Autumn at nursery: an illness protocol and how to keep families informed

At a nursery, October usually brings the first coughs of the year. It coincides with the end of the settling-in period and the start of the respiratory virus season, when the baby and one-to-two rooms see more absences. This year, Spain's regions have also launched their immunisation campaigns against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the main cause of bronchiolitis: in the Madrid region and in Cantabria it runs from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, and in Andalusia it started on 21 September.

A nursery is not a health service, and it is not its role to decide on treatment. Its role is to be organised: to be clear about what it does when a child falls ill, how it tells families and how it handles absences. This article focuses on that part.

What the nursery can do about the RSV campaign

The campaign is aimed mainly at babies under six months old at the start of the season and at those born during it; in Madrid, for example, at babies born from 1 April 2026. Many baby rooms have children in that range.

The nursery's role is to inform:

• Remind families that the campaign exists, with a short notice through the official channel to the families in the baby room.
• Always refer them to their health centre or paediatrician for any question about immunisation.
• Do not collect or record whether a child is immunised unless your region expressly asks you to. It is health data the nursery does not need to operate.

A written protocol that everyone knows

Most disagreements with families at this time of year come not from the illness but from surprise: a mid-morning call to collect the child, a criterion nobody knew about, or a rule applied differently from one day to the next. A written health protocol, handed over at enrolment and recalled in October, avoids almost all of them. It should answer these questions:

• When a child should not come in. The criteria should be based on your region's public health guidance and on paediatric advice, not on each educator's judgement. For families, the Familia y Salud website of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Paediatrics (AEPap) is a good reference.
• What happens if the child falls ill at nursery. Who is called, in what order, where the child waits in the meantime and how soon they are expected to be collected.
• When they can come back. According to the criteria adopted, and whether any note is needed.
• Medicines. Whether staff can give them and on what conditions. The usual practice is to ask for written authorisation from the family and the medical instructions, but it depends on each region's rules.
• Who decides on the spot. Normally the head or the person in charge of the room, so that the family does not receive different messages.

Inform without pointing anyone out

When a case of a contagious illness appears in a room, such as gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis or hand, foot and mouth disease, the group's families appreciate knowing. The notice should say what the illness is, which symptoms to watch for and what to do if they appear, without identifying the child.

Health data are a special category of personal data. The sick child's name is needed by their family, their educator and the head, not by the rest of the group. That is why these notices should not go round informal messaging groups, where any comment ends up pointing at someone. We explain it in parent WhatsApp groups.

If there are several cases at once, follow your region's public health guidance on how to communicate a possible outbreak.

A sample notice for October

A short message to all families in mid-October recalls the protocol without causing alarm. An example you can adapt:

"Dear families: the season of colds and respiratory viruses is starting. Here is a reminder of our health protocol, attached. If your child is not coming in, let us know through the app before 9:00 and tell us the reason. If they feel unwell during the morning, we will call you in the order of contacts you gave us, so please check that the phone numbers are up to date. For any question about vaccines or the RSV campaign, your paediatrician is the best reference. Thank you for helping us look after the whole group."

Absences, notes and fees

Absences due to illness are when it shows most whether the nursery has its information in order:

• Absence notice through the app, before a set time. That way the educator knows first thing who is missing and why, and the office does not take twenty calls between 8:45 and 9:15.
• Up-to-date contacts. Check in October that every child has at least two contacts with an up-to-date phone number and authorisation to collect them.
• Fees and meals. Set out in the enrolment terms what happens to the fee and to meals if a child misses many days through illness. Each nursery can decide its policy, but it should be known before the first November invoice, not afterwards.

Staff fall ill too

The season affects educators just as much. Plan who covers each room if someone is missing, because ratios must be met every day, not only on inspection day. With the national draft on early-years ratios, which sets 4, 6 and 8 children per professional depending on age, this margin will matter even more. We explain it in the new 0-3 nursery ratios.

Conclusion

Autumn cannot be avoided, but improvisation can. A written protocol based on health guidance, notices that inform without pointing anyone out, absences reported through a clear channel and a fees policy known in advance make the virus season a nuisance rather than a dispute with families.

If you want families to report and explain absences through the app and notices to arrive through an official channel, see Edena for nurseries or book a demo.