It’s 6:45 a.m., your child feels warm, and you have a meeting in an hour. Every parent has stood in that hallway trying to decide: is this a stay-home day, or will a little Tylenol and a hug get us through drop-off? If you’ve ever wondered what your daycare’s sick policy actually means for your family, you’re not alone; it’s one of the most common questions we hear from parents at pickup.
A daycare sick policy isn’t there to make your morning harder. It exists to keep every child and teacher in the building as healthy as possible, so your child can keep learning and playing in a safe classroom. Below, we walk through what a typical daycare sick policy covers, how Arizona regulates it, and what pediatric health authorities like the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend, so you can make a confident call the next time your little one wakes up under the weather.
A quick note before we start: this guide is meant to help you understand how daycare illness policies generally work. It isn’t medical advice. When you’re unsure about your child’s symptoms, your pediatrician is always the right first call.
What Is a Daycare Sick Policy?
A daycare sick policy is the set of rules a child care center uses to decide when a sick child should stay home, when a child already in care needs to be picked up, and what has to happen before that child can return.
Most policies are built on three layers: state licensing requirements, guidance from pediatric health authorities, and the center’s own judgment about what keeps a classroom of young children safe. In Arizona, licensed child care facilities must follow the Arizona Department of Health Services’ child care rules, which address this directly. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-515, “Illness and Infestation,” states that “a licensee shall not permit an enrolled child to remain at the facility if a staff member determines that the enrolled child shows signs of illness or infestation.” The rule also defines “illness” broadly, including fever, vomiting, rash, discharge, and diarrhea.
Because the state rule gives centers discretion to judge “signs of illness,” most quality programs, including ours, lean on guidance from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics to fill in the specifics: what fever level matters, how many episodes of vomiting are too many, and how long a child should be symptom-free before returning.
Why Do Daycares Have Illness Policies?
Daycares have illness policies because young children in group care spend their day in close contact, sharing toys, tables, and nap mats, which makes it easy for common illnesses to spread quickly through a classroom if they aren’t managed early.
A sick policy protects three groups at once: the child who is unwell and needs rest and care rather than a full day of activities, the other children in the room whose developing immune systems are more vulnerable to illnesses like colds, stomach bugs, and strep throat, and the teachers, who need to stay healthy to keep every classroom safely staffed. It’s also a licensing requirement. Under R9-5-515, staff must immediately separate a child showing signs of illness from the rest of the group and promptly notify a parent so the child can be picked up. That isn’t the center being overly cautious; it’s what state rule requires, and it’s genuinely in your child’s best interest, too.
When Should a Child Stay Home From Daycare?
As a general rule, a child should stay home from daycare if they have a fever, are vomiting, have diarrhea, are unusually tired or fussy, or have any symptom that would keep them from comfortably participating in a normal day of play, meals, and rest.
The CDC’s current guidance for schools and child care settings points to a few specific signs that mean a child needs to stay home:
- Fever, especially if it comes with a new rash
- Vomiting more than twice in 24 hours
- Diarrhea that causes accidents, contains blood, or happens more than twice above the child’s normal frequency
- Open, draining sores on exposed skin that can’t be covered with a bandage
- Respiratory symptoms like a cough or congestion that are getting worse, not improving, and aren’t explained by something like seasonal allergies
The CDC also notes something worth remembering: the goal is to balance keeping other children healthy with your child’s need to keep learning and socializing. A mild cold with no fever usually isn’t a reason to miss a day. A fever, frequent vomiting, or a rash that’s spreading usually is.
Can a Child Go to Daycare With a Runny Nose?
In most cases, yes. A runny nose on its own, without a fever or other symptoms, is typically not a reason to keep a child home from daycare.
Young children average six to eight colds a year, and a clear or mild runny nose is one of the most common, and least contagious-at-that-stage, symptoms they experience. According to the CDC, respiratory symptoms only become a reason to stay home when they’re worsening, not improving over time, or clearly beyond what you’d expect from ordinary allergies. If your child is otherwise acting like themselves, eating, playing, and in good spirits, a runny nose alone generally isn’t a stay-home symptom. If it’s paired with a fever, thick colored discharge with facial pain, or your child seems noticeably unwell, that’s a different story, and it’s worth a call to your pediatrician.
What About a Fever?
A fever is one of the clearest signs that a child needs to stay home from daycare, and it’s one of the few symptoms with a widely agreed-upon threshold among pediatric health authorities.
According to guidance published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, a temperature above 101°F (38.3°C), especially combined with a behavior change like unusual fussiness, lethargy, or discomfort, is a reason for a child to be excluded from care. For infants younger than 2 months, any unexplained fever above 100.4°F (38°C) needs urgent medical evaluation; this age group should never “wait it out.”
Most centers, ours included, follow the same general return rule that both the CDC and AAP recommend: a child should be fever-free for at least 24 hours, without the help of fever-reducing medicine like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, before coming back to the classroom. That 24-hour window matters because fever-reducing medication can mask symptoms and make a child seem well again while they’re still contagious.
What About Vomiting or Diarrhea?
Vomiting and diarrhea are both common reasons for daycare exclusion, because stomach bugs spread quickly in group care settings and are genuinely uncomfortable for the child experiencing them.
Following CDC and AAP guidance, most sick policies use these general benchmarks:
- Vomiting: Two or more episodes within 24 hours is typically enough to require a child to stay home, unless a parent and provider agree the cause is non-infectious (for example, a one-time reaction to a new food).
- Diarrhea: Stools that aren’t contained in a diaper, happen more than twice above the child’s normal frequency in 24 hours, or contain blood or mucus are all reasons for exclusion.
For return to care, both symptoms need to have genuinely resolved, not just slowed down. That generally means vomiting has stopped overnight and your child is tolerating food and liquids normally, and diarrhea has meaningfully improved, with no accidents and bowel movements back near your child’s normal pattern.
When Can a Child Return to Daycare?
A child can typically return to daycare once they’ve been symptom-free for the recommended window for that specific illness, and in some cases, once a healthcare provider has confirmed they’re no longer contagious.
Because different illnesses carry different risks, return timelines vary:
- Fever: 24 hours fever-free without fever-reducing medicine
- Vomiting/diarrhea: Symptoms resolved, tolerating regular food, and back to normal bathroom habits
- Strep throat: At least 12 hours of antibiotic treatment, per AAP guidance
- Chickenpox: All lesions crusted over
- Pink eye or a rash with fever: Evaluated by a healthcare provider, since some causes require treatment before a child can safely return
- Head lice: After the first treatment has been completed
Arizona’s licensing rule specifically allows a center to require a staff member to provide documentation from a health care provider before returning to work after an illness, and most quality centers apply that same “doctor’s note” expectation to children for certain illnesses, even though it’s a center policy choice rather than a line in the state rule. If your child’s illness required a doctor’s visit, it’s worth asking your daycare whether they’ll need a note before your child comes back; it saves everyone a conversation at drop-off.
What Should Parents Do If Their Child Gets Sick at Daycare?
If your child becomes sick while at daycare, expect a call from your child’s teacher or director as soon as symptoms appear, and plan to pick your child up as promptly as you’re able.
Under Arizona’s child care rules, staff is required to separate a child who shows signs of illness from the rest of the group right away and to notify a parent promptly. While you’re on your way, your child will be kept comfortable and away from the other children; not left alone, just given a quieter space to rest until you arrive. Here’s what helps on your end:
- Answer the phone. Centers are required to reach you quickly, so make sure your emergency contacts and phone numbers are current.
- Have a backup plan. If you can’t leave work immediately, know who your backup pickup person is in advance: a partner, grandparent, or trusted friend on your emergency contact list.
- Follow up with your pediatrician if the symptoms are new, severe, or don’t match anything your child has had before.
- Ask what triggered the call. Understanding the specific symptom helps you know what to watch for and when your child will likely be ready to return.
Questions to Ask About a Daycare’s Health Policies
Before you enroll, or any time you want a clearer picture of how a center handles illness, it’s worth asking a few direct questions.
- What symptoms require my child to be excluded, and does your policy follow CDC or AAP guidance?
- What’s your fever threshold, and do you require a fever-free window before a child returns?
- How quickly will I be called if my child gets sick, and who has access to my emergency contacts?
- Do you require a doctor’s note for certain illnesses before a child can come back?
- What’s your policy for staff who are sick — are teachers held to the same standard?
- How do you handle communicable disease outbreaks, and how are other families notified?
- What cleaning and hygiene practices do you follow between groups of children?
A center that can answer these clearly, and that welcomes the questions instead of brushing them off, is telling you something important about how seriously it takes your child’s safety.
At Raising Arizona Preschool, our illness policies are built the same way our whole program is: around genuine care for your child’s wellbeing, not just a box to check. Our teachers are trained to recognize early signs of illness; we follow Arizona’s licensing requirements and current pediatric guidance for exclusion and return-to-care decisions, and we communicate with families quickly and clearly when something comes up, because we know a healthy classroom starts with parents who feel informed, not caught off guard. If you’d like to see how we handle health and safety at one of our Phoenix, Glendale, or Mesa locations, we’d love to show you around.
Sources
- Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-515, “Illness and Infestation” — Arizona Department of Health Services, Bureau of Child Care Licensing
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Child Care Facilities Licensing
- CDC — When Students or Staff Are Sick
- American Academy of Pediatrics / HealthyChildren.org — When to Keep Your Child Home From Child Care
This article is for general informational purposes and reflects publicly available Arizona licensing rules and CDC/AAP guidance as of September 2026. It is not medical advice. Always consult your child’s pediatrician and your specific child care provider’s written policy for guidance about your child.