How does your school handle food allergies?
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We just started pre-school and thankfully they are peanut-free and very concerned with keeping the kids safe. There happen to be 3 kids with varying allergies in the class of 10!
It certainly seems to be beneficial to have so many kids in the class with allergies - so maybe there's something to be gained from the increase in allergies.
It certainly seems to be beneficial to have so many kids in the class with allergies - so maybe there's something to be gained from the increase in allergies.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by JennK on -
Kelly, we don't have to worry about school issues because we homeschool (which we'd started before the kids were diagnosed, not because of the celiac disease).
The toughest part of dealing with food allergies, though, eventually comes outside of school. You don't have to worry about it at preschool and not for awhile beyond, but my twins are almost 13 and spending increasing amounts of time away from home. Sleepovers, summer camp, and longer activities or all-day events that include meals. That's when you have to become even more vigilant to ensure your child has something to eat when everyone around them is eating foods that are forbidden.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly Francis on -
Do you have trouble with people not believing the allergy is real? There are a few moms in our playgroup that either don't get it or don't believe me and have no problem feeding their kids PB&J even though we talk about peanut allergies ALL the time! I've started to think maybe they don't believe me. It worries me to think about sleepovers with parents I don't trust. Do you limit who they're allowed to stay over with?
And we've had significant trouble with our parents - believe it or not! My dad does not think twice about feeding my allergic child ANYTHING - I think he'd hand her peanuts if he was eating them (which he also wouldn't hesitate to do in her presence). Both of our moms are learning to be more careful about what's in the house when we visit - but both dads seem to think I'm over-reacting.
No one seems to think it's a problem to set out a bowl of "dangerous" food for others to eat as long as it's not accessible by Ramsey. But of course that's not safe - the bowl can get moved by accident, their toddler cousins may hand food to her, something may drop on the ground, etc. It's so frustrating and scary!! These are the people who care about her!
I think you're right, school is the least of your worries. They at least have insurance, etc. to worry about so they have a vested interest in keeping the kids safe. I think there's a higher likelyhood at least some of the faculty, etc. have seen a food allergy reaction first hand or have a child with an allergy which helps too.
JennK said:Kelly, we don't have to worry about school issues because we homeschool (which we'd started before the kids were diagnosed, not because of the celiac disease).
The toughest part of dealing with food allergies, though, eventually comes outside of school. You don't have to worry about it at preschool and not for awhile beyond, but my twins are almost 13 and spending increasing amounts of time away from home. Sleepovers, summer camp, and longer activities or all-day events that include meals. That's when you have to become even more vigilant to ensure your child has something to eat when everyone around them is eating foods that are forbidden.
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Permalink Reply by JennK on
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Some people have a tough time with celiac disease because it's not an allergy. My kids won't go into anaphylaxis or break out into hives if they eat gluten, so it's hard for people to realize it's still causing harm.
We've been fortunate, however. My son is spending today with a group of friends (an all-day birthday party). The host's mom called ahead to let me know what was on the menu and ask what DS could eat. In this case, we decided that I'd send him with food because the boys are having pizza and cake. Other times, I don't have to do a thing. Some of the friends' mothers keep GF pasta and treats in the house just for when my kids visit. Or they'll plan meals that are naturally GF. Yes, there are a couple moms who can't be trusted. Rather than limit the kids' access, however, I just send them with food. They need to learn to live with this disease, not hide away because of it. But they're also old enough to know what they can/can't have and to start making those decisions. If they were younger, I'd have more concerns.
I'm also beyond fortunate with my family. My mother lives 2600 miles away and comes to visit a few times a year for several weeks at a time. In between visits, she's always experimenting with recipes, coming up with ways to make GF cream puffs or chicken pot pie with a GF crust or making endless attempts at a GF challah that has the same "shred" quality (she's got the taste part down, but the texture might be forever out of reach). When she visits, we cook up a storm (the kids love to cook and are becoming quite skilled in the kitchen). My mother also reads celiac e-mail lists to keep up with the latest info and learn about celiac-friendly restaurants. We go down to my cousin's house for holiday dinners, and he's also very supportive. Last Passover, he went out of his way to get GF oat matzohs so the kids could fully participate in the Seder. He'll use potato starch instead of flour in some of his recipes. If he makes something that isn't GF, he lets the kids know exactly what's off limits -- and there's always plenty of other food they can eat to make up for it.
There've been lots of discussions on the celiac lists about non-supportive family members. In some cases, it takes telling them that you won't bring your child to visit unless they take it seriously. I don't know if you'd want to go to that extreme with your family, but you might want to keep it in mind as an option if their attitudes don't change.
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Permalink Reply by Adriana Velez on -
Hello! My son actually doesn't have allergies (knock on wood) but my sister is allergic to gluten, casein, nuts, seeds, soy, and some fruits. Two of my son's friends in his pre-k class have allergies. I've been learning about how allergies affect children through my freelance work for WELLalarm. Since this is affecting more and more of the people in our lives I've been trying to educate myself!
At our school, the pre-k kids eat lunch in the classroom and we have a voluntary nut-free room. One child is also lactose intolerant and allergic to soy. Parents take turns bringing in snacks, so we created a list of preferred snacks.
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Permalink Reply by JediMom on -
Our school is peanut free. My son is severely allergic to peanuts as well as tree nuts. While I'm happy about the peanut-free policy, it's not a total solution. His teachers read labels to check for tree nuts and cross contamination issues. I get involved whenever parents are asked to provide snacks.
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Permalink Reply by Lynn C on -
*nods* I can so relate to some of these posts. My step-mom and father in particular are not very careful about my daughter's peanut allergies. They "forget" all the time. Many times now, I've stopped my dad just before he does something like show her black walnuts, or puts a dish of mixed nuts out on the table.
But what can you do? I mean, even if you're super, super vigilant, eventually something's going to get through. The important thing is to make sure the child understands as much as possible, and always has their medication with them.
I admit to being scared about school next year, when kids share sandwiches and stuff. But then, we live right across the street from the Primary school, so if something happens, I'm not *that* far away!
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Permalink Reply by Angela ~ www.thewebwomen.net on -
I've had horrible experiences with Kaitlyn's school this year. She'll be going to a private school in town that is peanut-free for first grade.
My husband went to lunch with her and a little boy with a peanut butter cup was mocking her, licking his fingers and then trying to tickle her. The administration said "well they're just children". Yes, but it could kill my child! Why don't they understand?!
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Permalink Reply by Emily Bonilla on -
OMG, this is just getting me more scared for my child. My 22 month old is severely allergic to peanuts. Gets a very bad reaction from just eating something that has been produced in the same factory, and may die if a trace of peanut touches him. In addition, he has milk, egg, wheat and soy allergies. It is very hard to find anything to feed the kid. His diet is mostly just rice, meats, fruits and veggies.
Anyway, my husband was the one who didn't believe the severity of his allergies. One day just to show him and test the severity of his wheat allergy (which only scaled a 3 out of 100, peanuts was 350), we gave him some cereal with wheat, the next day he broke out with eczema.
Also, last week my husband went shopping and bought cereal that was made in a factory that also produces peanuts and I told him not to buy that before but he forgot. I told him to return it to the store but he said that the child wouldn't have a chance at getting to it. Well, my 9 year old left the cabinet unlocked and while I wasn't watching the allergic child got into the cabinet and put a mouthful of the cereal in his mouth. Thank goodness he didn't get the same reaction as last time he tried that cereal (before we knew of his allergy, he tried the same cereal and his entire face was swollen, I had no idea what it was). I quickly gave him Benadryl and kept an eye on him. That cereal immediately went into the trash.
It is really hard with a husband that is forgetful and not detail oriented, and a 9 year old sibling that is careless. In order to keep everything under control, I have a rule that no peanut products or products produced in the same factory as peanuts are allowed in my house, as well as in the house of anyone that watches my son like the grandparents.
As far as the other allergies, I just don't allow our son to eat anything that I can read the labels for and I don't allow anyone to feed him anything without asking me first. When ever I go anywhere where there is food I announce to everyone not to feed my child without asking me first and to remove peanut products from the area because it can kill him. It may sound weird to them at first but when I explain how my child tries to eat everything he sees and that just touching peanut products can kill him, they then understand.
I have no idea what I am going to do when he goes to school. I am so scared. I know my older sons school has a severe allergy policy, which makes me feel better - any food that enters the school must have an ingredient label. But some parents just don't understand or don't know how to read labels and may send the food to the school by mistake, and it will be up to the teachers to enforce.
Angela Speaker said:I've had horrible experiences with Kaitlyn's school this year. She'll be going to a private school in town that is peanut-free for first grade.
My husband went to lunch with her and a little boy with a peanut butter cup was mocking her, licking his fingers and then trying to tickle her. The administration said "well they're just children". Yes, but it could kill my child! Why don't they understand?!
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