Re: Pros & Cons of Daycare

"Sidheag McCormack" wrote:

: Oh, I've heard of it lots of times, that's the whole point! What I'm
: doubting is how often it actually happens, as opposed to a provider
: suspecting it's happened. You say (and someone else said something
similar
: "some even admitted to doing it". OK, in the cases (the majority, to
go by
: your wording) where they *didn't* admit to doing it (and the child
is
: pre-verbal), why should we believe it's more than suspicion? IME
feeling
: OKish in the morning, then feeling worse and starting a fever
middayish, is
: a very common pattern at the beginning of a febrile illness. I
really hate
: the idea that every time that happens a provider will assume it's
because
: of dishonesty on the part of the parents, and I'm not seeing the
: justification for it.

Well, a provider does not assume *every time* that it is because of
dishonesty on the part of the parent. Most tend to be quite flexible
and understanding. I agree that some of the policies regarding
illness and behavior are very restrictive and narrow, and many of them
are in place due to parental pressure rather than provider
inflexibility. People don't want their children being exposed to
sickness and/or behaviorally challenged children and can make it very
difficult for program directors to keep a fair balance. There is very
compelling justification for suspicion at times, although it is much
more of a gray area with pre-verbal children. Many, if not most,
providers have a fairly close relationship with their client families,
and do get a sense of the urgency and stress that might be apparent
with a parent that feels compelled to go to work, as well as body
language and verbal cues during drop-off. This may not be scientific
enough for you, but it is what it is.

: Another issue is what kind of "admission" we're talking about. If it
hasn't
: been clearly communicated that the provider has a no-fever policy,
then
: telling the provider about the medication is information, not
admission.
: Similarly, if the medication was given because the child was feeling
: unwell, but didn't have symptoms that violated the agreed policy,
then it's
: a matter for the parents' judgement and informing the provider is
again
: information, not admission. I just don't believe that there are many
cases
: where the parents know there's a no-fever policy, say nothing when
they
: drop the child off, then later when they are called to collect the
child
: later say "oh yes, he had a fever this morning and we gave him
medication
: before we brought him in".

Most professional settings, either center or family based, have clear
guidelines on illness and behavior. Of course if you have no policy
on fever, it is not an admission. From most of what I have read in
this conversation, we are referring to settings with policies. I have
a 'no-fever' policy and a 'let me know if you medicate your child in
any way before child care' policy. It is important information to
know if a child in your care has any type of drug in their system.
The situation that you describe at the end of your paragraph above is
not at all how the scenario generally plays out, by the way, unless
you were attempting to be funny. It is more often along the lines of
the provider asking the parent because a verbal child mentioned it, or
perhaps a nonchalant comment whilst claiming ignorance of the policy,
or conversations at a later date where someone admits to dosing a
child and feeling regretful about their actions and/or irritated at
their workplace for being so inflexible that they felt pushed to do
something that they ordinarily would not have done.
:
: Sidheag, always suspicious of "definite well known facts" with murky
: evidence bases.

Yes, murky evidence bases, but you have heard from several that have
firsthand experience in the business for many years. Perhaps we all
see ghosts in the bushes, or perhaps we just many know what we are
talking about :)
--
Ruth


.

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