Just my perspective: I absolutely never want to be the person that triggers another kid's allergies. I try really hard to wipe hands and faces. I read labels and try very hard to do my best. That said when I, as a non-allergy mom, hear I can't send x,y,z foods it can be hard to know what foods I can safely send. In these situations it might be better if the daycare/preschool/parent/someone gave ideas what to send or ways to figure out what is safe.
Gluten free would send me into a tizzy because I don't know safe from unsafe. Playdoh would have never been on my radar.
Post by zacksbride on Sept 16, 2014 20:21:05 GMT -5
I am the mom of a dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut allergic child. His daycare actually wasn't peanut free, but his allergy required ingestion, not just particles in the air. We never had a problem, but if a child had peanut butter, they would sit him at a different table or far away from the peanut butter.
Now at preschool, if anyone has a peanut allergy in the class, that class becomes peanut free. I admit feeling kind of bad cause I've had several moms come up to me asking what variety of substitute sandwich butters are OK, and really most of them arent (sun and soybutter are OK). The class is not egg and dairy free however. I personally wouldn't want to impose all of our allergy restrictions on everyone cause, damn, it is really hard to find stuff he can have a lot of the time. Our house is not dairy, egg, nut free either - my other son eats everything and my husband on atkins pretty much lives on nuts as a snack. We are just careful to not have them around DS1. I suppose we are "lucky" in that his reactions require ingestion, and at age almost 5 he is well aware that he can ONLY eat food we send him in his lunch kit. He knows how awful he feels from a reaction and wants to avoid it at all costs.
My issue with this is that egg allergies require ingestion. My BIL and nephew are allergic and just touching a surface that has come into contact with egg, especially cooked egg, wouldn't be enough to illicit a reaction. If they are making sure the kids don't share food , it should be fine.
My egg allergy didn't require ingestion until my late teens. Prior to that contact was enough.
Our center is peanut and tree nut free. If there was an additional severe allergy that item was banned in the room. The only time I saw this was for a year when someone had a banana allergy. They put a sign on that classroom door.
DS has been in K and now 1st with a nut allergy. They aren't allowed to have them in their snacks but can have them in their lunch. They had to wipe hands going into class, and snack had to be in a separate bag and only in individual manufacturer packaged containers unless fruit. I don't know if this is because the teacher was extreme, or maybe there was a severe allergy. His class this year is also peanut/tree nut free but he just can't have his snack touch a packed lunch with peanut butter.
I overheard a dad at soccer practice last week and decided he was a jerk (there are other reasons too). He was bragging to a parent about how he got his kid out of an nut-free classroom because he can't be bothered to check ingredients on snack packaging. He is way too busy for that.
We are not in daycare but in preschool and they cater to every food allergy in the class - so in our class we have no dairy, no soy, no peanuts/tree nuts (this is the whole school), gluten free, vegetarian, and something I am forgetting off the top of my head. I have zero issue with it.
OMG, this is EXACTLY my fear - that's this is where this is headed!!! But yes, everybody, I can just relax about the eggs. Of course this kid's parents just want to keep him safe and it helps that's he's the cutest little boy in the class (Besides DS, lol)
@justdairy, I kind of am against purees now. There were several weeks in the BLW process that I doubted my decision about BLW (but at that time, I wasn't sending lunches to daycare) and wondered if I should do purees b/c it seemed like he was eating less as we went along, rather than more. But then, about 2-3 weeks ago, it's like he totally figured out eating, so at this point, I feel like doing purees would be a backwards step. Thanks for your suggestions - this doesn't have to be as hard as I'm making it--- I'm just feeling overwhelmed b/c I literally went from just doing dinner every day to doing 3 meals and a snack within a week's time (for a variety of reasons that I won't get into.) I'm trying to keep his diet diverse, but with 3.5 meals a day, it just seems really hard.
But yes, I will make it work without eggs, and only throw a fit if I get an email in a few weeks that I can't send gluten!
I totally understand, just giving you a suggestion. I also don't think BLW needs to necessarily be "against" purees or considered a step backwards (but what do I know. I got 2 pages into the exact philosophy and started making my own sh*t up). I just look at it like adults eat purees (applesauce, mashed potatoes, mashed carrots with cream cheese, yogurt etc.) so my kid might as well learn too. I just made my purees super chunky off the bat. Both of my kids eat it just fine. As do they table food.
I just look at it like, they're babies. Half of it ends up on the floor anyways, so it doesn't matter that much. I'm going to lessen my stress in the meantime.
I could not live with myself if I child ended up In the ER because of something I sent in, particularly if i knew about the allergy. Even with the best food practices, kids are too unpredictable at that age. I would have no issues with doing as they ask.
DS is a little older - 14 months - but he eats just about everything and I don't have too much trouble finding things that aren't eggs. When he first started eating solids, we did beans, lots of fruit, sweet potatoes, squash (both of those I found diced in steam-in-bag bags which made it super easy), avocado, peas, pasta, fish, chicken.
That doesn't mean it isn't as severe, it means it is limited to only some egg forms.
This is where my issues come, when people decide on the severity of kids' allergies. I recognize that not sending your kid with quiche is a PITA. I would suggest that her kid potentially dying is a bigger PITA.
I hear you and of course this child's life is more important. And I thank you for agreeing that it IS a PITA to avoid my go-to, easy protein. And, I truly am curious how this is handled elsewhere; I await those answers. By the time he's in the two year old class (I think? maybe 3's?) there will be 20 kids in the class. If I'm requested to avoid every child's allergy, that seems like an undue burden when there are other ways to keep the child with the allergy safe, which is the goal.
Worry about today, don't get bent out of shape about what might or might not happen 2 years down the road.
Seriously, I get that it's a bummer but this other mom deals with so much more food hassle than you do. She's just trying to keep her kid safe, and you should be glad that the daycare is taking it so seriously. Time to build a bridge.
Post by curbsideprophet on Sept 16, 2014 21:55:22 GMT -5
The entire facility is not nut free. However we have nut free rooms if need be. I assume if there was something else that was an issue they would notify the parents and make that room "x free". I know DD has stolen fruit from other kids before. It can be hard to keep everyone's food where it belongs. I think it makes sense to just avoid allowing the items in the room. DD's room is nut free right now so no PB&J or uncrustables for her.
Post by Ashley&Scott on Sept 16, 2014 22:01:48 GMT -5
Our center is completely peanut & tree nut free. Other allergies are handled case by case.
We did BLW & I never sent eggs to daycare. There are plenty of other options, they're not doing it to attack you they're protecting a child. I would expect them to do the same if it were my kid with the allergy & I assume you would to.