THE ANXIOUS PARENTS' WEB SITE

"MOMMY, MY TUMMY HURTS"

This article is based upon a question I received from a reader of my Careguide column.

In cases of childhood sickness, it really pays for working parents to have contingency plans in place before disaster strikes. As you know, your daughter never gets sick when it is convenient for you! And it seems like all strains of every known illness hits the toddler room at pre-school or daycare. It’s inevitable – your daughter would catch things no matter where she is…it’s a part of growing up and building an immune system. But, this stage can wreak havoc with your work life if you don’t get yourself ready. That’s why you need to know your "Plan B" beforehand – just like school fire drills (remember those?).

The National Association for Sick Child Daycare (NASCD) reports that more than 350,000 kids of working parents get sick every day. So what separates those parents who come through (and get to work) from those who succumb to despair (and call in sick)? PLANNING!

Of course, if your child is highly contagious, feverish or very ill, you should stay home with her – it’s your responsibility and the right thing to do. However, for those "in-betweens", when your child is just not well enough for regular daycare, there are some childcare alternatives to consider.

• Sick Child Daycare
• Employer Assistance
• Family Care and Other Back-Up Care

SICK CHILD DAYCARE – NO JOKE?
There really is such a thing as "sick child daycare" – and if you can find one near you, it can be reliable, clean and there when you need it. The National Association for Sick Child Daycare (NASCD at www.nascd.com) was founded in 1988 to help promote the establishment of and standards for quality sick child daycare. Unfortunately, these programs are not as widespread as demand requires. One way to determine if there are such programs in your area is to call NASCD or contact your local childcare resource and referral agency for a listing. Additionally, you can check in the Yellow Pages under "daycare" and "childcare". It pays to also call local daycare centers for leads on these programs – your daughter’s center may even be able to direct you to a good program. In my county, a local hospital runs such a program as does a local daycare center. Both require you to call in advance to check availability (no drop-ins!) and have varying fees and registration procedures. If you have a facility in your area, make an appointment for a visit to ensure that it meets your standards. Then, you’ll be ready when your daughter has the next 24-hour stomach bug!

CAN YOUR EMPLOYER HELP?

Many human resources professional maintain that working parents take more time off for children’s illnesses than their own…and employee absences, for whatever reason, can impact the bottom line of any business. According to NASCD, employees caring for their sick children cost businesses between $2bn and $12bn annually due to lost productivity and absences. This situation has prompted some forward-thinking employers to offer some innovative programs to aid employees with mildly ill children. Some of these benefits are

• permitting employees to use sick days to care for ill family members rather than for the employee’s own illness;
• sick child care programs that help parents arrange for qualified professionals to come to their homes to care for a mildly ill child while the parents are at work;
• dedicated sick child daycare programs on–site or near the office;
• subsidies for the cost of sick child daycare;
• option to work from home for a certain number of hours annually or to use flextime to re-schedule missed hours for when the child has recovered.

Call your human resources department to learn about programs that your employer may be offering to help you through these rough spots.

FAMILY CARE

I can’t emphasize this enough – planning is everything! If you are married, go over contingency plans with your spouse NOW, discussing personal days, family sick days, employer programs, etc. If you have any nearby family members (or a dear neighbor who will do BIG favors), ask now if they can pinch-hit if your daughter is sick and find out their parameters (i.e. only Mondays, not if she’s vomiting etc.). Lastly, ask your local resource and referral agency about family daycare homes that accept mildly ill children on a per diem basis and employment services that send screened and trained per diem caregivers to your home. If they do have some referrals, call and/or visit and be sure to check references.

When my boys were in family daycare, the sitter’s oldest son got chicken pox. We knew it was inevitable that our guys would get it too and that they would be home for about a week. So, my husband and I came up with an advance plan: I would take off Monday and Wednesday, he would take Tuesday and Thursday and my mom would come on Friday. Whenever the first pox appeared, we would leap into action – and no re-negotiating allowed. Sure enough, three days later, it hit and we were ready!

The Boy Scouts got it right with their motto: Be Prepared!  Knowing your options before the next illness strikes will go a long way towards keeping your mildly ill child comfortable, saving your sanity and getting you to work close to starting time!

Buy Anxious Parents now!  

Return to Homepage