Off nursery for teething?!!

[Lady86]

Got a call 17.30 on Thursday from nursery. Your 14 month old has a temperature, yeah, it's '38.9'. Me, really? That is high, hope she is OK. I'm on my way to collect her now anyway. Nursery: she won't be able to come in tomorrow as policy is 24 hours fever free.

I arrive at nursery where my daughter has been the only one in the baby room all week as the other babies have been away so has had one carer all to herself to find my child asleep on carer.

Carer says, it's really weird, she's been fine all day and then just crashed on me after tea and felt hot, then we checked her temperature.

We had no option for me to call work (who don't take this sort of thing kindly) and tell them wouldn't be able to work following day.

The thing is I checked her temperature immediately at pick up and thereafter and temperature never over 37.9. She has been absolutely fine and definitely well enough to be in nursery and has molar teeth coming through it turns out.

My two concerns are would a nursery have made out the temperature was higher than it really was because it suited their staffing levels not to have her there? And also how do I prevent her being sent home each time she gets a new tooth??! That can't be reasonable surely.

Thoughts welcome!

Sorry nursery said temp was 38.9

Are you remembering to add something to the number you get off the thermometer?

Most places I know of have a 24 hour rule for fever / stomach problems, for the other children and the adults sake, since illness spreads so insanely fast when you're dealing with small children. If you're absolutely sure it was just the tooth and nothing else, I'd call the nursery and explain and ask if exceptions can be made for teething fevers.

Sounds like the issue here is your work being dicks about you having to be off child sick and that being stressful for you. Have you any help?

Generally I share this kind of thing with my mum and husband but neither were available this time. We use an infrared thermometer, I don't think you have to add anything with those.

The attitude from work is unfortunately pretty standard when you work in healthcare as the work has to be done whether you are there or not.

I'm an ex nursery manager. If you genuinely think your nursery lied and made out your child was hotter than she was then you need to remove her, it is a pretty shocking accusation.

For what it's worth we probably would have allowed her in, providing there were no other symptoms, and temp stayed under 38. We got to know our babies really well, one would sky rocketed a temp at the first hint of a temp, one would get a rash etc.

First hint of a tooth that should say

It’s really standard and my D.C. have often had a 24 hour ban for teething related temp. It’s annoying but it’s happens

I don’t think nurseries think in the way you’ve suggested really. If they didn’t have enough staff theyd have to close the whole place

36.5 is a normal temperature for babies (37.9 is normal for older children and adults) So 38.9 is dangerously high.
I know from experience with nursery they do worry with temperatures, but if it's due to teething I find that when I drop my son off if I mention he's teething they don't tend to phone me. I pack calpol in his backpack and sign a form to say they can give him it when needed.
He's never been told to stay off the next day.
Maybe try mentioning teething and see what they say next time. It'll be a pita if every time you have to take a day off work for teething.

The infrared thermometer is known to be inaccurate and give false low readings. I would imagine nursery have an in ear thermometer which would be more accurate.
If the infrared was 37.9 I would guess 38.9 with an in ear was probably more true.

How is 38.9 dangerously high? It’s just a normal fever?

@passthecherry it's considered dangerously high because babies can't regulate their body temperatures like older children/adults can.
High temperatures can lead to febrile convulsions.

Teething doesn't cause a fever, it might make them feel a bit hot, but a fever is a response to an infection.

That’s a very high temperature for a baby. Babies temperature is normally lower than older children/adults.

She wasn’t off for teething though, she was off because she had a high temperature
A baby with a high temperature can go downhill very quickly
That’s why she was sent home and excluded
If you know she is teething then you could probably give her a long lasting pain relief that would see her through the day

But she’s 14 months not a tiny baby. I don’t think that temperature is high at all, the regulations at my nursery are to send home at 38 for 24 hours and children are regularly sent home for that. They don’t require medical attention or anything, which dangerous indicates

Are you sure the nursery didn't administer calpol when she spiked the temp which has resulted in it lowering by the time you got her home?

But if DD has high temp and is teething she might not feel up to nursery. Imagine if you had awful toothache and high temp - you might prefer day home.
DD always used to catch horrible cold when she was teething - I think some babies feel really off colour when they are teething.
Do whatever is best for DD.

In Scotland nurseries aren’t allowed to administer Calpol (unless for febrile convulsions or emergencies of course).
If a child needs Calpol they should be at home.

@Passthecherrycoke

Paediatric first aid courses, including those run by St John Ambulance and the Red Cross, teach that temperatures exceeding 38C should be treated as heat exhaustion with an associated risk of febrile convulsions. Parents need to be called immediately and, until they collect, the child monitored constantly in case emergency medical assistance becomes necessary.

I’m sorry I’m confused - treat it as heat exhaustion how? By calling parents for collection and administering paracetemol?

The nursery won't give non prescribed medications including calpol so won't have given it. They also use an infrared thermometer but granted there could be differences in calibration between the two instruments. I would be very surprised to find the nursery had been dishonest as it seems a lovely nursery (and ofstead outstanding). Its the first time it's happened but if it becomes a regular thing this will be quite difficult for us. We are totally understanding if she is genuinely ill or even needing one to one care for teething but she was literally fine for the day she could t go back to nursery. Guess we will just have to dose her up and hope for the best 😬🙄

@Clangus00 really? My Dd nursery gives calpol so long as I complete a form asking them to. So for example for teeth if I said can you give her calpol at lunch they happily would.

The thing is they have to have a blanket policy and apply it to everyone
For every 100 children who are fine, there will be one who is really unwell and ends up in hospital
The nursery have no way of predicting if children with a temp are going to be ok or have a full on seizure
Have you ever had a child who isn’t your own but you are responsible for have a febrile convulsion? Have you ever had to ring an ambulance for a baby that isn’t yours but is really poorly?
And then have to ring the parents and tell them what has happened?
Have you ever cried all the way home from work not knowing if a child was alive or dead because the last time you saw them they were being blue lighted to hospital?
I have
And I really don’t want to do it again
So, that’s why most nurseries send your child home when they develop a high temperature. It’s not because we can’t be bothered to look after them, it’s because we genuinely believe that if a child is poorly, they need to be with a parent
But we are not medically trained, do we always err on the side of caution.
Yes, it might be a pain for working parents but please understand the reasoning behind it
We are not doing it just to be awkward

Teething wouldn’t cause a temp that high. The nursery are right for advising to keep her home

@Passthecherrycoke it’s high but nothing calpol won’t solve. It’s so common to get a temp this high through teeth, colds etc nothing to worry about.

@Passthecherrycoke sorry meant to tag @itsaboojum