Issue with Warts and Daycare Provider

I don't have any advice. But I wanted to say that I support you wholly. Perhaps it's time to find another provider.

I agree to talk to the dermatologist again and ask if the gloves are needed. If he says no, have his office put that in a note to the provider. If she continues to put gloves on him, start looking for a new provider.

Well, it isn't fair to the other children either if your son's virus spreads throughout the daycare facility. It also isn't fair to the daycare provider (who is a private business owner) to have to take on the liability of a viral outbreak at her facility which could cost her a substantial amount of money. She does need to cover herself financially and liability-wise.

Your son has a virus. The virus is contageous. The provider has every right to have your son cover the source of the virus while in HER place of business to protect others. She is not a medical provider, so she does not have to "deal" with your son's warts- you and your doctor do.

If you don't like it, stay home with him until the warts are gone. As a parent of the "other kids", I would be IRATE if I picked my child up and saw your son's uncovered hands. She isn't going to lose her other clients because you don't want to have your son wear gloves until the warts are gone.

Sorry, but I 100% support your provider here. Buy him a cool-looking light-weight pair of gloves (they have cute kids' work gloves at Lowes) and tell him that they are "work gloves" that he will have to wear when he's "working" at school. Wash them every night in hot water and get the rest of the warts treated quickly.

If they are warts, yeah... no problem. But if they are a wart-like virus known as molluscum contagiosum (sp?) then you need to suck it up and either keep them covered or figure out a way to keep something on his hands, i.e., gloves.

I know you don't like it. But here's the rub: If you were another parent and your child came home with them and then you found out that another child at the daycare had them but the provider did not insist that he keep them covered, knowing they could be shared/spread... you would be absolutely livid. Trust me. I've seen tons of such posts on this very board.
And if it IS molluscum, you should keep them covered b/c it is highly contagious and some kids get it and it spreads to their face, etc. Not just on their hands. And it is difficult to get rid of.

I took my daughter to a dermatologist, and had hers treated. Maybe you could follow up with your derm and get your son's taken care of. You said they "blistered"... so does that mean they treated it? It sounds like the treatment for molloscum, to me. And they must stay covered to prevent spreading, particularly at this stage of treatment, when they are oozy.
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ETA:
Just wanted to put this out there... "fair" doesn't have anything to do with it. The fact that he has "warts" may not be "fair". The fact that he is x-inches tall may not be "fair". The fact that his eyes are blue/green/brown (whatever color they are) may not be "fair". But, it is what it is. Fairness has nothing to do with it.

Well, you could look at it this way. Why don't you stay home with him from work until this clears up? Probably bc you might lose your job if you do... She's likely looking at this as a potential loss of her job if the warts spread. It sucks but I understand she doesn't want to make this a serious problem for her. He's your son and she has a business to protect. As others said, "not highly contagious" isn't that reassuring... So hopefully you can find good gloves and I'd talk to the doctor again. To the daycare providers' credit, she hasn't sent him home like a child is sent home when he/she is sick so they don't infect other kids. I'm sure you're really frustrated but your claim that "it isn't fair" goes both ways. It's not fair of you to expect her to risk her business/job and risk infecting other kids.

My son got something similar when he was around 3y. He had 5 or 6 of them on his one hand, fingers. I too had him wear gloves at daycare. Yes the doctor can say that they don't need to be covered, and yes the daycare provider should NOT be sharing medical specifics with other parents, but at the same time if she herself is not comfortable around them, or has another parent that has commented about them being covered, then the provider is in a tough spot.

For us, I found some thin work gloves (like the kind you garden with). I had my son wear those for a week or so. We finally took him to the dermatologist as they kept appearing on that one hand, that froze them and we were lucky in that within a few days they all fell off. When we went back a week later for the followup there was no sign the warts had been there. The dr. asked if we'd brought the same kid back :)

At this point you have too options. 1. Find gloves that your son will be comfortable wearing (gardening gloves, bike gloves) and hope it helps
2. Find a new daycare.

If the warts are on the top of his hand, you could try the fingerless gloves (bike gloves).

As a provider, I can understand how she is trying to do her best to protect all of the children in her care, even if she's not going about it the best way. Can you imagine the guilt, and the potential lawsuits, if she wasn't careful enough and other children in her care started showing up with warts? She would lose her business, possibly her home and any savings, everything.
You said the dermatologist's note described the warts as "not 'highly contagious'" which is very different from not contagious at all. I would suggest asking for clarification from him, in writing.
If her policy is that they must be covered, whether open or not, that's her policy. You can either find a way to work with it or find a new provider, who might also have the samerules concerning warts. If you like and trust your provider and have been happy with her until this, I suggest finding a way to work with her. Latex gloves would keep his hands covered, still be able to be washed and still give him accessibility to do anything he wants without getting too hot.
Good luck!

"not highly contagious" and not contagious are two different things.
"not necessary" is usually translated to mean "optional".

However, it does sound like your daycare provider does not understand herpes/hpv or any of the viruses that cause warts.... as these are transmitted via bodily fluids... NOT by touching the wart itself.

I would agree that she made up the nurse.... as health care professionals would be more educated about these health matters. She wanted some "backbone" and I would both have a problem with that.... and also sorta understand why she wanted to add some muscle to her argument to make it seem more valid.

However, I probably would not keep my son somewhere. I feel like this will affect the level of care she is able to give my son..... maybe not touching him as much, maybe not rushing to help him if he needs something. You want your child with someone who will protect him, not ostracize him.

I'm going to side with the daycare on this one. Not all warts are contagious, but many are. And in your son's case, the dermatologist NEVER SAID that they're not contagious. These are your words:

"I had a note from this doctor stating he didn't think my sons warts were "highly contagious""

That insinuates that they very well could be contagious and he's not committing to a diagnosis that says they're not contagious. Since he won't commit, then regardless of him also saying, "I don't think he has to wear gloves" the daycare has every right to insist that your son wear gloves to try to prevent the spread of the wart virus.

I don't understand why you think gloves will impair your son's ability to function. She's not making him wear thick double lined denim work gloves, is she? It's perfectly fair. You don't have to like it. It's not like his rights are being infringed upon.

Warts are contagious and they are spread through touch and touching surfaces. Warts are not dangerous, but are an unsightly inconvenience that most people would rather not have to deal with. I don't think that asking a child to wear gloves while at daycare is out of line. A pair of magic mini gloves or latex would not interfere with any of his activities. It sounds like a compromise. If it had been lice he would have been sent home and asked not to return until the lice were gone, and lice are even less of a problem than warts. So my advice would be to buy him some gloves he can comfortably wear all day, and have him wear them until the warts are gone, or to keep him home until the warts are gone.

I side with the day care provider. She has to think of the other children NOT just about yours. I would be pissed if my child came home from daycare with warts and found out another child had spread them. Besides you think putting duct tape on his hands is any better then gloves!?

It sounds like you are expecting the daycare provider to bend over backwards to accomodate you and your child, and you are not being flexible AT ALL. Your doctor's note is pretty ambiguous... it doesn't say it's not contagious at all, just that it's not that contagious. What does that even mean? Either it's contagious, or it's not, end of story. What a terrible doctor's not, really.

Your daycare provider has many other kids to worry about and protect. Your kid isn't special and doesn't get any special "passes". I think she's done more than her part to make sure your son can still come to daycare and participate in all the of the activities, by recommending the gloves. Your lack of cooperation makes it seem that you're not a very reasonable or understanding person.

I guess next time a kid shows up with pink eye or the flu, you'll be okay with that, right?!! Because you're essentially asking the provider to overlook your son's condition and put everyone else at risk.

Talk to your dermatologist about how to handle the situation at daycare. If the doctor gives you info about what to do and that gloves are NOT necessary, you have proof from a medical professional that is actively treating them. And it may calm down the provider who may be operating under incorrect info and overreacting.

please don't take this hard but your doctor said he "didn't think.' well, didn't think is not 'are not' contagious. he also said 'highly contagious.' well then they are contagious. so you have to understand they have to think about the health of other kids and not appease you.
i would suggest find a in home person who will take care of your son until this issue is resolved.

Your daycare provider is crazy and uninformed. Kids are exposed to the virus that causes warts ALL THE TIME. They can pick up the virus via cuts and scrapes, so Some kids have the virus and develop warts, some don't. My two younger boys had warts on their hands for over a year (we were really lax about treating them) and no one else in the house got them. Untreated warts usually go away on their own over months or a year or two while treating them can speed that process.

Ask the dermatoligist to provide a note that more clearly states that his warts are not contagious by contact and that covering them is not necessary. And perhaps she or he has a brochure handy that you can give to your daycare provider that will explain what common warts are, how they're transmitted etc. so she can get a freaking clue. I would expect that someone in this profession who deals a with an age group that is very prone to these would already have some information but apparently she's an idiot.

I see that you're in Massachusetts. Ask her to provide you with a copy of the Health Care Policy (that she filed with the state for her license) and to show you where the treatment of warts is addressed. Additionally, I would contact the EEC yourself and ask if there is a policy that addresses this (there isn't -my kids went to daycare with warts and not a word was said about it) but then you can tell your provider that you talked to the state and there is no regulatory requirement that addresses this:

http://www.mass.gov/edu/birth-grade-12/early-education-an...

Good luck! She sounds like a royal pain!

Ask for a copy of the health care policy. Then stop asking her for the phone number, and call the Massachusetts Office for Children, which is the agency that regulates and licenses day care centers and preschools. Find out for yourself what the policy is. While you're at it, give them the name of this day care provider. Put your complaint on record. If the provider is right, nothing will happen. If she's not, you're doing a service.

Are you sure the provider is licensed? Maybe the reason you aren't getting the name and number is that she's not licensed or has another reason for not calling attention to herself?

Your doctor's note is a little vague - sometimes doctors are extra cautious since so many people sue physicians these days.

Of course it's understandable that your provider doesn't want anything contagious to work its way through the other children, but who's to say that your son didn't get warts from someone else at the center?

In the short run, I'd put thin gloves on him so that she's not putting SOCKS on his hands! But I'd pursue it.

OMG.

You need more clear information from the doctor.

My son got some warts on his hands. He was a little older and in public school. No one freaked out. No one else in the family ever got them and they went away.

I've had cold sores since I was a young child and got shingles as an adult.
Not ONE SINGLE person in my family or ever in close contact has ever gotten it.

I have an immune system issue which causes things to flare up. It's my own body.

You need a definitive diagnosis. You need clear information from your doctor in order to provide it for the daycare.
If you need to keep your son home, you need to keep him home, but he doesn't deserve to feel like a freak of nature.

I get it....they have liability issues and the need to protect other children, but if every kid with a wart wasn't allowed to go to school or daycare, there wouldn't be any kids in school.

Personally, I'd be more worried about lice than warts. Lice spread like wild fire.

I've never ONCE heard of a wart epidemic.

I would get more info from the doctor and probably look for another daycare.

That's just my opinion.

Sounds like she is paranoid that other kids will get warts and their parents will blame her and be angry. I do get her concern, especially if she is seeing blisters on his hands, which she may interpret to mean the blistered warts are "open" and more likely to shed virus....But you had the note. I would have the doctor's office phone her and tell her verbally that it is safe for other kids to handle the same things he has handled (if that is indeed the case--if it's not, then you and the doctor's office do need to figure out what to do about coverings). The issue with her references to a nurse is odd; she should have been able to produce a name and number if there is indeed a nurse who advises day cares -- I assume yours is a licensed day care and gets state inspections? Is that where the nurse idea comes from? I'm not entirely clear if there really was any nurse or any rule about warts at all, or whether the provider was looking for a way to make you less upset by blaming the "policy" on someone over her head. I might call her on this one --is there a written policy in her state licensing info? Is there a specific person to call?

Meanwhile -- there are clear, "liquid bandages" that you paint over small cuts etc. You might be able to paint over his warts with that and they'd be covered; but be sure the doctor says it's OK and that your son does not find it fun to peel off the clear covering.

have his warts removed. i had some frozen off as a young child. go to a different doctor but get them removed. if you dont like the daycare switch. i could seem most daycares trying to protect all kids.

New daycare. My son had molluscum and neither his doctor nor his daycare center madea big deal of it. My niece just had several warts removed from her hand. No one in her school has made a fuss.

The docs note did not say they were not contagious. It said they didn't think they were highly contagious. So they are in fact, according to your son's doc, contagious to some degree.

That means the toys, the play clothes, the furniture, the dishes, all have to be cleaned and sanitized as soon as your child is finished touching them to keep other kids from possibly getting them.

Getting them treated as soon as possible and gone is the best solution. "IF" the doc said that gloves were irritating them and keeping the air from drying out the blisters, which is part of the healing process, then they cannot put gloves on his wounds/hands or they are going against a doc's professional note.

Talk to the doc again and get a more specific note. BUT don't be surprised if he says no, if he says they are not contagious and 1 child gets even one wart he could get sued for not protecting that child from getting them....saying no one can get them then one or two do, they can blame him and his malpractice insurance would have to pay them off because they would be right. So a doc saying something is NOT contagious if it might, in any way, be spread is setting himself up for a lawsuit.

"IF" he says that gloves are irritating your sons wounds then he's not saying others are safe, he's saying your son can't have gloves on.

If you want to know the rules and regulations regarding warts in child care then call your local licensing agency and ask them if they can fax/email/snail mail you a copy of the state handbook regarding this issue.

Their handbook is not laid out like most so I can't make heads or tails from it but here's a link to what looks to be their's.

http://www.mass.gov/edu/birth-grade-12/early-education-an...

I guess I didn't realize warts were contagious. Both of my daughters and even myself in the past have had warts. I had a patch on my shin for what seemed like forever, I treated them and they didn't go away, so I left them alone, then one day they were just gone. My daughters were the same way, she had one on her had, her knee and couple of others, I can't remember, but we had hers treated as well, frozen off (didn't work), wart remover didn't work etc... then one day they were just gone. Strange I know, this is a virus that we all carry in our body, its just some have breaks out and some dont. I would be upset if I were you with your daycare as well, there is no reason for her to put gloves on him. If it continued to happen, you may consider moving him to another facility. It sounds like to me she is the only one with the issue.