Need Help Understanding Nut Allergies

I knew someone who watched a child go into anaphylactic shock from the smell of the peanuts at the ballpark. So, no it's not overkill. The really scary thing about nuts is that they are oily. So you can think you've cleaned off a surface, but it's still contaminated.

I hear where you're coming from. I do have a suggestion, but it would be a lot of work. If you have the time, energy, and inclination, you might ask the teacher if you can take over the task of providing and coordinating snacks. If the teacher approves, maybe you can send out a letter something like this:

"Let's give our kids a year of the best snacks ever! I am the new volunteer snack coordinator, and I have a passion for feeding our kids well. If your child has any special dietary needs, please contact me ASAP so we can take that into account when menu planning. Otherwise, please pick one of these options:
1. I want to help prepare terrific snacks for our kids.
2. I want to give a cash donation to help buy terrific snacks for our kids."

I strongly suspect that, for the most part, the parents bringing in pre-packaged, processed, unhealthy snacks would be truly delighted to donate money instead of a box of overpriced crackers.

If you will be preparing things like fresh fruit and vegetables, it wouldn't hurt to go get yourself a food-handler's permit. It's not necessary, but they're readily available, the test is easy, the permit is cheap, and it will provide some peace of mind for all parties.

Good luck!

My son has a severe nut allergy (peanut and tree nuts). I know that not allowing snacks with nuts significantly reduces your healthy choice. We frequent the snack section at Whole Foods. My son will have Zbars, Pirate Booty, Nutrigrain bars, raisins, whole wheat crackers, flavored rice cake packs, string cheese, apple slices/caramel packs, mini bagels w/cream cheese, etc. I think I remember one of your previous posts that mentioned you couldn't take fresh snacks...if so, that's a big bummer.

To answer your question regarding the snack before playing with blocks. If the snack contains any nuts, that is NEVER a good idea, because you never know how severe a childs allergy might be. My son can and has been exposed in that way, and when I picked him up he would be wheezing, coughing with a very runny nose and red eyes. Some kids need their Epipen and 911...you just never know.

yes, my son had a reaction to peanut by just inhaling the air in the classroom. The teacher had forgotten about his allergy & my son paid the price. Scared the teacher to death.....

I also agree with the need for healthy snacks only.....but both the yogurt & cheese are dairy!

Our kinder teacher specified certain fods and said certain foods were on the banned list.
Because of my own daughter and her rice allergy, granola bars and rice cakes got the boot.

I would bring in healthy snacks at my time. Then not worry about what she gets the rest of the time. It's just a snack, she eats well at home, obviously, and the other mothers are also trying to pay attention and figure out what's good to bring. A little cheez whiz (gag) wont' hurt her.

I really feel for the parents of kids with nut allergies because you are putting your child's health at the mercy of other parent's watchfulness. We have a variety of food allergies here and we are diligent about the ingredients of food. Still, every once in a while something sneaks in and one of us gets sick. So we are so careful--I can't imagine other parents being as careful not living with it!

I would talk to the teacher about healthy snack alternatives.

My son has a peanut allergy and I totally get what you are saying. Not every child with a peanut allergy will have the same reaction if they come into contact with something nut related. To answer your question about the granola bar, yes it is possible for a child to have a bad allergic reaction if he/she plays with the same toys, unless of course your daughter washes her hands after her snack. In my son's case, it probably would not be an issue but I would not want to take that chance that this one time something might happen. We go to many public places and who knows what he is coming into contact with but I would at least expect his school to be a safe place.

Why are parents being asked to supply snacks? In my son's school, his classroom is considered peanut free and all parents are informed of this when school starts. Parents supply snacks for their own children but the teachers do not go around reading the ingredients...that would just take too much time. If there is a party/celebration and a parent wants to provide snacks/treats for the class they are once again reminded that the classroom is peanut free and the school nurse is consulted to make sure that the item is okay. I have even had the teacher contact me directly to make sure that my son could have a certain product.

Does your daughter have to eat the snack provided or can you still send her in with her own snack as long as it is peanut-free? I would talk to other parents because you may not be the only one who feels this way. If they are concerned about peanut exposue they should make the classroom a peanut free zone and send home a list of acceptable snacks.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

1) Yes it can cause a reaction in the allergic child. Sometimes a very serious reaction... inability to breathe for example.

For some, the 'residue' from nuts, on any surface, will direly affect the child.

Why can't you bring in your own snacks for your child? Will they allow this? So it is not processed stuff?
Fruit.
Veggie sticks
cheese

It is also just a snack at school. She will not be eating like that all day nor at home.

Or, the Teachers, CAN specify in a list... of what foods are not acceptable. Like junk food.
My kids' school, specifies, what kind of snacks, are 'suggested' and per health. They actually say, junk food is not ideal, for snack for the kids AT school.

First of all, YOU are awesome. You are educating yourself so that everyone, including your daughter and the child with an allergy can have a safe, healthy environment. After reading some comments on this site, you have to realize that your understanding attitude is rare. I applaud you!

Second, it's not overkill. My friend's son needs a shot from an epi pen if he comes in contact with even a TRACE of peanuts. So scary! I personally know quite a few kids with severe nut allergies. Allergens are at an all time high.

There are tons of nut free options that are healthy. Good luck on your search!

Parents could be asked to supply snacks if the child is allergic even to things processed on equipment also used to process nuts. I'm allergic to tree nuts, but I haven's shown a tendency to react to foods processed on equipment also used to process tree nuts. However many nut allergic people are that sensitive. If this child is and everyone is eating the same snack the teacher only has to check one bag to make sure it doesn't contain trace amounts of nuts or processed on nut processing equipment; otherwise she would have to check everyone's snack.

I LOVE Karen Crisalli W's answer, what a GREAT solution for all concerned!

Hi, very interesting question. Yikes! I am shocked that the parents have to provide the snacks for all of the students in the class. I would think this would get quite expensive. Anyway, my daughter would be one of those kiddos who is alleric to everything. You name it... Latex (obviously not a food - but think bandaids from the nurse), Oat, Egg, Peanut, Shellfish, Soy, Corn... The list goes on and on. I have always provided her snacks. Luckily for us, she does not seem to react when being in the presence of peanuts (though she has never been THAT close to someone eating them). Her L. sister eats peanut butter but knows she must wash her hands and face afterwards. I have always provided her snack for school as well as her lunches. When she was in girlscouts, I was the "snack mom". I contacted all of the parents to get a complete list of food allergies prior to coming up with a snack list. I agree with you that if you all need to do this (provide snacks), it should be a group effort, one that should be planned out. More fruits should be given without a doubt. I am shocked that pretzels are even allowed as those are processed on equiptment that processes peanuts. (just an fyi..) Pretzels always sent my daughter into an itchy mess. Last year, we were advised from the school that the government now added Popcorn SHRIMP to the school menu! I was beside myself.. Not a smart move. Well, the resolution the school had for this was to have the "allergy kids" sit at the "allergy table". Well, this did not sit well with me because now these kids who have these food allergies that they have no control over and suffer from every day are being seperated from their class and placed at an "allergy table" where all the other kids know that there is something different about them. Not good for a kids self esteem in my opinion. Well, my daughter decided that she was tired of all of the questions and she was going to brave it out and just sit with her class. *sigh* Anyhow, it's nice of you to say that "if I have to let her eat unhealthy food to keep other people's kids safe" but really...there needs to be a happy medium. Your daughter (nor anyone else) should not have to eat unhealthy snacks from a parent who maybe does not really have the time to make a healthy choice when last min. "oops, it's my snack day" shopping. If you have the time to dedicate to your childs class to help out in this area, I highly recommend it. I applaude you for being a dedicated mom who cares about other kids allergies as well as the health benefit of all of the kids in the class. Good luck..I hope it works out better as the year goes on. It is hard no matter if you are the parent of the child who suffers from these allergies on a daily basis or the parent of a child who is inconvenienced by these allergies. Either way, it's tough. Allergies are no fun and do need to be taken seriously as children/people die every day from a serious reaction...

Maybe you could make a list for the teacher to email out of healthy snacks, our school requests only healthy snacks. We have a child in our preschool class that has a nut allergy and we have to look on the label for nuts in it or even if it was made in a plant that processes other foods with nuts. There are many foods like Cheese its, Nilla wafers, Teddy Grahams, cheerios, raisins, fruit, etc We just sent in a trailmix to my daughter's K class that had cheese its, raisins, pretzels, marshmallows, teddy grahams all mixed in. I would just have the teacher email a healthy list that would benefit everyone. The mom of the child with the nut allergy may even feel safer if she sent a list of safe snacks to the teacher to send out. you can also maybe tell the teacher that you choose to send your daughter's snack each day....

unfortunately, If there were a severe nut allergy just telling parents not to send something with Nuts is no guarentee at all that parents will comply, I would like to think most of the time it is just because they get busy and forget or another family member has to help that doesn't know or what ever. But no. the teacher would have to check every single bag of snack every single day. Then there is the whole disinfection issue you mentioned.

i undertsand the nut allergy thing but i'm with you on the bringing the snacks part.. i dont want others feeding my kid. i think teachers are somewhat slack and babied these days. when we were in school no moms had to help the teacher do her job. today they do and they have all these weird rules like them not having to check all the snacks. then they should type a list of what is ok to bring for your own child. i just dont get it. i do get the part about kids being allergic to nuts and it sucks bci'm a huge nut eater i would be horrified if i coudlnt eat nuts ever again.