having an allergy to eggs and being lactose-intolerant is not the same as being a fussy eater

[purepurple]

My deputy manager in the setting continually refers to a child with an egg allergy and who is lactose intolerant as being a 'fussy eater'.
I find it so annoying.
Some people really should know better.

YANBU
my son is dairy intolerant and was jeered at by lunch time staff at school - 'On a diet are we?'

Some people who should know better seem to think this is an imaginary condition

I have a lactose intolerance, it's really daft the way some people react to it.

These days I tend to just say, no thanks xxx gives me a bad stomach, or that I just don't fancy it - for some reason people seem to undertand that and not go on about it.

I actually LOVE all dairy, just doesn't like me, so people complaining about me being 'fussy' is actually stupid

Of course YANBU. Why are people so foolish?

She is stupid, and very irritating.
She knows full well that it can have serious implications for the child. The child is new, taken out of her previous setting because they failed to manage her condition properly, and kept sending her home with diarrhea caused by them.
She is well qualified to early Years Professional Status, but continues to do it.
I feel a confrontation coming on.

As a lactose intolerant person I would love to be able to eat yogurt but even just licking a tiny bit off DDs spoon has me on the toilet for hours. Hardly fussy.

Is she giving the child unsuitable food?
Or is she just saying 'fussy eater' as a shortcut term iyswim.

(I know a child who, according to his mother, is allergic to nearly all common foods and on a very restrictive diet, and I don't believe her actually
I think she is the one with issues and she is attention seeking.)

Perhaps a doctor's letter would change your colleagues attitude, and establish that it is a real condition.

oh and the 12 mile excusion zone, kept me home for many a week, when I suffered lactose intolerence.

No, she totally understands the condition. Her diet is catered for, she has soya spread, ice cream etc. But she just seems to resent the extra effort it causes, to have separate food. Hence the 'fussy eater' tag.

Some children are fussy, in that they will not eat certain foods. Others have a health condition which means they should not eat certain foods. That is not fussiness. I'm sure the child would love the chance to pick and choose her food. (I remember one of my cousins, many years ago, actually having to be taken to hospital after making himself a large milk-shake when his mother wasn't looking - he wasn't fussy enough!)

It's like pointing to a child in a wheelchair and saying she's too lazy to run about. It's not only horribly insensitive, it's factually incorrect, and a qualified professional should really know better.

my baby has a lactose intolerence.

She had blood in her nappies because I had milk in my coffee.....though I guess she was just being "fussy"

Am happy to say that now that I am dairy free (even though I could kill for a latte!) she is a happy healthy little baby

Speak with the Manager.

That is no way to run a business and no-one should to tolerate this person's attitude. It is even more telling that the child in question is not even your child!
Whether the child is a fussy eater or not is not up for debate - her condition is catered for, it is recognised by the people who matter and anyone who cannot understand that should not have a job in the setting.

If the management is not aware of this person's insensitivity / stupidity then they should be updated asap so they can act accordingly.

YANBU. Your deputy manager should know better.

madamdeathstare, I will try that line

The person in question has worked at the setting for more than 30 years, in fact, she started as the cleaner
It really irritates me because she may have a degree now, but she knows nothing really, except how things are done in the setting.
Sometimes experience isn't always a good thing. 30 years of bad experience is a lot worse than only a few years of good experience, in this instance.
Remember that, all you mums who are looking at nurseries for your children.

It is so sad that allergies and intolerances are still so misunderstood by those who really need to know better. It is good that the child's needs are being met, but there will come a time when she will understand that type of comment (if it is made within earshot) and feel sad about 'being different'.

DD had to be diary free for a while and I was so pleased that her nursery not only were happy to cater for this, but also made every effort to ensure that her food looked the same as everyone elses. So when they had lasagne, she also had lasagne (soya based and totally revolting IMO by DD was happy to eat it).

I do think that PART of the problem is the grown ups who have a new "allergy" every week. I have a friend whois "allergic" to red wine - she gets a headache the morning after after a half bottle or so.

People like this make life difficult for real allergy and intolerant people.

And there ARE people - it is impossible to deny this fact - who put every piece of bad behaviour in their child down to food intolerances. Sentence above applies to them too.