Sick Policy

A Sick Policy exsist for two reasons 1) so you know that your child will be exposed to as few contagions as possible, and 2) so that parents have a mental checklist when deciding if their child is too sick to attend a playgroup. For those of you with older kids or several children, this is old hat. For new moms, this may be a brand new concept. When Lucy was a baby, I had no idea when I should and should not bring her to a group function.

Trust me, I know that it can be a horrible experience when your family is sick for a long period of time. One year, I had to keep my daughter at home for 1-2 months because my family kept passing around illnesses. When I finally brought her back to a playgroup, I was so happy! And then, then entire playgroup got sick (from someone else's sick child). Then it started all over again at my home....Ugg!

The simple fact is that you can never know 100% for sure that your child is well. A child can be sick and contagious 24-48 hours before they display any symptoms at all.

Please do not attend an event if you or your child:
~ is acting sick
~ has thick yellow or green nasal secretions
~ has had diarrhea within 24 hours
~ has vomited within 24 hours
~ has a fever of 100 or higher taken under the arm or 101 or higher taken orally
~ has had a fever within 24 hours
~ has eye drainage or bloodshot eyes
~ has sore throat
~ has cough and fever
~ has an undiagnosed rash
~ has been on antibiotics for less than 24 hours
~ has a communicable disease such as chicken pox or head lice

And Please Consider:

• This is a great online resource to read when figuring out if your child is sick: http://www.babycenter...
  
• If you or your child has had something more than the common cold, please confirm with your doctor when they are no longer contagious. If your child just had croup, do you know when it's safe for him to be around little ones? Neither do we!
  
• Use your Mom instincts. If your gut says you or your child is coming down with something, then stay home. We will miss you, but will catch you on the next go round!
  
• If you're the mom of an infant or a child with a special health situation, you have to use your best judgment. These guidelines have been set up to avoid as best we can the spread of disease, but the fact is, at every event, there is something there that could get your child sick.
  
• Please let us know if your child has something contagious (i.e. pink eye, hand/foot and mouth, strep, etc.) and has attended a playgroup. This way we can share info with our pediatricians. It sure makes the trip to the doctor easier if we know the what the kids may have been exposed to. These things happen and we often do not know that the kids are sick until after they have played together and spread their germs!!! If for some reason you don't feel comfortable contacting the moms whose children might have been exposed directly, please feel free to contact Michele Flaherty and she will make sure that the information is communicated.
  
• You know your child better than anyone else. What looks like a contagious rash, could be excema. What looks like a contagious runny nose, may be allergies. If you know your child is not contagious, please be sensitive to other moms that don't know you as well. Please make it a point to discuss your child's symptoms and explain that it is just allergies. This will ease hearts and make playgroups much more enjoyable.
  
• If you think someone has brought a sick child to an event, please ask an Assistant Organizer to speak with them. We have sent a separate email with advice for talking to a mom with a sick child to the AOs.