Creche informing parents of Hand Food and Mouth

calgary bound

I was just looking for some advice as I am not sure if I am overreacting or not. My son attends a creche Monday-Wednesday, yesterday morning I noticed a sign (dated from last Thursday) on the door saying Hand Foot and Mouth was in circulation.

I asked the girl in his room and she said that the child was in my son's room and that he wouldn't be in today and that if my son was to get it he is already exposed. That's fair enough but my issue is with communication from the creche, should they not have phoned me on Thursday to let me know? Seeing this notice 5 days after the child in my son's room showed the rash I feel is not good enough as my son was around a heavily pregnant relative at the weekend and I obviously would have kept him away if I knew. Incidentally when I collected him he was there playing away with the child who had it so they were incorrect yesterday morning when they told me he was still out.

I want to raise it with the creche owner but I don't want to seem OTT!

Thanks in advance!

godtabh

If they had signs up they notified the class. You only notice today. I'd say creche have done their duty. Ours place notices like this on the front door so you have to see them

calgary bound

godtabh wrote: »

If they had signs up they notified the class. You only notice today. I'd say creche have done their duty. Ours place notices like this on the front door so you have to see them

Well it wasn't that I only noticed yesterday, my son doesn't attend ever on Thursdays and Fridays so I couldn't have been informed unless I received a call.

beechwood55

Do they not have an email or webtext facility that could be used for situations like this?

calgary bound

beechwood55 wrote: »

Do they not have an email or webtext facility that could be used for situations like this?

They sent texts in relation to setting up the affordable childcare scheme or the storm closure last week but for illnesses it's just a sign on the room door. To be honest even if my son did attend on Thursdays and Fridays, it could have been missed on my part. My issue really is that my son is the only child in the room who attends on a part-time basis and they didn't account for this in terms of notifying me.

beechwood55

I think it would be worth asking them to text re illnesses - particularly ones that may be a concern re pregnancy.

January

It's different cos it's school but if there's an infectious illness such as chicken pox or hfm theres a note sent home in the school bag explaining everything. They're easy enough to print out too because it's just a Web page. I'll get a link and show what I mean when I'm home but I think it's something they should do.

Toots

My son's pre-school would always send out a text if something infectious like that was going around. His primary school is the same - a text alert goes out to all the parents. I'd ask the creche if it was something they could implement. It's all very well putting a notice on the door, but in cases where a child attends part time, the parents may not see it.

Neyite

Our creche would put up a notice, and parents could discuss it when they were next in. They didn't do text messages except for closures.

It's worth asking them to see if they can let you know via text on your child's days off.

John Mason

My place just sticks up notices for infectious diseases

By the time the first child is sick, everyone has been exposed to it - so I think meh!

re: HF&M my child was the only one in his creche who got it - FFS

No idea where he picked it up and no idea how no-one else caught it

Wesser

What risks does hand foot and mouth pose to pregnant ladies?

Romantic Rose

I had the same issue recently. I just happened to be chatting to the owner of the crèche one day and he happened to mention that there were cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth there that week. Fair enough, young children pick up a lot of infections.

Cue the following week, my 4 year old and wobbler getting it. I was lucky I had been aware of the outbreak but only from been verbally warned by the owner. I didn't get a text or email about it.

To be honest if I hadn't have known it was H,F&M- I could have mistaken the symptoms for meningitis as the sores look quite similar, just more localised.

So, I do think that the crèche should keep parents informed. I wish I was sent an email or a text to say there there were cases of it in the crèche.

I discussed this with a few parents and they had never heard of H,F&M. I hadn't either. Not nice panicking that it's something more serious too.

calgary bound

Thanks for your help everyone - my son has had a horrendous weekend with H, F and M. I will speaking to the creche on his return next week about notifying us when there is something like that circulating.

That was a long long weekend!

beechwood55

Sorry to hear your little boy was so sick with it. My daughter had a mild enough dose but one of her cousins had a very bad time of it- lots of blisters in his mouth and down his throat.

Romantic Rose

The younger they are, the worse they get it. My wobbler was covered in sores, poor pet but my 4 year old only had some sores around her hands. You would have barely noticed them, although she did have the fever and lost of appetite. I liken it to chicken pox but without the itchiness.

happywithlife

My creche only ever do notice on front door too. Doesn't bother me though you do raise a fair point 're part timers
I remember my first time encountering HFM- ran for a glass tumbler too as didn't know what it was and was afraid of meningitis. Second son gets a less common cousin of HMF which gp said he hasn't seen in years - it's a golden oldie apparently:-/
I though he had HMF recently and had him at gp (He needs everything confirmed as he has other medical issues) but turned out to be just just his ecemza flaring up something chronic as he was battling a different infection :-/