How to Handle Common Childhood Illnesses at Your Childcare Center

Cold, flu, and virus season is here. Proactive measures keep the children at your program — and your staff — as healthy as possible. Still, a sick child at daycare is inevitable sooner or later, and every childcare provider needs a clear plan for handling it. In this article, you’ll learn when to send a child home, when it’s okay for a child to stay, and how to stop the spread of illness across your early learning center. Read on for the full playbook.

Keep Children, Your Team, and Yourself Healthy

An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure — especially when it comes to stopping cold, flu, and virus germs from tearing through your facility. For a practical starting point, check out our guide to 10 ways to stay healthy as a childcare provider.

Why Sick Kids Still Show Up

Even with strong prevention, you will face a sick child at daycare from time to time. Children often catch a bug before anyone sees symptoms, so germs spread quietly.

In other cases, parents send a symptomatic child anyway. Maybe the symptoms seem mild. Maybe arranging backup care feels impossible. Either way, every provider eventually faces the “what do I do with this sick child?” question. The guidelines below will help.

When a Child Should Stay Home from Daycare

Educate families about when to keep kids home. Put the policy in your parent newsletter. Cover it at your open house. Include it in your daycare parent handbook. Review it every year before cold, flu, and virus season hits.

AAP Criteria: When Parents Should Keep a Child Home

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, parents should keep a child home when any of the following apply:

The child has a fever (above 101˚F or 38.3˚C) along with behavior changes or other symptoms such as sore throat, rash, vomiting, or diarrhea. For infants under 2 months, a temperature of 100.4˚F or 38.0˚C needs immediate attention from a healthcare professional.
The child has diarrhea.
The child has vomited 2 or more times in the past 24 hours, and the vomiting isn’t explained by a known, non-communicable condition.
The child has abdominal pain — with or without other symptoms — for more than 2 hours.
The child has mouth sores with excessive drooling, unless a healthcare professional has confirmed they’re noninfectious.
The child has a rash with fever or behavior changes, until a healthcare professional rules it noninfectious.
The child has weeping skin sores on an exposed area that can’t be covered with a waterproof dressing.
The child appears severely ill, unresponsive, persistently irritable or crying, has trouble breathing, or shows a quickly spreading rash.

Other Conditions That Require Staying Home

Strep throat (streptococcal pharyngitis) — until the child has had 2 doses of antibiotics 12 hours apart.
Head lice, scabies, or ringworm — until after the first treatment.
Chickenpox (varicella) — until lesions have crusted or dried, and no new lesions have appeared for at least 24 hours.
Rubella — until 7 days after the rash appears.
Pertussis — until 5 days of appropriate antibiotic treatment.
Mumps — until 5 days after onset of parotid gland swelling.
Measles — until 4 days after onset of rash.
Hepatitis A — until 1 week after onset of illness or jaundice, or as directed by the health department.

For more detail, see healthychildren.org, powered by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

When a Symptomatic Child Can Still Attend

Not every symptom means a child must stay home. Assuming there is no active flu outbreak and the child meets the fever and severity criteria above, attendance is generally fine for:

Common colds.
Runny noses (regardless of color or consistency of nasal discharge).
Coughs.
Yellow, green, white, or watery eye discharge without fever — even if the whites of the eyes look red (pinkeye).
Eye pain or eyelid redness.
Fever in children older than 4 months above 101˚F or 38.3˚C without any other signs or symptoms.
Rash without fever and without behavioral changes.
Thrush.
Fifth disease.
All staphylococcal infections, including MRSA carriers or children colonized with MRSA but without an excludable illness.
Molluscum contagiosum.
Cytomegalovirus infection.
Hepatitis B virus infection.
HIV infection.

For more guidance on managing infectious diseases in your program, see these quick reference sheets from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

What to Do With a Sick Child at Daycare

Picture this. Victoria, a three-year-old in your preschool room, is running a fever and has become cranky and irritable. What now?

First, separate her from the other children. Move her to a designated “sick room” or quiet area where she can rest while you call her parents. If staffing allows, assign one team member to care for her while everyone else attends to the healthy children. Monitor her symptoms so you can give parents a detailed report at pickup.

Your Sick-Child Response Checklist

Separate the sick child from well children in a designated sick room or area.
Keep the sick child comfortable with a separate cot and toys. Clean and disinfect after use.
Assign one staff member to the sick child when possible, so others can focus on the healthy group.
Contact parents for pickup and remind them of your sick policy.
Follow your written sick-child policy and the AAP guidelines above.
Update the child’s records.
Send a fact sheet or letter home to other parents if needed.

A Healthy Season for Your Early Learning Center

Prevention, clear parent education, and a confident response plan will carry you through another cold, flu, and virus season. When you know what to do with a sick child at daycare — and when to send them home — you protect the children, families, and staff who count on you.

Wishing you a healthy season.

The Honest Buck Accounting team offers a full range of professional accounting services to Early Childhood Education businesses. We help childcare center owners build a strong financial foundation, maximize profitability, and grow with confidence. Schedule a call with us to speak with one of our experts.