snack problem at gym daycare

so they have a rule that snacks must be nut free, fair enough, I can see
that when you've got children all sitting down together, even with the best

Tori M...

Right! This is actualy a worry of mine for public school actualy. Some
days Peanut Butter is the ONLY protien Bonnie will eat.. (Just picky really)
Now I COULD send her to school with a thing of peperoni or hard salami with
sliced cheese and maybe some olives.. she would eat that most days but it is
a lot of salt. I could not think of a meal to pack for her beyond those
things that wouldnt be an issue for refridgeration.. though I think the
second meal would need some fridge time.

Tori M...

Right you dont pull over if the lights are not flashing

Tori M...

If there was a kid that would potentialy die? No the restrictions would
make sence. If it is a blanket no peanuts just in case an imaginary student
might enter the class at some point in the next year with an allergy that
would bug me.

supervision etc. you can't always stop a child reaching over and sampling
someone elses.

But, pretty much everything you buy says something like "packaged in a
factory that processes tree nuts" and I'd assumed that was fine and so far

Anne Rogers...

exactly, so if you are going to require not even such a mention on a
package, you then have to require all foods to be in original packaging and
not even allow fresh fruit, which is where my problem lies, just removing a
packet that says that has probably acheived nothing, at least some of the
kids are likely to be eating something that came from a larger packet with
similar labelling, or something prepared in a kitchen with liberal presence
of nuts.

it has been, then today, I arrived to find that Ada had had her snack taken
away from her, not just that they'd not given it to her, but that she'd been
sat down, the packet had been opened and then it had been taken away from
her, thankfully she was fine when I came to pick her up, but she also dived
straight into her bag to get them when I got it down from the cubby.

Firstly, I feel that they shouldn't have taken the snack away from her, if
the staff member had a genuine concern, she should have been put in a high
chair, out of reaching distance from other kids and me been informed at the
end that that snack wasn't suitable.

Chookie...

If there was a really sensitive child in the room, that might not have been
enough. What SHOULD have happened, however, is that the trainee should have
asked her supervisor about it -- ie, the supervisor should have been present.

Secondly, I don't think this snack should even have been an issue at all,
I'd put money on at least a proportion of the other kids snacks that had
been decanted from larger containers would have said similar on the large
container. DS has the same snack in a different room without a problem and
both had had the same snack in the past without a problem.

It happens that the staff member that had dealt with this was "in training",
so it's something she's going to take up with her supervisor, I'm worried
that it will go the wrong way and that all staff will be advised that such
products are not suitable and we'll find providing appropriate snacks more
difficult in future. It's all very well suggesting fruit, but at 18mths, all

Chookie...

I think you might be borrowing trouble here.

fruits are still a bit of a choking risk and require more supervision than
she's going to get in that setting. Which leaves decanting things which

Chookie...

*Anything* is still a choking risk at that age. If you are unhappy with the
level of supervision, don't send food. I was going to suggest a marvellous
pre-packaged food called a banana, or a mandarin. Cut-up melon or
strawberries, grapes, or blueberries are all hits with DS2 (he's 19mo).

already have the warning on, which is a bit two-faced.

Am I really naive in thinking that such products are ok? It would seem to me
that they fall into the category where, that's why you have an epipen?

Sue...

Others have already come down on you about being so caviler about the nut
free stuff. So I won't. But, honestly, I don't see the big deal. I have been
providing snacks to my three girls for many many years now and I have not
had a problem giving non nut products. Here are some things I have given
over the years:

Any fruit cut up
Pretzels
Hummus and chips/bread
cheese and crackers
Fruit roll ups or gummy snacks
Vegetables cut up with Ranch for dipping
Some type of granola product (they come in bars and many of them don't
contain nuts)
Graham crackers
Applesauce
Yogurt
Ants on a log (you can use cream cheese instead of peanut butter with
raisins).
Raisins.

Also, just web-search healthy snacks for children and you will come up with
thousands of things that can be given.

Ericka Kammerer...

I'd wait and see what the final decision is. If they
have a highly peanut allergic kid in the school, I don't blame

Banty...

I'd even question if a staffer needing a peanut-free area is a reason. Seems a
poor choice of job or occupation for a highly peanut allergic person. Or, that
person should really be looking for a job in an already peanut free venue. At
the least they should be fairly motivated to have a policy that the daycare

Stephanie...

Ya know this seems strange to me. We would not think a talented software
engineer without the use of her legs should find a job in an already strair
free venue. Why would a talented child care provider be any different due to
a peanut allergy?

Caledonia...

I'm not sure your analogies work here.

Banty's comments don't seem totally off-base. I have an
immuno-compromised friend who would really like to teach at the
elementary level, but it's not in the grand scheme of things a good fit
for him, given the exposure to a lot of little kids with random colds
and flu.

Ditto someone with severe allergies to animal dander -- they're passing
up the job to work at the Perkins School for the Blind.

Banty...

So, peanut allergies are a recognized handicap now??

user...

*Anything* can become a handicap, if you have the lawyers to back you up.

Stephanie...

It's sad to think that something has to be legally defined as a disabilty in
your eyes. The idea that a peanut allergy ought to make child care an out of
reach career is kinda bad. But that's just me.

At my previous job, I "worked" with a software developer who was on
extended disability because of stress. He'd come in once a month, work for a
day, declare that "Nope, I'm still stressed and it's causing me mental
anguish", and leave again for another month.

Pretty good work if you can get it, I guess. :-)

- Rich

provides the snacks! Heck I'd be stocking up on my own dime!

This in-between "oh well we try" business really is untenable. This is a
either-or situation. If there really is a concern, then a real policy does have
to completely eliminate peanut exposure. If not, why do it at all.

Ericka Kammerer...

There's a lot of gray area because there really are
a lot of different reactions. Some allergies are more life
threatening than others. Some children are more allergic than
others. It is reasonable to expect older kids to take more
responsibility for their own allergies than with younger kids.
Environments vary in how cleanable they are and in how well
they allow for supervision and segregation of highly allergic
kids. So, even if we are tailoring things based on the
needs of the current crop of kids, sometimes that's going to
require being more stringent than other times. There isn't
necessarily a "best" policy for all situations. Sometimes
what looks like a "half way" situation actually is appropriate.
Other times, what looks like too strict an approach is the
right thing. I think it is a little difficult to judge
without really knowing the full extent of the situation.

I get the impression that some folks think that all kids eat some dozens or so
things, so what's peanuts in a long list like that. But, peanuts really *do*
stand out as an inexpensive, healthy, well-tolerated, portable protein source
that needs no heating or refrigeration that kids like. It's a mainstay for a
*lot* of people, and for good reasons. So a peanut-free policy - while I really
*do* agree it's necessary sometimes and needs to be respected when it is, is
onerous enough to justify some real scrutiny as to when it makes sense. I get
the impression that there's a half-hearted "Peanuts Bad" idea that's behind some
of this. One problem with it is that it dilutes how seriously it gets taken
when it's really needed.

Ericka Kammerer...

Keeping in mind that the discussion originated here
with very short term care (a gym daycare), I am less concerned

Stephanie...

I certainly concur with that.

with a picky child not having a snack in a visit that is likely
to be quite short (or even a preschooler having a limited
repertoire of snacks for half day preschool a few times a
week) than I am about exposing a child too young to take
much of any responsibility for him- or herself to a potentially
dangerous situation. I think as they get older and we're
talking about full school days and such, the risk/benefit
equation starts to work out differently (or even with a
full-day daycare situation for toddlers).

Best wishes,
Ericka

them for being a bit paranoid. Having to use an epi-pen is
scary, plus it's not going to inspire confidence in the
parents of the allergic child that the school is taking
appropriate precautions.
If the decision comes down that non-nut-containing
foods packaged in plants that process nuts are forbidden,
you might get together with some other parents and suggest
that the school start providing snacks. That's what almost
every preschool does if they have stringent policies about
these sorts of things. Frankly, parents of non-allergic
kids just don't get it and have no idea all the things to
look for on a label, so even well-intentioned parents send
potentially dangerous snacks to school.
Still, even if you have to get the snacks yourself,
it's not all *that* hard to find acceptable snacks. For
almost any kind of snack you're sending now, there's likely
a similar alternative that is completely free of nuts. Do
you have a Trader Joe's in your area? They're a popular
source for such snacks.

Best wishes,
Ericka