Can anyone else relate...****nny noses

[lilcupcakes09]

I just wish I could make a rule......your child cannot return until the runny nose is completely gone!

I am so tired of snot! I am so tired of whipping snot from noses! I am so tired of snot all over my throw pillows!

Parents just do not care enough to take the time off to take their child to the doctor and get something to help them!

Ok thanks for looking!

[EchoMom]

Yes it's gross, yes it's that time of year. I really do think though that if they didn't bring them when their nose was running, then there would be no kids at daycare ever and no money or business. And really, if it's just a runny nose what should the get from the doctor? Just benedryl to dry it up, but if it's just a regular runny nose I certainly wouldn't want to pump my own child full of meds if that is the only sypmtom.

I agree, it's soooooooooooooooooo nasty and makes me feel gross! But I really don't think the parents are being irresponsible or disrespectful or lazy, that's just kids.

[Blackcat31]

I have a policy about snot. My handbook and illness policy says:

There are times when a child may be excluded due to the required amount of care he/she needs when experiencing a common cold or illness. For example, a cough that is disruptive to normal daily activities, when a child is unable to cover his/her mouth while coughing or when the amount of nasal discharge or fluid becomes unmanageable for the provider to continue maintaining a sanitary environment. This will occur at my discretion and will be handled on an individual basis.

Once a child's nasal discharge turns anything but clear, after 5 consecutive days with no improvement, I require a doctor's visit/check.

[Lilbutterflie]

Yup, I hate snot, too! Don't we all??

I wish I could exclude for runny noses; but the fact of the matter is that parents would have to stay home all the time and never able to work if I did. I do exclude for green snot though!

[EchoMom]

Yup, I hate snot, too! Don't we all??

I wish I could exclude for runny noses; but the fact of the matter is that parents would have to stay home all the time and never able to work if I did. I do exclude for green snot though!

How do you do this??? This is something I've never enforced. (I've gotten strong about enforcing fees so I am getting much better!) But what do you do when the kids been with you an hour and you realize the snot is chunky yellow??? Do you call and say come get them???

It just seems like you would definitely lose a client for that.

[Lilbutterflie]

How do you do this??? This is something I've never enforced. (I've gotten strong about enforcing fees so I am getting much better!) But what do you do when the kids been with you an hour and you realize the snot is chunky yellow??? Do you call and say come get them???

It just seems like you would definitely lose a client for that.

I just call the parents and say "Your child has green nasal discharge which is most likely due to an infection. He/she needs to be picked up and seen by a doctor before returning to daycare."

It's in my contract, so I have every right to exclude for it. If they go to the doctor and everything is fine; they can come back with a doctor's note. More often than not, the green discharge means sinus infection which validates sending them home to see a doctor.

[sharlan]

Since they don't give kids under 2 anything for a runny nose, there's no point in taking them to the dr.

Back in the dark ages, I used Dimetapp to help dry up their little noses. Now, I spend all day using Boogie Wipes on 3 kids.

[Blackcat31]

Here is a handy little article about decoding colored snot ::

http://cocopreme.hubpages.com/hub/snotdecodedwhatdoessnotcolormean

[Holiday Park]

Black cat thank you for sharing that! I remember seeing that somewhere and I want to ad that into my new handbook ! Because I have a dkgirl who comes with a snot nose SO bad some weeks that i literally have to hold her down and suction and suction all that snot out just she can breath !! Well and also so shes not blowing it all out tben smearing it on her hands only to touch all the toys . Not to mention , she LOVES to stcick her fingers and her own face into my soms face and mouth and the other babies I care for !
One day the snot suctioning was so bad I did feel it was interfering with the quality of care I was giving ( or not giving) to my own son (same age 14 months) and the 7month infant who is here too . She is on claritin and I honestly feel its not working OR that the cause is her parents feeding her cows milk . Cows milk can cause some people to produce a ton of mucus and aggrivate/cause/make worse allergies in a person if they are already predisposed. I chose not to preach sbout anything childrearing or health related after they blew me off for 1-2 other things in the past.

[littlemissmuffet]

I have a policy about snot. My handbook and illness policy says:

There are times when a child may be excluded due to the required amount of care he/she needs when experiencing a common cold or illness. For example, a cough that is disruptive to normal daily activities, when a child is unable to cover his/her mouth while coughing or when the amount of nasal discharge or fluid becomes unmanageable for the provider to continue maintaining a sanitary environment. This will occur at my discretion and will be handled on an individual basis.

Once a child's nasal discharge turns anything but clear, after 5 consecutive days with no improvement, I require a doctor's visit/check.

I have a very similar policy. It definitely helps control the amount of snot I have to deal with and the amount of tissues I go through!!

[wahmof3]

I have a policy about snot. My handbook and illness policy says:

There are times when a child may be excluded due to the required amount of care he/she needs when experiencing a common cold or illness. For example, a cough that is disruptive to normal daily activities, when a child is unable to cover his/her mouth while coughing or when the amount of nasal discharge or fluid becomes unmanageable for the provider to continue maintaining a sanitary environment. This will occur at my discretion and will be handled on an individual basis.

Once a child's nasal discharge turns anything but clear, after 5 consecutive days with no improvement, I require a doctor's visit/check.

How do you determine a disruptive cough and unmanageable runny nose? Just curious bc I have a DCK that has been hacking for almost a month now and DCM says oh he gets this every year. The cough is horrible!! IMO if he was my kid: we would've already been to the doctor! My dh has commented on this cough and he never makes comments on the DCKs.

The "fight" with the DCM is he is not running a fever and seems to be playing fine, but coughs and coughs ALL OVER ALL OF US. Constantly reminding DCB to cover his cough.

And now: everyone in my program has it, including me

I know its the time of year and if DCPs took off for every cough and sniffle, I wouldn't be in business. But the poor kid- when does he get relief?

[lilcupcakes09]

Yes it's gross, yes it's that time of year. I really do think though that if they didn't bring them when their nose was running, then there would be no kids at daycare ever and no money or business. And really, if it's just a runny nose what should the get from the doctor? Just benedryl to dry it up, but if it's just a regular runny nose I certainly wouldn't want to pump my own child full of meds if that is the only sypmtom.

I agree, it's soooooooooooooooooo nasty and makes me feel gross! But I really don't think the parents are being irresponsible or disrespectful or lazy, that's just kids.

I will beg to differ! I do have parents that will totally ignore the fact that their children have had a snotty nose. I have had a parent tell me after the child has suffered for a month, maybe it's time to go be seen, then take another week or at their convenience make an apt!! That is disrespectful and irresponsible!

[SunshineMama]

Theres nothing worse than having to wipe runny noses all day long. ick. Unfortunately, if you excluded for every runny nose, you would never have clients.

[Blackcat31]

How do you determine a disruptive cough and unmanageable runny nose? Just curious bc I have a DCK that has been hacking for almost a month now and DCM says oh he gets this every year. The cough is horrible!! IMO if he was my kid: we would've already been to the doctor! My dh has commented on this cough and he never makes comments on the DCKs.

The "fight" with the DCM is he is not running a fever and seems to be playing fine, but coughs and coughs ALL OVER ALL OF US. Constantly reminding DCB to cover his cough.

And now: everyone in my program has it, including me

I know its the time of year and if DCPs took off for every cough and sniffle, I wouldn't be in business. But the poor kid- when does he get relief?

THAT is a disruptive cough. I would probably let it go for a day or two but no longer than that. Plus, if he can't cover, he might as well just cough into the other kids' faces.... I make it VERY clear to my DCP's that what is no big deal at home becomes a HUGE deal at daycare when I am managing a GROUP of children.

If someone had a cough that seemed to be getting worse or not making any improvement, I would ask that the child be kept home for a day or two to rest before I allow them to return.

Same goes with a runny nose.

Most the kids you have in care, I assume you know fairly well and it is pretty easy to judge whether they are just experiencing a few mild symptoms of a cold but when those mild symptoms become bothersome to everyone else and hard to manage for both myself and the child, then a day of rest is necessary.

I talk in-depth about this during the interview process and on-going throughout the cold/season so my DCP's know exactly where I stand. Plus, I encourage them to ask if they aren't sure.

Every kid handles it differently so it kind of has to be on a case by case or individual basis.

[williams2008]

Ughhhhhh yes I am sick and tired of the snot