Mommas with LOs in DC...When do they call you

Rachel5782

to pick up your LO when they aren't feeling well?  Today my sitter called us and had me pick up LO in the middle of the day.  He doesn't have a fever, but he supposedly was crying all morning and was inconsolable.  He's teething and his eczema on his face has flared up.  He's also getting over a cold.  Of course when I got there, he was fine and smiling and acting normal.  He's been passed out in his carseat since I brought him home (about 30 min ago).  Since I just went back to work right before X-mas I have very few personal/sick days to use before the end of the school year (I teach).  DH couldn't pick him up today since the end of the month is always hectic for him at his company.  DH is pissed that the sitter asked us to come get him and that she could have handled him.  She only watches 1 other child (18 month old).  She did have us pick him up early one other time.. when he had a horrible diaper rash and was super miserable.  I don't want my kid being miserable all day, but I kind of agree with DH.  WDYT? 

Sunidaze

I've only had this call once to actually come get her immediately and that was when they thought she had hand foot and mouth (she didn't).  I've received phone calls on occasion if she's running a slight fever or whatever just to update me and make the decision myself.  But generally, besides the near constant cold symptoms, she's not had any issues.

jkchs2003

I have an in-home DC and she is pretty lenient. As long as LO isn't contangious or have a really high fever she will keep her. Obviously if she feels whatever LO is suffering from could affect the other kids she will have me come get her. But, otherwise she usually is fine with her staying.

Like today she texted me just to let me know that she is pretty miserable from her ear infection and needed a lot of attention but said I was fine to stay at work.

CarlaAndJames

Do you have a written contract with your sitter?

With our center, the contract goes both ways. We agree not to send her with a fever, they don't require us to pick her up unless she has one. (there are a few other conditions, I think throwing up might be one of them?)

Telly21182

I've only been called twice.  Once when they knew he just wasn't acting himself, and had a slightly elevated temp, but still not a fever.  He was really congested and at one point in his nap he started gagging on the mucus.  They called, I took him to the doctor and he had a cold that turned in to an ear infection.

Then, the other time was to ask if he or I had eaten anything out of the norm, new, etc. because they noticed black specks in his dirty diaper, which they'd never seen before.  It was from the fresh bananas he'd been eating.  For that they just wanted me to be aware so I could keep an eye on things. 

Jills83

I think DCP would only call if he had a high fever or he was vomitting repeatedly.  We have a similar set up to you.  Our sitter watches 1 toddler and sometimes a 3 year old. 

She is extremely flexible and will watch him if he has a cold.  I would be mad if she called me to pick him up because he was crying without any other signs or symptoms. 

JuneBug0611

I agree that the baby simply being uncomfortable from an illness that is not otherwise problematic (not contagious, not super-high fever, etc.) is not a reason you should have to pick them up.  Our DC has only called us once to pick LO up, when she was suspected of having (and did indeed have) pink eye.

I agree that you should get a contract about what does and does not justify a requirement to pick the baby up.  Most places require a pick-up for a fever above 100 or so, throwing up, or highly contagious things like pink eye. 

egpitt22

We go to a center, so they have pretty set rules in place in terms of their sick policy.  They would be sent home automatically with a temp of 100.8 or above, repeated vomiting/diarrhea, or signs of other contagious things (pink eye, an unexplained rash that suddenly appears, etc...) 

I've been called once; when DH dropped Liam off in the morning, he let them know that the evening before he had been running a low grade temp, but was better in the morning...but it was a Friday, so I had him tell them that if he started to get any type of fever at all, or wasn't acting like himself, to please call me so that I could figure out if I needed to take him into the pediatrician before the weekend.  around lunch time, his temp was 100.5, so they called me just to let me know.

Rachel5782

I need to talk to DH when he comes home and ask him to see if she really asked for someone to pick him up.. or if he just interpreted it that way.  He may have assumed that's what she meant and maybe she was just calling to inform him.  Before I left with DS today, I told her that I would be bringing him back tomorrow unless he had a fever. I think I need to clarify with her what constitutes us coming to get him.  And to the PP who asked if we have a contract stating when we should come and get him early, no we don't.  We have a contract about other general info, but not that. 

M&M227

Babies in DC are always sick so unless there's a fever or they're not keeping anything down, they don't call to pick up.  They just assume she's having a very fussy day and do their best.

bunnymama625

they've never called me-- I did hear they called another mom when her son had a fever and was just plain miserable.

hepcats

I've never been called actually, even when he had croup and sounded horrific. They called to tell me he wasn't eating but that I didn't need to pick him up. I did anyways because I was worried about him and, frankly, thought I could get him to eat better than they could. I was wrong lol. Their rule is that he has to picked up or not dropped of if: he has a fever over 103, has more than 3 diarrhea diapers in 24 hours, or has vomited more than twice in a day.

IMO your babysitter is being lazy. She sounds like she doesn't want to deal with a fussy baby and that's just hard to come by! lol

Rachel5782

Glad to know my feelings aren't out of line.  And it's 5pm now and he's been acting totally fine since I got him home.  He took an hour nap this afternoon in his crib and now he's happily playing in his exersaucer now.  So really I took half a personal day for nothing.  Grr... Now how to figure out how to broach the subject without seeming like I'm attacking her.  I hate confrontation.  DH has already been annoyed at her for other reasons so I know he would be happy to find somewhere else to bring LO.  I really like how she handles LO and he seems to like her so this really upsets me.  But I can't be taking days off left and right every time he's cranky from teething.  He's got a lot more teeth to cut!!!

CarlaAndJames

I think you could just approach it from a position where you are assuming she sent him home for your comfort, not hers. Something like "I really appreciate that you were so sensitive to him not feeling good and asked us to come get him, and I wish I could take off and be with any time he's not having a good day, but unfortunately I need to save my days off for the big stuff. Can we agree to only have him picked up if he's running a fever over 100, throwing up consistently, or has something really contagious like pinkeye?"

Rachel5782

CarlaAndJames:

I think you could just approach it from a position where you are assuming she sent him home for your comfort, not hers. Something like "I really appreciate that you were so sensitive to him not feeling good and asked us to come get him, and I wish I could take off and be with any time he's not having a good day, but unfortunately I need to save my days off for the big stuff. Can we agree to only have him picked up if he's running a fever over 100, throwing up consistently, or has something really contagious like pinkeye?"

Great idea!!! Thanks!

Melissa2216

Our day care only calls if he has something that could be contagious.  We had to pick him up when he woke up from a nap with pink eye, and diarrhea is going around, so we had to pick him up yesterday when he had another round of it.