What happens if my child gets sick while they're at daycare?

Illustrative — not a real business

We call a parent for pickup when a child has a fever of 100.4°F or higher, is vomiting, has diarrhea, or shows symptoms suggesting a contagious illness like pink eye or an unidentified rash — we err toward calling sooner rather than waiting to see if symptoms worsen, since containing exposure to other children is part of our responsibility to every family. Once called, we ask that a child be picked up within 60 minutes; if that is genuinely not possible, we need an emergency contact who can come in that window instead, so please keep that contact current with us at drop-off. A child needs to be fever-free without medication, and generally symptom-free, for 24 hours before returning, and some specific illnesses like strep throat or certain stomach viruses have their own return guidelines we will tell you directly if that applies. We can administer prescribed medication during the day only with a signed medication authorization form and the medication in its original labeled container — we cannot give anything, including over-the-counter medicine, without that paperwork on file, no exceptions, since that protects both your child and us.