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Will the nursery send my baby home if he vomits even though its normal for him?

22 replies

Pikz · 19/06/2013 22:47

Just wondering as obviously I will discuss this but am worried that every time he vomits they will send him home however it's quite normal especially after his milk for him to vomit a little. This is usually at its worse with a cold.

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TheDetective · 19/06/2013 22:55

I want to know too!

Any words of wisdom?! I've got a refluxer who sometimes does, sometimes doesn't... can be posset, can be projectile! Random he is! And can be hours and hours after feeds!

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insancerre · 20/06/2013 07:47

Depends on the nursery and the staff in the room.
If you explain that this is normal for him then they should be ok with it- it probably won't be the first time they ahve come across it.
A letter from a gp might help.

Saying that, there are those mamagers who don't have any common sense and apply the rules to the letter.

Normally, though with babies, they don't get sent home until after 3 lots of vomiting or loose nappies, as this is sometimes common with babies.

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Barbeasty · 20/06/2013 08:36

Mine have been fine.

DS has reflux and the vomit can really vary.

I warned them that he's sick a lot (not least because at some point he will get them and the carpet!) and we haven't had any problems. Just little nappy sacks with his clothes in as he gradually gets through the layers.

I suppose it might help that they have to give him a dose of his domperidone and ranitidine, but they seemed ok with it before that. Even when he's bringing up solids with it.

They are good though. Even when DD had some interesting nappies they asked first whether she was teething etc.

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Sarahplane · 20/06/2013 08:45

My ds had reflux so was always being sick at nursery. They never sent him home with it or he'd never have been there. Because they knew it was normal for him they'd only have sent him home if there were no other signs he wasn't well.

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MadamGazelleIsMyMum · 20/06/2013 12:23

DS has been sent home once due to vom (he's been there 2 months now). That was a whole bottle plus lunch, and apparently he just vommed without reason/warning. They'd had 2 children in that week who had done the same. I had to go and get him afterwards, even though he'd fallen asleep and he was his usual happy self in the afternoon. I think it was a tad over-cautious really.

The next time I took him in, I did say that he likes finger food but it quite often results in vom of reasonably large amounts if it gets stuck, and this was quite normal for him, and they seemed happy with this.

A colleague sends her child to the same nursery. She's very blunt with them. Whatever they say, she tells them to give him calpol and call back in an hour, and they usually do, and her baby is usually fine!

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TiggyD · 21/06/2013 11:09

If it's normal for him, no they won't. (Or shouldn't)

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ReetPetit · 21/06/2013 19:47

Gosh you and your friend in particular sound rude!! If i had a parent 'tell' me to give calpol and call back in an hour; i would be delivering them their child and their notice within the hour.

How can you be so selfish to call sending hone your vomiting child who had a bug same as others in tge nursery 'over cautious'

Parebts like you and your friend irritate me beyond belief and it won't go down too well with the staff to have an attitude like yours, i can assure you.

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ReetPetit · 21/06/2013 19:47

Sorry, my post was to madamgazelle...

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MillionPramMiles · 21/06/2013 21:09

Ofsted guidance for childcare providers and schools is that children should be kept home for 48 hours from the last instance of v&d. It can be frustrating when the child isn't ill and you have to take time off work but I don't really blame the childcare providers who are subject to ofsted inspections.

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TheDetective · 21/06/2013 22:43

A baby with reflux can vomit tens of times a day. My baby can have a day with minimal vom. Then a day with loads. Infact, he can go days now he is on meds. But it's all totally random, you might have him a couple of hours and think he is fine. The next time you see him, he vomits several times, then vomits a whole bottle up. That's reflux for you! There is no normal for him hence why we take out 4 changes of clothes and 3 muslin cloths plus bibs every single time we go out!

He'd never ever be in childcare if he was sent home vomiting.

Have decided to take my dieticians letter, and hospital paeds letters with me if I ever have to use childcare and the bastarding reflux doesn't fuck the fuck off soon.

What are parents of reflux babies supposed to do then? Not work?! Ha!

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Essexgirlupnorth · 21/06/2013 22:48

My friends first born had reflux and she got a note from her consultant saying that he vomited regularly and didn't have any problems with nursery.

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ReetPetit · 22/06/2013 07:46

that's fair enough - if your child generally has a medical condition and you can prove the cause of the constant vomiting/upset tummies (whatever the problem is) then a childcarer knows what they are dealing with and can decide whether they/their setting can manage it.

My post was in response to MadamGazelle and her colleague.

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cookielove · 22/06/2013 09:32

I agree with Reet

Sick is fine. Children bringing up sick after milk or sometime after who are known to do this or even if they are not is fine, as milk sick is common with babies. And children who gag and bring up food during food times also is fine.

Children who vomit for no reason, tend not to be very well and can be sent home, however we treat each child as an individual and look at the reasons for it before calling parent.

madame you and your friend sound rude. I imagine the staff at your nursery don't like both of you very much as you appear to have any respect for them.

Calpol the all saving drug Hmm that attitude wouldn't work at my nursery. When calpol goes in a child goes home.

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JollyShortGiant · 22/06/2013 09:37

My DS is 2.2 and has only had a couple of formed poos ever. He's been at nursery since he was 10mo and they've never sent him home due to this. They know what is normal for him. If I kept DS at home every time he had loose poos we'd never leave the house.

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mycatlikestwiglets · 26/06/2013 10:28

Agree with others, nurseries are used to dealing with refluxy babies so if they know it's normal for a baby to vomit regularly they won't send them home for it. There's also ime a very clear difference between reflux vomit and sick bug vomit (voice of bitter experience) and even babies who are used to regularly throwing up will get upset if it's the latter.

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RikeBider · 26/06/2013 10:34

Childcarers don't send children with vomitting/diahorrea home just because Ofsted tell them to - they do it because if you get a d&v outbreak staff get ill (and often don't get sick pay), it spreads like wildfire through the children, and sometimes it means having to shut the whole room down.

Reflux or possetting is different of course, and if you just explain that when your child settles it it isn't a problem. A letter from your HV/GP always helps.

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MadamGazelleIsMyMum · 27/06/2013 21:28

Just to be clear, DS didn't have a vomiting bug, he wasn't ill. He's only 7 months, he voms sometimes. The nursery staff know this, they sent him home on that occasion because they had had several incidents of children with bugs and that is their policy. He was fine, but obviously I collected him as requested and respect their policies, even if my own view was that DS was fine and the occasional vom like that is normal for him, and he demonstrably was not ill.

As for my colleague, where did I say I endorsed this approach? I remarked on what she does. As it happens, that is not what I do (or would do) at all. Thankfully my nursery tends to be quite pragmatic, if they call me I always ask what they would like to do, and do it!

I have an excellent relationship with the staff and manager.

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poopnscoop · 03/07/2013 10:59

Please do not underestimate how horrid a D&V bug can be in a setting... we had a child come in 24 hours after her last vomit (dad decided he knew best and disregarded our D&V 48 hr policy). She was signed in by a staff member who did not know she had been unwell... came into the breakfast room and as soon as we saw her we phoned dad to collect... his phone was off for 3 hours. He then collected her with nary an apology - he has since had a cautionary note. We don't need parents like him.

Ramifications? 5 children went home that afternoon, vomiting.. and 3 staff too came down with it over the next 24 hrs... it cost the nursery just under ÂŁ1000 to cover staff illness with agency staff.. as nursery too have to observe the 48 hr rule with their own staff.

We are advanced first aiders and know when sick is due to milk/reflux or a bug most of the time... often there are other symptoms too. But please realise we send children home for the other children's welfare ... not to make parents life harder.

If a child needs calpol they need to go home.. it masks symptoms... and often a child will get medical treatment later than needed as calpol has been covering up their symptoms. Nursery is not hospital...

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QuintessentialOldDear · 03/07/2013 11:02

I honestly think a nursery worker can tell the difference between a child that is sick and one who brings up milk after feed.

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emmacox1986 · 04/07/2013 11:13

As a nursery nurse it depends on the baby and whether its 'normal' for them to bring up a little milk afterwards. Where I work we wouldnt send the baby home if they had just had milk and you could see that it was milk that they had brought up. When a child is sick we have to phone the parents and ask them to come and pick their child up from nursery and they arent allowed back until they are better. For sickness and diarroea they have to be off for three days before they are allowed back.

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CatsRule · 04/07/2013 21:40

My ds had really bad reflux and uses to vomit several times a day until he was just over 11 months. The nursery were fab with him, they knew he wasn't unwell with a bug or illness. They were brilliant at altering his meals to help, little and often worked a bit...they were very accommodating. Talk to them about it, mine were fine as they knew why he was vomitting and just asked that I brought a few.changes of clothes.

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ProudAS · 04/07/2013 22:10

That's an awful story poopnscoop but I don't think you can blame this dad for the outbreak. D&V bugs take more than a few hours to incubate so these other children almost certainly caught it before this girl was dropped off.

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