Nursery keeps ringing parents to collect our daughter

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(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?

It sounds like this nursery is not right for your little one. A child minder certainly seems a better option. Emotional unhappiness not a cause of physical symptoms? What rubbish. A simple temper tantrum can leave a child overheated! Sounds like the nursery don't feel able to fulfil your child's needs. Move her asap. She can go to nursery when she is a bit older.

There’s a possibility that your daughter is teething (new molars come up at around your daughter’s age). One of my daughters used to get diarrhoea when she was teething. The last time they called me I told them that & we checked for new teeth & indeed she was teething. Never got a call after that 🙄

Id definitely start taking your own thermometer to show them there chatting bull. Also is highly recommended child minders, my 2 eldest had minders and honestly it's was fantastic, very supportive with potty training, writing counting etc we had the way above normal nursery level when they started a school, they are still socialising as they are with others and also go to play groups. Much more personal experience. Xx

Don't answer the phone, let it go to voicemail. Then listen to it. Use your discretion in when to reply to give it more time. After all many parents would be in meetings and not being able to take a call straight away.

Change nursery! You can't win this one I'm afraid. Challenge them and leave your child with them when they have been failing already? If her mood is changing when she leaves too, that's also a good indicator that little one is ready for an upgrade. I had 2 under 2 and worked fulltime, I never had this many calls for both put together. However it was the extreme opposite, I was called after my 23 month old had been fussing for 2 hours, she had a little fall but "you know how they can be". She had a broken femur. So long story short, if you're not happy now, move on so you can feel reassured while working.

Why are they medicating your child at all? My nursery wont give any medication under any circumstances. If my child needs medication during nursery hours then they must stay home until medication course is completed or i must attend & give medication when needed (if long term) he has been there for 2 years now & only been sent home 2 or 3 times. (Their policy is 37+ call parents, 37.5 send home 38+ send home & stay home until normal temp for 48hrs) Even when he vomited they just changed his clothes because he was well & didn’t have a temperature (was likely reflux) Regardless of policies or individual health of your child I would not be happy if my nursery was giving medicine that often to my child. 26 times in 3 months is 50% of the time they are there! 5 days a week 4 weeks a month so 60 nursery days & they are medicating & sending home 26 days? Sounds like they are medicating for a quite day (sleeping children are easy) i would be concerned about the welfare of the children here & be considering reporting them for an inspection. I may be over reacting but I would rather over react than risk my child or another’s safety.

I moved my eldest to a new nursery for this exact reason and amazingly he hasn’t been sent home ill since!

I have worked in many nurseries for about 18 years and I now have two kids of my own only 1 of which is still currently in nursery. I have never personally heard of children being sent home because of staffing. All of the nurseries I have worked in always try and make it work internally before calling in bank staff. However that being said, 26 times in 3 months is insane and if they were genuinely concerned that your child was getting a temperature that much we would be recommending you to get further medical advice. I agree with the other posters that next time it happens you will have to kick up a stink and maybe go and speak to the manager about this. Not saying have a row, but definitely have form words with her about this. We can't send children home without Room Leader and Manager approval.

Yes.. I would say you can’t there immediatly .. leave it an hour and then go there armed with a thermometer and take her temp and refuse to take her home if it’s normal.
OR give her calpol every morning before drop off!

I'm not really clear how they get hold of you so fast? Teachers surely can't have a phone on in class, and my kids school has a policy of not disrupting class time so you wouldn't get a message from the office until your next free period anyway.

Can you ask the school not to get you urgently for nursery calls? That would give the Calpol longer to work.

Some people naturally run cooler or hotter than the average. One woman at my last job had constant temperature 1.2°C below the normal aged 13 to 15 and then went back to normal in her late teens. She even had an article in the Lancet medical journal regarding her peculiarities.
Perhaps the daughter is the opposite and is just warmer at times?

I’m surprised you can leave school so fast too. I’d speak to them and say you are waiting for cover and take your time. Don’t rush there. If you aren’t saving them money they might pick on someone else

If she’s getting that distressed then it sounds like nursery isn’t working!

but I’d definitely start saying you can not drop everything and go straight there! You have hundreds of student to teach too and school needs to arrange cover etc!

I’ve always wondered how surgeons and barristers and judges etc cope in these situations … they can’t just just stop mid heart surgery or mid court case to pick up a child! Maybe they employ Nannie’s… but my SIL is a nurse… she sees patients by an appointment basis… if school call her she has to continue seeing patients and call around herself trying to find someone to cover her position… then drive 45 minutes home.. it’s taken her 2 hours to get to school before!

Maybe next time say ‘sorry I’m really busy atm and can’t just walk out of class… I’ll see what I can do… leave it a hour and then call back and say ‘it’s really hard to get away as you’re teaching GCSE level children/taking mock exams and ask them to check her again..

My friend was Christmas shopping once and in Smyths, had no phone signal for over an hour and school were trying to call her for that whole hour apparently! Her husband doesn’t even have a phone!… by the time they were out from shopping and had signal again the school reception was less than impressed!… she then told them she was about an hours car journey from school and needed to drop presents home first so they could hidden… it’s life… and you’ve not even had the dreaded chicken pox yet…. So neither you or DH have any friends or family support that could pop to nursery, take DD’s temp and say ‘she’s in range’ and leave again (without DD) and disrupting your teaching day?

Other thing that might be worth looking into is putting in an official complaint, half an hour isn’t long enough, and unless a child is throwing up or having diarrhoea the staff should use their own common sense. Almost 30 times is excessive… I would personally start dropping her back there the second she perks up too… if that’s 5 minutes after collection then I’d be taking her back saying there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her! Or even take her to GP and explain the situation, get her checked out and drop her back with a doctors note saying she’s fine for nursery and then go back to work yourself.
how old is DD?

Are you in the UK? Because I don't understand how this works. Where we live (Belgium) children are not supposed to be in nursery with a fever at all. They will call you to pick up your child and your child must stay at home untill he/she no longer needs any medication. Some people bring their child in after they gave paracetamol, but of course by noon the fever returns. Often those are the same parents who wait hours to pick up after they get called. This is frowned upon very much, because that's exactly how whole groups of babies become sick.

Yes! My daughter was showing as hyperthermic once but was fine. She’s regularly health checked and she always get a comment about her temperature being low, she’s always the lower end of or below normal range! Odd!
id be in A&E constantly concerned about her being hyperthermic if I panicked everytime her temp was out of range!

Is it unusual in Belgium for both parents to work when children are small?

I got called to collect my son because his temperature was 37.3 and if the nursery administers Calpol the child must be collected immediately 🙄 they’re ridiculous

How can a child have a temperature 26 times in 3 months, unless they were seriously ill? My suspicion is it's the nursery not coping/short-staffed. I must have gone in only 2 or 3 times across both my DC.

Mum of two children who both attended nursery. Both were sickly puppies at that age, but I was probably called a max of 20 times in a year for each (that included for vomiting etc). 26 since October is wild and unreasonable. I would check with other parents and see if this is a theme for them.