snack problem at gym daycare

so they have a rule that snacks must be nut free, fair enough, I can see
that when you've got children all sitting down together, even with the best
supervision etc. you can't always stop a child reaching over and sampling
someone elses.

But, pretty much everything you buy says something like "packaged in a
factory that processes tree nuts" and I'd assumed that was fine and so far
it has been, then today, I arrived to find that Ada had had her snack taken
away from her, not just that they'd not given it to her, but that she'd been
sat down, the packet had been opened and then it had been taken away from
her, thankfully she was fine when I came to pick her up, but she also dived
straight into her bag to get them when I got it down from the cubby.

Firstly, I feel that they shouldn't have taken the snack away from her, if
the staff member had a genuine concern, she should have been put in a high
chair, out of reaching distance from other kids and me been informed at the
end that that snack wasn't suitable.

Secondly, I don't think this snack should even have been an issue at all,
I'd put money on at least a proportion of the other kids snacks that had
been decanted from larger containers would have said similar on the large
container. DS has the same snack in a different room without a problem and
both had had the same snack in the past without a problem.

It happens that the staff member that had dealt with this was "in training",
so it's something she's going to take up with her supervisor, I'm worried
that it will go the wrong way and that all staff will be advised that such
products are not suitable and we'll find providing appropriate snacks more
difficult in future. It's all very well suggesting fruit, but at 18mths, all
fruits are still a bit of a choking risk and require more supervision than
she's going to get in that setting. Which leaves decanting things which
already have the warning on, which is a bit two-faced.

Am I really naive in thinking that such products are ok? It would seem to me
that they fall into the category where, that's why you have an epipen?

Anne

In article , Anne Rogers says...

so they have a rule that snacks must be nut free, fair enough, I can see
that when you've got children all sitting down together, even with the best
supervision etc. you can't always stop a child reaching over and sampling
someone elses.

But, pretty much everything you buy says something like "packaged in a
factory that processes tree nuts" and I'd assumed that was fine and so far
it has been, then today, I arrived to find that Ada had had her snack taken
away from her, not just that they'd not given it to her, but that she'd been
sat down, the packet had been opened and then it had been taken away from
her, thankfully she was fine when I came to pick her up, but she also dived
straight into her bag to get them when I got it down from the cubby.

If there happens to be a child with a severe nut allergy, yes indeed something
like that can be a problem.

::snip::

Am I really naive in thinking that such products are ok? It would seem to me
that they fall into the category where, that's why you have an epipen?


I've seen this kind of sentiment before, and I really have to nip it in the bud.

Epipens are NOT NOT NOT a fix. Not any more than having a defribrillator on
hand would make it OK to make a kid with a heart problem run a mile in P.E.!
It's something to be used in an emergency, and such an emergency would STILL
mean a trip to the hospital, and may not save a life when used. It's something
that MAY work to stave off life-threatening anaphylaxis. OK? It's not
"whoopsie, oh well, there's the epipen".

All that said, I *do* think that, if there is such a concern, providing snacks
(if they're even needed) should be the sole reponsibility of the staff. So that
one person can know the concerns and provide the appropriate snacks, instead of
expecting gosh-knows-how-many people who aren't really educated on the concerns
(such as yourself) to do this. This really should be out of your hands and you
shouldn't be hassled about it.

Another thing on the practical side though - if this is the gym daycare, you're
there for - how long? An hour? Hour and a half? If kids needed a snack with
that frequency, Mother Nature would have assured our extinction long ago!
Consider not bringing a snack at all, maybe providing one just beforehand if the
timing is too far from a meal.

Banty

Anne Rogers wrote:

It happens that the staff member that had dealt with this was "in training",
so it's something she's going to take up with her supervisor, I'm worried
that it will go the wrong way and that all staff will be advised that such
products are not suitable and we'll find providing appropriate snacks more
difficult in future. It's all very well suggesting fruit, but at 18mths, all
fruits are still a bit of a choking risk and require more supervision than
she's going to get in that setting. Which leaves decanting things which
already have the warning on, which is a bit two-faced.

Am I really naive in thinking that such products are ok? It would seem to me
that they fall into the category where, that's why you have an epipen?

I'd wait and see what the final decision is. If they
have a highly peanut allergic kid in the school, I don't blame
them for being a bit paranoid. Having to use an epi-pen is
scary, plus it's not going to inspire confidence in the
parents of the allergic child that the school is taking
appropriate precautions.
If the decision comes down that non-nut-containing
foods packaged in plants that process nuts are forbidden,
you might get together with some other parents and suggest
that the school start providing snacks. That's what almost
every preschool does if they have stringent policies about
these sorts of things. Frankly, parents of non-allergic
kids just don't get it and have no idea all the things to
look for on a label, so even well-intentioned parents send
potentially dangerous snacks to school.
Still, even if you have to get the snacks yourself,
it's not all *that* hard to find acceptable snacks. For
almost any kind of snack you're sending now, there's likely
a similar alternative that is completely free of nuts. Do
you have a Trader Joe's in your area? They're a popular
source for such snacks.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Oops, silly me, totally missed the "gym" in the header.
They probably won't provide snacks in that case. So, I'll back
up to the Trader Joe's recommendation if they come down on the
side of strict interpretation.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Oops, silly me, totally missed the "gym" in the header.
They probably won't provide snacks in that case. So, I'll back
up to the Trader Joe's recommendation if they come down on the
side of strict interpretation.

hadn't occured to me that Trader Joe's would have such things, after all,
they do sell nuts, that happens to be where I did buy the snack on the day I
had to provide it at preschool.

I don't know whether it's a legal requirement to state if something is made
in the same factory as something that is made with nuts, or packages nuts,
either here or in the UK, but it would seem to me that entirely nut free
factories are going to be something of a rarity and are likely to have
prices as such. Do Trader Joe's have a nut free factory? or exclusion zone
or something?

Anne

Am I really naive in thinking that such products are ok? It would seem to
me
that they fall into the category where, that's why you have an epipen?


I've seen this kind of sentiment before, and I really have to nip it in
the bud.

Epipens are NOT NOT NOT a fix. Not any more than having a defribrillator
on
hand would make it OK to make a kid with a heart problem run a mile in
P.E.!
It's something to be used in an emergency, and such an emergency would
STILL
mean a trip to the hospital, and may not save a life when used. It's
something
that MAY work to stave off life-threatening anaphylaxis. OK? It's not
"whoopsie, oh well, there's the epipen".

oh I realise that, epi pen, then dial 911, it's just that when such
labelling is pretty much universal, I'd presume for legal reasons. It seems
nothing is ever "guaranteed nut free", or it is, it comes at a price
premium.

Another thing on the practical side though - if this is the gym daycare,
you're
there for - how long? An hour? Hour and a half? If kids needed a snack
with
that frequency, Mother Nature would have assured our extinction long ago!
Consider not bringing a snack at all, maybe providing one just beforehand
if the
timing is too far from a meal.

a little over an hour, admittedly they shouldn't _need_ a snack, but they to
operate to a schedule and 10am is snack time and today that is when we got
there and it would have been pretty mean to have expected them to not sit
down and join in. I may end up giving them it in the car on the way there as
I have a huge box of individual packs that will need to be used!

Anne

Anne Rogers wrote:
Oops, silly me, totally missed the "gym" in the header.
They probably won't provide snacks in that case. So, I'll back
up to the Trader Joe's recommendation if they come down on the
side of strict interpretation.

hadn't occured to me that Trader Joe's would have such things, after all,
they do sell nuts, that happens to be where I did buy the snack on the day I
had to provide it at preschool.

Oh, yes. They have lots of very peanut-free snacks.
That's where our preschool actually buys some of the snacks
they serve.

I don't know whether it's a legal requirement to state if something is made
in the same factory as something that is made with nuts, or packages nuts,
either here or in the UK, but it would seem to me that entirely nut free
factories are going to be something of a rarity and are likely to have
prices as such. Do Trader Joe's have a nut free factory? or exclusion zone
or something?

Their things come from all sorts of different suppliers.
As far as I know, they don't actually do much of any manufacturing.
I haven't had much trouble finding completely nut-free products.
Yes, there are lots of things you can't get, but at least I've
still found plenty of things I *can* get.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Oops, silly me, totally missed the "gym" in the header.
They probably won't provide snacks in that case. So, I'll back
up to the Trader Joe's recommendation if they come down on the
side of strict interpretation.

just looked in the kitchen, I had 3 things that would be suitable for snacks
from trader joes, 2 out of the 3 of them had a similar warning to the other
product, the one that didn't was oriental rice crackers, which neither of
the kids seem to like!

Anne

Anne Rogers wrote:
Oops, silly me, totally missed the "gym" in the header.
They probably won't provide snacks in that case. So, I'll back
up to the Trader Joe's recommendation if they come down on the
side of strict interpretation.

hadn't occured to me that Trader Joe's would have such things, after all,
they do sell nuts, that happens to be where I did buy the snack on the day I
had to provide it at preschool.

I may be way off-base here, but why bring something packaged? At DD1
and DD2's daycare, they had a requirement that all snacks be nut-free
(and in a facility that was nut-free), so simple things like steamed
baby carrots, hard-boiled eggs, very very thin sliced apples and the
like were pretty common.

I don't know whether it's a legal requirement to state if something is made
in the same factory as something that is made with nuts, or packages nuts,
either here or in the UK, but it would seem to me that entirely nut free
factories are going to be something of a rarity and are likely to have
prices as such.

I haven't found that to be the case -- 'Pirate Booty,' 'Mighty Bites'
and all of the other (cra--) stuff are all nut-free
products/facilities.

Do Trader Joe's have a nut free factory? or exclusion zone
or something?

Trader Joes, as far as I know, is a middleman (sort of like the PPO of
food).

Caledonia

Banty wrote:
I've seen this kind of sentiment before, and I really have to nip it in the bud.

Epipens are NOT NOT NOT a fix. Not any more than having a defribrillator on
hand would make it OK to make a kid with a heart problem run a mile in P.E.!
It's something to be used in an emergency, and such an emergency would STILL
mean a trip to the hospital, and may not save a life when used. It's something
that MAY work to stave off life-threatening anaphylaxis. OK? It's not
"whoopsie, oh well, there's the epipen".

As someone who carries epipens due to a life-threatening allergy
(though to insect venom, not nuts, thank god, and as such, I don't have
to worry much about parents sending a wasp venom snack) I'm glad you
wrote this.

I've only had to have epinephrine given to me once, and it's not an
experience I'd care to repeat, let alone have to put a kid through.

I really mean no offense toward Anne (and I know this isn't what you
suggested in the least), but I do get annoyed when I hear other parents
b*tching about how it's not fair to ban PB&J for everyone, due to the
needs of one kid, and how that kid just oughta be carrying epis. Well
yes, they should be carrying epis, but having a peanut-free school
hardly seems like a big deal to the other kids. Like, "oh, my
GODDDD!!! I CAN'T PACK PB&J... WHAT'S THIS WORLD COMING TO!" For
heaven's sack, give them the PB&J when the get home as a snack, and
pack something else.

Sorry for the rant...

Cathy Weeks