Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

Original poster

Hand foot and mouth

17 replies

Danikm151 · 03/10/2021 22:12

My son’s nursery sent out a letter last week advising to look out for Hand foot and mouth disease and the symptoms associated with it. I asked the manager if they had any cases and she said no.
Friday my son was very grumpy and we assumed teething but yesterday he woke up with blisters round his mouth. Today they are on his hands and his bum and thighs.

Do I have grounds to make a complaint? They evidently had a case if they sent a letter and a few days later my son started showing symptoms.
Or is the a confidentiality risk so they can’t tell us?

OP posts:
Heruka · 03/10/2021 22:17

I’m not sure what the complaint would be, so you mean that they weren’t honest with you about their being cases? I can understand you’re frustration but that is hard to prove, and would you have done anything differently if they had said yes? HFM is unfortunately very common. Hope your son recovers quickly.

SW1amp · 03/10/2021 22:19

It’s mega contagious, he could have picked it up at a playground, or elsewhere

And I think it’s like chicken pox that it’s contagious before the spots appear

It’s doing the rounds here so all the local nurseries have sent letters…

SylvanasWindrunner · 03/10/2021 22:21

It's a very common childhood illness and is pretty much always doing the rounds! It's better to get it as a child than as an adult. I never had it as a kid but caught it off DD and was horribly unwell with it. She, on the other hand, was barely bothered.

liveforsummer · 03/10/2021 22:22

It's the time of year it's doing the rounds so maybe all nurseries have advised sent out the info. Anyway it's a standard childhood illness much like a common cold so not sure what his complain about.

TeddyBeans · 03/10/2021 22:22

My nursery didn't even inform us there were cases. I phoned to tell them DS had it and was met with 'oh yes, we've had a few cases now'. Not much to do about it anyway - if they're going to get it, they're going to get it

dementedpixie · 03/10/2021 22:25

No you don't need to make a complaint. It is contagious before symptoms start so they could not have prevented others from getting it

Crimblecrumble1990 · 03/10/2021 22:26

I think pretty much every nursery in my local area is having/recently had an outbreak of it. Maybe they were being pro-active?

PlasticCupPolitics · 03/10/2021 22:29

What on Earth would you complain about? What difference would it have made if they did have a case anyway?

It’s absolutely rife at the moment, my youngest has just got over a horrible case of it, it spreads like wildfire, your little one could have picked it up anywhere. It’s being talked about a lot amongst nurseries so I imagine they were just asking parents to be alert.

Original poster
Danikm151 · 04/10/2021 00:32

Woah some people are harsh.
My complaint would be that she told me there were no cases and based on the timeline of being contagious it’s evident she must have known. More vigilance and cleaning regimes could have been bought in (toy sharing etc based on how it’s spread)
I get it’s common but I’m just really annoyed at them.

OP posts:
PlasticCupPolitics · 04/10/2021 10:31

Apologies if it seems harsh but you need to let this go or you are going to be really annoyed a lot of the time whilst your child is nursery age. Nursery children spread germs, you could clean with bleach every single hour and they’d still spread germs, can’t be helped.

RobinPenguins · 04/10/2021 10:35

You have no grounds whatsoever for a complaint because he could quite easily have picked it up from somewhere else.

SW1amp · 04/10/2021 10:39

You have no legitimate basis to be ‘really annoyed’ about this

Nurseries are hotbeds of bugs at any time, and something like HF&M will rip through regardless of hand washing policies

If you’re going to get this cross every time your DC gets ill, nursery is not for you

whatswithtodaytoday · 04/10/2021 10:45

But there will always be cases, it's everywhere in nurseries. You can't possibly know she had a case and didn't tell you... and what difference would it have made, your son would still have caught it.

If your child is young enough to still be teething, he's young enough to still be putting everything in his mouth. He's going to get all the bugs. I have no idea what your complaint would be - my child got ill?!

pinksquash13 · 10/10/2021 22:09

It's clear you have no idea of the realities of nurseries if you think 'toy sharing' could be managed to reduce spread of h,f&m. It's very contagious. I get that nursery illnesses are annoying but do you think the nursery staff want kids to get ill. Really unsure why you're annoyed with the nursery.

LadyPenelope68 · 10/10/2021 22:12

Make a complaint? About what?? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Your child is at nursery, they’re going to pick up all manner of illnesses, stomach bugs, nits, etc, etc. If you really think you have something to make a complaint about, I would suggest you keep your child at home as nursery doesn’t sound the right setting for you.

DontPeeInThePlayHouse · 10/10/2021 22:17

It's a perfectly normal childhood illness, put in a complaint and you'll look like an utter bell-end. Hope your son is feeling better soon, it can be absolutely miserable. But I believe a once and done situation, so that's a plus.

jannier · 14/10/2021 23:24

@Danikm151
Official guidence id that its not an excludable illness so they were not breaking rules.
Even stepping up hygiene will not stop a spread becouse babies and young children do not observe distancing, handwashing, covering coughs, blowing a nose or keeping toys to themselves. Unless you want each child caged with their own toys you can not stop it.....which is why some settings choose to exclude.....but that is their choice

It is most contagious for the first 7 days.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page