Too Sick For Daycare?

Dr. Sears, a well known pediatrician, has the scoop for working parents with sick kids this winter season.  We're approaching the season of colds and runny noses. At some point during the next few months, the odds are good that your little guy or gal will wake up feeling under the weather.

So who gets to call in sick? Is it your turn or Dad's? Maybe junior isn't that sick. Perhaps you can take him to daycare anyway. Surely he'll perk up after some juice and goldfish snacks, right?

Dr. Sears recommends keeping your kids home if their exhibiting germs that could be contagious. If you're not sure which illnesses might be catching, here's some help:

Diarrhea Illness

Here is one set of germs that all doctors agree are very contagious and certainly means your child is too sick for daycare. Frequent, watery, mucousy and sometime bloody diarrhea is a sure indication to stay home, both for your baby’s sake and to prevent an outbreak in the center. Add vomiting – parents call this a double ender – and your baby is certainly too weak and too upset to leave home.

Colds and Fever

While diarrhea illnesses mean your child is too sick for daycare, respiratory and febrile illnesses are a different bag of germs. Most cold germs will not make your child too sick for daycare because they do not threaten an outbreak in the daycare center as much as diarrhea. Children are most contagious a day or two before they act sick.

If your baby has a fever (persistent temperature of at least 101ºF or 38.3ºC) it is prudent to keep her out of daycare until you ask your doctor whether she is contagious.

Sore Throats

Sore throats, especially those associated with fever and throat spots (for example, herpangina), are very contagious and are a red light for being too sick for daycare until the fever and the throat spots are gone — usually around five days.

Eye Drainage

The nose is not the only thing that runs when baby gets a cold. Eye drainage is often associated with an underlying cold, especially a sinus infection. These eyes are not contagious, and usually neither is the rest of the baby.

Some runny eyes are due to conjunctivitis (often called pinkeye), a contagious infection that will send day-care providers rushing to make a come-get-your-baby call.

Coughs

While most colds end the cough still lingers, keeping babies out of daycare and parents out of work. But all coughs are not automatically stay-home illnesses. A dry, hacking cough that neither awakens baby nor is associated with fever, pain, difficulty breathing or other cold signs is not a reason for quarantine.

Having a sick child to care for is stressful, but so is missing work. Parenting can be pretty rough sometimes, am I right? If your little one is sick right now, just know we've all been there. Here's hoping your baby feels better soon, contagious or not.

So what if your baby has something contagious or is just too sick for daycare? What are your options? How long might you need to miss work? Get the answers to these questions and more in the rest of Dr. Sears' article about children who are too sick for daycare.

Is Your Child Too Sick for Daycare?