall see how next week goes before making any decisions

Pretty standard, both for nurseries to exclude, and for DC to pick up bugs when first starting nursery.

IME, childminders are not any more flexible & exclude for exactly the same reasons as nurseries.

OP, if you can get your child vaccinated against chicken pox, that will save you a lot of grief and time off work. Well worth it if you don't have flexibility at work, and/or a supper network.