Peanut Allergy

[Nancyg56]

I have a 5 yr old dd in kindergarten. thank goodness she has no allergies. however, she is a very picky eater and one of the few things she eats is peanut butter. should she starve all day because of a peanut butter ban in the cafeteria in public school? I see nothing wrong with a peanut free table and classroom.

Thank goodness she has no allergies that you know of yet. My DGD was diagnose toward the latter end of Kindergarten. Since then I have learned more about allergies than I ever thought I would need to know. Peanut free tables only work if the child's allergy is not so sever that airborne particles affect him.

Your DD should not starve but one thing I have learned about children in the many years that I have raised them is that they will not starve if they cannot have what they want for lunch. That another child will not suffer an adverse reaction form your DD's sandwich cannot be said.

 

[sha_lyn]

I have a 5 yr old dd in kindergarten. thank goodness she has no allergies. however, she is a very picky eater and one of the few things she eats is peanut butter. should she starve all day because of a peanut butter ban in the cafeteria in public school? I see nothing wrong with a peanut free table and classroom.

The problem with a peanut free table is that the rest of the school gets contaminated, especially the rest of the lunch room. Peanut oils are very resilient. It sticks to everything and is hard to remove.
IMHO the better solution is to have a peanut table. That way the school can be diligent in making certain that kids with peanut butter wash their hands throughly before leaving the lunchroom.

She won't starve in the few hrs she is at school, but peanut contaminates can kill an allergic child.

 

[meeskamouska]

The problem with a peanut free table is that the rest of the school gets contaminated, especially the rest of the lunch room. Peanut oils are very resilient. It sticks to everything and is hard to remove.
IMHO the better solution is to have a peanut table. That way the school can be diligent in making certain that kids with peanut butter wash their hands throughly before leaving the lunchroom.

She won't starve in the few hrs she is at school, but peanut contaminates can kill an allergic child.

The poster is not suggesting that her child would actually starve people. She is simply saying that one child should not dictate what every other child does.

Is your work place peanut free?? The mall??? The grocery store??? WDW??? No place is completely safe.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I agree. My DD7 is allergic to peanuts. Her school has peanut free tables that she eats at, and the cafeterias do not serve food with nuts in it. That said, we don't believe in a militant approach. The world does not revolve around my daughter, and I think it's not in my daughter's best interest to inconvenience an entire population of students. If she was hypersensitive (and she's not), we would also consider other options like a private school etc.

I love your post.

 

[Barbossa]

Is your work place peanut free?? The mall??? The grocery store??? WDW??? No place is completely safe.

Yep. Have your Epi-Pens and Benadryl with you at all times.

 

[Barbossa]

I love your post.

Thanks!

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

The problem with a peanut free table is that the rest of the school gets contaminated, especially the rest of the lunch room. Peanut oils are very resilient. It sticks to everything and is hard to remove.
IMHO the better solution is to have a peanut table. That way the school can be diligent in making certain that kids with peanut butter wash their hands throughly before leaving the lunchroom.
She won't starve in the few hrs she is at school, but peanut contaminates can kill an allergic child.

But what about the kids that eat peanut butter toast at home for breakfast? Or eat peanut butter crackers on the bus or in their car on the way to school?

Peanut allergies are very dangerous. But I think there might be a time when (if the child is extrememly allergic) it's safer for the child to stay in an environment where the parents of the child can be assured of his/her safety. Either home schooled or like PP suggested, a smaller school and class size that's easier to keep tabs on. I don't think I could rely on a teacher/bus driver/substitute teacher/lunchroom worker if my child's allergies were that severe. DS7's school has well over 1000 kids in it. I couldn't be assured they'd all comply.

 

[loco4dis]

To the OP. I knew you were going to get kind of slammed from the peanut butter sandwich brigade. Your little girl's only 5, and you're worried as heck about her. People want you to be "reasonable," but we aren't reasonable about our own children's safety — not a one of us. Our schools went "tree nut free" a couple of years ago. People grumbled. Heck, I grumbled. And then we all adjusted. Rather than targeting the school, I would suggest you target it as a district policy at all elementary schools. If it's necessary at one school, it's probably necessary at all of 'em, and your daughter won't be identified as "the kids who caused all of this." It would be great, too, if you could find some other parents of kids with nut allergies to join your cause.

I hope you find something that works, and that our medical profession figures out what to give these kids so these allergies aren't life-threatening. It must be terrifying as a parent.

 

[Hoodie]

It seems these peanut threads always bring the battles. It's a tough balance. Peanut allergies can be life-threatening but there are lots more kids that really wouldn't eat anything if they didn't have pb&j available. Actually, my best friend was so severly hypogylcemic in elementary school that she HAD to have peanut butter crackers with her at all times so she wouldn't pass out or worse, start seizing. Peanut butter was really her only option as she needed protein, not carbs from crackers or sugar from fruit or juice. I'm just glad we didn't have any peanut allergies in the school when we were growing up. If keeping them in separate classrooms wouldn't work for the peanut allergy kid, one of them would have had to leave.

If it's truly a life threatening situation, I would probably remove my child or look at other options. Otherwise I woud work with the school and use it as an opportunity to teach others about the allergy and my son about how to manage his allergy. It's something he'll live with and he'll have to know how to handle it.

 

[Momvic5]

My DS11 also has a peanut allergy. I remember how scared I was sending him to school the first time. It is very hard putting your trust in the hands of others. My son was given a slice of peanut butter cake by a cafeteria parent-volunteer when he was in the 1st grade. It took an awful incident for the school to rethink their policy regarding products with peanuts. The threat of death to a child over a food product became very real to them. They had to witness it to understand the reality of it.

I don't expect any special treatment for my son. I just want him to be safe. Children have to go to school, and sometimes the public system is the only option. I don't think anyone wants another child to go without their favorite food, but at the same time, I don't think anyone wants another child to lose their life over a food either. Children with allergies will always face the chance of an exposure, but schools, parents, and teachers can work together and help limit unnecessary exposures. If anything, we can all agree that a child's life is always more important than a food item.

 

[KATHINOWA]

I don't expect any special treatment for my son. I just want him to be safe. Children have to go to school, and sometimes the public system is the only option. I don't think anyone wants another child to go without their favorite food, but at the same time, I don't think anyone wants another child to lose their life over a food either. Children with allergies will always face the chance of an exposure, but schools, parents, and teachers can work together and help limit unnecessary exposures. If anything, we can all agree that a child's life is always more important than a food item.

That was beautifullly written. I agree with every word.

 

[Talking Hands]

Both my daughter and I have life threatening allergies. My daughter to peanuts and shrimp (shellfish) and myself to shell fish and mango as well as an allergy to dairy that is not yet life threatening. I work in the school system and my daughter went to school in that same system.
We never asked for a peanut or shellfish free enviroment and did just fine but avoiding these products. She did sit at a peanut free table and was given a peanut free meal at lunch. She avoided peanut items and the like at class and school parties and stuck to items that myself or another parent whose also had dietary issues.
I just avoid anything that may have shellfish, mango or dairy in it. Often limits drastically what I can eat but better than going to the ER.
I never felt it was the responsibility of the school to protect my child from things she is allergic to but my responsbility to teach her to be responsible for her own safety and to ask questions until she is sure an item is safe or not eat it if there is any question to its safety. Also taught her to cover the table with a napkin before placing her food out and wipe down the table. Open doors with a handiwipe and toss it in the garbage. She started this in kindergarden.
We do keep peanut butter in the house as I use peanut butter crackers as a snack and peanut butter sandwiches if we run out of meat to take for lunch like we did today. Obviously I can't take a cheese sandwich if I don't have meat.

 

[Talking Hands]

I don't expect any special treatment for my son. I just want him to be safe. Children have to go to school, and sometimes the public system is the only option. I don't think anyone wants another child to go without their favorite food, but at the same time, I don't think anyone wants another child to lose their life over a food either. Children with allergies will always face the chance of an exposure, but schools, parents, and teachers can work together and help limit unnecessary exposures. If anything, we can all agree that a child's life is always more important than a food item.

While that may be fine there are some of us that don't have a choice but use peanut butter as a means of keeping our blood sugar in a good range. While taking straight sugar will bring it up, it can also cause it to plummet quickly if not accompanied but protein and peanut butter crackers are the safest choice for that. Meat will spoil and at least for me dairy will make me very ill. Since I am a teacher I could not survive in a peanut free enviroment. If my blood sugar gets to low it can actually kill me unless quickly reversed. If it doesn't kill me, it will put me out of commission for a couple of days even when corrected if it goes below 50 and I can hit 35 and never realize it until I start shaking and phasing out. Btw I am a type 1 diabetic not a type 2 and for the most part we have a more difficulty with highs and lows.

 

[jax677]

I would be really upset if my girls school went peanut free. I understand controlling it with special tables and explaining to kids about washing their hands after touching peanut butter, that makes sense. I can even see supplying wet wipes to wipe tables. My daughter is a really picky eater for a couple different reasons and I am just glad pband j is one of the things I can always get her to eat.

 

[Christine]

To the OP: If you can without-a-doubt prove that being in the school environment is causing your child's peanut allergy to worsen, then you may have a case and you should "go for it." As I stated and another parent of a peanut allergic child stated upthread, peanut allergy "numbers" can yo-yo. They go up and down. I think your allergist is doing you a disservice to insinuate that some type of exposure is causing the measurements to increase. This could happen even if you keep your child in a bubble. They may also decrease and you won't know why. And, to be honest, I've always been told that these numbers are just an "indicator" of a potential reaction. My son's shellfish allergy, via bloodtest, is far worse than his peanut allergy and his peanut allergy is pretty bad. Yet, when he had eaten crabmeat or shrimp, he got very little side effects. Almost none. Yet, when he had peanut butter at 8 months, it was awful. Go figure. You just never know.

I am not against asking for a peanut free school; however, I think you have to be VERY careful what you say when you go in and give your reasons. What you have indicated in your post is really not proven to be a fact about allergies and it is just a guess. I think it can be difficult to put up very stringent measures when the proof is not there.

 

[Mermaid02]

My son loved peanut butter.... all of a sudden in kindergarten he stopped eating it. Said it "makes my throat hurt" and turns out he had developed an allergy to peanuts. Keep in mind I had grumbled and groaned when a note was sent home in September of that year that there was a peanut allergic child in the class and no peanut products would be allowed. Now all of a sudden MY child was also allergic!! Then a couple months later... it was shrimp that made his throat hurt... yep allergic to that too! Just this past Spring he was tested and had NO allergy to peanuts! Skin test, no reaction, blood draw, no antibodies present... taste test in Dr's office... no reaction!! He's not crazy about peanut butter anymore though. But at least we don't have to be so vigilant... he did however develop an allergy to walnuts... it's always something...

OP- good luck.

 

[mjkacmom]

I would not ask the school to become peanut free, because I think it would be a false sense of security. Dd12 eats at the peanut free table (because one of her friends has an allergy - she refers to it as the loser table, since only a few kids eat there, but she refuses to abandon her friend, although others have), and has a poptart every day, because it's peanut free, and as the OP is definitely aware, many products are made with peanuts, but most people aren't aware of them.

 

[Momvic5]

While that may be fine there are some of us that don't have a choice but use peanut butter as a means of keeping our blood sugar in a good range. While taking straight sugar will bring it up, it can also cause it to plummet quickly if not accompanied but protein and peanut butter crackers are the safest choice for that. Meat will spoil and at least for me dairy will make me very ill. Since I am a teacher I could not survive in a peanut free enviroment. If my blood sugar gets to low it can actually kill me unless quickly reversed. If it doesn't kill me, it will put me out of commission for a couple of days even when corrected if it goes below 50 and I can hit 35 and never realize it until I start shaking and phasing out. Btw I am a type 1 diabetic not a type 2 and for the most part we have a more difficulty with highs and lows.

I can understand your position. It is unsettling to know your life is at risk due to foods or the lack there of. I am glad peanut butter is available to you, and that it is a healthy choice for you.

I would like to hope that a peanut free school would make an exception for you since you use peanut butter to maintain your health. You use it as one uses a medication. In your case, peanut butter is vital and necessary for your health while at school. I would think that a safe plan of action could be agreed upon for you. After all, we are all wanting the same thing ~ a safe and healthy school environment.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Your child is covered under the 504 disability rights act- here are some websites...

http://www.childfoodallergy.com/archives/2006/05/section_504_pri.html

FWIW, as a parent of a child with a mild peanut allergy (developed at age 6), if I had a kid who was that allergic, I'd homeschool them until they were competent to self-monitor and self-medicate, maybe 12 or 13. At some point they have to function in society, but until that point I can't ask the school to be as militantly careful as I know only a mother could be, so it would be homeschooling.

About the peanut table in the lunchroom, at our school the kids with the severe allergies eat in the nurse's office-much less of a stigma because it's "out of sight, out of mind" sort of thing--the kids just go left for lunch when the rest of the class heads right. Might want to push for that in your school, because it's not imposing on the rest of the kids.

 

[weregoingtodw]

While that may be fine there are some of us that don't have a choice but use peanut butter as a means of keeping our blood sugar in a good range. While taking straight sugar will bring it up, it can also cause it to plummet quickly if not accompanied but protein and peanut butter crackers are the safest choice for that. Meat will spoil and at least for me dairy will make me very ill. Since I am a teacher I could not survive in a peanut free enviroment. If my blood sugar gets to low it can actually kill me unless quickly reversed. If it doesn't kill me, it will put me out of commission for a couple of days even when corrected if it goes below 50 and I can hit 35 and never realize it until I start shaking and phasing out. Btw I am a type 1 diabetic not a type 2 and for the most part we have a more difficulty with highs and lows.

I dunno. Maybe I'm reading this wrong. But aren't you saying that *your* medical issues are more important than hers? That it's more important for you to get your peanut butter so you can live, even if it means the other child has to die? So meat can go bad - why not carry a thermal container like most people carry their lunches in anyway?

I'm sorry, forgive me if I'm missing something. But there has to be a better solution here for everyone involved. Your adamant position that you MUST have your peanut butter is no better than a parent's insistence that the school MUST be peanut-free.