AIBU to be mega pissed off with DS nursery???

[user1468829213]

Opinions please...my 13 month old has been absolutely fine this week apart from teething so a bit more clingy than usual. No raised temperature or illness. He went to nursery as usual Wednesday & was absolutely fine when I dropped him off, nursery updated the app to say he’s fine eating normally etc. Then at about 2 they call to say he woke up from his nap hot so they did his temp & 39.5 so we need to collect him as so high but till we get there they gave him some calpol. DH went to collect him 30 mins later & he said he seemed fine, got him home did temp & 36, put him down for a nap & temp still 36 when he wakes up & happily eating Easter egg on sofa!
Nursery told my DH because of his temp he needs a negative covid test before coming back...bit extreme I think with his temp rise seemingly lasting less than an hour but fair enough rules are rules. Do him a lateral flow test as we have these in the house & negative...send this off to nursery to which I get a message saying it needs to be a PCR test.
At this I ring the nursery to tell them DS is absolutely fine & I’m not putting him through another PCR test unnecessarily. Their response was if he doesn’t have a test he will need to isolate for 10 day’s as he has ‘covid symptoms’. I tell her surely a fluke temp rise of less than an hour isn’t covid & definitely teething especially as it went down straight after having calpol. She sees my point so rings the director but she again won’t back down & says it’s ‘government guidelines’ & he can’t come back without having a negative PCR test.
Since I was backed into a corner we took him for the test yesterday morning even though yet again he has been ABSOLUTELY FINE & I have myself seen no evidence of a high temperature or illness & are taking their word for it he had a temp of 39.5.
The thing that really makes me angry is their ‘Covid terms & conditions’ means we still have to pay them for his sessions thurs & today un till we get the negative result back...husband works in professional cricket & has had to miss the first game of the season too so not good.
AIBU to be mega pissed at nursery, It all seems so unfair for such a sudden rise & fall in temperature that I never saw evidence of myself??

Frustrating yes but it’s been clear from the start of the lateral flows that they aren’t appropriate when symptoms are present.

Nursery cannot risk others because you are confident it’s nothing.

Nursery can’t not pay staff because you don’t think you should have to pay.

We’ve paid for 5 days so far for our daughter where she was either isolating because I chose not to test her again and she had been sent home with a temp, or because of a contact with a positive case at nursery. Rubbish but I don’t blame nursery for it, or expect not to pay when everything else carries on without her.

OP it is so frustrating when you rely on childcare and know your child doesn’t have COVID... little ones get temperatures all the time, I cannot wait until this ‘rule’ is dropped.

I totally see why you are annoyed OP. You know the temperature went down and didn't come back and it does look like a massive overreaction. I would feel the same. The thing is parents could lie about how long a child was ill in order to avoid getting tested/ missing days so the nursery just have to insist on a test - despite it looking to an honest parent that it flies in the face of common sense. I know loads of selfish parents lie about sickness bugs for example, and when symptoms stopped, just to get their kids back asap and not waiting 48 hours - so people will do anything and that's why the nursery has to be so strict. I do feel sorry for you though as it looks like madness on the face of it.

I think it's just standard nursery and school policy. Lateral flow was never going to be good enough. It's frustrating though!

If you don’t trust the nursery then find a new one
Us nursery staff have bent over backwards to ensure we can keep our nurseries safe for parents, children and staff as we know how important we are for working parents
If you really think so little of your nursery that you think they are telling lies and colluding to cover for being short staffed then you need to find another one

Yes it’s shit but just because your husband works in professional cricket does not make you a special case. Other people have to miss work because of children being sent home from nursery - me included. I’m happy my child’s nursery takes this seriously as I’d hate for there to be an outbreak linked to the place.

YABU

My dad's school has had young children test positive after just having a raised temperature for a short period of time. A temperature for an hour or less is the only symptom some children get and your child could easily fall into this category.

The nursery are being reasonable and are protecting everyone who attends there. Just do the PCR test like you were asked to right at the beginning.

YAB so U. Every parent in the country is dealing with the same thing and railing against your nursery for following the rules they legally have to follow does no-one any favours. If you genuinely believe your nursery lied and gave medicine falsely you need to find alternative childcare, otherwise wind in the crazy.

If you dint trust the nursery - Have you thought about a nanny instead of nursery ?

I too like randoms am suspicious of the incredibly high temperature straight after waking up. Was it a single test? Did they test again?

Yes there is a covid pandemic. But that doesn't mean common sense flies out window. The child could have covid. It could also be absolutely nothing. I think judgement and balance is being skewed by covid obsession. What if this thread had been posted pre covid?

@Oblomov21 but it hasn't been posted pre-Covid. The nursery would be breaking government guidance if they allowed ops child to attend without a negative test.
Op could have had the result by now and sent the child back if negative.

Surely the reason his temperature how low when your husband checked it, is because he was given calpol? The nursery aren’t being unreasonable at all.

It was like this for ages in nurseries and schools. Why do you think you’ve got to be an exception? Because no one else lost jobs or income or had to find an alternative childcare due to Covid? Your sense of entitlement is ... wow.

Absolutely normal practice.
PCR test for any symptom and of course you have to pay.
There is absolutely no reason to be pissed off. I’d be pissed off if they hadn’t insisted on a PCR test.

@user1468829213

Thanks I suppose the consensus is IABU to be pissed off...!

Just for those who work in nurseries or have children in one is it also normal practice that a parent should still have to pay for the sessions he/she misses whilst waiting for the negative result? I was hoping it would come this morning so he could go in but nothing yet so looks like he’s missing 2 x days which stings the bank balance a lot!

This is a good question.

I think the government has handled renumeration for isolation badly compared to some countries.

I know plenty of people in jobs where they can't work from home losing pay yet continuing to pay childcare because their child is a contact.

I know some teachers who have had to isolate whilst their own children get tests for symptoms who don't get paid yet pay childcare. They can't WFH so pay is docked. I wouldn't mind so much but I know in every case they have used TAs already employed to run the classes and not employed a teacher on supply instead.

YANBU, it's way OTT

Sorry, YABU. The temp. came down because of the Calpol, that’s what it does. I’ve read many accounts of adults whose only symptom was a raised temperature for a few hours, who then tested positive.
We all have to do our bit to keep others safe.
It’s frustrating for you but could be much more costly for another parent at nursery, perhaps on a very low income, if their child caught Covid from another child and they were unable to work for two weeks.

Hope your little one is negative

Those are the rules and they’re nothing new. I wouldn’t have bothered doing a LFD test on a child with symptoms, when you would still have to do a PCR one-it just means the child has to do it all twice!

It’s highly likely none of the staff have been vaccinated-they have every right to follow procedure to try to protect themselves, even if you think it’s unfair.

@Oblomov21
I’m not a child, but I had Covid and my temperature raised for only 1-2 hours in the middle of infection and was totally fine afterwards. I knew I had Covid due to a sudden lack of smell and a positive PCR but my short lived fever developed only after a few days. Raised temperature, get the test. Easy as that. It will be harder with the nursery closed due to staff being sick with Covid.

It's standard policy for nurseries to send children home with a high temperature. We can all speculate that it might be teeth etc but during a pandemic it is safer to go with the worse case scenario. Babies with a temp of 39 should be sent home regardless of a pandemic as they are clearly unwell. We've had some we've had to send home who are found to have ear infections etc so needed treatment even though not covid.

Payment of fees will vary between nurseries depending on individual policy and ability to absorb costs. It's very unlikely a child would be sent home due to staffing issues, they will have factored your child in to their ratios.

@Oblomov21

I too like randoms am suspicious of the incredibly high temperature straight after waking up. Was it a single test? Did they test again?

Yes there is a covid pandemic. But that doesn't mean common sense flies out window. The child could have covid. It could also be absolutely nothing. I think judgement and balance is being skewed by covid obsession. What if this thread had been posted pre covid?

This. So many so scared to apply common sense and applying the ‘rules’ without considering particular circumstances.

Appreciate its countrywide nursery policy and that nursery workers have worked tirelessly.

Also, we are all just so tired and drained. There is no answer - all we can do is validate each others feelings.

Yanbu to be pissed off but yabu to blame the nursery tbh. Think about the impact if a nursery worker used discretion and there was an outbreak. That's why they have the rules.

Yep you pay for the space not the attendance.

YABVU this is exactly what childcare providers have to do right now. Whatever the reason that much of a high temp wouldn't have been for no reason so they're right to be cautious. It wasn't just a minor temp.