CM - Would this upset you?

[katieskids]

A child 3yrs told me she had been sick this morning. The parent didn't mention it and looking back the drop off was quicker than usual. I sympathised and asked her if she was feeling alright now before asking if it was before or after breakfast. She said it was before and then listed what she had eaten. I thought perhaps she coughed and had something in her mouth and not really sick. Decided to stay in all day to be on the safe side.I also have my son 10m and the child's sibling 6m to care for. She was hungry at lunch so I cooked plain chicken and rice which she tucked into. On collection I told mum what dc had said and she bluffed about skirting the issue and slipped in '5 to 7 too late to let work know' before moving on. I know i should grow a backbone and respond but I didn't. So I'm probably upset with myself as well as upset being treated like this, let alone their child. So pleased I stayed at home keeping her in the warm. At the moment my dh is based away from home, so I am alone all week with my 5 children, so I am concerned if this is a bug. What would you do??

Hi Katie, I issue this HPA guidance to all my parents as well as my normal sickness policy, and if it had been me this morning would have phoned the parents as soon as I knew and sent her home.

It may not have been a bug, but if you look in the staff room, you will see that Katy had to close her setting this week, when they all got D&V.

If you get it then it goes through all your children, one after another, you could be closed for two weeks, unpaid because of the mother sending sick child in.

Plus mother would then have no childcare.

I would put out a newsletter, stating that and give one with the guidance document.

thanks for your reply. I wasn't sure if it was good practice to question the parent's decision based on something a child mentions and seeing as the child arrived by 8am I didn't think it could be true!! Sending out a newsletter could be tricky as I only look after 2 families and it would be obvious I was aiming at them. I am a coward and don't like a bad atmosphere because I have stood up to them and spoken my mind, so I always do the wrong thing and just take it from them. I wish I could be stronger and more of a business woman. Don't you feel for the child though, the fact that she was unwell was not discussed and she had to walk to school morning and afternoon in the rain as I don't have a triple pushchair. The parents are aware that she has to walk probably 1/2 mile each trip but still put their work first. I can't bear the thought of all of us becoming sick, as you say it could be a long time until we're clear of it!

Say you got a letter from the council reminding you about the HPA leaflet (they are always sending me this stuff)

& the give them a copy of the HPA leaflet with the D&V bit highlighted

Just so you know I am being investigated by HPA, environmental health & OFSTED because I didn't take a D&V bug seriously enough & I closed I don't know how much more seriously I could have taken it

I could end up with a very large fine

KatyMac thats awful, don't they think you have suffered enough already. I had no idea HPA or even Ofsted for that matter could investigate for this

katymac were you advised that children in your care had v & d? As such I still haven't been advised as when I faced mum with what child had said she never answered directly yes or no. It's just because she was a bit shifty and mumbled the 6.55 that I took it to mean yes. Doyou think I should write this up in an incident record as I'm shocked to hear what you are going through. Who can ever tell how a bug is introduced into the setting. It could be passed on in the supermarket, toddler group etc from people that aren't showing any symptons. I'm sure you carried out the right procedures and hope that the fine is reserved for only the severe cases. Many thanks for taking the time to reply at this worrying time.

It's really complicated but

I sent some children home with it
Some parents tried to bring the children post D&V but I refused them care
Some parent have denied D&V despite me seeing the D

It has been very hard