Just because you personally haven’t heard this, doesn’t mean that it’s not common knowledge.
I understood what you were saying and I agree; many people wouldn’t understand the severity of it. But you’re not running a daycare, the people who are should be well aware of the risks involved. You don’t get a daycare license here without having first aid courses, etc. I’m sure Mass. has similar requirements.
Ah, I didn’t realize that they had a restriction on home-baked goods and supplied a list of acceptable treats. I too would be beyond angry that they did not live up to their promises and did not enforce their policies.
This is not a normal daycare. Places with a duty of care to children have to be very careful. This is ESPECIALLY true when you’re talking about 4 year olds. Kids like this don’t get a tummy ache from peanuts, they don’t get a bit wheezy from peanuts, they can DIE from peanuts. It’s a pretty terminal mistake.
I had one today and crushed peanuts or other nuts is not that uncommon.
Depends, of course you don’t want the kid getting sick, but if the school did not tell you to avoid nuts, the right thing to do is for the teacher/caretaker to ensure the safety of the child with the allergy and remove and apologize to her parents later instead of the parents of the child with the Birthday party.
It sucks for the kid with the allergy but it would suck even more to ruin the kids birthday party. Of course all of this is minor compared to letting a pre-school kid with nut allergies be exposed to unattended nuts.
We went through this from the other side but we were always properly notified and ensured that no nuts went into classes that were nut free. It was very simple notification in all directions. In fact as my daughter’s friend had an allergy, she stop eating her PB&Js so she could sit at the table with her friend. I thought that was pretty cool of her especially at age 6.
Not to mention that one of the problems with young kids is that they can’t be trusted to watch out for themselves very well. When I was in high school there was no nut-free policy, but we were advised to be careful because one of the girls in my class had an allergy. We were old enough to understand how and why to be careful about such things, so no policy was needed. A four-year-old is another story–even if the OPs daughter is careful, it’s all too easy for her or another kid to slip up and cause a problem.
I agree there. I wouldn’t even know where to begin, and would be totally unqualified.
With the current state of the peanut industry, feeding them to anyone right now seems like a bad idea.
Now, now, mhendo. They aren’t rat parts and droppings, we considered them “bonus protein” and its free! 
Anyway, muldoonthiefI applaud you moving your daughter to a new daycare, and give them both barrels on Monday. That kind of behavior is completely inexcusable in a child care environment of any type. My daughter’s preschool has a no nuts policy and it is spelled out in any communication from the facility concerning food. As far as I am aware, there is not a single kid that has an allergy currently at the school and they still will not deviate from the policy so as not to set any precedent. They provide a list of approved foods that can be served and will not serve anything that is not covered by it.
My daughter does not have any food allergies but one of her best friends outside of school has a severe tree nut allergy so I have seen first hand how bad it can be.
This has to rank high on the username/post irony scale!
Common knowledge: I think there’s a large difference between “a large portion of 100 randomly selected individuals know this” and “people likely to come in contact this issue professionally or socially should know this.” People dealing with younger children professionally should be aware of allergens and their dangers, since the kids cannot reasonably be expected to. I would even say parents wanting to supply treats for their kid’s daycare have an obligation to find out what cannot be included.
I recall reading, aghastly, of someone telling of an incident where a first grade teacher was attempting to insist that a child try the peanut butter cookies that a classmate’s mother had baked, even though the child was doing its best to explain he/she was allergic to peanuts, several years back.
Well, I spoke to the director of the center a little while ago. She apologized up and down, said she has gone over all the rules with her staff again, etc. I simply told her our daughter would not be returning. She didn’t make a fuss about refunding the deposit & 2 weeks notice. We’ll still be filing a complaint with the EEC once we cash the check.
Heh- my kids did that too! They’re good guys.
Believe me, it is no big deal to bring treats that are appropriate for all kids in a classroom. In my sons’ classroom, there are a couple of nut allergies and a no-gluten, and I can easily find cookies at the store that are wheat, nut and gluten free. The only hurdle is caring to do so. 
Report that day care- I don’t ant to hear about them on the news next month, in conjunction with a critically ill child.
As a mom of a type 1 diabetic who is going through her own school issues right now, I feel for you. Our daughter’s room is also nut free, due to another child that has a peanut allergy, and we take extra special care to make sure her snacks are peanut free. It’s like our kids’ classes going on a field trip, and our daughter didn’t have her emergency kit with her. The teacher should have made sure it went.
I agree that the day care should be reported. We’re working on a 504 plan for our daughter: I would make the suggestion that you consider it, too. If the day care receives any federal funds, then the 504 is appropriate.
From here:
If the School Isn’t Cooperative
Most schools want to work with you to develop a plan that will protect your child while helping him become a successful member of the school community. Unfortunately, parents sometimes do encounter schools that are not cooperative. If this happens, remember that your child’s right to a free and appropriate public education is guaranteed by federal law—specifically, by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under this law, the school should not be able to refuse admission to your child because she has a food allergy. Further, it should provide services and modify programs to ensure that she can safely participate in all school activities. Your child should not be excluded from any activity (including eating in the cafeteria or participating in field trips) because of her food allergy.
A “Section 504 Plan” details the accommodations that the school must make for an eligible student. If you think your child needs a 504 plan, contact the Office of Civil Rights, or OCR (a division of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department). You can reach OCR by calling 800-368-1019, by e-mail, or by visiting the OCR Web site.
Let me know if I can do anything to help on this, since we’re going through similar problems. Or even if you just need support or a friendly keyboard.
That’s awful. You should definitely be complaining to the state licensing board or whoever’s in charge of these things. If they promise a specific room where your kid is supposed to be safe from nuts, that room should be, well, safe from nuts! Incredibly irresponsible of them, to the point of reckless.
I have what’s probably a really dumb question, so please forgive me. But: when did all these peanut/nut allergy issues start happening? Have they been using something different in cultivating nuts over the past couple of decades? It just seems that until about twenty years ago, peanuts, nuts and peanut butter were all pretty benign and universal foodstuffs for kids; as someone who grew up in the seventies/eighties, I never knew or heard of anyone* who was allergic to these foods**, and the idea of banning peanut butter from school altogether would have caused a riot – to the contrary, it was pretty much de rigeur for lunch. Jif! Skippy! And Reeces! They were all happily tucked inside our Donny & Marie / Star Wars / Sigmund & the Sea Monster / Duke’s of Hazzard lunch boxes.
Obviously this has changed, quite drastically, and with tragic results. So I’m wondering if something’s changed in the production of peanuts and nuts to make them much more dangerous for kids? Why has this happened only relatively recently?
- And this was the era of everyone believing Mikey was killed by eating Pop Rocks and soda, and the Bubble Yum Spider eggs, so if there had been lots of deaths caused by Skippy, I’d imagine the news would’ve been passed around just as quickly.
** Actually I myself used to be sensitive to, of all things, the combination of chocolate and peanuts. Peanuts/nuts were fine, and chocolate (thank goodness!) was fine. Put 'em together and I’d just get a rash and a fever. Fortunately it went away by my late teens, so the joys of Reeses weren’t denied me forever.
Thanks Juliana. It’s a privately owned for-profit daycare, not a school, so I don’t believe they receive any govt. dollars. Hell, I don’t care if a daycare center smears peanut butter on each kid’s face as they walk in the door, as long as they tell me about it when I ask about their nut policy.
We already know the public school policies for nuts, and are satisfied with them, so these worries mostly go away when she enters kindergarten in the fall. Hell, one time her oldest sister got in trouble for bringing acorns to kindergarten for show & tell. They came home triple wrapped in plastic bags with a big note that said “ACORNS ARE NUTS”.
As a long-term allergy sufferer, including food allergies, yes, it is possible although not real common even among those with allergies. I don’t have to worry about “food fumes” (usually - 20 gallons of tomato sauce on a stove might be a problem) but tomato juice on my skin can generate a rash just like poison ivy. Most of my other problem foods I have to actually eat, so I can be around them, just not consume them.
A big difference between me and toddler is, of course, my greater experience, ability to communicate, and being able to read labels. Also, greater self-control so as to resist yummy looking things likely to make me sick. As an adult I am in a far greater position to assert my needs. I will speak up - forcefully - at the first sign of a bad reaction whereas a child might not, or worse yet, be ignored if she does. And I have the self-discipline to say “no” when I should. Young children lack these attributes and thus must be kept from irresponsible adults. Yes, you need to teach allergic children very early to be careful and responsible about eating, but 4 is entirely too young to expect them to shoulder that burden entirely on their own. There ARE teachers out there who can handle children with restricted diets, there’s just no excuse for this.
I strongly suggest you find another daycare rather than try to salvage this situation. They are demonstrating that they just don’t care about your daughter’s health. Or her emotional well-being - being in a room with people madly gobbling from open bowls with you limited to just one item can be very hard for an adult such as myself, worse yet for a child who must also deal with the perceptions of other children who can be perfect monsters at times. Find another daycare.
As for allergy medications, including Epi-Pens, left at schools - I remember several instances where, because medicines are dangerous and kept locked up, no one was able to access what I needed when I needed it. At least my parents were eventually able to secure permission for me to carry emergency medication on my person at a reasonable age. I felt bad for my niece, even MORE allergic than me, in the era of zero-tolerance. But let’s not go there today, m’kay? If these yahoos can’t obey a “no peanuts zone” sign are you sure they’ll even know where the Epi-Pen is when it’s needed? Much less remember how to use it properly…
My daughter’s entire daycare is nut-free.
They don’t have any kids with allergies right now - but it’s just easier that way.
You may be eligible for a 504 anyway: and it would follow your child all the way through school. Mass seems to have a nice layout for children with food allergies: I just took a quick glance at their reference guide.
A school we are looking at for my oldest son is completely peanut-free, from preschool up through 12th grade. I had to explain to Zack that he will need to broaden his food horizons considerably if he gets accepted! I think he eats peanut butter sandwiches at least 200 days per year… probably more.
It’s hasn’t - I had food allergies four and a half decades ago. One of my classmates was deathly allergic to dairy.
Two things: first, people are more aware of food allergies. Not all food allergies are life-threatening, but because even people with mild allergies are told to avoid such foods it seems like there are a lot more (and yes, there are more, but this is in part due to better diagnosis and not just more allergic). Ever knew a kid in your school with chronically runny nose, rashes all over, and not good in gym class because he/she got out of breath quickly? Allergies can manifest in that manner, too, which is less dramatic than falling over dead, but still quite miserable for the kid.
Second, until around 1972 or 1973 (I forget - it’s been awhile) public schools were allowed to deny children with allergies from attending regular classes. So the really horribly allergic simply weren’t in public schools - my husband remembers a dozen or more severely allergic students from his days at Chicago Spaulding (where all the “cripples” were sent back then). In other places parents would have to pay for private schooling, or tutors. Or sometimes the kid just didn’t go to school.
It is also possible that deaths from food allergies used to be more common (I don’t know that, I’m just guessing) so now more allergics are surviving into adulthood.