What do you do with a sick kid when you can't miss school

[shelleyd]

I am a first year nursing student.  The only family I have near me is my MIL and she works full time.  My dh works out of town from Sunday night to Thurs evening.  My dd is sick today and so I'm missing my clinical.  I was going to send her to school anyway .  But then she puked while getting ready so I kept her home. What do other mom's do in this situation, especially single moms?  It's okay today but I really need to find a solution to this problem for when it comes up again.  I have regular childcare worked out, I'm just stumped on what to do about a puking kid.  Ideas would be much appreciated.

[One_Girl]

There may be a sitter service in your area that has sitters who are background checked and can come out in situations like that.  In our area they charge a lot of money, but it is worth it in a bind.  I have a few babysitters who come on occasion and do really fun things with my dd when she is healthy and they are also willing to come if she isn't, as long as it fits with their schedule.  If you can find someone you trust watching her while she is well to build that relationship it may be worth it for the future so you can call on them when she isn't well and she doesn't have to stay with a complete stranger.

[LorenaAZ]

I just miss class.  I'm a very good student and my professors know I wouldn't miss class just for fun.  I usually talk to them all at the beginning of the semester to let them know of my situation (single mom, full time student, working, with no family in town).  If I know I'm going to miss class, I send them an email, and submit work electronically (if any was due on that day). 

I've had some professors tell me to just bring her to class too.  Sit in the back, plug her in to the boob, and nobody would notice she's there.  My little one is almost 2yrs old and I had to do this a few weeks ago.  I've gotten really good at nursing without anyone noticing, so that's not an issue.

[nextcommercial]

There are agencies that will send someone out to your house while she's sick.  It's crazy expensive, but totally worth it.  I don't know if your area has this... but, it's worth looking into.

http://customcomfortcare.ca/CCC/HTML/index.html  I didn't actually read this, but maybe this will give you some ideas.

[Peony]

I'd look into the agencies because being a first year nursing student, this is going to come up often if your children get the normal amount of illness. Nursing instructors generally are not understanding about ill children, etc... missing clinicals gets harder the further you go. I wasn't a mom yet in nursing school but the students that were had to line up sick care, it just was not an option to miss class or clinical because of *just* a sick child. 

For me, I have different sitters I have to use when my kids are sick and I have to work. Last year I had found some on sittercity and asked specially if they were ok with sick children, many were. They charged extra but sometimes you do what you have to do. 

[*MamaJen*]

I'm in grad school, and it's not the end of the world if I miss class, but it's definitely not good. My professors know I'm a single mom so if I did have to miss, they would understand and I would make up the work.

I have a couple of friends who don't have kids and have flexible schedules, and I asked at the start of the semester if they could be backup childcare if DS gets sick while I go to class for three hours. If he was really super sick, I'd stay home with him. 

So far, knock on wood, he hasn't been sick since the spring. (And of course, now that I said that out loud...:lol)

I am worried, though, about how I'll handle it when he gets the inevitable bug that knocks him out for a full week or something. It's really hard to work from home when he's sick, since he needs lots of one-on-one care and he sleeps fitfully. Missing a day or two wouldn't be hard to make up, but missing a week or more would be really difficult.

So yeah. It's one of the many things that makes being a solo mama that much more exciting.

[cchrissyy]

Yeah, if you don't have family around and you can't miss the class, then the only option is finding a person/place that does daycare for sick kids on short notice. And they do exist.

[shelleyd]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.  I spoke with the woman that watches my younger dd and she said that she would be able to take dd1 on short notice if she is ill.  I didn't want to ask yesterday morning because it didn't feel right to call at 6am and say, "hey can you take my puking kid today?".  But now that I've spoken to her about it, I know that it would be alright to do that.  I also spoke to my instructor and he was very understanding.  I always here people say that nursing school instructors are not understanding of stuff like this.  In my limited experience, my instructors are more understanding than any instructors I've ever had in the past.  I expect that as I progress in the program it will get tougher.  But for now, my instructors are really understanding of family stuff.

[lunarlady]

Sound like you found something, but just want to throw one more idea your way. We have in the past asked good friends to look after our sick kid. One was a SAHM, and the other had a job he could call in for the couple hours easily. My mom also works full time, but can do so from our house while watching a sick kid if necessary. (checking email, conference calls, etc.). While both DH and I can usually take one day, multiple days in a row are really hard so we always have plan B (& C, &D...). Hope this helps, and that your little one feels better soon!

[shelleyd]

That's a good suggestion Lunarlady.  I will speak to some friends and ask if they can be my backup.  Dd is feeling fine now. :)

[VisionaryMom]

Many larger hospitals also have "sick kid" daycare that you can use in a pinch.

[texmati]

I'd also see if MIL could occasionally call in sick in big pinch if necsseary.

We had a horrible situaiton a few weeks back where our nanny walked out, and both dh and I could simply not miss work. I ended up coming home, but I have more backup options now for sure.