surprising dc decision

fitmom82

Our DC provides meals, which is great because it's so convent.  They have a bi-weekly meal plan.  I just found out that they are changing one of the menu items and will be giving peanut butter and jelly for lunch once a week.  I was never really clear on their policy, but so many daycares and schools are peanut free I can't believe they'll actually be serving this for lunch.  When I found out I guess I looked a little shocked but they reassured me that DD doesn't take anyone's food and she'll get a jelly sandwich.

I know the world can not revolve around her, but there are just so many schools that are peanut free I just don't get this.  Atleast with her case it's not that if she smells it she'll have a reaction, but she will break out if she touches it, so if the table isn't cleaned well, she could get itchy and uncomfortable.  When she has a reaction she gets so uncomfortable that she does take it very seriously.  I'll warn her so I know she'll be extra careful, but she's still almost 4 in a class with 4 and 5 year olds, things happen.   I also don't think there is anywhere for her to sit away from the other kids, but the teacher doesn't seem too concern so I'm sure they won't try to do that anyway.  DS is almost 2, he's been exposed a little and seemed fine, but he's never had a peanut butter sandwich, so I guess we'll be trying that out this weekend.  I'm not going to switch schools over this, just can't believe they're choosing to do this.  She does have an EPI pen there so if something does happen it's there.

CarrieB.

That's awful. I would complain. My DH is allergic to peanut butter, so we are very careful. That is not an allergy to mess around with. DD1 won't have peanut butter until she's 3.

Mustardseed2007

Our DC is not peanut free, however it's a small school and they know they literally have zero kids with peanut allergies in the entire school. I think this is terrible that they are allowing peanuts in a class where a student actually has an epi pen that they bring every day due to their allergy. I agree, I would complain.

SunAndRain

Can they use almond butter instead? This just feel really irresponsible on their part

emberlee3

This seems really unsafe. At a minimum you need to talk to LO's doctor and school to modify her allergy action plan.

*sparky*

Wow that is surprising. I would definitely say something. You can't exactly expect 4/5 year olds to be careful with peanut butter and given that your DD has a contact reaction I would be worried.

shannm

Yeah, that seems a little dumb considering they know of allergies in the class. DSs school isn't peanut free but I don't think they would consciously chose a group snack with peanuts. I second the sunbutter idea. Although you may get push back because it is much more expensive than generic peanut butter in bulk.

emberlee3

theresat858 said:

I would make sure that they are aware of your daughter's allergy and its severity.  Our DC serves PB&J but I'm not aware that any of the kids have an allergy to it.  I would insist on offering your daughter an alternative such as almond butter & jelly or sunbutter & jelly; a jelly sandwich is NOT a healthy meal...and figure out their exact plan for having her not come into contact with PB from any other kids hands.

Also, are they aware of the risks of cross-contamination in food prep???  My niece has severe peanut and tree-nut allergies.  Her doctor has told my sister not to give her any food that has been made in a facility that also processes tree nuts or peanuts.  This is essentially the same situation.  If DC won't change the menu, I would bring all of LOs food on PB&J days, and have LO sit at a peanut-free table.  IMO, you have to trust the school to be compulsively safe.  Have the cook and LO's teachers have been educated on food allergy and safety?  There are courses for this.  Each exposure makes LO's allergy WORSE.  Anaphylaxis can be lethal in minutes.

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justjinny

I grew up in a family with some serious food allergies and would be very concerned about this. Even a simple mistake of cutting a jelly-only sandwich after the PB&J's could be a problem.  My little sister had issues with school lunches growing up because of simple cross-contamination problems like this that most people don't even think of.

Just because the daycare puts the "right" food in front of your LO, will they be constantly monitoring all the kids to make sure there's no swapping?  Kids do weird things sometimes and can get jealous when they see others getting "special" foods. It seems like more risk than it's worth for them to keep the PB&J's on the menu.

shannm

Also, I will add that the relaxed nature of their response when you questioned it strongly suggests they have never had an allergic student exposed under their watch. Trust me, once that happens, they are much more concerned about accidental exposures.
DS was accidentally fed peanut butter last year. Luckily, he already had allergy meds on board and he was quickly given a dose of Benadryl. He vomited several times but overall it was a reaction not requiring medical intervention. The teachers were besides themselves and upset. Now his current teachers won't let him eat anything unless I ok it. A bit overboard but they don't want to take on that risk and I don't blame them.

traveltheworld

DS has severe allergies to peanuts and fish (anaphylasic to both).  His DC is completely nuts-free but does serve fish once a month.  On that day, his entire class does not get fish, but gets an alternate meal instead.  The risk of cross-contamination is just too high.  Kids like to share food and touch each other.  And neither I or his DC is willing to trust that 2 teachers can safely monitor 12 children. The alternative was to take DS out of the class during meal time and neither the director and I watned to do that either.

I felt a bit bad about making the whole class eat a different meal, but I talked to a few of the parents in his class and everyone was very supportive of this.  I wouldn't be comfortable that your DC is serving, on a weekly basis, food that your child is allergic to.  I would definitely talk to the director about this.  It seems very strange.

SunAndRain

I would just send my child with their own almond butter and jelly sandwich and tell them to watch like a hawk that my child doesn't come close to the PB.

I think it is entirely moronic on the teacher's/administrator's part to serve a food to a group of children in which there is a known allergy.  And I'd let them know that.

And I would tell them that I expect that they don't alienate my child by forcing them to eat separately from the other child.  I'm all for toughening kids up but they don't get to socially isolate my child because of their inability to make rational decisions.

rubber_chicken

My daughter has multiple allergies, and this would not fly with me.  The risks of cross contamination are too high - plates, silverware, crumbs on the cutting board etc.etc.  plus you'll have a room full of preschoolers with peanut butter hands and mouths and breaths.

No no no no no. 

fitmom82

I called and let them know I was uncomfortable with it.  They said that they could sit her away from everyone, but that there are a few kids that bring PB&J from home so it's not like she hasn't been around it before.  I'm not happy they're doing this, but it's not worth switching daycares either.  I did mention they should make sure the parents in DS's class (1 1/2- 2 1/2) know because some of them may not have even introduced peanut butter yet.  He did come home with the menu today, hopefully the parents pay attention to the changes, I know I usually just toss it since it had been the same since we started in September. 

bcnoelle

My son's daycare class is peanut free because there is a child with an allergy in the class. We send in our own lunches and I'm careful about what is packed. The slight inconvenience is so minimal compared to what I imagine the anxiety over this is for the parents of the child w the allergy. I would definitely talk with the school. And who knows if there's another who hasn't been diagnosed yet at the school?

SunAndRain

Again, I would not be ok with them socially isolating my child. I'm usually laid back about daycare stuff but over this id pitch a fit

emberlee3

SunAndRain said:

Again, I would not be ok with them socially isolating my child. I'm usually laid back about daycare stuff but over this id pitch a fit

Really?  Does your kid have a life threatening food allergy?  'Cause social isolation once every 2 weeks during lunch on PB&J day is nothing compared to anaphylaxis.

Myaflowers

emberlee3 said:

SunAndRain said:

Again, I would not be ok with them socially isolating my child. I'm usually laid back about daycare stuff but over this id pitch a fit

Really?  Does your kid have a life threatening food allergy?  'Cause social isolation once every 2 weeks during lunch on PB&J day is nothing compared to anaphylaxis.

I don't think it's fair to make a child sit all alone just so they can serve PB&J. The right thing to do is to change the menu. I agree that OP's child can't sit with children eating PB, but it's sad for her to have to sit alone.

traveltheworld

Myaflowers said:

emberlee3 said:

SunAndRain said:

Again, I would not be ok with them socially isolating my child. I'm usually laid back about daycare stuff but over this id pitch a fit

Really?  Does your kid have a life threatening food allergy?  'Cause social isolation once every 2 weeks during lunch on PB&J day is nothing compared to anaphylaxis.

I don't think it's fair to make a child sit all alone just so they can serve PB&J. The right thing to do is to change the menu. I agree that OP's child can't sit with children eating PB, but it's sad for her to have to sit alone.

Exactly this. As I mentioned, that's why my son's DC does - the whole class does not have the food he is allergic to.

rboisvert

I'm a preschool teacher and over the past few years through luck of the draw I've had a ton of allergies in my room.  As a teacher I would be throwing a fit if the administration was so cavalier with this.  Not ok.  We are on top of clean up etc but I know if we had peanut butter there would be some on toys that got passed us.  We almost never as a school have peanut butter, when we had a peanut/tree nut allergy we as a class got sunbutter.  I also made a huge deal about teaching the child to always ask us if it was safe for him to eat each time we served it to him.  It looks just like peanut butter and I never want him to be at a friend's house and be served something that looks like something he's had at school and unknowingly be exposed.  I figured if he always asks, then the parent who just was on auto pilot making food would be reminded that he's allergic and save everyone from a scary situation.  I don't think you are at all out of line requesting that your child's class be given an alternative.  A note from the Dr may be in order.

ss+el

I agree, that's not very smart. Forget for a minute whether or not she can cope with being in the same room while peanuts are being consumed. You can stick a kid as far from the nut-eaters as you want, but what happens after they eat? Peanut butter trace is easy to leave behind without noticing, on hands, faces, etc, and kids that age still aren't fantastic hand-washers. I have two nephews with severe nut allergies and I wouldn't dream of serving nuts in their presence. DS will be taking sunbutter in his lunches next year if the peanut-free kid in his grade stays at his school next year (they don't cross paths this year, AM vs. PM class).

shannm

fitmom82 said:

I called and let them know I was uncomfortable with it.  They said that they could sit her away from everyone, but that there are a few kids that bring PB&J from home so it's not like she hasn't been around it before.  I'm not happy they're doing this, but it's not worth switching daycares either.  I did mention they should make sure the parents in DS's class (1 1/2- 2 1/2) know because some of them may not have even introduced peanut butter yet.  He did come home with the menu today, hopefully the parents pay attention to the changes, I know I usually just toss it since it had been the same since we started in September. 

I agree with you.  10 kids in a class having peanut butter simultaneously is different than one or two at a time.  They are really increasing their risk and I am not sure why.  

I'm not saying that a school shouldn't ever serve foods that students are allergic to.  DS has a classmate that is allergic to a huge number of foods.  They just don't let her eat anything unless it comes from home.  This means she can't participate in baking and class treats the same way but they do try to have alternatives for her at those times.  

However, peanuts are a different beast IMO.  These are young kids and peanut butter smears, sticks, and for kids with allergies, ingestion is often not necessary for reactions.  Sounds like the school is just being stubborn and again, once they have one allergic reaction, I am sure they will be singing a different tune.

Puppies+Rainbows+Unicorns

Since they seem to have not taken you seriously I would kick it up a notch. I would send a formal letter that discusses the allergy. I would include information about how reactions can get worse with repeat exposure and a line stating your desire to protect them from a lawsuit if something were to happen. The liability risk alone should scare anyone with half a brain...

groovygrl

Wow that is crazy. They need to learn a little more about peanut allergies...chances are your LO is not the only one in the school w/ a peanut allergy too... yikes.

thedash

This does seem crazy. DS goes to an afternoon preschool and they have asked us to avoid giving him peanuts in the lunch he eats at home before he comes to school because there is an allergic child in his school. Not even in his class, but at the school. The teacher explained how easily peanut butter transfers on hands or clothing to the toys and books at school. I couldn't imagine them serving PBJ in the very same room.