am i overreacting?

[Tiger926]

Good for you OP. That 24 hour policy is for the parents who keep their kids home and nurse them back to health without a Dr's in-put. If you bring your child to an MD and that MD determines you child can go back to school because whatever it is isn't contagious they had zero reason to turn you away. I think you were totally treated unfairly and deserve an apology, you probably won't get one because people are just rude that way, but you deserve it.

This is not true at all and a bit ridiculous, IMHO. Many doctors make mistakes - I won't tell you about the horrible doctor at Centra Care Clinic on SR 535 while @ WDW who misdiagnosed our toddler. He assured us it was ok to go back to parks - thank goodness we didn't listen to him as she was very ill. She would have made many other children sick... We were ambulanced to Arnold Palmer's Children's Hospital a few days later! Doctors are regular people with more medical training - they are not infallible, so a doctor's note should not override the 24 hour fever free policy at all.

We practice 48 hours here at home and hubby and I are working professionals, and we do it as our kids (especially todller who has ear tubes and asthma) will spike fevers at 30 or 36 hours, despite being fever free for 24 hours. Illness is tricky, and when you have kids playing and working together in very close quarters, things spread, and that is the reason for the 24 hour fever free rule.

If you have kids, you have to be ready to deal with illness. I know some jobs are tough to leave, but then as parents, it is our duty and responsibility to make whatever plans are necessary to get the sick child out of the company of others.

Tiger

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

OP, sorry you weren't treated with professionalism. There is no excuse for that.

As for the 24 hour rule. My daycare doesn't have that, but in the 11 years we have been there (through 3 children) I can count on one hand how many calls I have recieved to come get a sick child. For us, if they are sick, they stay home. When they are better, they can go back.

Our school on the other hand does have the 24 hour rule, and when they are sent home we get a paper telling us the earliest they will be allowed back.

I find it funny that my school-aged children are much sicker, and miss way more time than my preschooler, since they have the 24 hour rule at school.

Goes both ways, ignoring school policy because you don't think it should apply to you is not a very "professional" way to treat a teacher. The 24 hour rule is there and apparently well known, so it's not like she went back not knowing it, she just figured since her Dr said it was ok that the school rule did not apply. The OP did say she apologized to the director(maybe the teacher too), so I hope for her this issue is done, and maybe others can learn from it.

 

[Disney Doll]

Are you upset that she was not allowed back in daycare or are you upset because the teacher didn't acknowledge your DD?

If you are upset that she was not allowed back in daycare, then you are wrong. The school policy is "fever free for 24 hours". The school policy is not "fever free for 24 hours for everyone EXCEPT lilmissbehaved's child".

If you are upset because the teacher didn't interact with your child...well, OK, be upset but I don't think I'd make it a hill to die on.

 

[onyx8]

The normal policy at my child's day care center and all the others I considered is that if the child is not contagious, they may return with a doctor's note stating such.

 

[taylor3297]

I was called to pick up dd from daycare one day because they said she had a temp of 103! Of course I rushed to pick her up, when straight to the doctor, and when we got there her temp was normal. The pediatrician was totally perplexed as to how her temp could have dropped so quickly, so she called to see what time my dd's temp was taken (the daycare made notes of what time temps were taken for the 24 hour rule) and to see if by chance they gave her any tylenol. So no tylenol was given and it had only been 25 minutes. She wrote a note stating that my dd was well and could go back to daycare the next day. The daycare accepted the note and my dd was allowed back. The pediatrician thinks that the person either didn't know how to use the thermometer or that the thermometer was malfunctioning.

So yes, sometimes there are situations where the rule shouldn't apply to everyone.

 

[disneymeces]

It sounds like she wasn't very tactful or caring.

But, every daycare I know has a 24 hr fever-free policy. So I think you should have kept your daughter home today. Maybe the teacher hates confrontation, and was aggravated at having to be the bad guy, and tell you to take her home.

She was not very tactful...but there is a reason for the 24 hr fever free policy, even though your child just had a ear infection, u have to understand, that there are other children in that room. That teacher has to spend time with all the children and if 1 child is sick then it is very difficult on her and on all the kids. I would hate for my child to be feeling bad all day and not having 1 on 1 care. I worked in child care for 5 years and went thru several situations like this. The parents were always mad at me, even though their poor child was the one feeling bad and should have been at home. That rule is not only for the teacher and other children it is also there to protect the sick child. I'm sorry that the teacher didnt handle that in a better way. She should have explained in more detail to u why the rule is there. Hope u lil girl is feeling better.

 

[Tiger926]

I was called to pick up dd from daycare one day because they said she had a temp of 103! Of course I rushed to pick her up, when straight to the doctor, and when we got there her temp was normal. The pediatrician was totally perplexed as to how her temp could have dropped so quickly, so she called to see what time my dd's temp was taken (the daycare made notes of what time temps were taken for the 24 hour rule) and to see if by chance they gave her any tylenol. So no tylenol was given and it had only been 25 minutes. She wrote a note stating that my dd was well and could go back to daycare the next day. The daycare accepted the note and my dd was allowed back. The pediatrician thinks that the person either didn't know how to use the thermometer or that the thermometer was malfunctioning.

So yes, sometimes there are situations where the rule shouldn't apply to everyone.

Same thing happened to us - kids with ear infections do this quite often. My son has tubes, so sometimes his temp is higher in one ear, and he goes home. It just happened last month - temp was 102 at school, and less than 25 mins later at doc's office, it was normal. The doc didn't make any ill comment towards the school - he said kids' bodies are mysterious and keep him home the next day, and so we did. Nothing was wrong with him, except a bit of extra fluid in ear from his asthma. FYI, ear infections cause vomiting a lot of the time, so school/daycare doesn't need to be dealing with that either. It's kind of silly to assume that the person didn't know how to read the thermometer...my kids have had wacky viruses in which their temps spiked, and 30 mins later, they were back to normal, yet they were very sick.

My kids spike to 106 very easily, and so we take all temps in our household very seriously. Sometimes my son's asthma makes his temp go high, and we know he has no illness as there are no other symptoms, but we keep him home, as that's the rule. We would never ask our doctor to write a note suggesting that he could go back to preschool either - the rule is there for safety reasons and we abide by it at all times, but sadly, many parents try to get around it.

Tiger

 

[tiff211]

Hmmmm, 4 girls and about 12 daycare centers under my belt. All of them had 24 symptom free policy unless a doctors note stating its a noncontagious illness like an ear infection.

 

[FayeW]

This is not true at all and a bit ridiculous, IMHO. Many doctors make mistakes -

Tiger

Well if doctors make mistakes even with all their training and education, I am willing to bet that a daycare provider with less experience using and reading a thermometer can make mistakes as well!

Frankly, once the medical professional gave the go ahead for the child to return to the facility, that should have been the end of it. Especially since there was no fever when the OP arrived at the daycare 10 mins after the first reading, and no fever when they went to the doctors office. Sounds to me like the first reading was incorrect and the daycare should stop playing doctor.

 

[racefanof88]

At my school, we've had to add "Fever-free for 24 hours without administration of fever-reducing medicines."

Parents were becoming notorious for dosing their kids up on Motrin and shipping them off to school.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Then when the child starts running a fever again during the day, after the motrin and tylenol wear off, the 24 hour period starts all over again.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Well if doctors make mistakes even with all their training and education, I am willing to bet that a daycare provider with less experience using and reading a thermometer can make mistakes as well!

Frankly, once the medical professional gave the go ahead for the child to return to the facility, that should have been the end of it. Especially since there was no fever when the OP arrived at the daycare 10 mins after the first reading, and no fever when they went to the doctors office. Sounds to me like the first reading was incorrect and the daycare should stop playing doctor.

Most thermometers are pretty idiot proof these days, so that really isn't an issue. The medical professional can give all the notes he wants, but the 24 hour rule is a school policy that needs to be followed, otherwise schools will be constantly calling Dr offices to verify the child was seen. 24 hour fever free, just takes any variable out and make things consistent and easy for the school. If you don't like a 24 hour fever free policy, then you should find a school that will take a Dr note over their policy(good luck finding one)

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

It sounds like she wasn't very tactful or caring.

But, every daycare I know has a 24 hr fever-free policy. So I think you should have kept your daughter home today. Maybe the teacher hates confrontation, and was aggravated at having to be the bad guy, and tell you to take her home.

I agree, although the teacher sounded very rude and uncaring, since it is school policy I would have kept her home.
I know our elementary school has this policy as well.

 

[portocall]

Goes both ways, ignoring school policy because you don't think it should apply to you is not a very "professional" way to treat a teacher. The 24 hour rule is there and apparently well known, so it's not like she went back not knowing it, she just figured since her Dr said it was ok that the school rule did not apply. The OP did say she apologized to the director(maybe the teacher too), so I hope for her this issue is done, and maybe others can learn from it.

As a previous preschool teacher and a current teacher assistant, I absolutely disagree that there is any excuse to be unprofessional. Although OP did know of the 24 hour policy, and I do think she should have called the director before bringing her DD to see if an exception could be made, there is a polite way for the teacher to say that her DD could not come back to class. I have to do it frequently, and no it is not a fun conversation to have, especially with certain parents, but there is no reason for a professional person to be rude. If a parent is rude, then there are other avenues that the schools take to address that, it is not my job to be rude back. In OP's case, the teacher should have told her good morning, remind her of the 24 hour policy and if OP wanted to plead her case, point her in the Director's direction for that. If her daycare had a no exception policy, it is the Director's job to be the enforcer of that, not the teacher. I am not saying that the teacher should have let the child into her classroom, I am saying that she shouldn't have acted rude. If my child's teacher behaved like that, I would wonder what she does and how she treats my child when I am not around.

As an aside, the 24 hour rule has it's share of holes. It certainly isn't a cure all and a saving grace for the health of all the others. Many times, the contagious period is hours/days prior to symptoms presenting and the little ones already infected a bunch of others. The 24 hour rule can only be enforced if the school/daycare sees the fever or vomitting so a child can be sick with a virus all night and if it had stopped right before bringing them in for care, then no one will know. Of course children tell on their parents all the time, but a schools hands are tied without actually seeing those symptoms.

In addition, the preschool where I worked had a no-temp policy for 30 minutes after waking up from a nap. If we thought a child was sick after a nap, they were sent to the front room to hang out with the Director and color or play for half an hour at which point she would take the temperature. This was done to prevent children being sent home with "fever" when they weren't sick. (They had a problem with a teacher taking the temp of each child as they woke up and she would try to send home half the class. Parents were complaining that the doctors weren't finding anything wrong with them. The teacher was a good one, but a germaphobe) If they had no fever, but appeared to still be sick, the parents would still be contacted.

 

[Christine]

The normal policy at my child's day care center and all the others I considered is that if the child is not contagious, they may return with a doctor's note stating such.

That's how my kids' daycare was. If we didn't go to the doctor it was fever-free for 24 hours. If we had a note, such as the case of an ear infection, and the doctor stated that they could return to school, then the center allowed it. My son had 10 ear infections by the time he was 8 months old--hence, we had tubes put in at 10 months. I always got "certified" that it was an ear infection and we always got back into daycare the next day.

 

[sbell111]

it sounds like she wasn't very tactful or caring.

But, every daycare i know has a 24 hr fever-free policy. So i think you should have kept your daughter home today. Maybe the teacher hates confrontation, and was aggravated at having to be the bad guy, and tell you to take her home.

+1

 

[Tiger926]

Well if doctors make mistakes even with all their training and education, I am willing to bet that a daycare provider with less experience using and reading a thermometer can make mistakes as well!

Frankly, once the medical professional gave the go ahead for the child to return to the facility, that should have been the end of it. Especially since there was no fever when the OP arrived at the daycare 10 mins after the first reading, and no fever when they went to the doctors office. Sounds to me like the first reading was incorrect and the daycare should stop playing doctor.

They're not playing doctor, they are working a thermometer, which as someone already mentioned, isn't too difficult these days. They go by the temp they see, and enact the policy if need be. Like I said, a doctor's note shouldn't be the end of it, since as we know, some doctor's write notes and lie just to make money (it's happened many times in my city), so this would cause chaos if indeed children were let back into the facility based soley on a doctor's note. Not sure about your city, but the amount of Worker's Comp false cases is pretty high in my city, and much of them are based on false doctor's reports.

The 24 hour fever free policy may have some glitches here and there, but if it's followed correctly, it should work pretty smoothly for all involved.

You would be singing another tune if indeed a child had been let back into school for a 'mistaken' fever and that child had H1N1 or some other serious illness. Kids' bodies are very mysterious and sometimes they don't manifest serious illness symptoms, until it's too late, so the 24 hour policy allows for the child to be monitored for other symptoms.

Just food for thought, Tiger

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Another thing to know is that there are plenty of people who would dose their children up with tylenol before going to the doctor so they can get that "fever free" note. I am NOT saying that the OP would do this, just that schools need to have policies that protect against it.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Hmmmm, 4 girls and about 12 daycare centers under my belt. All of them had 24 symptom free policy unless a doctors note stating its a noncontagious illness like an ear infection.

I've brought my child back before 24 hours (after calling the school) when they had a doctor's note saying that what appeared to be a contagious condition was not -- e.g. what looked like ringworm and turned out to be eczema.

But ear infections are generally secondary to something else, and unless a child has significant allergies it's likely a virus. This child still had a runny nose which means that the virus was still present, and the virus is contagious.

Our city policy (it's a department of health guideline, not a school rule), is 24 hours after the start antibiotics (plus 24 hour fever free, etc . . .)