By Emily Chapman Laing
Local parents are at odds over sending children to childcare when they are sick, especially moving into the winter months.
With the cost of living crisis keeping many families on the brink of poverty, many parent’s say taking a day off to stay home with a sick child is a luxury they simply cannot afford.
“Today my son has a slight cough and a runny nose, I believe he is getting sick but I have a job interview so I had no choice but to send him,“ one local mum said.
Other mums have said whether they take time away from work is contingent of the severity of the symptoms.
“If I didn’t send my eight-month-old in every time he had a runny nose or a little cough he would literally never be there and I would have lost my job already,“ Demi-Lee Adams said.
Casey mum Amber Fraser said it is “nearly impossible“ to take time off for “lesser illness symptoms“.
“It is incredibly privileged to address this as selfish when some people rely on that income to make it through the week.
“Unfortunately the reality is that kids share germs constantly, and if you’re not prepared to deal with this – don’t put them in childcare.“
It’s not as simple as keeping the child at home for many parents, according to Charlotte Louise.
“It’s easy to say keep them home but then that also means losing a day of work and it’s usually the mums,“ she said.
“I have a fantastic employer but some don’t and it’s really hard.“
Making the choice between keeping a sick child home and honouring work commitments can be a difficult choice.
“No matter what you do you’re letting someone down,“ a local mum said.
“You’re either letting your work down because you’re being a parent or you’re letting your kid down because you’re trying to keep a roof over your head.“
Some parents also said they don’t have access to support systems they can lean on during these times, being without friends or family members who can mind their sick children for them so they can attend work.
However many parents don’t believe their family should suffer illness because another parent brings their sick child to daycare.
“My daughter is forever getting sick,“ Tay Agnew said.
“She attends daycare five days a week and within the last two weeks she’s been home due to conjunctivitis, flu and gastro.“
Other children have suffered respiratory syncytial virus, diarrhoea and hand-foot-mouth disease.
“My daughter has had six viral infections in a period of eight months with the normal colds on top of it,“ Rochelle Ward said.
“I’m exhausted and this could be prevented if parents took care of their sick children instead of sending them to daycare or kinder.“
Single parents feel the brunt of illnesses caught from other children at daycare, as their livelihood and job security is affected.
“My kid is always sick, then I get sick and have to take more time off from work,“ Caitlin Rose said.
“As a single parent it’s hard because it affects my job and income.“
While other parents have said it is wrong to criticise the practice as selfish, Nadia Enua said that’s exactly what it is.
“Parents shouldn’t send sick kids to daycare regardless of what they have on,“ Ms Enua said.
“It’s selfish and not fair on parents who do the right thing.“
Local mum Kelly Warner said more families are sending sick kids in since the Covid restrictions lifted.
“When I’ve mentioned a child’s illness to the parent, it gets blown off as ’It’s not Covid, I tested them’.“
Ex-childcare manager Patricia Spence said the practice is all too common.
“Some parents will collect the child, go to the doctors and get clearance and then being them back to daycare within hours and the manager can’t do anything about it,“ she said.
“Or they Panadol the child up so they are fine at drop off, and when called to collect [the child] take a few hours.“
However, ex-childcare worker Leanne pointed out it’s not unusual for some illness to be contagious before children even show symptoms.
Alicia Green, also an ex-childcare worker, said “it’s like a rotating door with sicknesses at daycares“.
“It never ends, but it does get easier as they get older.“
In Victoria, kindergartens and other children’s services have a responsibility under the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 to exclude unwell children for set periods.
“All early childhood services must have clear policies and procedures in place to help prevent the spread of infectious illnesses or disease,“ a Department of Education spokesperson said.
“These policies should specify when unwell children need to stay home or be picked up from a service to control the risk of infection.
“Services are encouraged to remind families about their approach to infection control before the cold and flu season begins so parents can make arrangements to ensure their children get the necessary care and pressure on families is minimised.”
While the Child Care Subsidy is available to Victorian parents for up to 42 days per financial year when their child is absent from a session of care when they would normally attend, the government does not require childcare services to reimburse families for absences.
There is not yet a one-size-fits-all solution for the problem, but parents have chimed in with ideas of their own.
Many parents noted the stress of paying for childcare on days when their son or daughter is home sick, as centres charge regardless of attendence.
“Maybe if they stopped charging for sick kids to stay home then people wouldn’t bring their sick kids in,“ Spike Dwyer said.
Mum Danii Asher, who suffers from health issues leaving her susceptible to illness, said it would be “good to have some extra assistance for parents“ in navigating the problem.
Others have suggested fining the parents.
“I am a Certificate III cleaner and have cleaned child care centres having to do triple cleans, costing the centres a lot of money,“ Sandra Pascoe said.
“Maybe if centres started fining parents they would stop.“
Ten local child care facilities were contacted for comment but none responded before deadline.
