"Normal" with Daycare or Not?

We pay daycare weekly. My daycare will not administer tylenol/motrin without a note from the dr., ad for the antibiotics, they make me fill out a form with the perscription giving them autorization to administer.

I have to give permission in writing every day that I wish medication to be administered. I would find it unacceptable if they would not give meds even with written permission. Many meds need to be given during the hours a child is in daycare.

I pay weekly too. I can't say if it's not normal for them to charge monthly, but do agree that it is a lot of money to have to put up front.

It can't be normal not to give antibiotics - I know my kids have been on antibiotics that require a midday dose and last for 14 days. It does seem normal to me to require that the medicine be provided in the prescription container and with exact instructions. My DCPs have been reluctant to give tylenol, though - I think the logic is that if a child has a fever or pain, they should be at home. Although in an emergency (fever rising, me not able to get there immediately) I have been able to give permission by phone for them to give one dose until I could pick up my child.

I believe that DCFS regulations state that you must have a doctors note stating the reason and the dosage for any medication to be given at the center. Once a month does seem like a strange way to pay!! We pay bi-weekly, would your center accept bi weekly payments if you wanted to do it that way??

By law schools, daycare centers, etc... are not allowed to administer any medication without a signed permission slip from the parents and/or doctor.

As far as tuition every center or provider is different. Some require weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payments.

Hi L., I am a licensed home child care provider. I have been a provider since 1996. The only rules that DCFS have is that you complete a (DCFS) form which is provided by dyacare and you must specifically write and sign how much (non-Prescription) medication to give. With prescriptions it is easy as long as the dosage information and times to give are spelled out. If medication is given without this permission and that child have a negative reaction to it, the parent could hold the child care provider liable. If a child is in my care and they spark a dangerously high temp., I must give them Tylenol immediately, that is why the permission slip is so important.

P., child care provider since 1996

We had to have a doctor's note for any meds (even OTC) that the daycare staff has to give.....we paid every two weeks but we could also pay at the first of the month if we wanted....

Our daughter, 4 as of December, goes to pre-school three days a week, for 2 and a half hours. There is no nurse on staff there and they ask that if your child has a temperature or just isn't acting like themselves, don't bring them.

Also, her tuition is monthly there.

Best wishes!

L.-
I am a lic daycare home and it is DCFS policy that i can not administer medicine whether it is OTC or prescribed without written permission from the parents. For OTC the parents sign a form (that DCFS provides) giving me written authorization to administer per parents written requests. Same with prescription meds. There is a written authorization (per DCFS) that parents have to sign. HOWEVER (dont mean to shout)eventho' i have the written authorizations for OTC.. I will not just give a child any OTC unless i talk to the parents first i.e. fevers, colds, etc. There is a form that parents fill out when they bring the meds so i know what dosages to give and when.. I log when i give the meds and initial it. When DCFS drops in to say hello, they look over all med sheets on the children. So it is proper protocol. As far as payment schedule, I have not heard of any providers requesting only monthly payments. I go by weekly, biweekly to the parents paycheck schedule. I hope this helps. S.

It seems that with the uprise in overdosing of medications that many schools/daycares aren't administering any. My daycare will only give my kids Tylenol if it is specifically for teething and I have an MD note. They will not give anything else. As far as tuition goes, I've had both weekly and monthly bills. Currently we are billed monthly which has both advantages and disadvantages. If you miss days or have holidays factored in, often they aren't deducted from your bill with monthly charges. On the other hand, there are some months with 4 week and some with 5 so overall I think things tend to break out even. Hope this helps a little.

I know you wrote this a long time ago but my son's daycare will not administer meds without a Dr note.
We also pay monthly for tuition.

hey L.... mt son is 8 months and at his daycare they can give meds as long as there is a dr's note.... and for me my daycare still letsd u pay weekly but i do know many dahycares have you pay monthly which i think is not good makes it that much rougher on us parents!

I work in a childcare facility and yes, they will administer Tylenol and antibiotics. You need to have a dr. note for any prescription med. and possibly over the counter. My son also attends the same facility I work at and I had to fill out a consent form for diaper cream. Its for the child as well as for the facility's wellbeing. Licensing requires that all meds. and creams (sunblock, lotion etc.) have a consent form filled out. We don't have a nurse on staff but our Director and Owner (who are both there every day) are able to administer all meds.

As for paying monthly, that is how our center does it. I'm sure if you talked to them you can possibly do a payment plan. Worth asking.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any other questions that I may be able to help you with.

K.

Hi L.,

To answer your questions...

1. To not give Tylenol is normal in my experiences with daycare. The thinking behind that is that if there is a fever...the children should be home. It just stinks when YOU (as Mom) knows that the fever is truly due to teething and not an illness. But, for the safety of other kids, it makes sense. As for anti-biotics, our son just finished a 10 day dose that was 3x a day. He needed a dose at daycare. I had to bring the prescription medicine in and fill out and sign a form and the director had to give the meds and log the time/dosage for us. We go to KinderCare, and I think they are pretty strict with the rules. Talk to the director and see what your options are or pull out your handbook.

2. We pay weekly at our center. BUT, we did look at another center Bright Horizon's (we were considering selling our house and moving) and they did monthly. Anyway, I guess it depends on if you are still getting credit for vacations and such. Is the weekly rate going up? Personally, I'd rather pay monthly and not have to remember to do it every darn week.