Well, it's been about 2 1/2 months since our little food allergic daughter has been in preschool. She is allergic to milk, egg, peanuts and tree nuts. Her little bubble of safe food and never being around a potential hazard has been altered. And I can honestly say all is going very well. She eats snack and lunch at school. Her teachers know to read the labels and have a stash of snack bars (Enjoy Life and Glutino) and some snack size Teddy Grahams and Oreos that I stocked up on after Halloween.
Lunch is a little different story. It took a couple months to get the ingredient lists for the items from the school district. And some of those are even a year old. But if I don't think it will be safe, she eats something else. She really likes soybutter and jelly sandwiches. Typically there is fresh fruit and veggies (way to go!) from the school district lunch, so we just make up the rest later in the day if need be. She's a typical 3-year-old who eats when she wants to eat. Lucky for us, I work in the same building that she attends preschool. That's a load off my worried shoulders (and for her teachers, too). Her teachers have told me that she knows about her food allergies and doesn't mind eating something else.
On a side note; we were eating a chips and salsa at a restaurant last week. Our daughter asked if she could have a tortilla chip. I handed it to her and told I wasn't sure if it had food allergies, but it's probably okay (I carry Benadryl everywhere we go just in case). She pulled back and said "no" and decided not to eat because it could have food allergies. What a smart little 3-year-old!
While her reactions thus far are fairly mild (as far as we have seen), you never really know what may happen if another child spills milk or touches her after eating peanut butter. There are days I pick her up and her face is rashy. But she's a rashy kid. She could have rubbed her face on a toy that was cleaned with soap that made her rash up. She sometimes is rashy while eating a completely allergy free meal at home. There just is no rhyme or reason. But I wanted to share our slow transition to the real world and dangers for a food allergic child. And to those of you just starting out on this journey, it does get easier. It does.
A little update
10 years ago
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I used to trust teachers to read labels until one gave my son a pretzel from a facility with peanut contamination. (She stopped after reading the ingredients and didn't the facility warning.)
ReplyDeleteNow the only food that my son eats at school is what I provide. It's just not worth taking the chance for me!
Thank you for this! My 2 1/2 year old with allergies to tree nuts, shellfish, lemon and coconut started a mom's day out program and will start pre-school next fall 3 days a week. Luckily, the pre-school is a nut-free school and the teachers have been great with reading ingredients and learning about the epi-pen. Knock on wood, no reactions so far, but I don't think my daughter is too allergic to coconut or lemon--which should be the only potential allergens she would come across. But I am avidly following your journey and reading about it gives me hope, thank!
ReplyDeleteNicka