Not allowed nuts in school

[pingu2209]

A friend of mine is really concerned about a letter home from school and subsequent conversation. Her dd is very fussy and will only eat peanut butter sandwiches. It is a long battle for her and the doctor is very concerned about her weight as she eats very very little. Has to be white bread, no crusts etc. I would go as far as to say it is an eating disorder - she is 9.

Her eating has to be tackled and the mum is getting help. So far the specialist help has said that it is a good idea for her to eat peanut sandwiches as this is pretty much all she will eat and will give her nutriants etc. They said the key is to increase the types of food, rather than take away what little she does.

But the school has said nobody is allowed any nuts, inc. peanut butter sarnies, in school as there are a handful of children with severe nut allergies - that could kill them.

My friend is at a loss. She asked whether her daughter could eat her sarnies away from the allergic children. The school has still said no, just incase there is peanut butter on her fingers etc that the allergic children could accidentally get it on them.

Who is being unreasonable?

Holly, if you are going to quote someone, put it in context FFS!

Pingu said she should not be the only one to be forced to wash, there is a significant difference.

holly they would like ALL the children to wash, so no child is singled out,

I am the mum who forgot that the nut in Nutella stood for, er, nuts. I have now banned Nutella sandwiches. But i do accecpt that there is a very good reason for nut ban at DS' school, I am pleased to report that nothing happened during the Nutella regime (two terms).

one does not trump the other

YES it does. One means almost instant death, potentially.

NEITHER child should be excluded. But one could cause the other to die in minutes. even WITH adrenalin.

YES one trumps the other.

No it doesn't. The situation can be managed with not that much effort.

One could cause the other a lifetime of misery, but that's acceptable to you is it?

One does not and should never trump the other.

Then they should all wash their hands. Lets just hope the allergic child does touch any door handles or taps that the peanut butte child touches.

My son had a reaction to nuts im an outside area where someone had previously sat and eaten nuts. No nuts, no person, it was just dust. Airborne.

Good luck to her school.

I think I will probably get flamed now but I don't agree that an eating disorder is equal to an life threatening allergy.

I agree that all the children obviously need support and help to come to a workable solution.

If one of the solutions is that the child who eats peanut butter sandwiches must wash her hands and face after eating then this needs to happen and I am sure this can be done without 'forcing' or unnecessarily distressing the child.

The school is not being unreasonable. My child has a serious nut allergy. Even a small amount could kill her. What if the class was on a school trip a long way from the nearest hospital or medically trained professionals and a child had an serious reaction caused by another child being allowed to bring nuts on the trip? This is something I have to give serious thought to every time we are asked to provide our children with snacks and packed lunches for trips.
There are food allergies and there are fatal food allergies.

Exactly. Im assuming those who think the situation is 'equal' and 'one does not trump the other' and 'its a simple case of hand washing' have never had a child nearly die from a reaction to food.

Am I wrong?

My friend's daughter must wash her hands and face after eating a peanut butter sandwich but so she isn't made to feel like she is being treated differently, the whole school should be asked to wash their hands and faces after lunch. Basically anything that would single her out could be catastrophic for her eating/mental health.

Poor girl. Poor mum.

Absolutely they should all wash their hands! I think that's what Pingu was implying. It's just one of many steps that could be taken to make the risk to the allergic child almost the same as if there were no nuts at all.

An eating disorder might not be as threatening to life as an allergy, but whether you want to admit it or not, it can be a very serious threat to quality of life. In that a person who has anxiety several times a day and then because the issue hasn't been sorted they go on to have a theatre to their life.

Either way, which is most serious is completely missing the point. Both children have the right to have their medical needs met in their school.

You cannot tell one child that the issue that is affecting their health doesn't matter and that their needs won't be dealt with. You just can't.

I appreciate that those of you who have children with allergies will feel strongly about this, but parents of children whose health is threatened will feel pretty shit about their child's problems too.

how do you stop children eating nuts before school though?

Holly, you are not wrong in my case, but then as I said earlier to another poster, I suspect you haven't lived with someone who has severe food anxiety either, have you?

I would remove my child from a school that relaxed it's policy on serious allergens.

Does washing hands and face reduce risk though?

You cant 'three socks' but the chances are much less, WRT cross contamination. I.e children dont tend to be eating nuts just as they enter the school gates.

But a child eating peanut butter would get it on every item they touched from the sandwich to the sink. Thats the desk, the chair, the door, the bathroom door, the tap.

All sat there, contaminated for however long.

Actually, I side with the school. No nuts.

Evening all

Peace and love
and guidelines

If it doesn't then children are barely protected at all by a nut ban. You can't control what children have for breakfast and make sure they have washed and changed their clothes since eating nuts.

Lots of posters on this thread have allergies themselves or their children do and they do NOT agree with a ban. The anaphylaxis campaign doesnt recommend a ban either, they recommend education and management.

You're not wrong, Holly. I can't believe anyone could argue otherwise . All kids should be able to eat lunch at school with their friends. It's about making it as safe as possible for everyone.

OP, I know the whole idea of a ban seems nuts but I really think it's the safest thing for young children who are still learning to manage their allergy (among other things). I came on the thread to say that it's been successfully implemented where I live and also to say that as a parent of non-allergic kids I know I speak for the majority when I say that nobody in our school community begrudges this...not even for a second. How could you possibly, when you're aware of the possible consequences for another family?

Threesocks, I was just thinking that. I know a few of my children's friends who have peanut butter or nuttella on toast in the morning (not mine as I am a skint flint).

Also, what happens on a school trip to a muesum or other public place and another visitor is eating a bag of nuts or something? Surely the school should have an epipen or something to help a hyper allergic child if they have an anaflactic shock.

Parents with children with allergies, does your child's school do any more than just ban nuts? Is anyone trained to administer something? What happens?

Terrible, it must be so worrying.

I am mum to a very allergic dd. she is allergic to a long list of everyday foods and we discovered this when we started weaning at 6.5 months.

According to DD's allergist, foods like eggs and nuts are 'sticky' meaning that traces can still be found on clothes, toys, surfaces etc. even if things have been cleaned. the anaphylaxis campaign suggest that if allergenic foods are eaten at a table, the only way of getting rid of it is to was the surface down with soap and water.

Children are encouraged to wash their hands before eating, but never after. If peanut butter hands then touch toys, books, whatever, then this could be a serious issue for an allergic child who may then touch that same thing.

I am also unsure whether nut bans work. There are allergies to so many foods that could kill an allergic child that it makes people think nuts are the worst culprit. In reality, they are as bad and any other food to an allergic child. Nuts just seems to have received more publicity because young children have died.

I think if children were encouraged to wash their hands with soap and around their mouths after eating, this would be the best thing, for all children who have food allergies, as banning nuts just deals with one allergen.

But there are some kids who are so sensitive that even being in a room with peanuts or nuts, could mean an anaphylactic reaction, so it's a difficult situation for both the school and also op's friend whose child won't eat anything else.

OP, I hope your friend can work with th school to come to practical solution that ensure the best for all the children concerned.

I live with two people with nut allergy, one who has had anaphylatic reaction. I dont agree with nut bans and if you look on the allergy boards most parents dont agree with them either.
The school taking the correct advice can work around it, so they can accomodate both children.
Of the 150 that died of food allergies only 10 were peanuts, are we going to ban everything that causes anaphylaxis just in case.

I don't begrudge the no nuts rule. I wouldn't have given it a 2nd thought had it not been for my friend being beside herself with worry over her daughter. Her daughter's illness, which is what it is, has caused her years of worry. Can you imagine how many doctor appointments she has had to have to get to the stage that her 9 year old is now seeing eating disorder specialists?

She was practically hysterical after her meeting with the Head Master. The school/he has little 'time' for a fussy eater, well that is my friend's perception of his attitude.

Also, I work in a secondary school. The 1 child I know who has a very severe nut allergy is in year 6, he will be going to the secondary in September. They don't control nuts there.

There needs to be a middle ground where the health issues of all children are addressed.