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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

mums going ga ga as nursery says no nuts/products

200 replies

thekidsrule · 23/05/2011 22:20

hi,this isnt about me but happened at my sons nursery today and not sure if the parents ABU

as we collected are children a worker asked all parents NOT to include any nut products in their childs packed lunches as they now have a child with a nut allergy

Two of the parents went mad and were very rude to the worker about the ban

can see both sides but as my son dosent take in these products (peanut butter) etc it wont effect me and is probably why i cant make an opinion on this

so do you think the two parents who object to the ban are BU

OP posts:
JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 24/05/2011 08:55

x-posts there!

sausagesandmarmelade · 24/05/2011 08:57

Yes I do....

I personally wouldn't object to something that could prevent the death of a child.

Same request was made on a flight I was making...I didn't mind.

dribbleface · 24/05/2011 09:00

As a nursery manager and a nut allergy sufferer i can see why a blanket ban is not helpful....however we ask parents not to bring in nut products (we also do not cook with raw egg as we have a child who reacts to whole egg but not egg in products like cakes etc).

We cook and prepare all products on site and check, double check and sign off on all ingredients. It would be pointless to go to all that trouble and then allow nut products in the building. As a nursery you have to consider the legal side too, god forbid a child had a severe allergic reaction on site, would the nursery have failed in it's duty of care? Not to mention the poor staff who would have to deal with the aftermath of such a reaction.

Besides the parents have no right to go mad at the staff, its a simple request.

valiumredhead · 24/05/2011 09:01

Another mum of a severely allergic child here!

Bans are not the way forward and lull people into a false sense of security - proper supervision is.

ExitPursuedByAKitten · 24/05/2011 09:04

I don't have a child with food allergies, and whilst I would hate to be responsible for causing a reaction in another child - I don't think bans are the way forward. I can understand saying 'no nuts' but I cannot imagine having to check every ingredient of every item that I put in my child's lunchbox every morning just in case it might have been prepared near nuts....

crazynanna · 24/05/2011 09:05

DD has has just one really bad reaction which needed urgent medical attention,and that was at home....brainless relative!

I agree that banning products in schools will not necessarily reduce reactions.
You cannot change the world.

bruffin · 24/05/2011 09:06

Actually Dtd
I wasn't dismissing the concerns of people living with allergy, it was all the people who have no experience who think they are experts.
If you can manage your allergies day to day there should be no reason for a ban in one place.

chelstonmum · 24/05/2011 09:10

I would love to see the other parents if it was their DC's who had an allergy!

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 24/05/2011 09:16

For those who are against bans as children HAVE to learn...that is a luxury some do not have, my Dd will be 5 in OCtober and has the understanding of an 18 month old, so she cannot learn this, is it just tough for her and she can die from her nut allergy then?

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 24/05/2011 09:16

And she is in MS preschool at the moment

kickingking · 24/05/2011 09:21

This is normal, I've worked in several schools and they all had a 'no nut products' policy. The same at my child's nursery.

It's a teeny tiny bit annoying as my child likes peanut butter in sandwiches and cakes and he can't have them at school. But the policies are for the greater good, no?

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 24/05/2011 09:26

Fanjo I guess schools need to approach this on a case by case basis.

snailoon · 24/05/2011 09:26

If you are vegan and don't eat sugar, it gets more difficult to find nut/seed free foods. I admit to sending in hummus sandwiches and snack bars with ground sunflower. There's a difference between a bag of peanuts (which is obviously impossible) and a little tahini in your sandwich.

snailoon · 24/05/2011 09:27

If you are vegan and don't eat sugar, it gets more difficult to find nut/seed free foods. I admit to sending in hummus sandwiches and snack bars with ground sunflower. There's a difference between a bag of peanuts (which is obviously impossible) and a little tahini in your sandwich.

Animation · 24/05/2011 09:27

Bruffin - I tell you what my major experience of nut allergies is - having had a friend with a very severe nut allergy - and she died 10 years ago during a bad anaphylactic reaction.

It makes sense to limit foodstuffs with nuts brought into a nursery - ie - 'banning'!

You can also STILL teach your child to be hyper-vigilent at the same time.

thisisyesterday · 24/05/2011 09:32

I always think that it makes far more sense to closely supervise the child with the allergy than to place a blanket ban on an entire nursery/school which you CANNOT police

if a child has a really very very severe allergy then do you also ban children from having peanut butter at home in case they still have traces on them when they come to school?
do you check every single lunchbox every single day in case a parent has not read a label, or forgotten?

I know a child with very severe allergies to nuts, milk, egg and kiwi fruit.

DO you think his nursery should ban all 4? really? this child could potentially die from exposure to milk... but it has never been suggested that they shouldn't have milk in the nursery.

DarlingHusband · 24/05/2011 09:33

They can't have a blanket ban at a nursery. What are the kiddies going to sleep under then?

thisisyesterday · 24/05/2011 09:35

" I can be sure that for the most part things are nut free...which has allowed my DD to go to school. If other children were allowed to sit in the refectory eating peanut butter andwiches and snickers she couldn't attend, simple as that."

that simply isn't true. you can not be SURE. you can hope that people abide by the ban... and this is exactly what people are saying, it lulls you into a false sense of security.
you feel safe sending your child there, as you should.
but what about the day that a child brings in a snickers because his mum just forgot, or he sneaked it in?
suddenly your safe environment is no longer safe, but no-one is worried or looking out for your DD because everyone thinks "it's ok, it's a nut-free zone"

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 24/05/2011 09:36

'a little tahini' could still cause a big problem

Animation · 24/05/2011 09:41

thisisyesterday - No I don't agree - people will not be lulled into a false sense of security. Parents will still remain vigilant and educate their children to do likewise.

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 24/05/2011 09:41

Bruffin - you are making a huge assumption that the people here who have spoken in favour of a ban, have no experience.

And the point I was trying to make earlier was that those parents with allergic children who do agree with the ban are doing so based on their experience and their research and their child - and that may lead them to hold a different opinion to you, but that does not make their opinion any less valid, imo. They are living with the concerns just as much as you are, and your dismissal of their opinions was rude.

I can appreciate how, for parents with nursery age children and young children, a ban on nuts in nursery/reception can make school safer for their children. As Animation says, this does not stop the parents teaching children to be vigilent about what they are eating.

sparkle12mar08 · 24/05/2011 09:44

A very informative thread this, I wasn't really aware of the different stances on the nut ban issue.

On a side note, my son's school does have at least one 'severely' allergic child - as we were told at our induction meeting, but we weren't told whether that meant anaphylactic or otherwise. They do have a nut & nut product ban which I'm happy to support. But we were also told to not send cardboard cereal boxes for modelling if they'd contained nut cereals, and the children in the child's class have been asked not to eat nut based cereals or products before coming to school. That definately caused a stir and I can understand why. Plus it's impossible to enforce. What do mum's of children with allergies think - is it useful in those cases where the allergy in life threatening?

sparkle12mar08 · 24/05/2011 09:46

cross posted with thisisyesterday!

LRDTheFeministDragon · 24/05/2011 09:46

You can make hummus without tahini, FWIW. Toasted cumin is nice instead.

nannyl · 24/05/2011 09:52

i know of a school where bananas were banned as a child had a very serious banana allergy

in secondary school one of my very good friends went into anaphalactic shock and had to be blue lighted to hospital because her arm touched the place on the table where a snickers bar had been previously put down.

If a child (or anyone) has an allergy to something which could be so serious that there is a serious risk it might kill them, then i think it makes sense to ban whatever that is.

If they might just be sick, or get a puffy face, or sneeze then i dont think everyone should have a food item banned, but if so much as touching it could seriously harm them, (especially with young children who might drop stuff on the floor, and its possible that even when sleeping smething may be missed) then a ban is reasonable IMO

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