To remove ds from this nursery

[Auntiedotty]

My son has a cows milk allergy and has been given beef chilli for lunch with cheese on top. The nursery know all about his allergy and I have even gone to the lengths of creating an information sheet for them to explain what he can/can't have. I picked him up after lunch yesterday and nothing was mentioned about the cheese until I rang to ask exactly what he had been given for lunch as he was showing signs of a reaction, and was then told about the cheese. He has now been vomiting all afternoon and overnight and has come out in a rash and we have all had a very miserable night with lots of wind/crying and not much sleep.
Aibu to pull him out of this nursery and find another? This is the first incident that I am aware of with my ds but I do know there was an incident a few months ago with another child who has a much more severe allergy who they had to call ambulance for.
Thanks

Yanbu if you don’t feel comfortable knowing that they are taking allergies serious then find somewhere that does. Hope your little one will be ok

As a parent of a daughter who had a milk allergy and a very violent one YABU you need to discuss and get them to sort it first. If they don’t then pull him. Totally get the worry but at least give them chance to sort it.

If it’s any help daughter now 19 and is a Cheese monster and loves ice cream. But still won’t have milk.

Not unreasonable. If I liked the staff, and it was generally a good nursery I would meet the manager to see if they could reassure me it wouldn't happen again. The ambulance for an allergic reaction is a big red flag though. It's at that point that changes should have been made to tighten up on procedures.

Yes.

The previous incident should have prompted an incident report and process review. They sound hopeless. Would also report to OFSTED as it's a safety issue.

This is very serious op and needs reporting. I can’t believe they slipped up again after the ambulance incident

I think the two incidents combined point to a culture of not taking allergies seriously enough so yes, I would move him.

This is very serious
While your child is relatively ok despite his discomfort which is bad enough, another more sensitive child could lose life over negligence like this. They should absolutley know better.

Yes remove him immediately - I would think that following basic allergy needs should be quite straight forward and there is no excuse to slip up.

At the nursery where i send my DC, they have a form which describes the allergy, which they make every member of canteen/nursery staff sign to say they understand the allergy for the affected child. I had to sign it last, then it goes in their file. Allergic kids get named, sealed meals suitable for their individual needs. Sounds like this nursery needs to tighten up procedures before they hospitalize any more children, this is basic stuff. YANBU!

As someone who has worked in nurseries for years I think this is absolutely unacceptable and I have immediately left working in nurseries that don't take allergies and dietary requirements seriously enough, so to me you are totally not being unreasonable to want to pull your DS out as he is the defenceless person this has happened to. Some people might say "oh it's just a milk allergy" but it's about the lack of due care and attention that this incident symbolises.

Given that this nursery has just had an ambulance incident you would have expected tighter procedures and changes to policy to prevent it happening again - the fact this has happened to your DS so soon after that shows severe lack of care. I would report to Ofsted and definitely find a new nursery.

Thank you for all the opinions you have shared. I am going to ring on monday and ask for a meeting with the manager. I feel so let down as they 'sold' the nursery to me by being so open and honest about the previous incident and sharing the learning report etc with me so I felt they were on top of things allergy wise.

You don't have confidence that this nursery can provide a safe level of care now, so absolutely not unreasonable to remove your DC immediately.

I had similar, and the nursery wouldn't even apologise, or say they would take steps to prevent the mistake reoccurring, so I removed my child.

In my child's current nursery they have individual placemats for each child, which detail any allergies or dietary requirements.

Go and see management and have strong words. Get them to show you the measures they’re putting in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Inform OFSTED.

I would have lost confidence in them too and would probably remove my child

I'd feel a need to do something before a child dies in their care. This sounds horrendous.

This isn't good enough, OP.

I would remove my child. You can't take chances like this.

Someone at this nursery is remarkably blasé. Do they imagine people invent the severity of allergies for attention?

Is it going to take the death of a child before they realise?

Dreadful.

I'd remove and report

It’s totally unacceptable. Especially with the recent news reports about deaths from allergies, you’d think they’d be extra cautious. I’d find somewhere else or look for a childminder.

The fact that this happened after having a child with such a serious reaction that an ambulance needed to be called says to me that they have not taken it seriously enough.

That was the point where all allergy procedures should have been tightened up.

I would want to know exactly at which point the check failed and why there were no other points that the allergen was identified before your child ate it.

Did the kitchen staff 'forget'?
Did the staff in the room at the time know about the allergy?
Did the staff see the cheese on top of the pie, if so did they question it?

I'd be furious! My DS has a severe egg allergy, and as such he sits on the "allergy table", he has red crockery, and a placemat with his allergy on it. His first reaction sent him to A&E. you don't mess around with allergies!

I work in a nursery and there’s no excuse for this. Not telling you until you rang is horrendous.

Report to ofsted, ask to see their policy, write a strongly worded letter and ask them what they intend to change to ensure this doesn't happen again. Then decide.

What they have done is absolutely unacceptable, completely. You would be well within your rights to withdraw him and contact Ofsted but I do think it is worth a discussion with the manager first and see if they respond appropriately and accept what they have done and can show you what they have changed to stop it ever happening again.

Yanbu at all.
The ambulance incident is scary. that should have prompted them into putting in extra measures to ensure that doesnt happen again.
I would have a meeting with the manager and also pull him out immediately. They cant be trusted. Hope your ds is feeling better.

I'm a qualified nursery nurse and worked in nurseries for years. This is completely unacceptable and obviously you don't need anyone to tell you that as you already know. If it were a one off and the manager and staff responsible took you in for an honest meeting to discuss how it happened exactly and how they would ensure it would never happen again I might let it go if all other aspects of the nursery were fantastic.
However since it is at least the second incident I wouldn't have any trust in them and would not wait for it to happen again. I would remove your child whilst putting in a written complaint saying why to the nursery and detail exactly how it affected your poor child. I would also report to Ofsted and they will be actioned on it as it is so serious.
I bet you anything if you look up their Ofsted report that first incident will already be on there which is why the nursery told you about it (because it sounds slightly better coming from them!)
I hope your child is ok. I'm a childminder now and would highly recommend you find a good one as in my opinion many nurseries are busy, hectic places with larger numbers of children and various staff and this is one reason why things can be missed.