100 Acre Wood Handbook
Page 3

Holidays, Vacation and Sick-days:

I realize your need for reliable daycare and will attempt to give as much notice as possible whenever I must close my home to care for any reason.

In order to spend quality time with my own family, I will be closed on the following major holidays:

New Years Day

Easter Sunday and Good Friday (optional with advance notice)

Memorial Day

July 4th

Labor Day

Thanksgiving Day and the Friday After

I will also take one(1) week of paid vacation between Christmas and New Year's holidays, from December 25th (with December 24th ending at 3:00pm), through January 1st, since most parents have this time off from work. This may be changed, at my discretion, should there be an absolute need for care. I will also possibly take up to a maximum of one(1) additional week of paid vacation most likely spread out into single days, but only with at least two(2) weeks notice. Because there may be times when I will not be able to care for your children you should make arrangements for alternative care on those days. This is your responsibility, not mine. Again, if this is something that you are not able to do, then you may want to consider care in a center instead of in a family childcare home.

Working with exposure to many families and especially children, it is expected that I will become ill occasionally. Therefore, I reserve the option to take up to five(5) paid sick days per calendar year. I will not take these days unless I am genuinely ill, and I will always attempt to give as much notice as possible when I am forced to close my home to care due to illness. Also, in the event that one of my own family members is ill, I will also give you as much notice as possible to allow you to decide if you want to risk exposure to your child.

If Your Child Becomes Ill:

Although I am not a trained medical professional, I have been trained in infant and child CPR, basic first aid and in the recognition of infectious childhood diseases and I will attempt to alert you at the first sign of any illness.

In order to protect the health of all children in my care, I will call you at work and request that you pick up your child within one hour if he or she exhibits any of the following symptoms:

Fever over 100 degrees for more than 1 hour

Excessive diarrhea for 2 or more consecutive diapers or toiletings

Vomiting in excess of typical infant spit-ups

Conjunctivitis ("pink eye")

Consistent complaints of ear or stomach pain

Bleeding other than minor cuts and scrapes

Excessive greenish or nasal discharge, indicating possible infection

Excessive coughing

Head lice

If your child is not picked up within one hour of receiving my phone call, $50 will be charged. I do not want this fee, but I feel very strongly that if your child is ill, he/she deserves to be home where they can rest and receive individual care. I also need to protect the other children in my care.

In the event that your child is sent home due to one of the above conditions, he or she will not be allowed to return until accompanied by a signed note from your child's doctor, or 24 hours after all above symptoms have disappeared. This is necessary to prevent the unnecessary infection of the other children in my care. Although it may seem inconvenient when your child is sent home, you will appreciate knowing your child's exposure is minimized when other children become ill.

I will not send children home with a common cold. This sort of illness is going to occur among children, and unfortunately cannot be totally avoided. You should expect that any time a new child is introduced to the group, colds are likely to occur. I will do my best to prevent the spread of such illnesses through good hygiene and housekeeping, but total avoidance of this sort of illness is impossible.

Likewise, I will not close the daycare if I am mildly ill due to cold. I will, however, notify you as soon as symptoms appear in myself or any of the children, so that you can decide whether or not to have your child in care that day. Please alert me if you suspect that a member of your family may have a cold so that I can alert the other families to the possibility. Because it will be up to you on those days whether or not to send your child, I must still charge you for those days even if you chose not to have them attend.

Please inform me at Drop-off time of anything that I may need to know about how your child's weekend, night or morning has been. Things I need to know include illnesses, trouble sleeping or late night getting to sleep, uncommonly irritable, changes in routine or in the family, etc. This will help me to ensure that you child's day goes as well as possible, and will cut down on the phone calls that I need to make during the day with questions about your child's well-being.

One final note that I must mention. In the past, parents have sent children into care, knowing that they were sick. They have attempted to cover up their children's illness with medication. This is UNACCEPTABLE. As a parent of two school age children, I do understand how inconvenient it is to have to keep my children at home when they are ill, but there are many reasons for this, that I have already discussed above. If, at any time, I feel that you have attempted to cover up an illness with medication, I will, at my discretion, immediately terminate your child's care. I understand that this is extremely harsh, but if your child is ill, they deserve to be cared for by a family member, at home, and the other children in my care deserve to be kept away from such infectious illnesses.

Administration of Medications:

The state of CT states that NO family childcare provider may administer medication without proper training courses, above and beyond the normal First Aid and CPR course. At this time, I do not have an updated certificate in this course and will not be administering medication, of any kind. Should I decide to take this course again, I will notify you. In the meantime, if your child is in my care and requires medication during care hours, a family member will be required to come and administer the medication themselves. This includes, tylenol, and all over the counter medications. Once I do take the medication course, the following guidelines will apply:

Since I am not a licensed medical professional, I will not administer any type of medication, including prescription and over-the-counter medications, without a signed consent form. While I prefer that you find medications that can be administered at home, instead of in my setting, when I am certified to administer medication I will do so if the following requirements are met and there is no alternative. The forms that I will provide for you to fill out must be for one medication per child per form only, and must include:

The child's name, age, birth date and allergies

The name, phone number and address of the doctor, including a signature when applicable

The name of the medication and method of administration

The dosage amount, frequency, number of days, side effects and management of such

Instructions for proper storage and preparation of the medication (refrigerated, shaken, mixed with water, etc.)

Reason for needing the medication so parents can be alerted to contagious illnesses.

Also, the medication must be in a clearly labeled, original, childproof container. I would prefer it if you also bring the medication in a small sack or baggie labeled with the child's name, so as to avoid any possible confusion. Also, you will need to provide me with any droppers, syringes, etc., needed for administering the medication.

Although I may become trained in medication administration, I will not pretend to be a doctor and will not, under any circumstances, provide any medications, including vitamins, Tylenol, and topical ointments such as diaper creams, etc. You must provide any and all medications for your child.

According to new state laws the following non-prescription topical medications will be allowed to be administered without written authorization from a doctor, but I will still require authorization from the parent on a separate form and you will need to supply these medications. These medications include:

Non-prescription diaper creams and ointments that are free of antibiotics, antifungal and steroidal components

Non-prescription medicated powders

Non-prescription teething medications

Non-prescription insect repellants

Non-prescription sunscreen protectants that are PABA-free.

According to new state laws, any other medication, prescription or over the counter, must be accompanied by an authorization form (one per medication) filled out and signed by the prescriber. The prescriber may be a physician, dentist, or advanced practice registered nurse and must include the items listed above. You must supply all medications in original containers, clearly labeled, and these medications may not be expired. I will not be allowed to administer any medication that is expired, including epipens. I also will not be allowed to administer any medication that you have not administered to this child at least once previously without evidence of side effects, excluding epipens due to the life-threatening conditions for which this medication is used. All medications will be returned to you for disposal after the termination of the order. Any medications that do not have the required forms and information will not be allowed to be administered - including epipens.

I also request that I be informed of any medication, and possible side effects of such medication, that you have given your child up to 24 hours before placing him/her in my care. This is for your child's safety. I will need to monitor your child throughout the day for side effects and will only be able to do that if I am aware of medication given and what to look for. In the past, parents have given their children a fever reducer in the morning to mask a fever before placing that child in my care. I have no tolerance for this and if I feel that you have purposely kept this information from me I reserve the right to immediately terminate services with no return of your deposit, and one weeks fee due. I understand that you may feel that this is harsh but this is to protect your child, and the other children in my care. A sick child needs to be home.

I will keep a log of all medications administered in this setting, and this log will be kept on file for 3 years after the child's termination.

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