Would you be irritated by this? Daycare / temp question

[pinotgrig]

H was sick yesterday and stayed at home. G went to daycare. He's had a cold, but no fever and is acting completely normal.

I pick him up after work and one of the teachers in his classroom said G felt a little warm, did I want her to take his temp? I'm trying not to throw up, and told her sure. She has trouble finding her thermometer and I tell her NM, it was fine we were going straight home and literally live 5 minutes way.

She finds her thermometer and takes his underarm temp. First reading was 98+1 = 99. She complains about how it's not always a super accurate thermometer. Second reading was 99.2+1=100.2. She says "Oh! He'll have to stay home tomorrow!" :/ She also said his "eyes don't look right". When I pressed her on what that meant (runny? Watery? Red?) she said "Oh, just like he doesn't feel well. You know how eyes get when you don't feel well." No, actually I don't. But whatever. He acts fine all evening and slept well.

I get him home and using our forehead thermometer, his temp is 99.2. H and I go back and forth on whether to call last night about the temp issue, but H pushed to keep him home. So we're splitting the day today.

What would you have done in this situation? I was a bit annoyed she took his temp as we were walking out the door with a not-great thermometer that conflicted with our reliable thermometer at home. Would you have called last night to see if he could go today?

[jenn248]

Yeah, I would be annoyed. If he seemed fine this morning, I would have probably sent him and told DCP his temperature was normal when you got home.

[pinotgrig]

Dec 15, 2015 9:22:06 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

I would've been annoyed.

I do sort of know what she means about the eyes thing-when my oldest is under the weather her eyes just look sort of dead, not as bright. She doesn't seem to really focus on objects as well, and they aren't as expressive.

Why did your H push to keep him home?

One of the kids in his class has pinkeye. H is staying with him the bulk of the day. I feel like crap so a few hours working from home cleaning up email and other simple tasks are welcome from me.

Jennyanydots - our center's rule is 100.2. :/

[snowflurry]

I'd be annoyed and wouldn't have let her take it. Either way, I'd send him today if he woke up without a fever.

[Deleted]

It sounds like she was basically setting it up for you to not bring him today. If they hadn't already taken his temp before you got there I don't see why it needed to be taken as you were walking out the door.

If I took the temp at home and it was fine I would have sent him and said you used the temporal thermometer this morning and it was fine.

[kershnic]

I wouldn't care about her taking the temp, but I'd be annoyed by her comment about staying home, and no way in hell would I refer to an underarm temp (with an unreliable thermometer no less) of 99.2 as a "fever". And I would have sent him in the next day. If I had to keep my kids home every time either had a runny nose and seemed a little grumpy I should just call it and be a SAHM for the next 5 years.

I don't get what you mean by calling about the temp though. Who would you call?

[pinotgrig]

kershnic - when his temp was normal when we got home, I thought about calling the admin office to run the scenario by them and hopefully get them to say it was fine to bring him in. I picked him up at 5 and they're open until 6:30.

[VillainV]

Similar thing happened with us a few weeks ago, minus the snarky "he'll have to stay home" comment. I took his temp when we got home and it was fine. I called the director (we have a good relationship with her) and she said of course we could bring him the next day.

[kershnic]

Dec 15, 2015 9:36:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

kershnic - when his temp was normal when we got home, I thought about calling the admin office to run the scenario by them and hopefully get them to say it was fine to bring him in. I picked him up at 5 and they're open until 6:30.

Oh. I would definitely NOT put this in their hands. I would make my own call. He doesn't have a fever he can go.

[Deleted]

I'd just ignore the crazy lady comment! He didn't even have a fever, so why would he need to stay home (assuming he was acting fine)?

[Deleted]

Dec 15, 2015 9:36:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

kershnic - when his temp was normal when we got home, I thought about calling the admin office to run the scenario by them and hopefully get them to say it was fine to bring him in. I picked him up at 5 and they're open until 6:30.

But he didn't even have a fever. Is it typical for daycare to "force" a kid to stay home? I wouldn't call them.

[biogirl21]

Unless he was acting sick and had a reliable temp that showed a fever, he would be going to daycare. I can't stay home for a feeling from the DCT. And I would have told her (brightly, and I really hate when people overuse that here) "oh, his temp was fine when we got home and he acting completely normal!' When I dropped him off.

[pinotgrig]

Dec 15, 2015 9:41:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Dec 15, 2015 9:36:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

kershnic - when his temp was normal when we got home, I thought about calling the admin office to run the scenario by them and hopefully get them to say it was fine to bring him in. I picked him up at 5 and they're open until 6:30.

But he didn't even have a fever. Is it typical for daycare to "force" a kid to stay home? I wouldn't call them.

I don't know! I've never been in that position before. Every other time I've had to pick him up for a fever it was a legit fever and he was sick. I was just worried if I showed up this morning with him they would make me leave. Maybe that's not how it works. Sounds like most everyone else would have done just that and explained the situation.

[sookie]

Dec 15, 2015 9:17:51 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

 She complains about how it's not always a super accurate thermometer.

This is the part that would've annoyed me. I get that it's not her choice to use that thermometer, but you don't get to make me keep my kid home if you know that your thermometer is off. Especially if twice in a few minutes you got such different readings.

I would be irritated and would have probably taken her today. If DH wanted to keep her home I would've had him stay home all day instead of me having to split the day since she's fine.

[sookie]

Dec 15, 2015 9:41:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Dec 15, 2015 9:36:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

kershnic - when his temp was normal when we got home, I thought about calling the admin office to run the scenario by them and hopefully get them to say it was fine to bring him in. I picked him up at 5 and they're open until 6:30.

But he didn't even have a fever. Is it typical for daycare to "force" a kid to stay home? I wouldn't call them.

Yeah, at least for our daycare it's typical. If you have a fever (101 or higher), vomiting, or loose stools more than 3 times in one day you can't come back without a full gap day between. It's not even really a 24 hour policy. If I have to pick up DD at noon on Monday, she can't go back until Wednesday AM at the earliest.

[Deleted]

Dec 15, 2015 10:05:27 GMT -5 sookie said:

Dec 15, 2015 9:41:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

But he didn't even have a fever. Is it typical for daycare to "force" a kid to stay home? I wouldn't call them.

Yeah, at least for our daycare it's typical. If you have a fever (101 or higher), vomiting, or loose stools more than 3 times in one day you can't come back without a full gap day between. It's not even really a 24 hour policy. If I have to pick up DD at noon on Monday, she can't go back until Wednesday AM at the earliest.

Oh yeah I know if a kid is legit sick they have to stay home. But I meant with no fever and a few sniffles, is it typical for a daycare to be hyper vigilant about checking a kid's temp and make them stay home for minor symptoms.

[aspentosh]

I would have sent him!

Who says something isn't reliable and then trusts what it says?

[sookie]

Dec 15, 2015 10:09:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Dec 15, 2015 10:05:27 GMT -5 sookie said:

Yeah, at least for our daycare it's typical. If you have a fever (101 or higher), vomiting, or loose stools more than 3 times in one day you can't come back without a full gap day between. It's not even really a 24 hour policy. If I have to pick up DD at noon on Monday, she can't go back until Wednesday AM at the earliest.

Oh yeah I know if a kid is legit sick they have to stay home. But I meant with no fever and a few sniffles, is it typical for a daycare to be hyper vigilant about checking a kid's temp and make them stay home for minor symptoms.

Our center throws it under "this is going around so DD probably has it." I'd say 75% of the time we can get away with fighting it until it's a real issue, but sometimes they'll stand their ground and unless we can get into the pediatrician quickly to get a note that basically states they're being ridiculous we're SOL.

[jeaniebueller]

I would be pissed. Taking their temp on the way out the door if they aren't acting completely sick is a dick move.

[Deleted]

Dec 15, 2015 10:05:27 GMT -5 sookie said:

Dec 15, 2015 9:41:57 GMT -5 @wandering said:

But he didn't even have a fever. Is it typical for daycare to "force" a kid to stay home? I wouldn't call them.

Yeah, at least for our daycare it's typical. If you have a fever (101 or higher), vomiting, or loose stools more than 3 times in one day you can't come back without a full gap day between. It's not even really a 24 hour policy. If I have to pick up DD at noon on Monday, she can't go back until Wednesday AM at the earliest.

We ran into this last week (loose stools/blowouts), and our DC was pretty good about it. However, I think that some of the blowouts that they were worked up about were really b/c they change them every 2 hours. That's 2 hours of jumping and running and falling, etc. You know?

DS started daycare in early November, and we've had to keep him home at least 1 day (if not more) every week since he started. It's super frustrating.