Child with peanut allergy starting school in Sept

mauraf

Hi there

I was wondering if there are any other parents out there who have been in this situation and what they did.

My 4 year old was diagnosed with a severe nut/ peanut allergy from an early age. He is due to start school in September, and I have already had a quick chat with the principle to advise of same.

There is a plan to communicate out to all parents in his class, re the allergy - I will show all staff how to use the epipen, and tbh, I dont have any real 'fear' that they wont provide the duty of care they are obliged to for my son.

However, I am wondering if I can be more pro-active....can I print out detail to hand out to parents to highlight the dangers of allergies? Or at least give this information to the school to publish with the welcome letters?

Principle is very conscious that my son wont be 'identified' as the child with the allergies, ie to other parents - but I would still like awareness for parents re lunches etc.
Did anybody write out Emergency Plans to hand into the schools with the epipens?

Can anyone provide detail or information re what they did to ensure everything was covered off prior to their child starting school?

Many thanks for advise

Maura

Cola Top

I thought peanuts/peanut butter is banned for all children in most schools due to potential allergies?

endacl

You may be over thinking this, OP. Yours won't have been the first kid in the school with a nut allergy. They know what they're doing.

Be grand.

Baybay

mauraf wrote: »

Principle is very conscious that my son wont be 'identified' as the child with the allergies

Classmates will get very invested in this & are great for noticing what's in lunch boxes etc.
When our daughter was beginning primary school, one little fellow in particular delighted in getting out to me before her every day to tell me that today was a good day or maybe that it wasn't!

Greenmachine

Sounds like the school is already going to notify parents of your child nut allergy. You don't want your child identified either so, I don't think there is anything more you can do to be more involved in the process. If you hand out the leaflet you will have identified your child by proxy.

liamo

Yes. My child's school doesn't permit nuts, peanut butter, Nutella, etc for that very reason.

Cola Top wrote: »

I thought peanuts/peanut butter is banned for all children in most schools due to potential allergies?

Vego

We were in the same boat .....yet a parent sent a peanut butter sandwich in with their child ...you can't prepare for stupidity ....an after school visit to remind said parent had to be done

Roesy

I teach in a large primary school. An emergency plan with a picture of the child and a medical kit is automatically kept in the classroom of any child with a nut allergy, epilepsy etc. I don't think doing out one of these or asking the school to provide one is OTT. As a teacher I'd prefer a concise step by step plan. There is also a second medical kit kept in the school, in the main office. Each staff member that is directly in contact with the child(in class, through yard supervision etc) is gathered for a meeting with the parent at the start of the year and the plan is gone through in detail. As a whole staff we've also received epi pen training. There are also signs up around the building stating we are a nut free school. Schools tend to take this kind of thing seriously. No one wants a serious medical emergency.

freshpopcorn

I can't really offer you advice but the only thing I can offer say really have your child warned about taking food off other kids or visitors to the school because
You can have schools with very strict policies about nuts and peanut butter and still parents will send there kids to school with them because it's the only thing they'll eat.
Also warn them your kid about taking sweets or anything off other children. I remember being at school we were went through a phase of bring sweets to school and eating them during class.(I suppose they still might do that)
Another thing schools often have visitors such as a team bring a cup to the school or even a teacher in subbing for a few days who might give out a few sweets.

Ninjini

My son's school has several children with various allergies and as a result there is a sign on the front door reminding everyone that it is a nut free environment. It's also mentioned in each school newsletter to remind everyone and during things like bake sales etc.

It's taken very seriously, but as suggested earlier in the thread I would remind the child only to eat the food you provide. I know my son comes home with tales of swapping and sharing from lunch boxes.

byhookorbycrook

Our school has gone nut free(unless you count the staff!!) We have a picture of any child with allergies on the staffroom notice board, lists of allergies and what to do in case of reaction and keep epi-pens on the office. The class teacher would also have a pen and the full details. I carry a pen myself, so am also on the board!!

2xj3hplqgsbkym

I think a leaflet for parents in the class would be a very good idea. If a parent is rushing to make a lunch they could easily throw in a cereal bar or something containing nuts, and likewise at cake sales. So a list of foods to avoid would be helpful to stick on the fridge

byhookorbycrook

The thing about a list of foods in a leaflet can cause people to think something is ok if it isn't on the list. I know of a child who had a reaction to someone else's lip balm!

rainbowtrout

Greenmachine wrote: »

Sounds like the school is already going to notify parents of your child nut allergy. You don't want your child identified either so, I don't think there is anything more you can do to be more involved in the process. If you hand out the leaflet you will have identified your child by proxy.

Is identification such a bad thing? Some kids have asthma and use an inhaler, some wear glasses, some are allergic to nuts. I don't see why it would be a negative thing. Kids only see things as negative when they learn it's negative from adults.

If other kids in the class know from the start that Johnny can't eat nuts because he has an allergy they'll just accept it and be far more likely to be the ones at home saying they can't have nuts in their classroom.

I teach a slightly older cohort but one of my Leaving Certs has a nut allergy. Obviously she is able to look after herself, but we had a small tea party in the class at Christmas and the lads knew not to bring stuff with nuts in it.

Mink

I'm glad to have read this as pretty much the only lunch my son will eat for preschool is peanut butter on crackers!

So I will definitely get him out of the habit before he starts primary.

I don't think anything you are doing is OTT, people really need things drilled into them over and over sometimes.

Penny Dreadful

We all have things that can make us "different" and a nut allergy is far from a bad thing to be different for. Its a serious and often dangerous allergy and I think kids being educated about it is not a bad thing at all. It also teaches them that we are all different in our own ways.

My nephew isn't allowed nuts in his school because one of the girls in his class is allergic to nuts........the only reason he is amused at this is because the poor girl's name is Hazel.

jlm29

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

We all have things that can make us "different" and a nut allergy is far from a bad thing to be different for. Its a serious and often dangerous allergy and I think kids being educated about it is not a bad thing at all. It also teaches them that we are all different in our own ways.

My nephew isn't allowed nuts in his school because one of the girls in his class is allergic to nuts........the only reason he is amused at this is because the poor girl's name is Hazel.

This made me laugh out loud. Thank you!

byhookorbycrook

Children don't see it as an issue and will actually become protective of their friend in most cases.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Children don't see it as an issue and will actually become protective of their friend in most cases.

Yes I agree the child should be identified , as when it comes to birthday parties and play dates, parents will need to know.

daheff

my daughter is the same. she has a nut allergy (specifically to peanut, but to a lessor extent to tree nuts), She scored a 3 on the RAST test.

Our school is quite good. They dont allow kids to bring nuts (or sweets) for lunchtime. But you do get some parents who either dont realise what they are doing or are just giving their kids a lunch they will eat (one kid gets chocolate sandwiches).

We've found that the best thing of all is to make sure your child understands. I know hes 4 going on 5, but still needs to be aware not to take any food from anybody else (kids tend to swap lunches from time to time). And to not be shy to tell people he cant eat nuts. People wont know he cant eat nuts unless they are told! Parents/kids/teachers will offer him stuff without even thinking (my sisters daughter is allergic to eggs. One teacher thought she was being nice and gave the class some homemade cake as they broke up over christmas. Que quick trip to local dr for treatment (antihistimine and watching her for 20mins with adrenaline onhand).


Also we find that the local school has different events involving food (cake sale /biscuit sale /international picnic). My daughter knows not to take anything that shes not had before, or that a teacher can tell her theres no nuts in (almonds in marzipan can catch you out sometimes...or in some cookies!).

And school means more birthday parties. I'd advise bring a small muffin/homemade cake slice with you when you do go. Makes it easier for everybody as most birthday moms dont know it the cake they bought has nuts or not in it (or the dreaded "may contain nuts" on the box....even though theres feck all chance that there are nuts in it :mad: )

Acciaccatura

My parents made sure I always had an anti-histamine in my schoolbag (tablet and liquid, in case I couldn't swallow the tablet); they never got me an epi-pen because they only last 6 months and the only anaphylactic allergic reaction I ever had was when I was 3). They let my school know, but sure it was run by a very old-fashioned, lax principal who we called "The Master" in the mid-2000s, so I doubt they ever remembered my allergy.

The kids at school were of no help, one of my friends insisted on bringing in peanut butter sandwiches almost every day and I would repeatedly tell him to keep away from me. To top that, there was an incident when I was in 4th class where the two class bullies knew full well of my allergy, and slipped a peanut into my pencil case when I wasn't looking to see what would happen if I touched a peanut - one of them got cold feet, took it out and apologised because she didn't want me to die. She wasn't punished for it either, the teacher didn't seem to understand the gravity of how the situation could have been had it been different.

They only copped onto themselves in recent years with a new principal and another little boy came into Junior infants with a nut allergy - his picture was put up in the staff room and the teachers were taught how to administer the epi-pen. I think there's a lot more awareness around nut allergies these days, so your child should be absolutely fine, OP, but do educate your child as much as possible on their allergy (without scaring the bejesus out of them!), just in case

Vego

Had the school sports day last week .....one mother who came over to ask us about our kids peanut allergy had another kid next to her ...eating a pack of peanuts ...the mind boggles ....

Mr Bloat

I have a child with a peanut allergy which was diagnosed before he started school. He is in fourth class now. The school is very good with us and him, they are very proactive and have his picture and the pictures of other kids with medical issues hanging in the staff room with a brief summary of their ailments and what to do in the event of complications. They have drafted a care plan for him, a copy of which they sent home to us to be reviewed to ensure we were happy with the details.

Despite our positive experience with our school, we have still done a number of things ourselves to ensure our child's safety. Afterall, a class teacher is a busy person with lots of other little charges in their care, I wouldn't expect them to be worrying about my child all day, even with the best will in the world from them.

At the start of each school year as he is starting with a new teacher, we make a point of meeting with that teacher and any SNAs in the class to go over the Epipen procedure with them. We also give them printed info on what to do in an emergency. We leave a plastic box with his Epipens and antihistamine, with more emergency leaflets inside and on the outside, we have our contact numbers clearly visible. A couple of times a year we ask the teacher to send home reminders to parents to not have nut products in the classroom.

One other thing to watch out for - occasionally there may be a party in the classroom for someone's birthday or some school anniversary maybe. In these circumstances, it can be difficult for the teacher to know what to give your child, especially if all the other kids in the class are getting a slice of cake, or whatever is being given out. What we have done to combat this is to leave a little goodie bag of my son's favourite treats (that we know are safe) with the teacher, which can be given to my son instead of whatever the other kids are having. Peace of mind all round.

I would also echo what others have said in this thread - chat with your child about swapping food with other kids or taking food from their lunches. Also, I wouldn't stick too much to the idea of not identifying your child as having allergies. As others have said, most of the children in the class will look out for nuts themselves and see themselves as your child's "protector". Also, the more parents that know about it and can identify your child, the less likely they are to send in products with nuts. Either way, you will end up telling them when your child is invited to play dates or parties.

peckdunn

Some schools allow but if a child in the class has an allergy then that class are given a list of banned ingredients. Also, teacher staff room will have a notice board of children, their allergies and what to do. Talk to headmaster, teacher in advance of school year and they will notify other parents. First few days are short days without lunches usually giving you time to adjust.