If the caregiver can reach the parent, the parent must come right away. Parents should let the child's doctor know that the caregiver has the parent's permission to call for advice in an urgent situation. Families of children with disabilities need child care. Children with common colds do not need to stay home from child care. Usually the child has already exposed others before seeming sick.
Many illnesses stop being contagious shortly after treatment is started.
If a child seems well and meets the re-admission criteria in the tables of this booklet, the child can be in child care. By talking about the plans for inevitable illnesses ahead of time, parents and caregivers can ease the burden that child illness places on everyone. Ultimately, child care providers must decide when an acutely ill child meets the exclusion criteria listed in this booklet and cannot be in child care. Parents cannot insist that a caregiver accept an ill child. When a child has been absent, child care providers should not ask for a doctor's note when the child returns to the facility - unless the caregiver needs health professional advice to know what to do.