Health Guidelines
Parents and childcare home providers often ask, when should a child be sent home for illness?
Here are SIX reasons to call a parent and ask that a child be picked up from daycare or school as soon as possible:
1. Fever: If a child has a temperature of 100 degrees F or above (taken by mouth); 101 degrees or above (taken by ear); 99 degrees F or above (taken under the arm).
2. Two loose bowel movements: even if there are no other signs of illness. Exception: This may occasionally be caused by new foods a child has eaten or teething. Call the parent to find out if there is anon-medical reason for the loose bowel movements.
3. Vomiting: Any vomiting is a reason to send a child home. Exception: babies my spit up following a feeding-this is not vomiting. Motion sickess (from use of play equipment or riding in a car or other vehicle) that goes away after motion stops would not be a reason to send a child home.
4. Rash: A health care provider should check out any rash illness. Any red fine or blotchy rash on the face, trunk or arms and legs is a reason to send a child home. There are different rules returning to childcare or school depending on the cause of the rash. A child with scarlet fever should be treated with antibiotics for 24 hours before returning to childcare or school. If a health care provider diagnoses a child as having Fifth disease, the child does not need to stay home if s/he feels well. Exception: Allergic rash and mild diaper rash that are already known to the parent are not reasons to send a child home.
5. Crying and complaining for a long time: Anytime a child is not herself/himself and is complaining about discomforts; or the child is cranky and crying more than usual.
6. Injury: Whenever an injury is serious enough to need a health care provider's attention, a parent should be contacted to take the child home.
Caregivers should:
- Isolate children if they have any of these symptoms
- Wash hands well to prevent the spread of disease to caregivers and other children
- Use a paper towel to turn off faucets and open bathroom doors and then dispose of the paper towel in the wastebasket.
While not an emergency situation (no need to have the child picked up immediately), children with the following diseases should remain at home until successfully treated: impetigo, lice, pink eye, pinworms, ringworm, scabies and thrush (candida).
