AIBU to ask how your nursery care for your children if they're sick

[cretelover]

Evening all. Due to recent circumstances with our DDs nursery I'd like to ask - how does your nursery deal with sickness in children? I'm not talking about things they should be excluded for eg vomiting, but more things like a temperature which comes down with calpol but they're ok in themselves otherwise, or a chesty cough that needs to be kept an eye on. Are they monitored? Temperatures taken? Parents phoned at what stage? Or are they admitted to nursery at all? I ask because I am not happy with some events that have happened and think I will look elsewhere, but maybe all nurseries are run the same. Many thanks for reading.

Seems like their monitoring of the situation is not great. X

Our nursery will not administer medication of any kind and I agree with that. Its either you administer it and send them in but for minor issues such as teething , and not for high temperatures.

I will give an inhaler when needed and if I'm concerned will use an oxymeter to check a child's SATS levels and send them home if low. I also check temperatures with a thermometer like GPs use. My rule of thumb re pick up is if child has temp over 37.5
You send them home with low SATs? How low is 'low' before you think it requires medical intervention?

37.5 is barely a 'temp' I would be a lot more worried about low SATs they can plummet very quickly. having followed ambulance to a&e with ds more than once

Any SATS below 95%.

If a child still has a temp of 37.5 after paracetamol then they need to go home.

@Decembersnow It's not my responsbility to phone an ambulance unless there is an emergency. That's the parents job. Obviously if a child is struggling to breathe or having an asthma attack then that is a different situation altogether.

37.5 is a low grade temperature.

@cretelover my nursery will give calpol for teething but if baby has a temperature or sickness they have to go hone.
If on antibiotics but no temperature they will administer antibiotics ( depending on ill ness )

Fine with foot and mouth and general colds

I have only just returned to work so hoping I don’t get sacked from having a sick child

My understanding is I have 5 family days for such situations then I have holiday and in paid leave I doubt they could sack me due to my child’s health

No longer work in childcare but if I was worried enough to be checking oxygen saturations, I’d have long send that child home. The only exception is if a child has a chronic lung condition and medics advise oxygen sat monitoring is part of their care plan. Home oximetry can be unreliable. They’re not helpful in isolation.

OP, I think you’ve perhaps sent your child into nursery when otherwise I would say they should’ve been at home. It’s not an easy call but I’d prefer to err on the side of caution. Nursery staff aren’t healthcare professionals and even if they know your child really well, it’s not one to one care so they can easily miss something. If a child needs to be monitored, it’s at home or with one caregiver IMO.

I don’t the yabu, a child who doesn’t normally nap taking themselves off to a corner to nap for over an hour surely should have warranted a check over . That would concern me also. Children can get very sick very quick , the staff should have been more vigilant on that occasion.

The nursery I used to work in would administer prescription medication but only 24 hours into the course. The manager would occasionally make acceptions, for example for the child that needed mutlipul causes of eye drops for an eye condition. Inhalers were given with the attitude that it was better to give that not if we even suspected it needed using. Training given regually by the school nurse, who we could call if we ever had a problem. Key workers knew their children well and we were free to call parents at any time to keep them updated if we felt the child wasn't right even with nothing obvious wrong. Lots of cuddles would always be given and lots of tlc for a child that suddenly went down hill. We would check temps as we felt were needed, raised we would phone parents and ask for earlier collection than usual but not then and there if the child was managing, but to come now if high or not coping with bit of extra love. One does of calpol would be given to make them comfortable until collection. Parents were asked to declare medicen given every morning. In baby and toddler room pracetmol and ibuprofen would be given regually for teething pain but only in obviously teething, but not in the old age groups.

Ds' nursery are fabulous. They have a very low thresh hold for calling us, but that is what he needs. His key worker has also met me at the GPS, opposite the nursery, a couple of times when he suddenly became ill in their care and was given an appointment almost instantly. They won't routinely give calpol or nuorfen in his age group but made an acception for him after his consultant wrote a letter recommending it for him as needed post sezuires, when we tried weaning his medication. For things like a niggling cough they would avoid things that agrvate it like lots of time outside of otherwise well in themselves.

The school pre school he attends try to keep them in when lots of coughing is involved. With dd I might have been asked to keep her off the following session but ds doesn't do back to back days.

@lisag1969 you aren't the same as a nursery though and not the same amount of children.

In the nurseries I have worked in we weren't allowed to give the child anything unless it was a prescribed medicine.

As someone who works in childcare it is a bug bear of mine when parents send in babies/toddlers who are under the weather who just need a day of cuddles and attention. There is a difference between a slightly unsettled baby or a toddler with a cough/cold and a baby whose been up all night with a temp. While I'm happy to cuddle poorly babies, parents need to understand that if I'm cuddling an under the weather baby who cant be put down then my colleague is then looking after 5 other children by themselves essentially.

I have seen

Babies who have had jabs sent in the next day despite parents being off work as the baby has been up during the night
Parents drop and run then finding out minutes later from the toddler/preschooler they were sick that morning
Toddlers turn up with a full on rash, when calling to clarify with parents they say oh yes they had a temp of nearly 40 and have come up all blotchy but they're all good. When sent home and advised to see a doctor parents have called to say they have scarlet fever
Children with signs of having impetigo, hand foot and mouth a viral rash but no explanation at drop off

At my nursery if a child has a temp above 38 it is monitored but if it goes above 38.5 they can have calpol but they have to be collected.

You can’t blame the nursery if you sent your child in poorly. A baby room ratio is 1:3 not 1:1 they can’t sit with your ill child all day

37.5 is a low grade temperature

37.5 is not a temperature..

@johnworf Sats lower than 95 is not breathing well...

Its not your responsibility???
I think you will find it is.....

What training does the op think the staff have had to monitor and care for poorly children?

The correct answer is none
Childcare staff do not receive any training in monitoring and caring for poorly children
The law says one person on site must have a paediatric first aid certificate. This deals with emergency situations that would require an ambulance and are life threatening.

Our nursery will only administer prescription medicine. 48hrs at home before they’ll give antibiotics, generally. Once they know the kids well they use a bit of discretion re calling us but generally they don’t take kids that aren’t fine or can’t participate fully in the day. Have had many interesting discussions about child being “not themselves” and whether or not I should keep them at home, despite no temp or other symptoms..

However I’ve been able to send them in with rotten colds etc.

Our new nursery takes Temperatures religiously and send home at slightest hint of illness. Very annoying! The old nursery would give Calpol every 4 hours, put down for a nap etc and see how they went, especially if just a cold. New nursery will give 5ml Calpol (only ever 5ml even for a 4 year old) IF parent is on their way to collect but not before. It’s a stupid policy IMO as they won’t administer Calpol or even saline nasal spray on request, so even if your child has a mild non contagious illness but is still suffering discomfort (like an inflamed ear or soreness after an injury) they won’t give calpol.

They are all first aid trained but when my DD had an accident and cut her face they panicked, I arrived to find her sitting on somebody’s lap covered in blood and still bleeding as they weren’t applying pressure just fussing around with cold compresses and cloths. They were all well intentioned but first aid training seemed to have gone out of the window that time!

I'm a doctor and quite pragmatic about childhood illnesses, yet would never send my child in if they were needing to calpol to prop them up or wheezy due to a virus.

@johnworf be careful with your sats probe. Agree that any child with sats

OP, sounds like you've sent your child in when they should be at home. I know it's hard when you work, but this is for a few short years while they improve their immunity.
I wouldn't trust a nursery setting to keep an eye on a potentially sick child, especially as they move up the rooms and the ratios reduce.
My nursery made it easy in a way, as they wouldn't administer calpol, so if they needed it they had to go home, or not go in the first place.

oohmegooliebird I rarely use it. It's more of a 'just in case'.