To go with the Peanut Butter thread: Do you think that PBJs should be banned...

[Girly_Qs]

Just thought it might be worth popping on and reminding everyone that there is simply NOT one pat answer to this.

There really isn't room to debate - X is so much worse than Y (if you really want to go there, I'd venture to say that weapons/violence kills more of our kids in schools across this nation in any given year than any allergy - perhaps that should be more of a focus? I'm sure that's not your feeling if you're in a "safe" area and have a child with a severe allergy/condition of any sort). Nor is it in any way, shape, or form worth slamming anyone for an opinion that they are wholly entitled to (it may differ greatly from yours - trust me when I say that that does not, in and of itself, make it absolutely wrong, no matter how strongly you feel).

If anyone is simply looking for *everyone* to agree with them on this - just stop reading is my advice . . ..

 

[LisaFB]

I have to admit I didn't read all 10 pages. My 22 month old has 37 food allergies, including peanuts. He isn't anaphylactic, thank goodness, but he does react when in the room with them. I know people who can literally drop dead within minutes if a peanut is in the same room with them. For this reason, I am fully for banning PNs. I refuse to have my son singled out and have to sit alone when at school (and the school my DD goes to where DS will go to next year fully agrees with me) since why punish him for a medical reason he has no control over. I will just have to take extra special extreme measures to make sure his teachers and school nurse and anyone else is 1000% fully aware of his needs and know how to use his EpiPen, etc.

Now, I know some kids who practically live in PBJ, but have their parents ever offered them soynut butter w/o telling them it's different? I SWEAR you can not taste the difference (I have to avoid PNs among other things for my PG).

I'd never ask or expect ANYONE to avoid anything else DS is allergic to, but PNs I feel VERY strongly about since they can kill immediately. Any other allergy or medical condition that restricts food can be worked around (ie the parents can bring in gluten or sugar free or dairy free cookies on a party day, etc).

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

I would definetly be willing to change my DD´s lunch if anything in it was a death threat to another child.

I agree with pp that peanut allergies seem to be a lot more common nowadays, and I think that they are a lot more common in the US than in Mexico.

They do sell PB in Mexico, but it is definetly not a staple, so hardly any children bring PB&J sandwiches.

Some ideas for lunch:
- shredded carrots with lemon (and powder chili for DD)
- jícama or cucumber with lemon (and powder chili in our case)
- thinly sliced hot dogs
- fruit
- crackers and cheese
- cheese cubes
- ham rolls
- ham and cheese sandwiches
- nutella sandwiches (I am not sure if they would be banned)

And I do agree with the parents who know that a PB free school doesn´t mean that their children are completely safe, but come on, if your kid had an airborne allergy that could kill them that fast I think that you would want a PB free school too. I know I would. I don´t know how these parents must feel.

 

[hoosiergirl7]

I understand that there are kids out there with various food allergies but I don't get the whole banned food thing. Luckily my son is not allergic to anything so we don't have to worry about it. Where do you draw the line? Do you ban all dairy products, grains, fish, fruits, veggies or anything else that kids can be allergic to?

I don't know how accurate this is but I've read a lot of places that kids develop food allergies because they've been given them before the recommended age. That's why a lot of books I've read have highly stressed that you don't give your kids certain foods until the recommended age. I know that this probably isn't 100% true but I know it was true with my adopted son's biological older brother. His birth mother gave his older brother OJ, eggs & milk before the recommended age and developed allergies to those items. Not sure how his older brother is doing now since we only hear from his birth mother about once a year.

I'm not down playing the seriousness of allergies but why is all of a sudden the number of allergies has gone through the roof. I don't think 25 or even 30 yrs ago there was the number of allergies that there are now. You don't find many people who don't have an allergy to something anymore. Luckily DS & I don't have allergies and DH's only major allergy is to grass and pollen.

 

[writersblock42]

Peanut allergies are the most common cause of food allergy related deaths each year. However, in the entire country in a year only about 100 people die. That sounds like a lot but not compared to all the other deaths. Most people will not have a severe reaction to peanuts. I do have a question though-how do people know that their child is allergic to 20 million different foods. I know I have food allergies. I have bad food allergies actually to dairy and beef but I am not sure exactly what is in it that bothers me. I just break out in hives and get diarrhea but have never seen a doctor about it.
To ban somebody from eating something just because another child can't eat it is not fair. I understand the issue but really very very few children are so allergic to peanuts that they can't be even around peanuts. My dad is allergic to peanuts to the point where his throat swells up and his tongue gets big and he can't breath, but he can even eat peanut butter and it doesn't bother him.
Also a lot of rumors fly around about peanut deaths. Like remember the woman that died from kissing her boyfriend after he ate peanut butter. That is an urban legend. She actually died from an asthma attack brought on my pot smoke.

 

[disneyandme]

If you want one of the scary reason there is a rise in food allergies, and especially multiple food allergies, is that medicine in getting better. Children who would not have lived 20-30 years ago are able to survive on specialty formulas and with early diagnosis. Labeling is getting better-- it still has a long way to go-- and parents are able to avoid these allergic foods.

My DD3 was diagnosed at day 4 with multiple food allergies-- She had had no exposure to any real foods and had only had formula. We made 3 trips to the emergency room the first weekend she was home just trying to find something to feed her that wouldn't make her sick. We were lucky to have the 2 best specialist in our area on call that weekend or who knows what would have happened. And before the breast feeding bandwagon starts, the doctors have already said that if I had been breastfeeding she would have been exposed to trace amount of all the foods I was eating and could have reacted even worse.

Remember when complaining of the hardship of finding an alternative lunch for your child that some allergic kid's parents live with a daily struggle to keep food from harming their kids.

 

[livndisney]

n/a

 

[aceandmee]

how do people know that their child is allergic to 20 million different foods.

I don't think everyone has the same symptoms, but here is how we discovered my ds' allergies(and dd's as well). Both of them had eczema from an early age(soon after birth???). I didn't give either one any solids until they were 6 months. Both were allergic to the first food they tried(rice cereal for one, oatmeal cereal for the other). Eczema got much worse for both. Didn't reintroduce those foods for some time, but accepted that the eczema was a fact of life for them. I didn't know it could be an indicator for food allergies.

When my ds turned 2, he got gum stuck in his hair. I heard pb would help get it out. Up to this point, he would gag and spit if you gave him anything with pb(like he was being poisoned or something...bad...I just thought he didn't like it). I had him in the tub with pb on his head, went to get a towel and literally 2 minutes later returned to his whole upper body covered in hives. Fast forward a couple of dr apptments to him having skin tests done on his back. Hold down a 2 year old while they poke his back with about 60 or 70 pokes of different foods to see what he was allergic to. Fun times. Hives started up just from having the littlest bit of peanuts/tree nuts poked under his skin(way before the normal "test" period was up). Then after 15 minutes or so, they measure any whelps that come up to see how big the reaction is for each spot they poked. If it measures over a certain amount(4 mm), it is considered a reaction. So thats how I know that he is allergic to so many things. Oh, turns out his growth was stunted as well based on his growth charts. His body considered so many things poisonous and didn't absorb nutrients from those things very well.

Hopefully that answers your question. Also, if my baby was likely to be one of the "only" 100 deaths, I would move heaven and earth to keep him safe.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I feel awful for people with severe allergies. I have food allergies as does my younger daughter. I think that mine have lessened with time and my daughter's are not severe. The preschool she went to was peanut free. Her elementary school isn't, but this past year there was a boy in her class with a peanut allergy. You couldn't send anything with peanuts in for snack, but since his allergies were not airborne you could have it at lunch. If the school decided to go peanut free I would be fine with it. However, I don't think places that are not peanut free should switch from peanut butter to soynut butter without telling people. My daughter is allergic to soynut butter and it woud make her itch. She knows to avoid it, but she has to know it's there.

 

[LisaFB]

I understand that there are kids out there with various food allergies but I don't get the whole banned food thing. Luckily my son is not allergic to anything so we don't have to worry about it. Where do you draw the line? Do you ban all dairy products, grains, fish, fruits, veggies or anything else that kids can be allergic to?

I don't know how accurate this is but I've read a lot of places that kids develop food allergies because they've been given them before the recommended age.

Every one knows it's not feasible to ban everything someone might be allergic to. It's peanuts that everyone worries about because it's an airborne allergy. Most people who are allergic to them can react just by being in the same room. Some of those people can die within minutes, just from breathing it in. I'm lucky my son won't die from it, but we can't be in a room with peanuts since he breaks out in horrible eczema and can get a few hives immediately when the peanut dust hits the air. It's very scary to watch your child suddenly get very sick just because there's a food in the room. All other food allergies are by ingestion so it's easier for the allergic person to avoid them.

As for the cause of allergies, they do say that giving your child food too early can contribute but not fully cause them. My DD was born 12 weeks early and was FF and has no allergies at all and started solids at 6 months actual which is about 3 months corrected age. My DS was full term, BF and didn't start solids until 6 months and has over 37 allergies! It's the luck of the draw sometimes.

Writersblock, if even 1 child died at school from an allergy related death, it's 1 too many. How would you feel if it was your child? There are enough people who can die from breathing in peanuts that most public places are trying to avoid any serious problems or deaths. It's like banning smoking. Smokers will say it's not fair but it's for the health and safety of the general public. Also, with peanut butter at schools, it was get all over the kids and therefore get all over the toys and such. Then the allergic child can touch it and react. We had a playdate here last week and the mom forget about DS's allergies and had her children bring PBJ. I didn't see what they were eating until they were wandering around my house doping PBJ all over my kids' toys. I had to go through EVERYTHING, thoroughly wash it and sterilize it. I even had to throw out one toy since I wasn't able to get all the PB off. I had ot tell her no more PB in my house. It's not worth my son getting sick or going to the ER for.

Remember when complaining of the hardship of finding an alternative lunch for your child that some allergic kid's parents live with a daily struggle to keep food from harming their kids.

WELL PUT!!!!!!!

Beth E I agree that if a school switches to soy they should note it for those with soy allergies. DS used to be allergic to soy (as well as dairy, eggs, wheat, all tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, most fruits, some veggies, etc!) Lucky for us (and him) he outgrew soy!

Multiple food allergies: We found out because of DS's severe eczema which was getting worse and worse. At 10 months I took him to an allergist who did the skin test and blood test. Out of 50 foods he was tested for, he came out positive for over 37, and several of those were severe enough that if he gets them he ends up in the ER and I have to give him a shot of the EpiPen. I don't wish that on any parent. He goes tomorrow for his 1 year follow up and he seems to have outgrown some of them. Unfortunately, his milk allergy is so high, she doesn't think he'll ever outgrow it. I had to wean him in 2 weeks because I couldn't live on the diet that was safe for him.

 

[disneynewbeemom]

My sons, 7 and 5, both have severe allergies (peanut, treenut, shellfish, fish, corn). My oldest son had a rough year in kindergarten. We started the year out with him sitting at his table in the cafeteria. This lasted one week. He threw up each day and had hives all over his body. We then moved him to a peanut free table. While this seemed to solve problems at first, I did not like for his social interactions to be limited. However, after a few days he still threw up and had hives. (I am a teacher at his school so thankfully I am able to be close to him when needed.) Last year, our son went completely nut free. The cafeteria does not have any peanut/tree nut products and students are not allowed to bring any peanut/nut products from home. There are monitors overseeing this. My principal has been wonderful with this. She only received a few initial complaints from parents and it does not seem to be an issue anymore. Last night at open house, she even reminded parents that we have a zero tolerance at our school for weapons and peanut/tree nut products!! We have five children in our school with peanut/tree nut allergies and the principal feels so strongly that it is our duty to protect the students. It is wonderful!

 

[hildarumpole]

Banning peanuts in some schools is a misguided attempt to absolve them from liability, but in reality, will have the opposite effect when, inevitably, some poor kid suffers a severe reaction or worse in one of these schools. Claiming a school is peanut-free is impossible, as any parent who has to read every ingredient label of every food item will attest. My fear is that parents and kids will let their guards down. Kids will think it's o.k. to share a brownie with their friend, a parent who brings in homebaked treats for the class will use the wrong chocolate chips in the cookies, and some families will simply disregard the rules and send a pb&j sandwich, hoping no one catches it. Teachers and school staff will be forced to become the food police. As previous posters have stated, there are kids who suffer from all kinds of allergies and health conditions that restrict their diets. Yes, peanuts can be particularly problematic, but there have also been children who have suffered serious, even deadly reactions to milk. I've heard of some schools that have simply banned food sharing of any kind, even birthday treats, not only because of food allergies, but out of respect for dietary practices for religious reasons and lifestyle (vegan, organic, no-sugar, etc.). Maybe that's the solution. When you have 1 or 2 kids in a classroom who are left out of sharing treats, it's can be heartbreaking and smacks of an unneccessary unfairness. If no one can share, yet everyone can still enjoy their favorite foods, it might lessen the resentment and confusion in some of these situations. It also puts the primary responsiblity for food safety where it should be, on the kids and their parents. I didn't realize how treat saturated the schools had become until my kids started school. When I was a kid, birthdays and class parties were the only time we got a treat during the school day. Now, they do M&M math, lollipops are handed out routinely for doing a good job, parent helpers bring in donuts, candy bars and cookies for no other reason than they felt like doing something nice. Aside from the allergy and diabetes issue, we have a serious childhood obesity problem. Also, how conducive to learning is a classrom full of kids hyped up on sugar half the day, then crashed the other half? We need to start dealing with overall health and wellness in schools, rather than knee-jerk reactions to single issues that create more problems than they solve.

 

[disneyandme]

Hilarumpole- I agree that schools revolve around food. Preschools feel they need to do food projects and have parent's donuts and coffees in the classroom. Teachers hand out candy and treats for good behavior and parents bring in treats for evey reason imaginable. I think we could do without all of it. Food is not part of the learning process. It is not the only thing that will draw parents to visit school. I do think it will be a long time coming before we can convince parents and educators that birthday can be celebrated in a non-food way. We will be bringing in pinwheels for my DD3 preschool class instead of food treats. How about instead of cupcakes for birthdays-- an extra half hour for recess in honor of the birthday child. I'm sure we can all get creative.

 

[DawnM]

Our school's menu had PB&J crustables on it so I guess it is not outlawed.

Dawn

 

[LisaFB]

I have to say that I'm fully prepared to have to bring in special treats and snacks for DS when he starts school any time food is in the classroom. I'll have his teacher kindly ask parents to give at least 2 days notice before bringing in treats for a bday so I'll have time to make something allergen free for DS. This way he can have a treat when everyone else does and won't feel as left out.

As for not bringing food into schools, as a former teacher, I can tell you this will never happen. It's unfortunate, but it's true.

 

[1of6]

I think each school needs to look at kids and adopt rules about food as needed. Our school is not peanut-free but we have several peanut-free rooms. We do not have a child with an airborn peanut allergy in the school.

The school will go peanut-free the minute there is a child that will react to being in the same lunchroom with peanuts. This makes sence to me. I don't think we need to ban peanuts completely until we have a child with an airborn allergy.

Keeping all kids safe should be the number 1 priority. If you do not feel that your child is safe at school then you need to start acting. Some peanut allergy kids (2 of mine) will be safe at school with extra precautions. They do not have "life threatening" reactions from being around peanuts. Any child that does, should be in a peanut-free school.

 

[carrie s]

Ever see a kid with unstable sugars get ahold of something that had hidden sugar in it? Ever had to watch a treat get passed out to every kid in the classroom except for the diabetic one. Diabetes causes a whole host of medical problems beyound the need to take insulin. And with out RIGID control of thier blood suger they can look forward to kidney and bladder failure, poor circulation, amputation, and diabetic coma (that can happen in a heartbeat and I've seen it happen in a school setting, same child was also getting into candy that a parent sent with another child which caused a myriad of problems) Now add that to a child who is autistic and doesn't understand that they can't pick up something that is on the table. Or a five year old who wants to share in a party and doens't understand every food is a hidden danger. Diabetics have the same problems but they learn that that is life and that they have a medical illness that they will have to adapt to. If a school told parents that they could send no suger bearing items in a school lunch (this includes fruit, juice, gatoraide, fruit snacks, candy, yogurt and granola) then there would be an outcry.

We cannot cater an environment to every individual. I'm sorry but we can't.

Peanut allergies are not the only health risk in the school setting, we can't stop one without applying this to every individual.

Oh and if the schools have to be peanut free for a child to attend then how do you justify taking them into any public building, any resturant or anyones home. You adapt, you take precautions and you prepare. That can be done in a school. So until the world is peanut free you can not require the schools to be.

My DD has had diabetes since she was 3.She almost died from it and she has had seizures,the worst one being at school.She has missed out on treats at school but when I know theres going to be treats I plan ahead.My DD also has celiac,so she cant have wheat,rye,barley or oats.

Now that my DD is older it doesnt bother her when she misses out on treats,she understands and knows that her health is more important.She has also learned what she can and cant eat.

[edit].A child with a peanut allergy will get used to missing out on treats,but the ones with the airborn allergy cant avoid breathing it in.This is their life.How would you feel if it was your child with the peanut allergy.

Even my 7 year old understands why its so important for him not to bring peanuts in his lunch.everytime I buy something new he makes sure that its nut free. [edit]

 

[Daxx]

I'm a teacher and have dealt w/a variety of dietary needs in my classroom. It is painful to watch as some can partake in a snack while others can't due to dietary restrictions. I try to have a variety of alternate snacks (often, a parent will provide these for those moments) ... but having pretzels isn't quite the same as having a b-day cupcake, kwim!?

I don't know what the answer is. I do feel bad for children w/severe food allergies b/c it's tough on them. I just know that I have to be vigilant w/my students both in my classroom and in the cafeteria. I have to make sure that those w/any special dietary needs are not given foods that they shouldn't have. I know that our cafeteria does not offer snacks w/peanuts in them "just in case". So far, we've been lucky that we haven't had any students w/airborn peanut allergies. I'm sure we'd have to go into a no-nut cafeteria. But, even that has to be difficult as there are nut products that are often in other foods and you're requiring parents to have to be vigilant about what they send in. I wonder if parents would think to really check the ingredients if it didn't involve their children.

 

[carrie s]

I'm a teacher and have dealt w/a variety of dietary needs in my classroom. It is painful to watch as some can partake in a snack while others can't due to dietary restrictions. I try to have a variety of alternate snacks (often, a parent will provide these for those moments) ... but having pretzels isn't quite the same as having a b-day cupcake, kwim!?

I don't know what the answer is. I do feel bad for children w/severe food allergies b/c it's tough on them. I just know that I have to be vigilant w/my students both in my classroom and in the cafeteria. I have to make sure that those w/any special dietary needs are not given foods that they shouldn't have. I know that our cafeteria does not offer snacks w/peanuts in them "just in case". So far, we've been lucky that we haven't had any students w/airborn peanut allergies. I'm sure we'd have to go into a no-nut cafeteria. But, even that has to be difficult as there are nut products that are often in other foods and you're requiring parents to have to be vigilant about what they send in. I wonder if parents would think to really check the ingredients if it didn't involve their children.

Some parents would check,some wouldnt.A boy in my DS class has airborne nut allergys and i always check the ingredients and some other moms I know do too.Im sure we make mistakes sometimes,but we try our best and there hasnt been a problem yet.

 

[dlrhine]

To the parents of a child with peanut allergies-
How do you handle these situations?
1) We were on the Boat yesterday from the Boardwalk, a non english speaking family sits near us in the last seats (crowded boat) and starts eating peanut butter sandwiches.
2) Standing in line for the Princesses in toontown a young child goes into meltdown mode (because they are hungry) and Mom brings out a PBJ for the little one to eat.

Moving to another location in either case was really not an option. So what would you do?

Ok.. I'm not done reading this whole thread but I have to chime in here. I have also posted something to this affect on the Transportation board as we have to preboard and wipe down the seats that our family will be sitting in. Anyhow, in the cases listed above the Princesses in Toontown that has happened to us, and we have gotten out of line, and came back at a later time. The boat at the boardwalk has an open back area were you can go out and sit and I would have gotten up and gone out to the open air part of the boat. We are very cautious. I have had 3 reactions including in FL.. as so as we got off the plane I noticed problems no more did we get to the hotel.. Limo waiting for us, so maybe 30 min later, and we were in the back of an Ambulance Reedy Creek on the way to Celebrations hospital.. that was our first day in WDW. We ALWAYS travel with one of our parents because we have an older daughter that we don't want to miss the fun if her sister is in the hospital. Besides the fatal peanut allergy she has sever asthma. To just get her to FL now, we have to give her Zyrtec the morning we fly, 1/2 hour before the flight we give her benadryl as a back up, orapred to open her airways and pulmicort to keep the asthma under control. Now this isn't all the time or everyday.. but the day we fly that is what our allergist has us doing. Now you might as why not drive? Cause I get really car sick and our trip would be ruined if I drove cause I'd be sick the first few days. I've wiped down handles to rides, and Disney does a VIP clean of our room before we check in. I want her to live a normal life, but I have seen my child blue/gray and lifeless, I've been in the back of an ambulance with a heart monitor, oxygen, and IV all running at the same time.. praying she'll make it. It isn't fun.