Advice with my son starting preschool

Elizabeth - posted on 11/02/2011

Hi Carla, I can totally relate to how you feel! My middle son, who is now 12, has a severe peanut allergy and is also allergic to gluten, beans, legumes, eggs, olive oil and other environmental allergies. Sending him off to school each year has always required a lot of preparation and thought. My youngest son, now 3, just started preschool and he is allergic to gluten and dairy.

The first step is of course finding out if the schools your are interested in have a "nut free" policy. My eldest son's did and my youngest son's does not. That is the first barrier to get through. Once you know the school is a safe environment, meet with teacher and review an action plan that includes snacks, special occasions, class parties, what to do if he is exposed (epi-pen training). Hopefully the school already has paper work to fill out regarding these policies. I also recommend sending a letter home to parents describing your child's situation -- I have found that other parents are much more supportive if they hear directly from you. Remain active in the classroom so you can see how things are working. Providing allergy-free treats on the special party days ensures your son will feel like he able to participate. My kids always love when I bring cupcakes for everyone -- no one knows they are "allergy-free" so my children don't feel like they stand out.

I wish you the best of luck and hope you'll stop by my blog for further information on allergy-free living: www.thepurepantry.com/blog
Elizabeth

Carla - posted on 10/29/2011

Thank you ladies for the great advice and the support.

Sonya - posted on 10/29/2011

It's such an emotional journey. I agree with the advice from the other mums. The bottom line is that your child is safe. My son was allergic to peanuts, treenuts, wheat, corn, eggs, oats, rice, dairy, soy, fish, chicken, potato and peas. I didn't feel safe to leave him anywhere. He has grown out of alot of his allergies now. Our daycare have been good. I go through the menus and ingredients they use with a fine tooth comb. SOmetimes I make something similar to what the other kids have and othe times the chef caters for my boy. Ultimately though you need to feel comfortable otherwise you will spen dthe time worrying when you need to spend that time looking after yourself! Good luck with it. My next step is school next year - the whole sharing food. It's a journey and the good thing about this crazy food allergy epidemic as that you are not alone. We are all here to support and encourage each other. Who else understands our paranoia?

Erin - posted on 10/28/2011

Sending your food allergic child to preschool IS a big step - for both of you. I've a blog post about how I would handle it with the school: http://bit.ly/quEnoC . Start by finding out how the school handles food allergies in general. Do they store medication in the classroom? How are the teachers trained? In regards to lunch: many schools are nut-free. Few are egg or potato-free and that's a reason your son's case should be considered separately.

Now's a great time to begin prepping your son for social situations that involve food. He'll need some awareness of what it means to have food allergies and some words to use when presented with food he can't or isn't sure he can eat. Try these age-appropriate books: http://bit.ly/u7ItgX and http://bit.ly/tEpBMf.

Good luck! I'm sure it will all work out just fine!

Alyssa - posted on 10/23/2011

Unfortunately you have to trust the people that are in charge of you child. My son has nut allergies and this is always on my mind whenever he goes some where without me ! My son atteded preschool for 2 years. The second year I got a job there as the cook/aide. We had my son and another boy with food allergies. The second child was allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts. The way our preschool/daycare handled this was no nut products of any kind were allowed in the school. For the second child, because milk and egg are more difficult to avoid. I would make him food similar to ours. For example, if we were having mac and cheese with hot dogs he would get noodles with hot dogs (the noodles were egg free). On meals we could not substitute I would cook him noodles with ham (he loved this). His family provided soy milk for him to drink.
Now as far as your preschool goes, in my opinion, it does not sound like they are going to be very accomodating for your sons needs. They definately dont sound reassuring! You should find out if they allow nut products in their school to possibly eliminate that worry. Also you should ask what your son would do if the meal they provided contained his allergen? Do they plan on making him a special meal if his allergens are present? If not you could suggest that they provide you with a monthly menu and you could provide your son a meal free from his allergens that is similar to what they are serving. If they are unwilling to do this maybe you should continue to search around for another preschool. There are schools that are very good at handling children with food allergies !
Good Luck !
Alyssa