I don't know if I should be mad, or upset, or what!! I just recently opened a daycare after informally watching my 2 younger sisters for 4 years. I finally got first my non-relative daycare kid. I was sooo excited. Well i am bot as excited anymore. This child brought fleas into my home!!! I can not stand fleas. All i do is sit there and itch my legs all day. I really don't know what or how to tell the mom of this kid. I am not one for confrontation. but i have other children here and my 10 month old babies who crawl around on the floor all day! Now i need to try and figure out the best way to get rid of this things. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KATRINA

you have to tell the child's mother (whether it's fleas, lice, pink eye, etc.)

you cannot subject the other children to this.

good luck

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Bevogal

YUCK!! Get a hold of it now because they will take over.. Sweep on the hour every hour. google how to get rid of flees.. I know there is some home remedies you can sprinkle on your carpet but can't remember what. I know we got home from vacation and had to get the house fumigated.. I would just tell the mom. I mean I would think she would know she has fleas.

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Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

oh no! sorry to hear...good luck with the treatments to get rid of them..and yes you need to talk to the child's parents. if they don't realize/aren't doing something to get rid of them - then, even after you get rid of them, this child could continue to bring them to your home again and again..

i know it sounds crazy that someone doesn't know they have fleas... but we had a problem family in the neighborhood who 'didn't know' they had fleas or lice until the school would tell them that they had to do something about it - over and over. ugh!!! they have had either fleas or lice, about half a dozen times. gross.

As akward as it might seem and feel you do need to tell the child's parents. Fleas can be very difficult to get rid of, I would defiantely start treating your home now, to insure that they dont' spread, because once they do, it can become near impossible to get rid of them..... I'm so sorry this happened to you, especially with your excitment of getting a non-relative child for your Daycare.

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"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

From my one time experience, I found that if you have rugs, it's going to be really hard to get rid of them. After vacumming my rug about 50 times and still sucking up fleas, I pulled up the rug. They were gone after that.

Fleas are no joke and if you do not take care of them right away they will continue to breed and lay their eggs.

Good luck. I feel for you.

Judi

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"Try to see the glass half-full."

Before you accuse the mom of bringing in fleas, are you absolutely sure that is is her kid bringing them in? You have seen fleas in his/her hair or in the diaper bag in items, you have seen the flea eggs on them or their items, flea bites all over them, etc. Fleas can be brought into the house on your shoes and pants legs at any time (kids running in and out etc. ) , they can also hop in open windows and over your door threshholds and if you have pets the pet can bring them in. I would just make sure they are not coming in from your yard before you talk to their mom.

well i dont have any pets, and never had fleas before he started coming. My husband was helping him put his socks on one day when he had said that he gets bites at home because he has fleas at his house.

Kids are so truthful, LOL. I would definately talk to her then and tell her exactly what the child told you. I think there is a type of bomb that would work for fleas, I have seen them in the stores for roaches and such, but I think you have to leave the house for a certain amount of time when you do that. Or spraying the entire floor with flea spray or something like that. However either of those options will only kill the live fleas, you would have to repeat this when more hatch from the eggs. I googled fleas and learned that fleas can jump over 6 ft (I didn't know that) anyway if you google it, there are alot of ideas/ways to get rid of fleas, it does say they are very hard to get rid of though and August and September are the worst months for fleas (I didn't know that eirher) . I would also go outside in your yard barefoot or with white socks on and make sure they are not coming from your yard too since it appears we are in the height of flea season. We have pets and don't have fleas in the house (we use the flea meds on their necks) but I can go outside and if there are any fleas around they will jump on me, they love me, and I hate them. Also, says if you have not had much rain lately that fleas will be worse outdoors. Good luck.

I would be leary about mentioning something to the parent. How long have you been watching this child??? I bet they will take him elsewhere if you say they brought fleas to your house.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

There is a spray that can be sprayed on your carpet and furniture. Make sure and spray the corners very well. Read the instuctions on how often to re-spray to get the eggs. Our cat came home from the vets with flees after she got spayed. The spray worked pretty quickly. You could also put Avon Skin So Soft on the kids so they don't get bit. It works pretty well, and they will all smell good. LOL

I have only had the child for 3 weeks. I didn't want to say anything to the mom because I am afraid of losing her business. I just wanted to see if there was something to get rid of them, but then again he would probably just keep bringing them.

I agree w/the other posters, you must tell the parents. Do they have pets? This can be very dangerous for pets to have for long periods of time. They must have a pretty bad infestation if he is bringing them into your home. I work at a vet hospital and can tell you that you need to get some Knockout. They have it as a fogger and a spray and it cost about $20 a can and is usually available at vet hospitals. You may need several cans to cover your home depending on the size. Everything should be treated, from carpeting to bedding. Definately toss out your vaccuum bag. When pets are invovled, they must be treated as well or the cycle will continue. In your case, if you don't get the parents on board, the child will continue to reinfest your home and fleas are carriers of tapeworms.

Good luck! I have had to battle them before and it is NO fun.

I guess I'm the odd man out--but I wouldn't keep the kid anymore.
It doesn't matter what you do to get rid of them today, if he just brings more in on Monday. KWIM??

If you have a 10 month old in the house, they are more likely to suffer more because they are the ones in the floor the most. And if you haven't seen a child that has been bitten repeatedly by fleas then you haven't seen a really bad sight.

If you don't want to quit keeping the child, then you have to say something to the mother. You might bring up by saying "you know, little Johnny mentioned he's getting bit by fleas at home, and I noticed a couple of bites on his leg. And I don't want to offend you, but I have noticed some fleas in my house. I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but I would hate to have to stop keeping kids because I am having to fumigate the house for fleas...."

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

We have had to bomb our home for fleas. They are hard to get rid of but bombing will make them go away as well as vacuuming. I'd talk with the parents ina non-confrontational manner and let them know. The bombs say that they keep the fleas from coming back for a certain period of time so they can get there problem under control without reinfesting your house. Don't ya ust hate when people bring "stuff" with them.

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Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
http://img29.photobucket.com/albums/...inalanswer.jpg

Have to agree that I'd be very hesitant to continue caring for this little guy if his parents don't make some changes. They have to treat their pets, their home, and make changes to avoid reinfestation, or you will be running in circles trying to get rid of these things. It is not fair to any of the children to suffer with these bites, and possible infections from scratching.

Personally, I'd have no problem at all talking to the mother. You are running a business, and have to protect your family. She MUST know she has a flea problem, so it shouldn't be a surprise if you just say "I'm sure you're trying to get a handle on the flea situation with your pets, but in the meantime, we're having a big problem with the fleas coming in my home and biting the children. What do you plan to do next to take care of it?"

Good luck!!

I would also note that if you have to 'bomb' your house, you probably need to tell the parents of the other kids. It's really for their own safety. You never know what kids are allergic to these days. I have a friend that was cleaning her carpets with a widely available carpet cleaner and her child ended up in the children's hospital. I can't remember what the syndrome was that they called it, but the little boy just about died from the exposure. I know I wouldn't want my kids around the type of poisons/chemicals that are in flea bombs, and I do have a 10 month old baby that is on the floor most of the day. Just a thought. You may need to keep the kids at someone else's house (not sure how you would do that though) for a few days and then clean really really good or just have all the parents find alternative childcare for a few days, or maybe you could just do it on a Friday after everyone leaves, etc. Tough call either way.

I just wanted to add that if my child was going to a daycare that had fleas or my child was coming home with bites, I would find another childcare facility if they couldn't fix the problem asap. If you have fleas at all, I'm sure the other kids are going home with bites and the parents are surely noticiing, so I would just tell them that some how fleas have entered your home, and you are working to remedy the situation asap. You need to be prepared though if some of them say they want to keep their kids out of your daycare for a little while, or pull them out totally. That's just a miserable situation for little kids, especially babies who can't itch them, and the parents can't really put any type of medication on them. A one time incident is certainly different than every single day having this happening. I wouldn't keep them in the dark about it though. I know you're very frustrated and are trying to get rid of them so I'm not flaming you, I hope it doesn't sound that way. I'm with the other poster that stated that this is a business, you need to treat it like that. Keep in mind that if the parents had a problem with you or something you did, I bet they'd speak up immediately.