What's your opinion/ experience of nut free schools?

[BagOfBags]

I'm beginning to think about schools for DS who has a severe nut allergy. What I'm wondering is what people think about nut free schools. My gut reaction is that they must be a good thing but how has it worked for you / your child in reality? Are nut bans actually enforced or do they create a false sense of security.
Ds's nursery is nut free and his key worker always sits next to him whenever there's food around to make sure he only eats his own. I'm not sure how much supervision he would get in reception.
Thanks for reading.

^littleducks Mon 14-Apr-14 23:08:01
Our school used to ban nuts. And I sent in Nutella sandwiches.

It wasn't deliberate and is obviously a bit dim.

My children don't have allergies and I'm not in the mindset of checking labels.

If my child had allergies I would not be placing trust and responsibility on other parents to keep them safe. People aren't aware/forget what is in things (even with the obvious 'nut' in the name).
Things like not sharing food being strictly enforced and making sure the child understands the risk ate likely to be more effective.^

littleducks - any child who has severe allergies generally knows what is safe for them to eat, and will only eat food that they know is safe, the risks come in when another child perhaps sitting next to them eating nutella sandwices, or peanut butter. This can cause a reaction. Or if your child has nutella sandwiches for lunch, then goes back to class and shares pens, scissors etc with an allergic child when they still have traces of nuts on their hands. Children do not have to ingest (eat) an allergen to react to it!

School staff need to be very alert and aware of allergic kids, and have a plan in place to keep these children safe, making sure where they sit is clean, keeping track of those around them and aware of what to look out for if they react. Getting the kids to wash hands after eating can help. I would say avoid any allergens in the classroom. e.g avoiding nutty cereal boxes, or egg boxes when allergic to egg, avoid empty yogurt pots if allergic to dairy etc etc.

My child has multiple severe allergies. Peanuts, treenuts, egg, dairy, potato and he also has eczema and asthma. You can be allergic to ANTYHING. You can be anaphylactic to anything. If you have potential to have an anaphylactic shock to milk yes you could die and no different to my son who is has potential of ana to eggs, peanuts and treenuts. He still gets nasty instant hives from touching milk and potato or traces left on tables which are unseen to the eye. That is why us previously "normal mothers" turn into paranoid neurotic people over our kids allergies. It is a medical condition they have the possibility of dying from very quickly if they aren't given the right medical care (epi pen) in time.

This sort of information is pretty well known and available. I have a food allergy blog called www.ibakewithout.com the most recent post has more pictures of my son having reactions by touching or being touched by a person that has been into contact with either peanuts, treenuts or egg. You do not have to eat something to have a severe reaction. That is a common misconception so when our kids are small and clearly unable to manage it themselves we expect and are taken seriously on the point that the school should and must take measures to ensure their safety. Wouldn't you want the same for your children? It is actually an unseen disability and people need to start taking it more seriously, if they did we wouldn't have to be so aggressive in our approach to people.

We also deal with a lot of people who just don't believe us at our kids can be that allergic to something.

Food is everywhere, so yes we go to great efforts to help our kids learn to not share food obviously but young kids can't be expected to shoulder that alone at school age.

Also on the question about why more vigilance for peanut allergy.... It is because people can react to it in an airborne way. My friend is severely allergic and had a reaction sitting in the same room as a person eating a bag of nuts.

I know some people see it as an inconvenience because their child cant have peanut butter or Nutella for example but i like to hope that most people will want to teach their kids that it is important to care about others and even though there are always those selfish few most people are amazing and understand it is a real medical condition. Anyone ever want to ask anything i am on facebook and twitter as @ibakewithout

Also forgot to mention. If a child has food allergy and asthma this increases their chance of a severe life threatening anaphylactic shock by an incredibly huge amount.

Peanuts are no more of a problemYou cannot have a reaction to being in the same room as someone eating nuts. They have done blind tests and it is a psychosematic reaction. The only time is bags of peanuts being opened in a confined space and the air circulated ie a plane. Someone who is anaphylatic to rice is just as likely to have a reaction to rice being cooked where the proteins are spread by steam or spray from frying.

You are incorrect. You can have a reaction to being in the same room as someone eating peanuts. Where did you get your information from? Also yes you can react to other foods you are allergic to cooking.

Also yes i agree it mainly happens on planes where the air is circulated, but if that is true then it is true that a person can react to it in a room if the person is close enough to the nuts.

This sums it up better than i can, it's rare but it happens; allergicliving.com/2010/08/25/can-i-react-to-the-smell-of-peanutnuts/

I am not wrong
There is no mechanism to have a reaction,

We'll agree to disagree then.

That article says exactly what i said. You cannot be allergic to the smell of nuts. Problems are in confined spaces when air is circulated which is what i said

I've only skipped through the first page of this thread, I'm afraid. DC's school is nut-free, although I only know this because I'm one of those sad diligent parents who read the 30-or-so-page induction booklet from cover to cover. No other reminders or information.

However, I would hope that (1) the lunch staff are briefed to keep a close eye out for peanut butter and other obviously nutty items, and, (2) if there were children in either of DC's classes with severe allergies (be them to egg, nuts, milk, etc) the whole class would be given detail instruction on how to stay 'clean' of those particular allergens.

I have no way of actually knowing though!

There's a kid at my children's school who has severe nut allergy. They are not allowed to bring nuts to school and we are regularly reminded through newsletters etc.

I would say you need to focus your attention on your little one not eating any food other than what you give him - that is going to keep him safest. And choose a school where they are going to be supportive should a reaction occur.

As i said there is research that shows that the type of rwaction you described is psychosematic. They blind folded people who claimed to be allergic to being im the same room as nuts and the had no reaction when nuts were placed near them

I never mentioned smell actually. I said people can react to it in an airborne way if close enough to the source of the problem.

"The only exception to the above is if peanut protein itself is in the air that you breathe. If a peanut allergic person breathes enough of the peanut protein in the air, the person can have a serious allergic reaction, asthma attack or anaphylaxis. Situations in which this can occur are unusual but can happen. For instance, if a large number of people are opening packages of peanut at the same time – e.g. when peanut packages served on an airplane – and the peanut protein dust gets into the air in an enclosed space."

She never mentioned smell. My son had a reaction to running past a plate of recently poured cashews. He was 2. Was that psychosomatic?

You claimed a friends was reactive to being in thw same room as some one eating nuts. Its that type of reaction that has proven to be psychosematic.

I didn't say where she was in the room and you didn't ask. I didn't say how close she was to the nuts and you didn't ask. As i said we do not have to agree.

www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/pupils-asked-not-to-eat-nuts-in-school-1-2520968

bruffin please read this

The reaction mentioned in that report could be psychosematic. The anaphylaxis campaign say not to ban nuts, if there really was a chance ofbthat type of reaction they would give advice about that type of reaction.
I have a son who is anaphylatic to treenuts and sesame seeds by the way, he has been in schools for 15 years with no nut bans

Ukey- I understand that. My point is that you shouldn't rely on other parents but make sure the other preventative mechanisms are sound (like hand washing, our school doesn't make the kids wan their hands before they eat let alone afterwards).

We normal have chocolate spread so it didn't occur to me when making sandwiches on a rush that Nutella would be a problem. Only people dealing with allergies are going to be on the ball all the time about it. Other parents will make silly mistakes or beer unaware of ingredients.

and are you happy for your son to sit next to someone eating a bag of trail mix, or packet of cashews or similar? Obviously some people are more sensitive than others. If your son had reacted to being in the same room as nuts I expect you would feel differently. You and your son seem to have been very lucky so far. Very glad that is the case for you.

we don't rely on other parents, but we do hope that others would be considerate. we educate our children to keep them selves safe, don't eat anything unless they are 100% sure its safe, that usually means something sent in from home, also most allergic children will have a treat box in school so that if someone brings in treats that are not safe, they are not left out. Just takes a little thought. at the age of 4 or 5 when kids are in school, its really difficult for them to manage their allergies, so yes they DO need help from staff and hopefully some of their friends to keep them safe. Generally children are very accepting of each other and want to help keep their friends safe.

I think we will just have to agree to disagree then

I am just thankful that our school is very understanding with staff who do try to keep allergic children safe, and that friends will also look out for an allergic child and would not wish to eat anything that could make them ill. Or even if they did eat an allergen to at least be considerate enough to wash their hands after. and to remember not to sit near the allergic person while doing so. Its not difficult to be considerate.

This thread has gone a bit weird. Would like to say that bruffin has been around these boards for years (longer than me, I think) and is known for her accuracy in scientific matters - I have checked stuff she has written before.

I understand that children might have pschosomatic reactions - after all, we are constantly drunming it into our allergic little ones that they must be careful around certain foods. Some children may also have genuine reactions to being in the vicinity of allergens - but these children are rare.

I still think nut bans are a bad idea. I have come to this conclusion very slowly over years of thinking, reading, and having a child with severe allergies.

If a child reacts to having nuts or other allergens in the same room, then they are limited in huge ways, e.g. public transport, shops, the street etc. They are used to being ridiculously careful (or at least they should be!) A nut ban in a school won't be safe for those children - it may reduce risk very slightly but they still need somebody sat next to them at lunch and snack times in case somebody forgets.

A nut ban is likely to be socially isolating for them (the whole school saying "we can't eat peanut butter because of Annie and Freddie") - much more so than routinely sitting at a safe table with a support worker and carefully chosen friends.