Sibling threw up - healthy one attends?

[DCMom]

I have two sibling DCKs. One threw up last night. The other seems healthy this morning. Should I allow the healthy one to attend?

I told the parent that technically I would allow the healthy one to attend, but there is a chance that he would also have the virus and would bring it into the daycare. If he did, my children would get sick and when they throw up in a day or two, I would not be able to provide care to the now-healthy DCKs. But there is a chance that he is not/ will not get sick...

Would you do the same thing? Any other considerations?

[Inspired by Reggio]

I typically only exclude when the actual child is symptomatic ~ there is a chance that the other sibling WONT get it however I remind parents to be on 'standby' to get here ASAP if the second child develops symptoms so if one is home with a sick child the other parent better be prepared to drop everything to get here ~ typically when you remind them THAT than they just keep the sibling home 'just in case' cause they do not want TWO parents having to take sick time

[mimi]

I agree with Reggio. You don't know if your children would become ill. I have a dcb who never gets sick even though he's been exposed to pretty much everything. It's a chance you take and you have to be comfortable with it.

[kidlove]

I think any provider (especially one with their own kids) is a little crazy to take the chance of infecting more children with a virus of that nature. My contract states, if anyone in the home contracts a virus such as the flu or any other contagious illness, ALL children are to refrain from attending my daycare until 48 hours after the sick are well. I am a big time advocate for keeping illness from spreading, the best way to do that is to keep ALL members of the household away from contact with others until the virus has passed. Drives me nuts to here a parent is home with the flu and the child has been dropped off to me. It can take up to 72 hours for the virus to show signs/symptoms in a person giving them 3 whole days to infect ALL they come in contact with including the rest of the day care kids and you and your family. I don't mess with illness and all my families know that. Better safe than sorry, I always say!!!

[treeholm]

I just don't understand why a parent who is home with a sick child would send the other child. They are home anyway, so shouldn't they be looking after their children? There is a chance the other child will get sick, and I'd rather give them a day of rest at home, just in case. Of course, I also think it is very strange that someone on maternity leave would send an older child to daycare as well. Could be a generation thing since I'm a grandma, but I never heard of such a thing until recently. I would have felt incredibly guilty sending my child somewhere if I were home.

[Crayola kiddies]

I have it in my handbook that if one child is sick the sibling must remain at home as well.

[apples and bananas]

It's hard to exclude a child that may or may not be sick.

However, if one is sick and staying home then why can't the other one stay too? It would be logical to keep both kids out of care. This is another reason why I don't charge then they're sick. I don't want anyone coming just to get their money's worth. Kids get sick, it's part of the deal. The part that sucks is that from my experiance, it's takes about 2 days until the next one is throwing up.

I think you were right to explain it like that to the parent. Very honest. You can bring her, however, if my kids get sick in 2 days I close which means no daycare for you. Get your back up care ready.

[sunnydays]

Unfortunetly, it seems many parents these days don't feel they need to have two kids at home at once! They send the older one to daycare through mat leave and send the unsick kid to daycare if one is sick...I have had this happen to me many times. They say things like "it is so hard to have two kids home at once when one is sick"...I think these parents just haven't built up the stamina for it because they haven't had to. I can take care of 5 kids at once plus my own and yet many parents can't manage their own two. I don't exclude a healthy child, but I have often thought about this...I hate having the sibling come to daycare when I know the other one has the flu...then it's a waiting game to see if the healthy one will fall ill after infecting us all!

I just don't understand why a parent who is home with a sick child would send the other child. They are home anyway, so shouldn't they be looking after their children? There is a chance the other child will get sick, and I'd rather give them a day of rest at home, just in case. Of course, I also think it is very strange that someone on maternity leave would send an older child to daycare as well. Could be a generation thing since I'm a grandma, but I never heard of such a thing until recently. I would have felt incredibly guilty sending my child somewhere if I were home.

[Lou]

Ideally, I would love to enforce that they keep a sibling home...however, I do not turn away non-symptomatic children. But, I do suggest they keep the other child home to prevent spread of the virus throughout the other children and myself, and have them on standby should the child be exhibiting any symptoms.

[gcj]

I've been in this situation and I allow them since they're not sick, but as soon as they step in my door I change them into their emergency change of clothes and we wash hands before entering the play area or touching ANYTHING. I've gotten some odd looks for parents changing them to enter, but oh well!