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Home › Articles › Health Issues › Daycare Dangers

Daycare Dangers

Protecting Your Food Allergic Child Away From Home

By Donna Stone

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  • Do they appear cooperative or reluctant?
  • Do you think they are willing to work closely with you to make sure your child is safe?
  • Do the teachers appear to have good classroom control with the children?
  • Are they familiar with Epi-pens and how to use them, or are they willing to learn?

"Severe food allergies may require a parent to make compromises about what is the 'best' school," says Lynda. "Safety will be your No. 1 priority in choosing a daycare. The best school for a food allergic child may not be the one that has the best academics or is the most convenient one for the parent."

Finding a daycare where your child can remain safe and thrive may be a challenge, but it is possible. "Just keep in mind that as long as your preschooler is safe and happy, he will learn and grow socially in daycare," says Lynda.

Ensuring Appropriate Accommodations
Just as every child is different in some way, differing accommodations may be necessary for individual children with allergies. Eileen also has a child who is severely allergic to foods. "Everyone approaches this with a different level of concern and different ways of coping," says Eileen. From her experience, she has learned you cannot assume that other parents whose children have similar allergies will require the same accommodations.

Keeping a sticky allergen, such as peanut butter, contained can sometimes be an impossible task. Young children tend to be messy eaters and some might find it difficult not to share. Eileen's daycare has a peanut-free room and has also made the adjoining room peanut-free. "This provides me with much comfort, but certainly not complacency," says Eileen. "We do not take any chances."

Although some parents of non-allergic children may resist such measures as a peanut ban, educating them to the danger a food allergic child faces will go a long way toward winning cooperation. Eileen has encountered parents who are supportive and those who are not. Eileen remember one particularly compassionate mother. "She told me she feels that my son's allergy has been a good lesson for her son to be more empathic and caring of other children's needs," she says.

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