..would you make them sit at the "nut-free" table for lunch?
I'm sending my DD to public school next year and it's making me scared. There have been a lot of peanut/nut related deaths of kids lately in the news and it's sobering, the kind of allergy I'm dealing with. The school nurse said that I can seat her at a nut free table, or not, it's my choice. What would you do?
pomegranate / 3388 posts
How allergic is she? I'm just thinking of my daughter who does not have a nut allergy, and how when she eats PB&J, the peanut butter ends up all over her hands, and everywhere else too. For this reason, I never feed her PB&J outside of the house b/c I'm worried she'll get her peanut butter all over some kid who is allergic, and they'll ingest it.
In your case, I think I would be worried about other kids having peanuts and then inadvertently feeding them to your daughter, which would probably make me lean toward the nut-free table. It kind of sucks that they isolate kids with allergies in that way though.
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
How bad is the allergy? In my school I can only recall one student sitting at a nut free table. If the allergy is bad enough I would do it. She can always have friends sit with her there that don't have nuts in their lunches.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@skibobrown: @swedishfish: My DD has only gotten hives in the few exposures she has had. However, with this type of allergy, you don't know how bad the next exposure will be. The cafeteria is nut free, but I would imagine there are parents sending PB&J to school with their kids. It's hard because I don't want her to be an outcast (being dramatic here) but I don't want her to be exposed, either.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
So, what is the policy exactly? The school is nut free, or just the cafeteria? Why does that require a nut free table?
For me, the biggest thing would be the table itself...like what if a kid had a sammie with peanut butter and it got on the table?
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
Luckily the school we are sending her to they will send out a note to all kids detailing that a child has a nut allergy and to please not include nuts into lunches if you send your child with one, and the school no longer serves peanut butter as an option. I hope this will prevent her from having to isolate herself from her friends. I just don't want her to be the "weird" kid with all her allergies.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@looch: I believe the policy is that the cafeteria does not serve nuts in the school lunches. However, they don't force other parents to be nut free. So thats why the nut free tables are required, in case another child has nuts in their lunch.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@T-Mom: Ok I see.
I personally would be okay with the entire school being nut free, as a parent of a child without a peanut allergy. My son loves peanut butter, but there are other times of the week he can eat it.
honeydew / 7917 posts
LO has a peanut allergy, but he is only affected by it if he eats peanuts. I don't mind if he sits with others who might have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. I did go to school with a girl who was very much allergic and couldn't be exposed to anyone with peanuts nearby.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@looch: yeah, it would be great if they asked everyone to be nut free and actually enforced that rule (and if all parents were willing to abide by it). But I understand if they don't want to take a hard line on that. It's funny, a friend of mine posted something on facebook about peanut allergies and there was a heated debate about how hard of a position that puts other parents in.. e.g. this one lady had preemie twins and pb&j was the only reliable food she could get them to eat, so what is she supposed to do, etc etc.. I stayed out of that one haha.
grapefruit / 4110 posts
I would sit them at a separate table. Yes, it is hard to make them feel different but they are different and likely will be for a while. Peanuts are the only allergy that terrifies me. You may be able to talk to the teacher about only allowing hot lunch at her table. But I would also talk with her new friends. If they don't bring peanuts in their lunch, they can eat with her.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@yin: so far, my DD has never had an anaphylactic reaction, and she has to ingest it as well. So far she just gets hives. But I just get really nervous. Kids are messy. Or what if her next reaction escalates to something worse than what she's seen? But I also realize I can't keep her in a bubble, either (unless I want to home school her, I guess).
honeydew / 7488 posts
@LuLu Mom: That's really nice, I hope my school will send a note like this, maybe that is something I can request.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
@T-Mom: I'm very happy about this they also say no peanuts/ect. in holiday/birthday snacks, and must send an ingredient list with everything. Crazy to think how none of this was a factor when we were kids!
honeydew / 7488 posts
@LuLu Mom: that's great that your school is really on top of things. My kids' current pre-school/Kindergarten is really good about asking the parents not to bring any group snacks that have nuts (and actually they all have to be pre-packaged with ingredient labels). However, just the other week a parent brought a box of peanut butter cookies as a birthday snack (the teachers realized right away and the cookies actually never even made it past the door into the room). I couldn't believe it! Of course I know that if your child doesn't have allergies, it's probably not as much on the radar. But it was a wake-up call that it's impossible to expect everyone to follow the rules. I have to train my DD to be vigilant, and I have to educate as many people as I can as well.
I'm just not sure how things are going to go at a huge public school where it's just impossible to know what's in every kids' lunch.
apricot / 349 posts
i'm just curious...but will allergic reactions gradually get worse over time?
I breastfeed my 8.5 month old son and his eczema flares up when I eat peanut, egg, soy or wheat (these were the highest allergens detected from his allergy test). As he grows older, will his allergic reaction (eczema) morph into something more serious (ie: shock)?
I am learning alot from this thread and want to equip myself with as much information as possible related to food allergies.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
@butterbean: Every kid is different, hopefully allergies get better over time and some can go away, but it really is on an individual basis! I'm hoping my daughter's egg allergy is already disappearing at 11 1/2 months, we will have her tested again in a a couple weeks to see how the reaction is. We have never given her nuts and only know of the allergy based on the test, so we have no idea what kind of reaction could happen or even how allergic she is (contact/indigestion/ect.)
nectarine / 2274 posts
@T-Mom: LO is allergic to peanuts as well, he's 14 months. We have been keeping him home for as long as possible, fearing the same.
Have you done peanut allergy component test on your LO? Our allergist told us about it, we plan to do it for LO before we send him to school.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
DD has a peanut allergy and I just assumed that I would have to sit her at the nut free table. I wonder if our school gives an option as well. That is interesting.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
This is my fear as well. Noelle has a level 7 (out of 10) peanut allergy and has already been exposed twice. She only reacts when she ingests the actual peanut/peanut butter and is fine if she's next to people who are eating it... but I just get scared that the next time her reaction might be worse. You never know what could happen. Doctors have told me, and I've read up on it too... that subsequent reactions could actually be deadlier than the first exposure.
I wouldn't want to alienate her, but I'd rather be safe than sorry... so I would probably choose to put her at the nut-free table if that was an option.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@butterbean: I have been told that subsequent exposures to something like peanut could actually be worse with each exposure, but it's not a guarantee that would happen either. My DD's allergist said that there is also a small chance that she could outgrow her allergy, but we aren't holding our breath. Hopefully it doesn't get worse with your LO!
@mamabear57: I'm actually not sure what the peanut allergy component test is? I'm guessing we didn't get it, I will have to ask the allergist about it next time. The only info I got is that she is a "2" on a scale of 4 (or 5?) I believe.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@Andrea: @Mrs. High Heels: I'm leaning toward having her sit at the nut free table as well. @brownie: you said it well. The fact is, they ARE different and that's just the reality.
nectarine / 2274 posts
@T-Mom: https://www.uknowpeanut.com/ Here is a link with more information about the testing. The test will be able to tell you the severity of LO's allergic reaction to peanuts.
We're pretty much at the same place, LO is 5 with his allergies and he hasn't even ingested any yet. So, we're worried how back his reaction will be to peanuts.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
You never know when an allergy might worsen. In our family we take every precaution. Never know which exposure might be fatal.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@mamabear57: thanks for that link! I will have to talk to our allergist about this.
@Mrs. Jacks: I know, I'm thinking it is better to err on the side of caution..
nectarine / 2936 posts
I'm a teacher and I know that schools definitely vary as to how they handle allergies. I know at the schools I have worked at PB&J is served in the lunch line regularly/daily. The other huge caution I have is that once a student tried to give an allergic student a peanut butter cookie at the lunchtable. Thankfully a third student knew what it was and quickly snatched it away. I still get upset thinking about what could have happened on that one.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Peanuts aren't even allowed at my nephew's school. My SIL got in trouble for sending PB crackers once
honeydew / 7488 posts
@mrs. 64: oh my goodness, my heart just skipped a beat reading your story! 
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
Exploiting allergies is the next frontier in bullying. I hope the school handles the matter well from the beginning, so these nut-free tables are not targeted.
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