Is eating Peanut butter before school breaking the ‘nut free’ rules ??

[RenaissanceGraffiti]

Dd has ARFID and autism so has a limited diet . Breakfast is always peanut butter on toast.
School is nut free and one day dd last week dd had gone in and said she had PB when they’d been chatting about breakfast - after school the TA said as there’s a child in the class with a nut allergy can we give dd a different breakfast ?? Surely this isn’t breaking the rules !!

I don't think they can tell you what to feed dc outside of school?

It depends how allergic the child is. It could be a problem for some and life threatening to boot. I have an ARFID child myself so understand how difficult this is for you too.

Of course not. Just make sure sure to wash hands afterwards and maybe give the face a wipe.

My DS also likes peanut butter on toast as his after school snack. I discovered one of the boys in his karate group had a serious allergy so I stopped giving DS peanut butter on karate days.

It's not really about following rules, it's more about being a caring and considerate person.

We always wash hands and brush teeth after breakfast so there’s surely minimal risk? I feel like due to dd autism they were insinuating she’s more of a risk as she’s so tactile with others ? But surely it’s their job to watch and make sure she isn’t all over an allergic child then?

That's ridiculous.

My son has multiple severe food allergies and I don't think any allergy parent would expect this from classmates.
If your child has washed their face and hands there's no issue.

I suppose her request comes from a good place but asking unreasonable things like this is only going to cause trouble.

The problem is she won’t eat breakfast otherwise , it’s her only safe food for breakfast . She has the same foods every day due to arfid

No it's ridiculous

We don’t dress either out of pjs to uniform till after she’s eaten and brushed teeth so there isn’t even any on her clothes just in case

We're asked not to eat nuts on the way TO school. At home, with hands washed, teeth brushed, etc surely minimises the risk...

On the one hand they definitely can't tell you what to do outside school but I guess it would be worrying for the parents if your child had a life threatening allergy sensitive to the merest trace.

If you're making sure child has brushed teeth etc then seems fine. Where do you draw the line? Not eating PB on weekends and evenings? They're probably more worried about the people who have no common sense and would scoff a peanut bar on the way to school.

TA overstepping.

Wash hands, have a drink, brush teeth, and don't wear the school uniform while eating it just in case she ends up with peanut butter on it. But otherwise no, I wouldn't not eat it. DH has an anaphylactic allergy to nuts, peanuts, and sesame, and I will eat these things outside of the house but take care and be aware of it.

I don't know what the risk is but I know we had a child in school who couldn't even be near empty food boxes that have had nuts in them. It's not always about touching as it can be airborne and trigger a reaction that way. You would really need to speak to the school/parent. I would speak to the slt rather than the TA. If it could genuinely cause a life threatening reaction would you really want to carry on giving peanut butter? If it won't then yes it's fine to carry on.

The thing is, where do you draw the line?

My DS's life threatening allergies include milk, but every child in his class (except for one other with a dairy allergy) has dairy for breakfast and lunch. As they should.

There will be children with allergies to various nuts, seeds, egg etc. in the school.

You can't be expected to cater for every child in the school when you're at home, that's just nonsensical.

If the child with the peanut allergy were coming to your home that day, sure, maybe don't serve peanut butter in the morning.
Otherwise, I'd crack on with your breakfast as usual (ARFID or not)

I'm sure other children in class must sometimes have peanut butter for breakfast. If it is vital that no-one does this the school should be making this clear to all the parents
I doubt they will.

@RenaissanceGraffiti sorry yes I understand now that it's not as simple for you to just give her something else.

I suppose you really need more info about how serious the nut allergy is. If this other child could possibly die from coming into contact with the slightest amount of peanut then you or the school need to find a way to deal with the issue. If not that serious the. just normal precautions like teeth brushing and uniform only going on after breakfast should be enough.

I don’t think there’s any evidence the residue of peanuts in someone’s mouth could cause any problems. It has all got a bit out of hand. Some people like this TA tend to want to follow rules through to their most extreme conclusion. It’s an anxiety thing / an inability to make sensible judgements.

Anyway, clean his teeth, wipe his face and wash his hands, and carry on.

Brush teeth, wash hands, wash face. The teacher is bonkers to expect you to not feed nut-based foods outside of school.

@AngelsWithSilverWings

Nut allergies are generally life threatening and most would react to tiny amounts. You can't really predict how much will cause a reaction, there's not really a "safe amount ".

If peanut were the only allergy in the world, what you're saying could make sense but I guarantee there will be other children in his school (and who he meets each day outside of school) with life threatening allergies to lots of food. The top allergies in young children include dairy, egg, soya and wheat.

It's admirable to care and to want to help but it's not practical to avoid allergenic foods in your own home like this teacher is expecting.

I think they are just anxious as dd is so tactile and all over everyone due to her autism it’s an ongoing issue trying to manage that so she learns to respond others personal space etc so I think that’s why they’ve said to us but I dont even know who it is with an allergy so if they mention it again I might ask them to just try to keep a distance between them ?

I’ll go to the teacher first and ask them to clarify the situation. Don’t tell them that it’s the only safe food etc first. Say that TA said this and this and have you understood correctly that eating peanut butter at breakfast is not advisable to other children in class. If they say “yes” then ask them what exactly the concern is airborne, touching, traces on clothes and then explain you situation.
To get more info I would ask a question in a general way first because it could be just misunderstanding from TA side. And don’t ask parents until you’ve spoken to the teacher.

It’s a nonsense. Peanut allergies are not airborne. If her hands, teeth and face are clean, there is nothing to worry about.

I don't think they can tell you what can or cannot be eaten outside school. The child with the allergy must, anyway, be exposed to the allergen when elsewhere.