Summer of Sickies

[MsKara]

I've never seen quite as much sickness as I have this summer, but I guess that's because I just started doing daycare in February. I have a 6 yr old and 2 yr old children. My husband is a pilot and gone alot. I find myself up all night taking care of sick little ones by myself. I also find myself with no choice but to close my daycare due to illness when my kids are sick and my husband is away. I've already closed 4 times in the 5 months I have been open. Is this normal? I guess alot of providers don't have small children, and if they do, they probably have a spouse to help out. I can't leave my 2 yr old upstairs by herself all day with no one to care for her. I do have a back-up provider, but she isn't always available at the spur of a moment. It's frustrating. Any suggestions or should I just give up being a daycare provider with an absent spouse and sick children. So discouraged right now.

[tmcp2001]

I can commisserate!!! It's been a rough summer for us too - we've had a cold going around the daycare for almost 3 weeks now. Fevers, coughing, runny noses, lots of congestion even some puking because of all the phlegm! ICK! Two of the kids (including one of my own) have ended up with ear infections because of it!

I've got four kids of my own - 8, 6, 3 and 2. My husband is not able to take time off when they are ill (he gets 4 weeks of paid vacation but it MUST be taken one week at a time and it's all scheduled a year in advance - no help at all to our family!!). So, it's just me, our four kids and 2-4 daycare kids everyday - oh, and did I mention that my husband leaves at 7:30am and isn't home until AT LEAST 7pm??? UGH. I don't close when my own kids are sick (with the exception of uncontrollable pukiness - 2 and 3 year olds cannot manage a bucket or getting to the toilet by themselves) - I let daycare parents know the situation and try to contain things as much as possible. It would just be too hard to keep my daycare families if I was always having to close.

I can't really give you much advice except to say that you should do what is best for your family. If you can live without the income, maybe you should stop doing daycare for a while until your kids are older? It's just a matter of deciding whether the added stress is necessary! Good luck!!

[melskids]

i've always given the option for the daycare families to come or not. by the time my kids are sick, the others have already been exposed anyway. 9 times out of 10, the parents still bring their kids. it is hard when they are little, but mine have never really been that sick. they are really good at making it to the toilet by themselves too. so i guess i'm not much support there. it is more hard on me knowing i'm here and cant give them my undivided attention. thats one of the cons of doing daycare i guess.

[SarahLL]

I had bronchitis last week that had developed from a cold and was afraid my little ones were going to get it. My youngest son got a runny nose but, thankfully, that was all.