Getting through flu season

It’s cold and flu season and unfortunately children often are the ones getting sick. When this occurs, the nanny should be one of the first people to know. It’s essential that there is communication between parent and child caregiver so that she knows the situation before arriving in the morning. The parent should make a phone call to the nanny (while being considerate of off work hours) to discuss the situation. The nanny should be willing to listen and discuss what extra care is to be given so she will be prepared at the start of her work day. As a nanny it is usually part of the job to care for sick children. This should be discussed at the time the work agreement is put together, but depending on the severity of the sickness and if a parent can take a personal day, the childcare provider should have the right to choose whether they wish to take a personal day, or risk exposure.

If the child is sick enough to need doctor’s care, then there needs to be instructions on this as well. The parent should make the doctor’s appointment and inform them that the nanny will be bringing in the child, and the nanny needs to be given official permission with the doctor’s office to be allowed to bring the child in. She also will need to be provided with the child’s health insurance. It’s a good idea to have this on file in the home where it can be easily accessed as well as at the doctor’s office.

When your child is sick, it is also very important that the parents and nanny are in agreement on proper care. There should be a sick protocol discussed which should include instructions on medication to be given and advice on ways to comfort the child (such as amount of television allowed, bath time, nap time, certain foods to be given, etc.) This list should be written down and provided for each sick day. Open communication and clear instructions will allow parents to feel comforted with the knowledge that their child is being cared for in the way that they wish. It also provides a healthy environment in which the child can get well and relieves frustrations that the nanny might feel if left with a sick child and no instructions on care.

Tips for caring for sick kids:

1. Try rubbing vapor rub on their feet and then cover their feet with socks before bed/nap time. This sounds a little strange but it really helps with a cough and congestion.

2. Have a “sick bed”. This can be wherever is convenient. An example would be the living room couch. You put sheets down on the couch and a special pillow and/or blanket that your child likes. This is fun for kids but also helps keep the germs a little more isolated. It’s easy to clean up and wash the sick sheets once they are well.

3. Provide Lysol, vitamin C, hand sanitizer, etc. for the nanny to use as needed.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Raleigh Nanny & Babysitting Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.