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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Parents being funny about 48 hour rule - am I being too harsh?

26 replies

Picante · 02/03/2010 19:52

Hi there,

Mindee was sick this afternoon while in my care, twice. Seemed quite ill i.e. not food poisoning - almost definitely a bug. Have explained to the parents that I can't take him back til Friday and they are making me feel very guilty (they are Polish and have a very high work ethic - they are very reluctant to take time off work).

I'm doing the right thing aren't I?

They were also funny with the fact I called them as soon as he was sick asking him to be picked up asap. They didn't seem to see that I wasn't prepared to look after a sick contagious child when I have two of my own plus another mindee.

I did say that any nursery or school would have the same policy.

Could I have handled it differently?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

LoveMyGirls · 02/03/2010 19:55

No you did the right thing. I know what it's like though, it's not nice being treated as if you are in the wrong.

Remember you are a childminder not a nurse and ill children want as much care and attention as they can get, usually from their mums and you can't give adequate care to the ill child or the others in your care if one is being sick and also if you catch the bug you will have to close for 48 hours anyway especially as you are a food handler.

Hth

Original poster

Picante · 02/03/2010 19:58

Thanks. I ended up losing a mindee a couple of years back as he was constantly sick and the parent would not understand why I couldn't look after him - and again made me to feel like I was the one in the wrong. I said the only truly reliable solution was a nanny in that they were the only child-carers who would look after sick children. I just hope this hasn't damaged the good relationship we were building.

OP posts:

DorotheaPlenticlew · 02/03/2010 20:01

I'm not a pro, just a parent, but would never dream of expecting nursery or a CM to look after my wee ones if they were throwing up! 48 hour rule totally reasonable also. Other kids are involved and anyway, if my child was ill I'd hate to think of him pining for his own wee bed, toys, cuddles from me, etc.

(I have had The Vomit Call a couple of times for DS, so I speak with confidence ... )

They probably know deep down you are right and were just grumpy because of the work thing. Not your fault.

expatinscotland · 02/03/2010 20:01

I agree with LMG.

You're not running a sickhouse, and yes, a school or nursery would do the same thing.

pippin26 · 02/03/2010 20:01

The guidance states 48hrs from the LAST bout of S and/or D - not from when it starts.

I would explain that if the rest of your mindees come down with it because they sent him to you - you are

A) not safeguarding or ensuring the welfare or wellbeing of all the children in your care - including your own
HSA and OFSTED guidance says all this and environmental health guidelines and your policy and procedure should reflect this

that they should be aware of

B) other parents are not going to be best happy if you have to close or their child gets it etc

C) if you come down with it and then it goes round your family you potentially are going to loose your earnings and will not be able to offer childcare to all your clients for up to a week (if they deliberately send an ill child to you persistantly i would be really tempted to say that you would be expecting reimbursement of loss of earnings from them due to their inconsideration - although i am not too sure where you would stand on the legalities of this but some parents might balk at the idea enough to keep their sick child at home lol)

D) you are a childminder not a nurse and an ill child belongs at home with their parent

E) if you have to care for a sick child then you can not adequately offer care for the other children

Original poster

Picante · 02/03/2010 20:03

Thanks. Thank goodness he was sick in a bag... otherwise I would have charged them for valeting my car.

(JOKE).

OP posts:

Original poster

Picante · 02/03/2010 20:04

Thanks pippin - he definitely wasn't sick this morning, it developed over the afternoon, but thanks for all your points.

I have dettoled the whole house!

OP posts:

Shoshe · 02/03/2010 20:21

Picante, I issue The HPA Guidelines to each and everyone of my parents, usually does the trick.

HSMM · 02/03/2010 21:20

I use HPA Guidelines too. Would they like it if you kept another sick child with you and then took time off work yourself for being ill, or even worse their child caught it, because you hadn't sent the other child home. It's just one of those unfortunate things that happen.

pertbootywish · 02/03/2010 23:24

Hi Picante just wanted to add from a parent who's dd goes to nursery YES you did the right thing.

Can't really comment on the culture side of things but I have to say I may have huffed (only slightly ) when having the 48hr conversation with nursery. I think this is mainly the thought of the grief I'll get from work rather than any bad feeling towards nursery, and I do get on with all the staff I hasten to add.

TBH I would not hesitate to come and get my dd if she had been sick as I wouldn't want her without mummy when she needs me most. Two weeks ago she was sick at the weekend and I took the Monday off work so that I could be with her and wouldn't have dreamt of sending her to nursery.

It is a bit annoying though when they puke the once and you are forced to stay off work for two days and only an hour or two later they are asking to go to the park and appear to have no ill effects......maybe I'm just a hard mummy . And don't get me started on the whole conjunctivitis palava....can you tell I've had a great start to the year?

oh and glad to hear it was well contained.

PBW.

tortoiseonthehalfshell · 02/03/2010 23:36

My daughter throws up when she's feeling even a little unwell (including congested) or upset, even if it's not a bug. Daycare always ring us to pick her up, and it's fair enough.

They're lenient about whether to bring her back the next day; if it seems like she was just overtired and congested we can bring her back, but if there's any doubt we don't. She's only there twice a week anyway, so it rarely comes up.

Point is, obviously it's the welfare of the other kids (and the carer! If you get sick from one of your mindees, you can't look after any of them) that's the issue, and you're being totally reasonable. When you decide to WOH and use childcare, you take into account the days-lost-for-sickness factor. It's part of the equation.

chipmonkey · 03/03/2010 00:27

I do get a bit stressed when told any of the boys is sick but it is purely the stress of knowing that my boss and colleagues will be put out if I take time off. Picante, you did the right thing. Any CM or nursery will have the same rules. Is this their first child? I found with my first, it took a while for the reality of being a working parent to sink in!

Blondeshavemorefun · 03/03/2010 08:31

you did the right thing

the only childcarer/place that would keep the sick child is a nanny

cm/nursery/school etc would ALL call parent at once and then tell to keep off for 48hrs

StarExpat · 03/03/2010 09:15

I understand this and will definitely stay home with ds if he is sick, but why is it 48 hours, not 24?

ayla99 · 03/03/2010 09:59

It used to be 24 hours for everyone. Then people started doing 48 hours in childminding settings because of the higher risk to babies and toddlers. So guidance for nurseries and childminders was 48 hours but schools were still doing 24 hours. Then they said younger children weren't so good at following hygiene rules as teens/adults and primary schools have started following 48 hours as well whereas the carers were still 24 hours. Now you have food hygiene which says you shouldn't prepare/handle food til after 48 hours either. So childminders should also close for 48 hours now too.

Don't know which county it is, but some childminders are advised to go to 72 hours. I'm happy with 48 hours, 72 is way ott IMO.

indie37 · 03/03/2010 10:14

Depends on what your contract with them says. If, like mine, it says 24hours, parents quite rightly get pissed off when asked to keep their children off for 48 hours. (Can you tell this happened to me recently). If your contract says 48 hours, you're being perfectly reasonable.

Elsewhere · 03/03/2010 10:16

They wouldn't want their kid to get sick if other children in your care were ill. Explain this to them.

Original poster

Picante · 03/03/2010 10:48

Thanks all. I actually feel a bit queasy myself today.. great! Thanks for the link - I'll show that to them if they kick up a fuss again. It's not in the contract - there's no mention of it in the NCMA contracts? I do have a clear sickness policy which I showed them and gave them a copy of, so that should be enough?

OP posts:

kittyonthebeam · 03/03/2010 10:51

Only a parent, not a nanny/child care expert but welcome your attitude as I am sick of parents feeling their child is superior to the welfare of any other mindees, come fever, stomach bugs or anything else.

I feel really strongly about this, because where we are some nationalities don't give a damn and my daughter has come down with severe stuff that hasn't helped 'build her immune sysem' but made her week, given her high fever and exposed her to antibiotics.

Argh! I wish everyone was so diligent like you Picante.

Danthe4th · 03/03/2010 11:44

I'm actually closed for 2 days, my ds was sick on monday night and can't go back to school till thursday so i've had to lose 2 days pay, but thats the way it should be.

The fact that the mindee came to me on monday doped up with calpol and had a tummyache and may have brought the bug in seems to mean nothing, and I will have to refund the 2 days she has already payed for grrrrrrrrr

underpaidandoverworked · 03/03/2010 19:45

I used to have 24hrs in my policies but have recently changed it to 48.

A mindee was sick on the way back from school a few months ago, luckily I had a good old reusable Asda bag (the ones with no holes!) in the back of the car so only got a splash on the seats, but when I rang dad it was 'oh, but I'm in bed with sickness, have been since early hours', as if to say 'I'm too sick to look after dc'. Was made to feel really guilty when I dropped child off immediately. Two days later I came down with it and lost earnings - and they lost their childcare.

I stick to my guns now - you did the right thing.

Conjunctivitis apparently isn't an excludable illness now btw - check the HPA website - though I will continue to exclude.

pertbootywish · 03/03/2010 20:33

oooh underpaid that is interesting re conjunctivitis.

I think maybe it is my nursery's policy that they only administer prescription medicines therefore at any sign of Conj I get rung up have to pick dd up and take to Dr to get drops and as you know farting about getting child in at Dr is stressful enough without having to miss an afternoon or so at work to do it.

My main bugbear is that I can easily buy the antibiotic drops myself from over the counter at any pharmacy at a time convenient to me.....

anyway con/sick bug/cold (delete as appropriate) seem to be doing the rounds ad infenitum at the moment ho hum....

dmo · 03/03/2010 22:43

i have a baby at mo who has been ill for over 2wks now and still keeps coming

she came last week with Conjunctivitis could not even open her eyes and as mum handed her over i said i couldnt take her as its infectious, mum looked really shocked and as her taxi was waiting she asked me to have her for an hour tops while she went into work and she wanted me to phone her boss there to explain.

i put the baby in the pram away from the other children and bathed her eyes with warm water. just before i phoned her boss mum texted to say she couldnt come home she needed to stay in work and that dad would phone.

roll on over 1 hour and dad phoned to say he was in meetings till 2pm so could come till then i explained to dad about the other children and he said to leave baby in pram for the day

ob didnt do that but was very stressed incase others got it as she was forever rubbing her eyes/crying/touching toys

dad arrived at 5.30pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!said his meeting ran over brought her everyday since even tho she has a very bad cough (cant sleep) snot and a dodgy eye again.

to answer the question i have polish parents who reacted in the very same way as the op but now i have explained to them they are happy to pay for when their child is poorly and dont send her when she is poorly

kittyonthebeam · 04/03/2010 11:20

dmo, I cannot believe these parents did this!!! That poor child. Some people really shouldn't have kids if they're not prepared to look after them. Had I found out that my child was in the same group as that kid I would have taken it out immediately. To put you into this position is terrible.

Why do you take her back if she's ill and the other baby, too? It's unfair on the healthy children. Personally I'd be happy to pay the minder a higher fee if I can get the guarantee that my child stays in a healthy environment and she sends the sick ones home ASAFP.

tartyhighheels · 04/03/2010 11:31

no you are absolutely right - my oldest DD has diabetes and a bug can land her in hospital - makes me really cross when people send their children back to school etc too early and the bug passes on.

Worries me that parents are happy for someone else to look after a DC when poorly, not matter how good the CM it's not the same as haivng a Mummy around.

Good for you for sticking to your guns

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