Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Andrea:
    
    All I can add is ...
    
    When Jim/I were "scouting for a daycare center", all three centers made
    it PERFECTLY CLEAR that if your child runs a temp (and there's a
    magical number - 100??) or "appears sick", you are immediately 
    summonsed to pick him/her up.  S/he can not return UNTIL their temp
    is normal and s/he's well again ... OR ... s/he's been on antibotics 
    for 48 hours.
    
    Now I have a kid who's lucky if she can get through ONE MONTH without
    an ear infection.  Pedi believes her ear canals are both short and
    narrow, thus any little "change" (teething, colds, allergies, sinuses,
    etc.) will swell them up and WAM-BAM another ear infection.  JA
    responds very well to the antibotics (24-48 hours) and we have this
    down to a science and can pretty much "predict" them before they turn
    into a real infection, BUT if JA were to be rejected from daycare for
    every fever and every ear infection and every cold ... well, I would
    never get in a full week at work!
    
    I, too, have a very supportive manager and there are many times I feel
    it best to "work from home" to be with JA, however, we have an
    excellent "home care provider" who not only is a "second-Mom" to JA,
    but also doesn't hesitate to keep us informed of anything her own kids
    may be experiencing ... or JA may be experiencing ... and let's "US"
    decide the level of risk we want to take or inflict.  This has worked
    out GREAT!
    
    I would treat "contagious diseases" with a lot more caution than the
    normal day-to-day stuff (ear infections, runny noses, etc.) ...
    but the day care centers we interviewed seemed to take "everything"
    seriously ... so I'd be surprised if any kid could return with any
    signs of illness.
    
    Dottie
    

    My daycare has a policy similar to Dottie's.  If the temp is more than
    xx degrees (I think 100, but maybe less with older kids), or if they
    are visibly ill, then you come get them immediately - in the mean time
    they wait in another room.  I have never had to go get Kati or stay
    home sick with her but, just incase, I have her enrolled in a sick
    program at the local hospital (like a sick day care).
    
    The problem is that many symptoms for many illnesses do not appear
    for quite a while - the incubation period is quite long.  So often
    times I could imagine a child being exposed to a germ long before
    anyone knows that another child has it.  This is part of socialization
    IMO, and it will also happen at schools.
    
    Also, my day care is quite a bit more lenient in the infant room than
    any other.  They get to know each child and if one is prone to ear
    infections, and they KNOW s/he has an ear infection, they will not call
    the parents right at the fever cutoff mark.
    
    Kristen

Andrea,

I can understand your frustration.  I also cannot understand why parents bring
their sick children into daycare.

My daughter, Alyssa, has been in day care since she was 3 months old (she will 
be a year on friday).  She is the type of baby that catches things very 
easily.  At 14 weeks old she got her first ear infection.  

At 4 months of age she caught the  DREADFUL "Hand Foot and Mouth disease.  
She also got the blisters in the mouth first, a couple days after 
that is when the blisters on her hands and feet showed up.  I would not 
bring her into daycare for 2 reasons.  1.  She was unbearable to be around/all 
she wanted was to be held and 2.  I would not like the other children to 
catch this disease.

My daycare center does have a policy that I highly agree with.

1.  101 fever or higher - the child must leave the center until all is well 
for 24 hours

2.  Diarrhea twice within one hour the child must leave the center until
all is well for 24 hours

3.  Chicken Pox - the child must be out of the center until the doctor lets 
the center know that the child is no longer contagious

4.  Hand Foot and Mouth - the same applies as to # 3

5.  Miscellaneous (Ring worm, etc) - must be treated by doctor and have a note

I am very much involved in my day care center.  I am on the Parents Executive
Committee, this way I know more about what goes on and if I feel that there
is a problem I can help change it.  Talking with the staff, they have 
mentioned that they have called parents to notify them of their sick child and 
some parents get angry that their child is sick.  Also at times Parents
will disguise a child's illness and bring them into the center.  This
upsets me because they are the ones that are infecting all of the other 
children.

Regards,
Bethany

I think that one reason that sick kids end up in daycare is that not all 
parents work for understanding managers, or have other resources available.  
For some parents it's no work, no income, and/or miss work, lose your job.
Practices vary widely, even within DEC.  Some people may have to take sick 
time or vacation time that they don't have.

That's not an excuse, but it's reality for some.  And even if you work for an 
understanding manager, staying home for kids' illenesses can be really tough.  
I remember one stretch when I got shingles, from which my children got chicken 
pox (consecutively, not at the same time), then everybody's favorite, head 
lice, struck my daughter's class.  Between all that, my wife and I could easily 
have missed four consecutive weeks of work between us.  We were fortunate that 
Grampa is retired and within commuting distance.

It's also true that the diseases strike with varying degrees of severity.  We 
PROBABLY sent our kids to daycare with hand, foot, and mouth, not because we 
were irresponsible, but because we didn't even realize they had it.  The only 
symptom that showed up was the cold sores.  The only reason that we suspect 
they had it was that *I* came down with a case -- it was very mild, but I had 
all the symptoms.

There are also diseases that are highly contagious, but are easily treatable, 
and sometimes don't even cause discomfort -- an example being conjunctivitis. 
I remember spending some very frustrating days at home with a pink-eyed kid 
who felt fine and who wanted to got to "school".

And I won't even mention head lice (woops, guess I already did).

I think that the policies mentioned in .0 and .3 are sound and reasonable, and 
in my experience fairly typical.  I personally draw my line at "sniffles".  I 
don't feel particularly bad about sending a child with a mild case of the 
"sniffles" to day care and or school.

In my experience, day care centers are more rigorous about sending sick kids 
home.

Clay

    
    Parents can request that their daycare center send children home for
    certain symptoms, ie: suspected chicken pox.
    
    I've requested that my daycare center, at the sign, rumor, etc. of
    chicken pox--notify me immediately--isolate and send home the suspected
    ill child
    immediately, and let me get Hannah out of there immediately.
    
    I am pregnant with #2--and I've never had chicken pox.  When I was
    pregnant with Hannah, it wasn't a concern because first of all, I
    believed I was immune (my mother swears she had me play with kids with
    chicken pox so I would get it--and I didn't!), and secondly, because I
    wasn't around kids.
    
    My doctor tested me for immunity this time around (it's a simple blood
    test) and lo and behold--I don't have any immunity.  Chicken pox cause
    birth defects in pregnant women (if the pregnant woman gets chicken
    pox).
    
    My daycare center has been extremely vigilant and all the parents have
    been alerted and are cooperating--any small rash or anything--and the
    kid stays home until a Dr. diagnoses.  Everyone has been great.
    
    After I give birth, everyone can relax again--I assume I'll get it one
    of these days and feel that standards can be relaxed once the baby
    comes...
    
    Just an aside about sick kids and sending them to daycare.  Please make
    sure that you are not going to infect a pregnant woman and endanger the
    life of the fetus.
    
    Bonnie
    
    

One really wonderful thing our Children's World in Colorado Springs 
just started is that if our child is ill and we take them to the
sick child program administered through the hospital, the CW will
reimburse the cost!  I think this is great!

Liz

    re: .5
    
    Has there been some new research done to show that chicken pox virus
    can harm the fetus?  I studied Microbiology (several years ago) and we
    were told that only a few viruses cause damage to the fetus, and
    chicken pox (varicella) virus definately was not one of them.  If a
    pregnant woman catches German Measles (Rubella) in the first few months
    of pregnancy, that can definately harm the fetus, though.  
    
    Good luck for the rest of your pregnancy, and hope you manage to avoid
    all these nasty germs.
    
    - Janet

    re: .5 and .7
    
    Not being a doctor, I was not going to add this, but since .7 did...
    
    I am pregnant and have recently been exposed to the chicken pox.  
    I was also exposed during my first pregnancy.  My doctor says that 
    even if I caught them, the risk of fetal harm is almost zero.  Rubella 
    is the disease to be concerned about.
    
    .5  Have you talk with your doctor?
    
    Penny 

    I was told the same thing as .5 about chicken pox when I was
    pregnant last year. 
    
    --bonnie

This topic came up while I was pregnant last year.  I was exposed to someone
who developed chicken pox but I wasn't sure if I had had them as a child.

The doctor told me to report any rashes immediately.  She also said that the
medical profession was reconsidering the risk to the fetus from chicken pox.

Shortly after that, I read an article in American Baby magazine (sometime
between June & September, I think) that confirmed what the doctor had
told me.  Unfortunately, I don't remember any specifics from the article
but you might want to try to find it.


- Terry

    
    Yes, believe me, I am CERTAIN that chicken pox in pregnant women cause
    birth defects in the fetus.  There is now proof that this is so--a new,
    recent study.  The birth defects can be very serious and the fetus is
    most at risk in the 1st and 3rd trimester. 
    
    In the 1st trimester, as the baby develops, all systems are at risk.
    During the 2nd trimester, there still is risk, but not as great as in
    the 1st trimester--since all systems are in place--everything is just
    growing bigger.  The danger in the 3rd trimester is that the woman will
    have the chicken pox during delivery (or be carrying the virus during
    delivery)--and the newborn is *very* suseptible to chicken pox.  
    Apparently, infant death, caused by maternal chicken pox at delivery is
    not uncommon in those women who have had chicken pox during delivery.
    So.....
    
    There is a vaccine available against chicken pox--but it is not yet
    been approved by the FDA.  The vaccine has been in use for approx. 
    10 years specifically for leukemia patients who have not been exposed
    to the C. Pox virus.  Apparently, C. Pox can be fatal for leukemia
    patients.  The good news is that the vaccine appears to have no side
    effects.  The bad news is that it is not long-lasting and has different 
    longetivity for different people (the longest it has lasted so far has
    been 7 years--but if differs widely amongst people).
    
    The FDA is loathe to legalize it--they don't want large populations of
    teenagers or adults who were vaccinated in childhood to suddenly come
    down with C. Pox.  C. Pox in adults is MUCH more serious than in
    children.
    
    I have spoken to the M.D. who is currently administering the vaccine at
    Dana Farber.  She will be happy to vaccinate me AFTER I give birth, but
    she will not vaccinate me now--being pregnant--and I fully agree with
    her.  We discussed vaccinating Hannah--but decided that if Hannah gets
    exposed--so do I--so vaccinating her would not necessarily prevent me
    from getting C. Pox.  Also, I'd rather experiment on myself than on her
    anyway!
    
    So, again, PLEASE, if you suspect that your child has an infectious
    disease--or has been exposed to one--PLEASE mention it to others.  In
    most cases, people won't really care.  But to that one person in a
    million....
    
    Bonnie