(mistake in the title - nursery keeps ringing US to collect our daughter)
This topic has been discussed before, but our situation feels slightly different, so I’m starting a new thread.
Our 2‑year‑old daughter started nursery on 21 October 2025, and as of today (12 January), we’ve already been called 26 times to collect her due to a “high fever.” Their policy is: cool the child down, administer Calpol, wait 30 minutes, and if there’s no improvement, the parents must collect the child.
What feels strange is that not once has she improved after Calpol at nursery, yet at home she responds to it 9 times out of 10. Out of those 26 occasions, she was only genuinely unwell on about 4 or 5 days. The rest of the time, she was completely fine once we picked her up.
In most cases, the moment she leaves the classroom, the “fever” seems to vanish. She’s suddenly happy, energetic, singing, playing, and remains perfectly well for the rest of the day. This morning we even checked her temperature before leaving home—she was absolutely fine.
These constant calls are now affecting our job stability and mental wellbeing. Both my partner and I work in secondary schools, and we’ve exhausted our paid childcare absence allowance. Any further absences are unpaid and at the headteacher’s discretion. It’s incredibly stressful having to explain yet again that the nursery has called us.
We also don’t have family nearby, so there’s no backup support.
We’ve asked the nursery whether her temperature could be spiking due to distress or emotional upset—something we’ve read can happen in young children. They dismissed this, saying emotions only show externally and don’t affect internal temperature. But it’s hard not to feel like they simply want her collected whenever she’s tearful or unsettled. It’s difficult to understand how she can have a fever only at nursery and then be completely normal the moment she leaves.
Their policy is to send a child home if their temperature is ≥38°C and hasn’t improved after 30 minutes. Our issue is that 30 minutes isn’t long enough for Calpol to work for her—she usually needs closer to an hour. When we’ve tried to explain this, we’re told there is no flexibility because “it’s policy.” It leaves us feeling like they’re not making much effort to support her when she’s emotional, and we have no way of verifying the temperature readings they claim to take.
I’ve also read that some nurseries are stricter because they’re short‑staffed, which makes the whole situation even more concerning.
We’re now reluctantly looking into a childminder. There would be fewer children (just our daughter and two others), the environment is calmer, and childminders generally have a slightly higher threshold before asking parents to collect a child. With fewer children, there’s also less chance of constant bugs being passed around.
Sorry for the long post, but we’re genuinely at a breaking point. We’d prefer for her to stay at the nursery, but the current situation is pushing us toward choosing a childminder as the only realistic option.
Just wondering if anyone has had similar experience?