Peanut free classroom this year...

[crisi]

right, and like ive said its very rare to go into anaphylactic shock from airborn milk. theres a big difference between breaking out into hives and needing an epi pen to save your life. which is why they dont have dairy free schools.
im sure if it were a problem they would address it. as of now i havent heard of any child not being able to go to school because of a milk sensitivity.
i agree that maybe some parents do have a false sense od security. but i think if it means your childs life every little bit helps. so if your child is severely ellergic, they need to have that epi pen on them. unfortunately thats another battle. most schools dont allow children to carry them. which is probably why they have these peanut free areas. because they dont want to be liable for 5yo with an epi pen,

Its also very rare to have an anaphylactic shock reaction from airborne peanuts. Airborne reactions are not common at all - most allergic kids won't have much more than a minor touch reaction, and won't have any reaction to airborne particles - they have to ingest in a larger quantity than happens in the air. Some will - some peanut allergic kids, some milk or egg allergic kids, some soy allergic kids, some latex allergic kids.

My friend homeschools due to her child's milk allergy - now you have heard of one (but his is apparently extraordinarily severe).

 

[Fantasmic23]

My son has a severe peanut allergy and he has to eat at what's called the "No Nut Table" in the cafeteria (above the table is a cardboard peanut sign with a slash going through the peanut). Other kids that have peanut allergies sit at this table, too, though there aren't many kids at the table. My son was heartbroken at first, because he really wanted to sit with his classmates. The princial, school nurse and I came up with a plan: Everyday my son gets to choose a new "lunch buddy" (a boy or girl) from his class to eat lunch with him so he doesn't feel so lonely.

Maybe you could talk to the school principal about designating a "no nut table" in the cafeteria.

 

[princessmom29]

it is extremely rare, ive never even seena documented case, of milk, wheat or soy causing anaphylactic shock. i would assume if a child had such a severe reaction to milk they would allert the school. but again, its not a common problem. i even took the time to look it up and found nothing on it.
a peanut allergy is the cause of anaphalxis in millions of people. so it makes sense that a school would choose to be peanut free.

I have witnessed anaphalyxis from a milk allergy. A friend's DS is that allergic to milk products. It can be just contact not ingestion. It is also an asthma trigger and can cause a severe asthma attack. It could also cause and airborne allregy. Repeated exposure increases ssensitivity.

 

[princessmom29]

right, and like ive said its very rare to go into anaphylactic shock from airborn milk. theres a big difference between breaking out into hives and needing an epi pen to save your life. which is why they dont have dairy free schools.
im sure if it were a problem they would address it. as of now i havent heard of any child not being able to go to school because of a milk sensitivity.
i agree that maybe some parents do have a false sense od security. but i think if it means your childs life every little bit helps. so if your child is severely ellergic, they need to have that epi pen on them. unfortunately thats another battle. most schools dont allow children to carry them. which is probably why they have these peanut free areas. because they dont want to be liable for 5yo with an epi pen,

For schools it really does boil down to a liability issue. The peanut free thing is just to cover themselves in can of a lawsuit. Parents make a big dael about it and all of the sudden no peanuts in the school. As I ststed in a previous post any allergen can cause an airborn reaction in a hypersensitive person, and just b/c it didn't thistime does not mean it won't next time. You simply cannot eliminate anything anyone might have a reaction to and still have school. In my school we have kids severely allergic to: milk. eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, red dye #40, MSG, all food dyes, vinallia, latex, chalk, dry erase markers, and these are the ones off the top of my head. If we get rid of all these things it will be almost impossible to feed or teach the kids. I am talking these kids all have epi in the office they are that allergic.

 

[LIBLULA]

MY DD8's school is peanut-free too!! We have 2 children in school that have severe peanut allergies. I understand the need to be peanut-free for the safety of these students. Even our fundraiser books have all the peanut/peanut butter candy unavailable.

 

[Ellester]

3rd graders have an afternoon snack?

Overcrowding can cause very early or late lunches. When my dd was in K (before we started homeschooling), they started school at 9:30 and had lunch at 10:40. The school day ended at 3:45, so they did have an afternoon snack at around 2pm. The next year, she had lunch at 1:50 so they had a morning snack to tide them over.

 

[I_Know_You2!]

What a mess. I had never come across snacks in the upper grades.

 

[cosmicdaisy]

I just wanted to add one to the list for severly allergic to milk. My DD has a life threatening cow's milk allergy, and reacts through ingestion, touch, and inhalation. One of the worst reactions she's ever had was through touch. I agree that it is not as common as peanut allergies and I agree that in a school it is much more difficult to make a school milk free than it is peanut free.

I would never ask a school to do so. But, FYI....we live our lives every single day milk free...so it is doable.

 

[leebee]

Threads like this can take all the guesswork out of where so many kids these days get their 'ME! ME! ME!' attitude.

Hmmm....is it really a "me, me, me" attitude, or are people just tired of folks who cannot be responsible for themselves and expect everyone to make accommodations for them ?

What I really think is that everyone has to have a little self-responsibility and common sense in this issue. It's not logical to think that you can create a totally peanut-free environment, so the parents of allergic kids shouldn't expect (demand?) such. However, everyone can/should do their part in trying to make a better situation for the allergic child and try to avoid sending peanut stuff whenever possible.

I don't have a good solution for the truly hyper-allergic kid who will go into anaphylaxis just by sitting at the table where someone who had peanut butter for breakfast sat during the last lunch session. I'm NOT looking for a fight here, but maybe he does have to stay home, and be hometaught or tutored at the expense of the school department, until his allergies hopefully become more managable. This is what happened when my sister was in a car accident and had injuries that made it impossible for her to return to school for over a year. Her physical status was simply incompatible with being in the school setting. It DOES happen, and it's a stinky situation, but life is full of stinky situations (pulling on asbestos cape - I know it's a carcinogen, but easier to take than some of the responses, I'm sure )

 

[danx2plus3more]

peanut free table ok...peanut free school,i would have great issues with that. our school has a peanut free table and guess what, it works.

 

[camouseketeer]

What I really think is that everyone has to have a little self-responsibility and common sense in this issue. It's not logical to think that you can create a totally peanut-free environment, so the parents of allergic kids shouldn't expect (demand?) such.

Please, please don't assume that these policies are made by demanding parents. Most often they are made by scared schools and districts.

Rather than going through the difficulty of making accomodations (peanut free tables, wiping hands and materials, etc.), schools just ban all offensive products. They therefore feel they are no longer responsible or liable. It's simpler for THEM to ban the products.

It's often about lawsuits and liability and NOT what's best for the kids (FA or non-FA).

Please also know that parents of FA know, trust me we know, there is no allergy-free area.

 

[perkinsrose]

I'm glad my children's school is NOT peanut-free. I think a few classrooms are though.

My children tend to be picky eaters AND we are semi-vegetarian (no beef/pork/other red meat) AND we have some non-life threatening food allergies. Packing school lunches can be challenging. To be unable to send PB&J a few times a week would be difficult.

On the allergy topic, I have a soy allergy. Most newspapers are printing with soy ink. I have respiratory reactions sometimes when handling newsprint though certainly not anaphyaxis.

 

[blabbermouth]

Why not have all the peanut butter eating kids eat almond butter instead? Kids prob wouldn't notice. And I guess there are ppl allergic to almonds too, but it doesn't seem to be as common as peanuts. So I think that would be a perfectly reasonable solution. Peanut free, but not all other nut free.

 

[crisi]

LOL - My daughter was a four year old ethical vegetarian at daycare. (Mommy, people eat animals!) Daycare would normally provide meals, but not specialty meals - so I needed to pack for her. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pack a lunch for a kid who won't eat meat when you can't use nut butters? (Yes, you do!) Better hope your kids eat cheese sandwiches (and don't have a lactose intolerence)! Fortunately, she only lasted a few weeks before the lure of chicken nuggets and bacon brought her back to the dark side and we could have daycare feed her the normal meal again.

 

[crisi]

Why not have all the peanut butter eating kids eat almond butter instead? Kids prob wouldn't notice. And I guess there are ppl allergic to almonds too, but it doesn't seem to be as common as peanuts. So I think that would be a perfectly reasonable solution. Peanut free, but not all other nut free.

Almond butter is wonderful - but its about twice the cost of peanut butter. Cashew butter is a gift from the gods - but, again, really expensive to put in lunch every day.

Very often, people who are having their kids bring in lunch are doing so for either their own dietary reasons, or for finances. Either limits what is available to put into the lunch.

(We don't only have a school that isn't peanut free - we have a school that always has an alternate "peanut butter sandwich" choice on the school lunch menu. District wide - and its a pretty big district.)

 

[Carlyzmom]

My son wouldn't be able to attend a full day school if he wasn't able to bring peanuts and peanut butter. He lives off of PBJ's and trail mix most days LOL. There are days when he doesn't eat anything else. Our school has 1 table in the cafeteria that is peanut free and those kids sit there.

I have the same situation. My son -who is 5- LIVES on PB & J. He went to his first day of Pre K yesterday and came home and told me that he had to change tables at lunch because a child was allergic to peanut butter. Why was my kid put in exile? He said he had one friend to sit with him. I just don't think that is fair. BUT on the other hand, I don't think it is fair to exile a kid with allergies either. So.........

 

[brandylouwho]

Threads like this can take all the guesswork out of where so many kids these days get their 'ME! ME! ME!' attitude.

Ahh, but that could be taken either way my dear...the peanut allergy people who need "special" consideration or the non-allergy people who believe they should be able tofeed their kids whatever they wish to feed them, including PB&J. Both are exhibiting rather self-centered views on the subject.

I don't personally have a problem with peanut free schools, but that isn't to say that I couldn't accidentally screw up and give my kid a snack bar with peanuts or something one day.

I think it strikes a nerve because of the larger issue of so many "special" circumstances and schools (or society in general) being expected to cater to the needs of the few, instead of the many (very anti-Vulcan philosophy ).

Peanut allergies are a hot button issue right now, it will be something else a few years from now.

BTW, how did those with allergies survive to adulthood prior to schools banning nuts?

 

[thecookingqueen]

I love your sarcastic attitude. At home, my son eats pretty much anything.... at school he only wants PBJ. Im more concerned for him than other peoples kids. My family shouldnt have to change for someone else. The kids need to be taught how to deal.

I really hope you are joking with this comment! How do you teach a 5, 6, 7 year old CHILD who has a life threatening food allergy to "deal with it". All they know is they are at school, and they just want to be with their friends and eat lunch, and feel normal... and their not. All because of this life threatening food allergy! Sure they would love to be like everyone else and have no worries and just eat whatever they wanted and share snacks and lunches with their friends or go to any restaurant and order off the menu and not worry about what's in it. But this is not their reality. We as their parents worry about this for them now, and will continue to for the rest of our lives, but for right now, they are children and so whatever you can do, to help them feel normal and not have to make them worry so much and not "just deal with it" you should. Not because you have to, but because you are a good and kind person and thats what you do.

I realize this is my first post, I came on to plan my families vacation, and came across this whole mess. As the mom of a child who is Peanut, Treenut- which means almonds walnuts macadamian nuts etc..., and egg allergic this just struck a nerve! It is just food people!! It is something I have to say to myself periodically, but in my case these foods can kill my son. I am fortunate to have some people in my life who get it and go out of there way to make my son feel as included and normal as possible. But not everyone does and it is painful to see you child hurt. Yes it is just food, but when he can't eat the same birthday cake as everyone else, luckily I am handy in the kitchen, but he doesn't want what I make, he wants what everyone else has. It is difficult.

So please think how lucky you all are not to have to face this challenge, and to suggest that we keep our kids at home, its just not a reasonable suggestion, we would have to keep them in a bubble. Theres the playground and the store and the birthday parties, and so we just do the best we can but the people and parents who help us make all the difference in the world, so please be one of those parents and not one of the ones who tell me that my 5 year old needs to "deal with it".

Thank you.

 

[mickeymom1]

unfortunately i can say that i have been on both sides of the fence with this issue.

when my oldest son started school 4 years ago we were told that a child with severe nut allergies may be placed in his class and the class was going to be nut free. now this was a class of handicapped children and they eat in the classroom and at that point all my son ate for lunch was pb&j sandwiches. he is disabled, has his own issues (like only eating pb&J) and i was very concerned about what we would do. like i said, my son has down syndrome and i consider myself to be a very accepting person and understanding of peoples differences but i wondered (i never said this to anyone, but i definitely thought) what was up with these nut allergy kids....why would everyone else need to watch what they eat?!? (i am embarrassed to admit my ignorance)

well god truly does have an odd sense of humor and a few years later my 1 year old son touched a walnut and broke out in hives. we had him tested and he is severely allergic to peanuts & walnuts. i can honestly say that no parent is truly going to understand food allergies until it is your child. WOW what an educational, life altering and eye opening experience it has been. he is now 3 years old and is not in school, but our school district has a nut free table in the cafeteria and i am ok with that. it provides a safety zone for him when food is around because i don't think that a young child has the maturity or full understanding of their food allergies to protect themselves.

now back to the op, i think that a nut free classroom (for snacks) is reasonable. but keeping the class in the room to eat because of the child's allergy is a little unfair. there needs to be some type of compromise here.

 

[mickeymom1]

So please think how lucky you all are not to have to face this challenge, and to suggest that we keep our kids at home, its just not a reasonable suggestion, we would have to keep them in a bubble. Theres the playground and the store and the birthday parties, and so we just do the best we can but the people and parents who help us make all the difference in the world, so please be one of those parents and not one of the ones who tell me that my 5 year old needs to "deal with it".

Thank you.

amen sister!!!! very well said