2.4 Sick Children
Maintain a clean environment by keeping ill children at home.
A child care setting has to consider:
- the protection of children from disease
- the safety and comfort of an ill child
- the capacity of the child care provider(s) to provide adequate care for an ill child as well as for all other children in care
In the BC Licensing Regulations it states:
A child with the following symptoms should NOT be at child care
- Too ill to participate in the usual activities of the daycare
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Fever
- Skin rash or evidence of chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, or othercommunicable diseases
- Evidence of respiratory infection accompanied by fever, sore throat, earacheand/or cough
- Severe itching of body or scalp
- Unexplained or undiagnosed pain
- Evidence of new or worsening symptoms
- Conjunctivitis, commonly referred to as pink eye
It is not necessary to exclude a child who:
- is on antibiotics, as long as the child has no evidence of acute illness (i.e. fever).
- has minimal symptoms of upper respiratory infection with no fever.
Sometimes a child becomes sick at child care and you will have to make the decision to exclude the child and to notify the parents to come and pick up their child.
A child who becomes sick at child care needs extra attention until the parents arrive to pick up their child.
Reassure the child and make her/him comfortable in a quiet rest area.
Keeping in mind the spread of illness, the rest area should be away from the other children, but still near enough so that you can easily monitor the ill child and her/his condition.
The ill child may feel lonely and afraid. Offer water and something to cuddle with and be as nurturing as possible.
If the child is gravely ill (e.g. convulsions, unconscious, restricted breathing) call for medical assistance immediately.