All day care centers, public or home based, have policies for determining if a child is too sick and/or contagious to be around other children. The list can be long, and if parents are unaware of the illnesses that can keep their child out of daycare, they could be in for a nasty surprise. These suggestions should help any parent prepare for a sick day.

When is your child too sick to go to day care?

The list of illnesses that can prohibit a child from daycare is long, but necessary to protect other children from getting sick too. The most common reasons a child is sent home is due to illness or parasites. This generally includes fever over 99.9, vomiting, rash, severe ‘whooping’ cough that produces thick green or yellow mucus, cold (especially with fever and runny nose), strep throat, conjunctivitis, chickenpox, scabies, and having lice. Check with the supplier their regulations.

When can your child return to daycare?

Usually, with a doctor’s note, your child can return to daycare when their symptoms have been absent for at least 24 hours or they have been on antibiotics for the same amount of time. This will ensure that no other children are exposed to the disease and that no other children have to stay home or take medicine. Again, be sure to check with the provider for their requirements.

What are the consequences of a child being sent home from daycare?

Not only will the parent have to leave work to pick up their child, but often the daycare will still charge for the days their child is absent, especially from in-home providers. Larger centers may charge a fee for cleaning and disinfecting your child’s assigned room. If there is no one else to care for your child, he will also lose wages for the days he must stay home with your child until he can return to daycare.

What can parents do to lessen the impact of a sick child?

First, keep in mind that all children will get sick. To keep illness to a minimum, wash and sanitize your hands often. Teach children to cough into their elbow and not their hands to reduce the chance of passing germs to others.

Second, create a backup plan. Arrange to have a friend or family member on your child’s approved list, and make sure they are willing to pick up and care for your child until you get home from work, also ask if they might be available for the duration of the disease. Find out if your employer will allow telecommuting while your child is sick.

Third, don’t be a hit-and-run parent. If your child is sick, activate the backup plan, or the provider will call you and you will have to pick up your child anyway. This is why the backup plan is so important, it leaves other options open besides giving your child cold medicine to mask his symptoms and hoping the provider doesn’t realize he’s sick.

A working parent faces many challenges every day, at work, at home, and at their child’s daycare. Planning for the unavoidable illness will reduce stress on the parent, provider, and child. As an adult, try to remember what it was like to be sick as a child. Would you have wanted to leave your warm bed to face a noisy and crowded place, or would you rather just be able to rest in peace and quiet until you felt better?