The kids go to daycare two days per week so that Penny has time to look for jobs and go on interviews. We found a daycare center that we liked and have been generally happy with it thus far. However, nothing is perfect and there are snags along the way. For instance, our daycare center seems to be crazy temperature takers. Our kids have been going there since September, and they have been sent home for temps and/or called us to ok Tylenol on about 5 occasions. This seems extreme to me. When we have taken them home, we have found that they either have no temp, or a much lower temp than reported by daycare. Now, of course, I do not want my sick kids to stay at daycare and I do not want anyone else's sick kids to be ay daycare. But, it kinda burns me up (pun intended) when we have paid for them to be there and they are sent home and seem not to actually be sick. Is it possible that their thermometer is wonky? They use an under the arm thermometer, so that should be more accurate. One day, the kids were sent home because we were told they both had temps and appeared to have chicken pox. There have been three cases of chicken pox in the infant room since the kids started going there. So, we picked the kids up, called the doctor's office, and went to an appointment that afternoon, a mere one hour later. We did not give them Tylenol before the appt. At the appt, one hour after being sent home from daycare, both kids were found to have no temps and aboslutely no signs of chicken pox. Sigh. What to do in this situation? We talked to the daycare about this, sent the kids back to daycare two days later when they were next scheduled (along with the doctor's note), and hoped for the best. That was yesterday. Jordan was sent home half way through the day with a fever, which was actually confirmed at home with our thermometer, although the temp we got was much lower.
I know that kids get sick and have colds and get fevers and all turns out ok. What I don't know about is how you are a working parent when kids are constantly getting sent home from daycare. It is ok for now, since Penny is not working yet. And we got a 2nd car (a Minivan. Yup, a mom-mobile!), so that works out ok. But once we are both working, I don't know how we are gonna swing this frequent need to be picked up from daycare and brought home. Since I have been a working person for longer than I have been a mom, it feels weird to leave work to pick kids up and all. And I feel weird about it, especially since I am at a new job. Do other working moms have an opinion on this?
And the thing is that our kids are not unusually sick. They are happy babies and mostly healthy, but daycare sure is doing a number on them. And them being over sensitive about temperatures is getting to be a hassle! But, the bottom line for now, is that there are no pox so far. And that's a good thing. But we are on the lookout!
And do you know what another bummer is? At work today I was the mom who came to work with spit-up on her shirt who did not even realize it until she had been at work for some time and who's coworkers probably saw said spit up and were totally grossed out and repulsed and said nothing to alert me to the situation. Hello, I am your new employee. Please be impressed by me!
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4 comments:
Your situation sounds very frustrating. I agree that kids will indeed get sick often enough, there's no need to send them home when they aren't sick. And daycare isn't inexpensive. You could consider another option and see if you can find a nanny. As much as daycare costs when you are paying for two you could probably have a nanny for about the same or less. Then you'd have reliable childcare, they'd actually get sick less often because they'd be around one person instead of many and they'd get more personal attention/care based on their needs.
I think that daycare is bogus. What are they considering a fever? I mean, sure, my kid doesn't go to daycare but she has had ONE fever. (I take her temperature whenever she feels warm to me.) It was 100.4 once and I gave a little Tylenol but has never been higher than that and aside from that day has never been higher than 99.4 when I checked it. Once at a pedi appointment it was 99.8 and I asked if that was a fever and she said no.
So what's the deal?
From a medics point of view you need to find out what they call a feaver. Maybe if it is not too much of an inconvenience, get thm to chech the temp when either of you go to pick them up, just to see! You could also talk to other parents to see if they had simular experiences when their kids started there. Kids take some time to become resillient to all the little bugs around. The nanny thing sounds ok, but it is good social interaction with other adults and kids in day care, it also creats a good imune system in my oppinion. Woody
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