Kids at the playground

can I just ask why you be upset about not being able to send peanut butter and jelly to school for lunch. I have heard other mommies mention this, just this way. and I wonder what it is that would cause you to be upset by this?

my thoughts on it are, thats its only one meal and its only a few hours a day where children who can eat the nuts have to go without. And they are asked to go without so that a child with the nut allergy doesnt accidently touch it, or touch something another kid left peanut butter on, and cause the child to have his throat close up and possibly faint, and have a huge ruckus caused and stop breathing and be sent to the hosp. and hope that they make it in time and that the epi pen is close enough to them to stop the reaction before the die.
I mean these kids can die.

I totally dont think it should be the kids responsibility who brings in the sandwich to be careful that they dont touch or infect the allergy kid. I mean they are kids, they are going to get it everywhere. Its not their fault. I bet if you asked more of the kids who can eat the nuts, to not eat them, and explained what could happen to their friends who cant eat them, they would have no issues not eating it while near them.

I dont mean to come off confrontational, I have always just wanted to ask someone this exact question and havent been able to because we were normally at church when it came up and it wasnt the right time.

I understand why you'd get defensive on this issue. You've seen first hand what can happen when allergic people are exposed to nuts. I never have.

I was using PB&J as a general example. If nuts were baned it would include, peanut butter cookies, ice cream with nuts, brownies with nuts, fudge with nuts, every food with nuts. And I know people, if we start making concessions for nut allergic kids, then we need to do so for those allergic to glutens, diabetics, salt consciencious. By the time we remove all 'bad' foods for the few in the school who have the issues there's not much to eat.

I don't agree.
the reason that nuts would need to be banned is because children can to trace amounts, like oils left on the tables after the food has been eaten.
A diabetic child won't go into diabetic shock because they sit at a table next to some one eating a candy bar.

Ben's school is nut free, and its gonna cause me some problems, I have no idea what I am going to send with this child to eat, but I will gladly make the sacrifice, I will gladly leave the nuts at home for the piece of mind of another mother.

I don't agree.
the reason that nuts would need to be banned is because children can to trace amounts, like oils left on the tables after the food has been eaten.
A diabetic child won't go into diabetic shock because they sit at a table next to some one eating a candy bar.

Ben's school is nut free, and its gonna cause me some problems, I have no idea what I am going to send with this child to eat, but I will gladly make the sacrifice, I will gladly leave the nuts at home for the piece of mind of another mother.

Well said, ITA! And appreciate that as a mom to a child who is allergic to peanuts. Thanks Tara.

This post has been edited by MoonMama on Aug 10 2008, 08:02 PM

I don't send Miabella with peanut butter anything.. period. To me I'd much rather her have a ham and cheese.. or whatever than have a kid have a reaction because she wanted a peanut butter and jelly sand which. If she wants one.. she can have it at home. It's 7 hours a day.. I don't think it's asking too much to not bring something that can be fatal to someone else. Just my opinon though.

I have a question regarding a nut/seed allergy? I realize that some kids are only allergic to peanuts or tree nuts but for those who are allergic to all nuts and seeds, how far does that go? In other words, apples, oranges, cucumbers...all fruits and veggies have seeds in them. Are seed allergic kids also allergic to these? If so, I imagine this allergy must be h*ll to deal with.
As for the initial question, I see nothing wrong with nicely approaching the other parent and explaining that your child has a nut/seed allergy and could she please take the seed covered pretzel from her daughter or could her daughter go off to the side, finish it, wipe her hands and go back to play? I see nothing wrong with that. I've logged countless hours at various playgrounds with kids and would not even bat an eyelash if a parent had approached me with something of that sort. I also don't see why kids would have food at a playground...it's dirty!
As for going nut free, I think it's the school's responsibility to ensure the safety of any allergic child and the easiest way to do that is to go nut free. What would concern me is food that doesn't have nuts in it but was made on machinery that also handled foods with nuts in them...I see this often on labels--this was made on machinery that handled nuts, soy, dairy, etc. So what if a nut allergic child took a bite of nut free chocolate that may have had a trace of nuts from machinery on it? I guess the bottom line is allergic kids just can't share, period. Seems very sad to me and I can't help but wonder if there is something out there, like histamine blockers, for instance that someone could take to at least be able to tolerate certain allergens. Not that I'd want to experiment but it'd be nice to know if there is any remedy out there, other than an epipen.
I do think the world is largely indifferent...I recall waiting to get a smoothie made at a smoothie place where a woman walked in and asked if the fruit had sugar in it...she was a type 2 diabetic and the girl who worked there wouldn't even answer her...she just smirked. So finally I told her that this woman could die if she gives her something with sugar in it so could I sample the fruit so I could tell her if there is sugar and again the girl ignored us so the diabetic woman left and I left too...wouldn't want to patronize such a place.
Here's an idea though--as an asthmatic, I have certain protection under the law as asthma is considered a disability by federal law...no different than someone in a wheelchair and thereby by law, I have to be accommodated. The problem with asthma is that I could stop breathing and die...and it sounds like the same situation with nut allergies...I wouldn't become anaphylactic but who cares, the end result is the same. Maybe those of you who have food allergy kids should lobby to make it a disability in the US, then you'd get taken more seriously by caregivers.
As for me, if I am to raise vegetarian kids, then nuts as a good source of protein will be a major staple in their diet, as they are in mine. Doesn't mean, though, that I should do that at the expense of other kids. I see no harm in packing something else in school lunches, it's just one meal in the day and should be seen as nothing more than that.
The most common question that comes out of my mouth when I'm eating outside of my house is, "is there meat in here/this/that?". I don't eat meat by choice and I know how hard it is making sure my food is meat free...can't even imagine what it must be like for a child to constantly have to ask if the food offered to him/her is safe to eat. You moms of allergic kids sure do have my sympathy....

Jennifer, I just wanted to add that Jakob is on an histamine blocker, atarax that is generally used for itching, but in case he takes it three times a day routinely, not just for reactions,so that it can bind to the mast cell and keep him from having the response in the first place. this is not something new that I am aware of, childrens hosp prescribed it for when he was unable to eat any foods, to see if it would "confuse" some of his cells to thinking he was no longer allergic to a food and it worked with soy. thats how Jake was able to tolerate a soy version of pediasure and live.

the only other way we have found to get thru the allergies, is to wait one year before being exposed to any of the said allergens again, and after one year of total avoidance we have found he isnt as allergic to things..certain things like the nuts and tree nuts are forever.

I didnt read this yet but I thought of you


http://children.webmd.com/child-nutrition-...=wnl_aaa_081108

Jennifer, yes, FA is considered a disability and therefore protected under the same law you are speaking of regarding asthma. Here's some info: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of is a civil rights law designed to prohibit discrimination in an educational program or institution on the basis of a disability because students with a disability are by law afforded a “free and appropriate public education.” A food allergy may be considered a disability under this law.

Section 504

And yes, there are many times I get funny looks or eyes rolling when I ask people serving my son's food to watch for nuts/seeds. Even friends seem a little put off sometimes, like I don't trust them. But I do find that some people in the public are aware and make the effort to be careful. For instance, we took the boys to Baskin Robbins ice cream the other night. Big treat for them! Well we asked the young girl behind the counter to please use a "clean" scoop and she basically said "I'll be sure and wash the scoop really good. There are absolutely no nut products in or near the soft serve", even before we asked. She was on top of it. There was no grunting or sideway glances. But it does happen. There will always be people out there that don't give a quack about my son's health and well being, even when you tell them it's life threatening. I try my best to remain positive though, because IMO, the more confident I am when confronting people on the issue, the more they will take me seriously. It just takes a lot of patience and constant monitoring.

I just realized I didn't answer this. I don't know the answer really, but I do know that Wil has no problems with seeds in fruit. He eats cucumbers too. I'm not exactly sure why the difference, because I know he is severely allergic to sunflower and poppy seeds. My theory though is that seeds from a plant/flower are in the same category as tree nuts. Which is why he's allergic. It could also be the oils related to these seeds that he's allergic to. Where fruit seeds seem to have little oil in them. And no one really consumes fruit seeds on purpose. I wish I knew exactly, but I am so grateful that we don't have to cut out fruits and veggies. Wil can also have coconut, which is not really a nut but a fruit, although one could say its a seed of the palm. Ahhhh, they are all relatives of each other, but thank god we can do some.