CM family sickness - is this amount of closure usual?

[ojmummy]

Please dont shoot me down in flames for this, I am just wondering if its normal & how people cope......

I am a first time Mum to DS who has just turned one.

He has been with CM 2 days pw since Sept and I am very happy with her. Only problem is the amount of days she has had to close due to illness. Her 3yr old DC started nursery in Sept & it seems he is picking up bugs/colds/sickness there & bringing home to his sibling, my DS and the other mindees.

I havent got a written record of all days of closure but we are talking more than 6 days (i.e. more than 3 weeks for my DS). When you factor in that we have had 3 wks hol in that time & the CM has had 1 wks hol there has been quite a bit of closure in a short time (approx. 12/13 weeks taking out holidays).

I have got by so far by throwing sickies at work but cannot keep doing this. I can take unpaid leave but cannot afford to this! Mum Mum is local but not in a potision to help any more than she already does.

Is this amount of sickness usual amongst little kids??! Its a nightmare! I am not a nightmare first time Mum (honestly!) but am wondering what I will do if this keeps happening, how do parents cope with CMs being ill & having time off work etc?!

Other issue is obviously I seem to be dealing with a DS who is constantly a bit under the weather, not working isnt an option, neither is a nanny. Maybe I am going to have to have time off unpaid from work, sob!

CMs (or their children) being ill

Afraid that once kids start mixing with others, be it at CMs or nursery they will pick up all the bugs going around and it carries on until school.
But, they do seem to get less ill from the age of 5/6yrs old

If you have a nanny, then they usually care for an ill child, but of course they might catch the bug as well and will need time off.
Nurseries will usually have the 48hr rule as well for vomiting bugs, but really a bad cold should not stop anyone from looking after a child, unless that child had a fever with it and was not joining in with anything.

My DD is 3 and nearly full time at preschool - if I was a CM I would be out of business with the minor illnesses she keeps getting - sickness bugs, mystery temperatures, coughs/colds.

Luckily DH and I take it in turns to work so there is one of us available to keep her home, but it is a massive PITA.

Quite normal for this age group IMHO. Perhaps if CM's child isn't too poorly, ie doesn't need Mums undivided attention, if it is a less worrying bug maybe ask if she can stay open? Eg I would not send DD somewhere with known D and V, but I wouldn't fret about a cough and cold.

My DD's (4&2) have been at their CM since Jan 2008, so 3 years and my CM has never had a day sick. Her DS has been off school and she has told us ie: flu/sickness etc and said he will stay in bed in his room and we can continue to send DD's if we wish. We always have and they have never caught anything directly attributable. Likewise she will take them with antibiotics/calpol etc needed

Unfortunately the only way you can guarantee cover is by using a nursery rather than CM

my DS (so far) hasnt been too ill, CMs CDS have been pretty bad with things though which is why she has closed. To date she has always made decision to close as her DCs have been bad, my DS hasnt been ill enough in my opinion not to send as he just seems to get a cold/cough whereas they seem to get chest infections etc (hope that makes sense!)

DCs not CDs!

My cm doesn't have dc so I don't face this problem. My sick days are restricted so if this was a problem I'd have to just use a nursery instead, unfortunately - so I could save my sick days for when my child is ill and not have to be off when other children are ill as well.

Might be worth having a sympathetic word with her and just explaining from your POV in respect of work.

Of course her first duty of care is to her own family and as a childminder we have a duty of care to all the children to prevent the spead of infection.

This is the tough bit when we mind with young children (our children). I found boosting my own kids with vits and echineacia (sp?) at peak times - however they are generally fit and well kids anyway.

does this minder have a back up minder? I have four trusted minder friends i could call on at short notce to see if they could take my mindees if necessary and I have only had to do this once - when my then 4yr old started throwing up at 8am.

Am a lot happier now, when I was looking for current CM I had also met another CM who I would also have been happy with, wasnt that much to choose between the 2. Anyway I emailed her yesterday asking if she would be interested in doing ad hoc days for me and she has emailed me back this morning saying yes she would, so I now have a back up! Hopefully this will save me having to ring in sick. If sickness levels with current CM continues it also gives me options if I decide I need to change things.....
Thanks for the advice.

for reference, this is the guidance for exclusion due to illness from the HPA that CMs, nurseries, preschools and schools use

here