AIBU about childminder

[mammajulie]

AIBU about childminder?

last week for a message saying a few children in the setting had Hand Foot and Mouth and said if children were displaying symptoms then to keep them off until spots had scabbed over and they were feeling well enough to join in normal activities. Anyway a few days later she sent me some pictures of my son with a few spots, anyway I picked him up and he had a few. Has been absolutely fine in himself all week but has had 3 days off. Due back Monday all things well. Is this standard? I’m sure nhs says you don’t have to stay away from childcare etc.

Also I’ve since seen via social media she took 3 children to the zoo yesterday, saying they were unexpected quiet and took some children for a treat. Is this not a slap in the face for me when I’ve had to take 3 days off work and he’s not even ill?

it’s not exactly treating all children equally is it?

Is this your first child in daycare? Be prepared that you might have to take many more days off in your child's future . And yes still pay the minder or the extra activities they have to miss out for sickness. Good childminders are hard to find it's and you and your child that can easily be replaced . Up to you if you want to start being obnoxious.

The childminder has done NOTHING wrong!

Yes you'll need to pay.

I agree with her excluding for sickness or chicken pox but not for HFM. This isn't in line with NHS guidance. As long as your DC was well in themselves (no temp and eating/drinking) she should have accepted them. I would forward her the NHS info and ask her to review her policies.

From the NHS website.

Staying off school or nursery
Keep your child off school or nursery while they're feeling too unwell to go.

But as soon as they're feeling better, they can go back to school or nursery. There's no need to wait until all the blisters have healed.

Keeping your child away from other children for longer is unlikely to stop the illness spreading.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/hand-foot-mouth-disease/

Worth pointing out too that having robust infection control policies and carrying out steps to limit the spread of infection is a requirement of Ofsted registration for childminders.

Asking her to review her policies is a massive overstep. She has stated her policies at start of contract, OP agreed them.

I think OP is just irritated she had to take time off work because her child was ill. Sorry but that’s parenting, isn’t it?! The number of times kids turned up to my kids’ primary school obviously unwell but parents needed to go to work and had no backup carer…and so of course the bug spreads. On one level I get the difficulty juggling it all, but on another level it is so selfish and entitled (not least the poor kids having to drag themselves through the day instead of recovering at home)

I understand the annoyance, she isn't following the NHS guidelines. You're having to take time off when there isn't risk of infection.

I suspect the problem is those guidelines rely on parents noticing how well their child is early in the morning and being honest, even if it's really awkward for them to take time off work. Whereas the child minder's policy is more easily enforced her end and she's probably sick of parents bringing children who aren't well enough to be back.

A better policy might be to warn parents that if they bring a child back too early they will be called to collect and that doing so X times in a period of Y months, or not collecting when called, will mean termination of their contract without notice.

The stuff she’s strict about is generally contagious and you’ll find even nhsdirect will advise to stay away from child care settings to prevent spreading. Also they are not well in themselves when they have these. As a parent I understand your frustration at having to be off work, however it’s nobody’s fault, my son’s been off ill at some point every month this year. I have to suck it up, pay up and not earn but I still don’t take him back until he’s ok to go back x

Well obviously, if they have a contagious disease they shouldn't be in childcare. It will be the same if they were at school or at a nursery.

It's 48 hours after the last bout of D&V. Chicken pox when they've scabbed over.

She sounds very professional to be fair. If there was a kid there with suspected HFM there with your kid you would be livid. It’s not all about you

Pls can you say policy again

Sorry meant to quote who you quoted. Ooh I almost said quote as many times as they said policy

Most childminders exclude for HFM because it's very contagious and some kids are really ill with it.
If the childminder herself catches it then everyone is without childcare.

You signed the contract, sick children stay home.

Ffs. You should have been looking out for this yourself. You are being vvvvvvUR! Keep him off sick so he can't infect others, HFM is a notifiable disease ffs.

Your attitude sux. I hope she drops you you and you have to look after your own kid.

If you refused to pay you'd have your contract terminated and have to find new childcare anyway.

Hfm is very contagious and really shocked at some of these replies

course he needs to be off @mammajulie

so what cm went to the zoo? That was her planned trip

Yes course you have to pay

You missed this bit ‘You can start spreading it from a few days before you have any symptoms, but you're most likely to spread it to others in the first 5 days after symptoms start.’ At the end of the day the CM is entitled to run her business as she chooses OP is entitled to take her custom elsewhere our nursery is the same with regards HFM I take no offence they’re trying to stop stuff spreading staff can also get sick then we’d all be knackered!

You missed that the rash is one of the later symptoms

I also didn’t post the bit it says it’s also spread by the fluid in the blisters which is why most childcare settings probably want them scabbed over

It can be. It’s also spread by coughs and sneezes and saliva and in poo… and that’s before the blisters even show up.

The NHS policy is what it is for a reason.

So why would there be an issue with the childminder saying not to bring him back in when OPs child has spots it’s not like she’s said he seems to have a sore throat or something, it’s mostly when spots/ulcers appear that it’s able to see it’s HFMD isn’t it

YABU. You agreed to their policies when you signed up to this childminder. If that annoyed then you could look at other childminders and their policies, but many near me work alongside each other and therefore you will find they have the same rules regarding sickness.
Maybe you would be better looking at a nursery where they might be less strict (as they have more staff available which is why childminders are perhaps more cautious).

Not really sure what your point about the zoo is. I am friends with a childminder and they do regular trips to the zoo and other places as they have a childminders pass. Were you trying to imply they are deliberately keeping children off sick so they can do things like this?

It's not "an issue", it's just very unlikely to stop the disease spreading. It's pointless.

Think about it like this - imagine you're 2 years old. You catch HFMD on Monday, you start coughing/sneezing on Wednesday, you spread it to the childminder and other children on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, the spots appear so you stay home until the following Tuesday. Almost everyone you'd have seen on Monday already caught it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The few children who didn't catch it from you on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, catch it on the Monday from one of the children who did catch it who are still in the coughing/sneezing stage. You then go back in on the Tuesday and you're less contagious but could still spread to anyone who hasn't yet caught it for weeks to come.

What was the point of sending you home?

This is different from chicken pox where you're most contagious when you have the blisters, not before. So, with chicken pox, you catch it on the Monday, blisters appear on the Wednesday. It's unlikely anyone caught it from you on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. You go home until the following Monday and no one else caught it from you.

The time you're spreading HFMD most is before symptoms show or during the early symptoms (coughing/sneezing/runny nose) - not while you have the rash. The time you're spreading chicken pox most is while you have the rash. The only way to stop HFMD spreading is to isolate before you even know you have it - which can't be done.