ILLNESS POLICY/COVID PROTOCOL

 

How you should determine if  your child is well enough to be at Daycare:

 

YOUR CHILD IS OK TO BE AT DAYCARE AS LONG AS: 

 

*They do not currently have a fever nor have they had a fever within 24 hours.   They need to stay at home until they are fever free for a FULL 24 hours WITHOUT medication.  IF your child develops a fever while at daycare- they must be picked up within ONE HOUR and must stay home the next day and for a full 24 hours AFTER the fever subsides without medication.   NO EXCEPTIONS.   A fever is considered anything higher than 99.5F

 

 

*They are not coughing in a disruptive way-  If your child is coughing constantly while awake- they need to stay at home.   Most children are not great at covering a cough just yet and coughing spreads germs very quickly.  If they are having a cough every few minutes, it is considered a constant cough. 

Coughing while napping is disruptive to not only your child, but the other children.   If your child has a distruptive cough, you must keep them at home.   Most coughs tend to worsen while laying down so please access your child overnight to determine how frequent the cough is.   Kids need their nap and being disrupted by a coughing friend is unfair to them.

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*They are NOT contagious.   If your child has anything they can potentially pass on to another child, they need to stay at home.   Whether it be a stomach bug, pink eye, and all those very common illnesses around this time of year such as Hand Foot and Mouth,  Croup,  Roseola, and I have heard that RSV is also currently making the rounds quite rapidly.   They must stay home for a full 24 hours after symptoms subside.  If your child has to see a doctor, please ask them for a note with an acceptable return date.    ALL CONTAGIOUS ILLNESSES MUST BE REPORTED.  Failure to do so will result in immediate termination of childcare without notice.   It is wrong and rude to not report an illness that could potentially spread to others some of which have chronic health conditions.

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*Also a reminder that COVID is still around.     If your child has any symptoms, please make sure you are testing them before daycare.   I do have tests here at daycare and will test if your child shows any symptoms.   

If anyone in your household is showing symptoms, please also test your child prior to bringing them to daycare.  If anyone in your household tests positive, your child must stay at home.  The current isolation period for covid positive is 5 days.  I understand that the CDC has updated this but given the fact that many of our younger friends are newly vaccinated or not at all yet, I will continue to keep the  5 days of isolation rule for now.   YOUR CHILD MUST BE SYMPTOM FREE FOR 24 hours REGARDLESS of if it has been 5 days and vice versa to be able to return to daycare please.

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*IF ANYONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD OTHER THAN YOUR CHILD CATCHES SOMETHING CONTAGIOUS:    Example- a stomach bug Please keep your child at home for 24 hours  for observation to make sure they don't have a bug too.

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**>>PLEASE DO NOT ASK IF IT IS OK TO BRING YOUR CHILD BACK THE NEXT DAY IF THEY ARE SYMPTOM FREE.  THE ANSWER IS NO.  IT MUST BE A FULL 24 HOURS AFTER BEING SYMPTOM FREE.  WE HAVE A ILLNESS POLICIES IN PLACE FOR A REASON.  PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL TO ME, MY FAMILY AND THE OTHERS IN MY CARE AND THEIR FAMILIES BY FOLLOWING THE RULES.   PLEASE THINK ABOUT HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF ANOTHER FAMILY KNOWINGLY BRINGS IN AN ILLNESS THAT GETS YOUR CHILD AND FAMILY SICK.

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 PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME OUT BY KEEPING YOUR CHILD AT HOME IF THEY ARE SICK OR SHOWING ANY SIGNS OF ILLNESS SO WE CAN DO OUR BEST TO PREVENT AS MUCH SPREADING AS POSSIBLE.   IF WE ALL DO OUR PART TO HELP, WE CAN KEEP OUR KIDS HEALTHY AND HAVE LESS SICK TIME AS A WHOLE.

 

**IF YOU MASK YOUR CHILD'S FEVER OR OTHER SYMPTOMS WITH OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATION AND BRING THEM TO DAYCARE, YOUR CHILDCARE WILL IMMEDIATELY BE TERMINATED.   THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS.