Fake fevers?

@mamabdog Maybe ask them exactly how they're taking temperature as they may not be doing it the right way. I actually have to keep my thermometre vertically to get a true temp as doing it horizontally gives varying temps.
 
@mamabdog we have also been notified we have to pick up a kiddo who was not feverish by the time we got them…but…

I have seen it in my own kids on a weekend where randomly they get lethargic, they feel hot so I take their temp and it is hot. 30-45 min later and it isn’t a fever anymore. Sometimes they later get sick, other times it was just a weird thing and they are fine. Kids are weird. Please remember, something in your child’s behavior seemed off enough to them to test in the first place.

I would say if you or anyone think they are actively lying about a fever you probably shouldn’t trust them to take care of your kids. And if you think it’s a weird naptime thing, ask them to take the temperature twice, 15-30 min apart.

It’s annoying and hard to take off work, especially when it happens a lot, but I wouldn’t assume they are faking it!
 
@gal220gal I'd rather be safe than sorry so it's not like I'm going to truly argue with them. Luckily my job allows me that flexibility.

BUT I spoke with another Mom that says they tried to tell her that her baby might be getting sick so it might be good to keep her home. But her baby was perfectly fine all that evening. So that made it seem a little weird to me.
 
@mamabdog My daycare provider check my LO's temp when she wakes up if she feels abnormally hot then re-checks it 30min later if it was really a fever. I would honestly ask them to test it 30min later and send you a picture of it. If they fuss about it, say that's what your peds doc says.

Second, ask them how they're using the thermometre as they may not be using it correctly.

If it seems to be an ongoing problem, buy them a new thermometre and email the director stating your concerns and it should resolve itself.
 
@mamabdog We pulled ours out of his preschool because they kept having emergencies and illnesses on days when they were stretched thin for teachers. Daycares definitely do this when they can’t get enough workers.
 
@mamabdog It’s unlikely that they are sending kids home due to staffing. If that is the case, your program has a lot more issues than they’re letting on and you need to switch. I’m the assistant director of a program struggling severely with staffing and that has never happened. In our program only myself and my boss are allowed to temp check kids and we do it on a Braun ear thermometer, which are accurate. I have checked a child only to get angry phone calls later that they were “fine”at home.

There’s really nothing we can do other than follow our policies and send your child home. It is annoying but for every parent who tries to keep their sick kid out of school, there’s a parent sending their very obviously ill child. I feel for the parents who have to work and send their kids intentionally so they’ll get the call at work, but it is frustrating when that sick kid gets other kids in the classroom sick; especially when there are staff children in the classroom and then we are down even more staff.

We have had complete turn over in every single one of our classrooms this year. I have personally had to leave my admin role for the day and be a classroom teacher. Never once have we lied about a fever to help out with ratio. It’s unethical.

Tldr- if you have suspicions your place is doing fake fevers, they are hiding much worse things than that.
 
@parentingcoach I would never want my truly sick kiddo to suffer at daycare. And I appreciate and respect the policy.

But when kids OBVIOUSLY sick are being allowed in, like coughing a lot, lethargic, etc, but my child that was checked by a pediatrician and has no other symptoms and had been fever free for 18 hours, was not allowed back, I get frustrated.
 
@mamabdog One time when I went to pick up my daughter from daycare I saw the assistant teacher taking her temperature no less than 10 times in all different ways - all coming back normal.

I walked in and offered to help take it :)
 
@mamabdog My daycare did this once. I got a call that my son had thrown up and had a low grade fever. I rushed over from work to find him in his fleece hoodie… in September when it was 25°C outside. He had been having a meltdown so hard that he gagged (did not throw up it turns out) and once I got him home wouldn’t you know it, he was 36.6° and fit as a fiddle. I definitely have follow up questions when/if they call me now.
 
@husada Nausea can definitely be a sign of overheating, and they didn’t think to maybe take off the fleece and see if that helped? No wonder the kid was having a meltdown 😕
 
@mamabdog Are they also acting sick? I know with Covid they check all the time. But if a kid is playing and not lethargic I would assume they check again. When my kids were little I knew well in advance to checking temps that they had a fever.
 
@tcsax They threw any covid precautions out the window about a year ago. But otherwise no. She was acting her normal self. Which is sort of clingy to begin with so I'm wondering if they're just fed up with her.
 
@mamabdog I usually don’t argue it. Just take the kid to the pedi and take them back the next day with the note. It sucks sometimes, but it’s their word against ours, especially since I don’t show up armed with a thermometer 😆
 
@cbc8171 I did take her immediately to the pediatrician and then brought her back the next day with an all clear, but no note. Was not allowed to drop her off because it hadn't been 24 hours. Waited exactly 24 hours and dropped her off in the middle of the day.
 
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