OMG made my daycare sick!

[neonalee]

We've been suffering some horrible vomit/diarrhea illness lately.  I had it nearly 2 weeks ago.  Felt sick in the middle of the night, spent the entire next day pretty much in the bathroom.  DP had it the night of the 4th of July.  Tuesday DS vomited once at daycare and had some diarrhea (but was mostly fine after that).  Then I had it yet again Wednesday night/yesterday.  This morning our daycare called because THEY have it!

I feel sooo bad.  Should I do something for them?  Is there even anything I can do?  We do pay our daycare for missed days regardless, so it's a paid sick day for her, but still... 

[StephandOwen]

Did you send your ds to daycare on Wednesday? Did you pick him up early on Tuesday when it first became apparent he was ill? If you didn't pick him up early Tuesday and you sent him on Wednesday, I'd be pissed off, if I were the daycare provider. I worked in a daycare for years, and I knew the risks (I was likely to get ill- thankfully, though, I have a good immune system and never caught any of the big bugs- just a cold here and there). But if a parent was so selfish that they continued to send the child when they KNEW he was sick- that was enough to drive me insane. And there were times that I stood at the door and refused to allow a child to even enter the building (if the child was vomiting and crapping everywhere the day before, I would NOT let them back the next day because I knew they were just going to be doing the same thing that day). Does it suck as a parent to have to deal with a sick kiddo and time off work and whatever? Yup. But why put all the other kiddos (and teachers!) at risk?

Should you do anything for them? Yes- apologize profusely for sending him to daycare ill and never do it again. That's the biggest gift you could ever give the daycare worker.

[neonalee]

We will definitely apologize profusely.  But, yes we picked him up immediately on Tuesday (she's 10 min away and I work from home) when she called and said he'd vomited (once).  She said if he does not vomit again or have any more diarrhea that we could bring him back the next day.  And he was fine for the rest of the day (crawling, playing, babling), and since then as well.  Sorry, I should've been clear about that in the original post. 

[nextcommercial]

Well, I have a daycare, and yes.. I hate it when the kids infect us with something.  But, while I grumble about it, I don't ever think the parents do it on purpose.  Most of the time, it's the daycare getting the kids sick.  It's just no fun to be sick.  

Wait... once.. I had a mom come home from Disneyland with a very sick kid.... she wanted to meet a friend for lunch, so she called and asked if her son could come over for a few hours.  I said "sure.. we miss him anyway".  So, within the hour, he had the worst smelling blowout I have ever seen.  I called her, she came over.. but, it took her an hour to get there.  (she was three miles away) and within 24 hours her son was in the hospital with Rotavirus.   She actually had the nerve to call me and ask if any of my kids had it... "Uh... no.... you were in California for the last two weeks... maybe he got it there?????"  Then, she remembered that he'd actually been up all night the night before with vomiting and diarrhea.   "Yes.... maybe that wasn't a coincidence"

But, since you came and picked your child up very fast, I doubt anybody thought anything other than "Ugh!".  It's not your fault.. you didn't do it on purpose, and one day, you will all catch something from daycare.  It's part of living in society.