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Thread: Food allergies

  1. #21
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    My family has two life threatening allergies plus other allergies (hyper sensitivities). We already have a lot of foods that can't come into the house. It's not as simple as saying it's easy to go peanut free. It's a staple for my family. I also have a non meat eating child who eats peanuts daily. We eat a lot of peanuts and peanut butter. I admit I don't serve peanuts often to the daycare and they have peanut butter about every other month. But the kids above two will have snack that may contain peanuts, I buy a lot of school snacks for my family that has peanuts and give those to the kids sometimes if we are having snack on the run. My family has certain safe foods and it would mean going back and starting to read labels again and getting my family on board.

    Maybe if we didn't have our own allergies it might not seem so hard to remove another food from the house. I've never had a peanut free daycare, not served peanuts to children under two, so I've had substitute snacks handy.

    But the child has had no more than a rash/hives from eating a large amount of peanuts. The allergist said that the allergy may never become life threatening. The reason is because the testing showed the child is not allergic by smell or touch. They aren't even re testing for 4 years.

    Money is tight at the moment and I have 3 spaces out of my 5 coming available soon. Finding children is a nightmare in my area. Been looking 7 months for my sep space and it's still not full. If I terminate 1 more that leaves me with 1 child come jan. So it's not a simple decision. I've seen good caregivers quitting in my area because they can't find children.

    I'm torn between trying to make money but my family does not want to go peanut free. That's why I was asking if there is a middle ground especially when the child has been with me a few months and around peanuts the whole time without even a rash.

  2. #22
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    I think the problem is that sometimes parents will say that a child is allergic to something when its acually a sensitivity to something. My ds is allergic to penicillin-full of hives (top of head and bottom of feet) next time it can be even worse, now dd has a sensitivity to yellow dye--she throws up bright yellow till its out of her system, but its easier to say allergy so she can avoid it rather than saying a sensitivity and her eating it.

    now I have watched kids with peanut allergies (I have one now) and an egg allergy. Its not that hard, once you start you will know. I read labels, feed my kids all the same stuff and no one complains. We do eat alot of fruit lol!

  3. #23
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    My son is vegetarian and while seeds and nuts are a great part of his diet, it does not need to be peanuts. In fact, nuts of any kind to frequently are not good for you as they are extremely high in fat.

    I think the middle ground is to not serve peanuts or peanut products all together during daycare hours. You then say you are not a peanut free home but you do not serve anything with peanuts in it to your daycare children. There is obviously still a risk of cross contamination but the risk towards the child has been reduced.

    But the child has had no more than a rash/hives from eating a large amount of peanuts. The allergist said that the allergy may never become life threatening. The reason is because the testing showed the child is not allergic by smell or touch. They aren't even re testing for 4 years.
    ...The allergist said MAYnever be life threatening, this is a very uncertain statement meaning "I don't know", but who really knows how things might change. You can take the risks as you so choice with your own children, but with someone else's child its a huge liability. Also with all your experience with allergies, you still can not compare one person to the next, so you really shouldn't down play the allergy of another persons child because you never know how their next reaction will be.

    Most of the time people say put your family's needs first but in the case of the safety of someone else's child in your care, regardless of all the but's, maybe's and uncertainties, their safety has to be priority. You need to do what's right for you but not if it puts another child at risk.

    If you are comfortable with the middle ground of not handling peanut products during daycare hours, but not being a peanut free home then It may reduce the risks somewhat and you can still serve peanuts to your family. I would however be asking the parent's to sign a waiver so they agree to this arrangement in writing, and to prevent any comebacks on your part. Then it's down to the parents to decide what their comfort level is.

    Everything is okay, until it's not.

  4. #24
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    Momofnerds I agree with you. There are times sensitivities are called allergies. I don't think this is necessarily the parents fault but the doctors / allergists. One of my old doctors explained to me that there is a difference between an allergy, hyper sensitivity, and sensitivity to foods. Doc explained that a food allergy the person will go into anaphylaxis shock if exposed / ingested. Hyper sensitivity is when the person who is exposed to the food has a rash or hives and vomiting/runs but doesn't have anaphylaxis. But my other doc says any type of reaction means an allergy. Which is right, I don't know. I gave up trying to research the answer, and just differentiated it for my families allergies. I think if there is a difference than people with hyper sensitivities and sensitivities should be better educated. I think labelling every type of reaction an allergy will send some into a panic where panic may not be needed. But, truthfully, I found the same thing when it came to my daughters asthma, I did my research, attended asthma workshops and such, and it seemed that I was more knowledgeable than some doctors. With years experience I have come to realize that doctors are general practitioners, they know the basics and that is why they send us to specialists.

    My daughters are allergic to penicillin too They broke out in full body rashes their first exposure. I remember begging my doctor to let me try penicillin a second time with them just to ensure that they were allergic to it. The chances are high seeing the allergy runs in both my family and my husband's, so they have never had penicillin again. Not by my choice but because the doctor wouldn't allow it. Though, my oldest has been accidently given eye drops that had penicillin in them and else than her complaining that her eyes burned when they were put in, nothing more severe happened. So I'm not convinced they have an allergy, maybe just a sensitivity.

    My daughter is allergic to red food dye, she has never thrown up as a result. The first exposure was head to toe rash/hives. She was only 6 months when we discovered the allergy, so we eliminated it from her diet/medicines, and I have to admit, it became 2nd nature so early in the game. Every now and then we will try out red food dye and it has never gone away, she still gets rashes, but now she has swelling of the tongue and throat I haven't done much research of dye allergies, but you are the first person I've met who also has a child with one. It's nice to know that there are others, I think food dyes are common allergies though.

  5. #25
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    Oh, I am curious about the waiver as it has been mentioned a few times?

    Would anyone be able to provide an example of the content?

    We had a verbal agreement/understanding that I would still continue to serve peanuts and that neither my home/daycare or the family home were going to be peanut free. So the waiver would prevent the parent from coming back and saying that they never knew my daycare/home wasn't peanut free, in the event that a reaction occurred while the child was present (hopefully that would never happen)?

    Thanks
    Last edited by Rhonda; 07-31-2013 at 08:24 PM. Reason: spelling

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