How often do you/nursery slip up?

[trixymalixy]

It seems like every week DS is given piriton at nursery.

Today he managed to drink some milk from another child's cup and last week they gave him something with egg in it.

I'm not that great myself, I managed to give him egg pasta by mistake before Xmas and he got hold of a milk chocolate the other week.

I just worry that this constant exposure will make him less likely to grow out of his allergies. Luckily he isn't anaphlactic to anything yet!!

Am I the only crap mother that constantly slips up?!?!?

I haven't slipped up yet but have come very close on a number of occasions (and its only been 4 months since DS was diagnosed). Nursery have not confessed to any slip ups but I know he's had at least one allergic reaction, probably two, where he's been extremely upset then sleepy then projectile vomited when he came home.

As you say, I think we are lucky our DSs are not anaphylactic, if mine was I think I would have to take him out of nursery as I can only see things getting worse as he gets older and more easily able to take food from other children, which I think is really hard for them to police.

hmm well I have to say I am super careful with ds2, although he has intolerances not proper allergies thankfully.
that said he has got hold of ds1's milk a couple of times.

i think i would expect nursery to be a bit more careful tbh. what if he had a seroius reaction???

He has mostly had piriton at nursery when he developed new allergies, which is totally beyond their control as it's not something anyone could have predicted.

It's difficult to keep an eye on a single toddler, never mind when you have lots of them to deal with so I don't really blame them. It does make me worry though.

Hmm, I think the nursery need to be a bit more on the ball here. Like you said luckily your child's allergies are not life threatening but there have been terrible stories where children have died from exposure at nursery to allergens by staff who were lax. They should take this opportunity to update their policies and practice before a seriously allergic child is put at risk. It is their job to take proper care of children. Maybe broach the subject to show you're concerned. Some allergies do get progressively worse with each exposure.
If you are interested I have allergy alert badges and stickers that might help raise awareness in the nursery.

the thing is though it shouldn't just be one of those things, not in a nursery setting.
the OP shouldn't have to consider herself "lucky" that her son isn't anaphylactic.

if the nursery can't cope with this then let's hope they never ever get a child with a life-threatening allergy.
if they did they would have to make absolutely 100% sure that he could never, ever get to his allergen.
so why is it so hard to do with a child who only has a mild allergy?????

I think that young nursery age children are particularly difficult because they are very determined, able to walk/move/grab things but have no ability to understand why they cannot have something that other children have. With an allergy to milk which, to be honest, most children will have with breakfast etc, I really sympathise with the nusery. I don't think you can expect them to ban milk, so I think I have to weigh up the risk. I am confident they would not actually feed him milk/egg/soya containing products because everyone knows him and his allergies and they also have signs up all around his room. Its what he might grab accidentally that really worries me.

Has anyone taken their child out of nursery for this reason? It is something we are thinking about and are going to take a decision on once we know if his chest problems are asthma and increase his risk of a bad reaction.

I childmind children with assorted allergies, intolerences and dietary requirements and I would not DARE 'slip up'.

We've had a dregs of tea incident as well babybarrister.

The nursery are well aware of his allergies, they had training from a nurse because of my DS' multiple allergies.

I might have to be brave and ask for a meeting to say I'm concerned about the amount of times he is given piriton at nursery.

I guess the only solution is to give him his snacks and meals separately from the other children, but that would be a bit sad for him.

I would be really loathe to take him out of nursery.

I have a daughter with a peanut allergy and obviously have to be strict on what she has. I just wondered if they could be conditioned to phone you or show you food products prior to giving him. This is what my dds playschool had to do for her. I often got phone calls from them but am a SAHM so it didnt really matter to me. I know it wont help the accidental times when he grabs the other childrens cups ect but may help make a more of statement to be more aware. Yes, its not your fault to make slip ups. Making mistakes happens we are all human. As I said my dd is anaphylactic to nuts and I have failed to notice a usual product that changed nut status. Hate to say! Luckily she had no reaction!

Trixymalizy, my dd has multiple allergies also and is now at primary school.For years she has had to take her own foods and I have to say she goes along happily and never complains. Its just routine really. Its not all so bad and they adapt quite well

It also takes the stain off at parties when they just eat what is given by mum rather than relying on others. Dd goes along with her own foil wrapped cake to go in her own party bag and a choc lolly! She doesnt mind

It's not a fact of life, DS is anaphylactic to milk and has been at nursery/school for 4 years now - there has NEVER been a slip up! I would deffo ask for a meeting, they should have a management plan in place and should be able to cope with making sure he only gets his own food. Our preschool always made sure the kids sat in their own place and kept their hands to themselves, not only from an allergy point of view but partly to teach them basic manners! School don't allow food sharing either, all this means my son doesn't feel excluded because he can sit at the same table as everyone eating food he can't have, he doesn't even need someone watching over him all the time as the kids have learned that you don't go grabbing other people's food.

Oh, and for the record, I've slipped up myself, due to label misreading - another reason why nursery/school shouldn't as they can double check with other staff, when you're on your own at home it's not so easy.

I have to agree with Mumfie68... My DS2 is anaphylactic to milk & wheat and severely allergic to eggs & soya. There have been no slip-ups at nursery. He's now 14 months and has been going there 2 days per week since 7 months. I provide all his food and he eats in a chair right beside the 'group table' so he's still able to feel a part of things. They're extremely careful about any food that's dropped and don't allow children to have food outside of the alloated meal/snack times, which is always at the table.

They always phone/text me beforehand if they're doing an activity they're not sure about e.g. body painting/foam play etc.

I'm extremely happy with the way they handle his allergies. It's such a relief to not have to worry when he's there!

Yes I agree Mumfies68. We read lables every moment of everyday! They only have the time of the play school. Aswell as the fact we get into a false routine of knowing whats safe and can make that slip, whereas they dont and so should always check

DD2 is at nursery (has been for over 2.5 years), she is allergic to egg and they have NEVER slipped up. Infact they are far more careful than i am.

she has a red placement with her photo listing her allergy
her name is on the mealtime board
the cook is well briefed and when she was new would phone me quite regularly to check things.

i don't think there is any excuse actually. the grabbing someone else's milk thing, then maybe, but they shouldn't be walking around drinking anyway - it should be at milk time sat at a table/defined area with supervision. Giving her something with egg in isn't just a fact of life. what was it? Egg is one of those easier than most allergies to control. And yes, the more she is exposed at a young age the less likely she is to grow out of it.

my DDs nursery is Teddies by the way. I think their processes for things like handling allergies are pretty thorough.

sorry, his/he not she

and don't they phone/contact you before giving piriton? obv in an emergency they would just give it and call 999 at the same time!

They managed to give him Quorn mince which has egg in it.

They don't phone me before giving piriton, I only find out when I go to pick him up as there is a form to fill in.

They only have milk/food at the table in the separate room that they eat it, so it's not like they were just wandering around with a cup of milk.

Most of the other time he has had piriton is when he became allergic to things he was fine with before, e.g. soya, lentils and split peas, he reacted to when he had at nursery.

i think i do need to request a meeting.

quorn mince is clearly labelled as having egg. i nearly gave it to dd2 once but checked and was surprised.

good luck with your meeting - have you tried to build up a relationship with the cook? I popped into see her at dds nursery, told her how much i appreciated her extra efforts and make sure i get her a gift at christmas etc, not just for her carers.

see that's just plain laziness IMO. they need to be checking everything before giving it.

it sounds a bit like a case of "well, he'll be ok if we dose him with piriton, so doesn' tmatter if he gets something he isn't supposed to have" iyswim?
they need to be more careful

My dd has been at nursery for a year and they have had one incident where she grabbed cake from another child. And she has reacted to something new there but thats beyond their control. Both times they have phoned me and taken it very seriously.

We haven't slipped up yet but only have one dd and we've only known about her allergies for 18 months. She is allergic to egg, lentils and several other things - so easier not to slip up than with milk allergy.

I haven't read all the postings but I must admit the nursery that my DDs go to is brilliant. They always call prior to administering calpol or if either of them are unwell. They always rub eczema cream is any of my DDs have a flare up. My DD is on nutramigen and one time when she randomly tried to eat another child's cereal which had cows milk in it, they quickly phoned to tell me and asked what they would like me to do. At meal times both DD have their own dinner placements which lists all the things they cannot eat and as the nursery cooks thier own food, they have seperate food pre counters to cater for different needs. I must admit I am a very fussy person, but as mentioned I am exteremly happy with whereboth my girls go as the statt are wonderful, attententive and very supportive of parents.

pre- prep