2 year old suspended from daycare, for a cheese sandwich.

I wonder what will happen to the hypersensitive children when they finally have to attend public schools where those dastardly dairy items such as cheese and milk are commonly found?

I wonder how the parents of children that are hypersensitive to dairy deal with their child interacting with our normal world that is filled with milk, milkshakes, cheesy poofs and all of those types of things that are out there? It must suck.

AlphaHawk
reply to post by AccessDenied

 

She's not being punished, and would be blissfully unaware of it, she'll just be spending a few days at home instead.

well if you think two year olds aren't aware that their routine and or their fun time with friends has been interrupted.
you need to spend more time with yours, or someones two year old that can't go and do what they want.

now she might not understand why she can't go to daycare, but she knows she can't play with little emilee, katie, lisa or listen to story time or watch sesame street with her friends.

this whole allergy so certain foods are banned. thing has gone way out of control.

kid has an allergy? fine, it happens the parents should teach the child NOT to eat it. not try to ban every other kid from enjoying it. kid is "hypersensitive", i guess another room can be found for them to eat in. VERY SIMPLE. and if kids are too stupid not to eat what they are allergic to, then they will suffer reactions and possibly learn the hard way not to eat it.

lets follow the "ban things kids are allergic to" to it's logical outcome. people are allergic to nuts, so nuts are banned. people have lactose intolerance, so no more milk or dairy products allowed. gluten intolerance, there goes all bread products. people have allergies to enzymes in most fruits and vegetables, not to mention those allergic to particular fruits and veggies, so no more fruits and vegetables allowed. people are allergic to soy, so no soya products allowed. msg intolerance, so almost all "prepackaged" foods not allowed. people have allergies to fish and shellfish, so no fish or shellfish products allowed and by the way that would also include normal table salt, so nothing with salt in it allowed. people have allergies to different spices, so no spices allowed either. then there is diabetes, so no sugars, or starches, like rice for instance allowed. so what does that leave? here kid have a piece of plain unsalted, unspiced, slab of meat for your lunch, and a couple small pieces for snacks. enjoy have a good day. but what do you want to bet that there are people allergic to meats? in that case, NO FOOD ALLOWED AT ALL, enjoy your day at school, try not to faint from hunger. oh and you are NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE PETS at home either. and of course no one would be able to wear any type of perfume or anything that is scented (like most deodorants and lotions), either, due to "allergies" someone else may have.

i'm NOT being sarcastic about the pets either. i was training someone at work once, and his mother was a friend of mine who also worked there. a few days after starting his training, his mother was upset because her son was going to have to quit because there was something he was BADLY allergic to, they didn't know what it was but even after a couple days he had to go to the hospital after because his allergic reaction was so bad. so i asked what it was, and she said the only thing they knew of was dogs and cats, but he was BADLY allergic and sensitive to them. at that point i told her i knew what the problem was, it was MY CAT that i had at home. he had been unknowingly to him working right beside someone who because they had a cat, ALWAYS had cat fur stuck to their clothing, not much you can do about that. but you know what we used common sense, and solved the problem. all we did was arrange it that we worked different shifts from each other.

even more stupid is i know a lady who works in daycare, she can't even eat a "peanut product" within several hours of working, because some kid might be sensitive enough that even the "smell" of her breath could "possibly" kill them. seriously what do they do in public? put the kid in a plastic "ball"? i mean you never know when you will run into someone who ate a peanut. look at airplanes where you are in a cramped, enclosed, airtight space for HOURS. they still serve peanuts on every flight, has anyone ever heard of someone dieing because of it?

reply to post by ColoradoJens

That was a pretty emotional response. I never said you were silly. To your point it has not ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS. As I pointed out from my source, there has been a HUGE growth of food related allergies since 1997.

Okay, is this about a 2yr old taking a suspension over a cheese sandwich or is this about the overall state of the Western food chain and distribution system?

My approach to either topic will be different and I'm not personally going to mix two. Not every outrage in going off the deep end necessarily needs the issues of the world brought in for justification.

For example...is there even another child in this place allergic to the cheese? If there is...why? That's quite a risk to take in trusting 2yr olds won't bring a food scrap which could be lethal.

We'll never know, I'm sure, because it's privacy..even for those parents directly involved. As a father, I've gotten that nonsensical garbage said to me enough times to know the lines by heart.

You mistake a lack of tolerance and patience for emotion. I'm sick of the nonsense and the 'sacrifice by all for the needs of the one'. Our nation never used to be this way and it's something to feel downright sick over, in watching it become this way.

reply to post by Meditationplus


I quoted the father in an earlier post,and it seems a few are missing that. He did not intentionally break school policy by making his child a sandwich and sending her into the building with it. He states she had it in the car,I presume eating it there,and then put it into her pocket before going into daycare. His only fault,imho,is not checking her pockets. I do not believe he is claiming ignorance of the policy in place,only that he did not intentionaly go against it,and they cannot expect a two year old to understand. My outrage is that this scenario is being played out in black and white,when to me it falls under a shade of grey. The children were being fed on site and there is no reason for him to have sent her with food. Only logical explaination is that she was eating it on the way.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


Depends on the situation.

Keeping a schedule is ideal of course, but there's plenty of kids that get dropped off at day care at complete random times, this is no different.

Unless of course, the parents tell them why and makes a point out of it, then it might affect the child, but that's the parents fault for making it a big deal to the child.

AccessDenied
reply to post by Meditationplus

 

I quoted the father in an earlier post,and it seems a few are missing that. He did not intentionally break school policy by making his child a sandwich and sending her into the building with it. He states she had it in the car,I presume eating it there,and then put it into her pocket before going into daycare. His only fault,imho,is not checking her pockets.

Well maybe they have these rules because the same scenario has happened before and a kid allergic to peanuts got hold of a peanut butter sandwich that accidentally got brought in by another kid in their pocket...

Hence the lifetime ban on bringing in nuts mentioned in the article.

It's easy to say this is over the top and pandering too much, but if a kid dies because a peanut butter sandwich is brought in, would such a rule be questioned?

Or would there be an outrage filled piece flinging mud at the child care centre for lack of duty of care?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


Agreed.
Knowing enough about lawsuits with public schools and private daycare, I can tell you why the zero tolerance is in effect...

INSURANCE.

Insurance for a daycare is crazy expensive. Why? Due to the lawsuit culture of the US. If a kid gets sick and needs an epipen and an ER visit because some kid smeared some peanut butter which found its way to their system...lawsuit. if you kick the kids out for not following bringing the pb&j...lawsuit.

Too many lawyers looking for their half of a settlement.
A Business of any kind has to cover their own ass to the point of absurdity. People might say because of government regulation. Yeah? How many of our legislators are/were attorneys?
Contemplate that on the Tree of Woe.

DJW001

AccessDenied

A Barrhaven daycare is taking a zero-tolerance hardline on food allergies. On Monday, the Centre de l’enfant aux 4 Vente daycare suspended two-year old Faith Murray for three days for bringing a processed cheese sandwich in a sealed ziplock bag onto the property.

Daycare director Deb Ducharme says she understands the consequences are difficult on parents but has to hold the line because some of these children have life-threatening sensitivities

LINK

The daycare’s zero-tolerance policy goes down well with parents whose children are at-risk but it’s unfairly excessive according to the toddler’s father Randy Murray. He’s considering pulling Faith and her older brother Michael out of the daycare and putting his freelance graphic artist career on hold so he can stay at home and look after them himself.

I find this to be above and beyond ridiculous. Why not just take the sandwich away, and get on with a regular day? Much ado over relatively nothing. I understand the whole allergy thing, but suspending a two year old...unbelievable.

Why not just have the hypersensitive kid eat in a different room? If it makes him feel ostracized, it might actually help him overcome his allergy.

Really?? Your kidding right? You do understand if the child does have a legitimate allergy the chances are they will not ever GET OVER IT... There is a small chance yes, but a life threatening allergy never will. It is not a social disorder or something...I really hope that was sarcasm if not.. WTF..

Now with that said the suspension is absolutely ludicrous..

Grim

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


For someone that is way into liberty, you sure are telling these people how to run their business.


I'm just saying....

reply to post by AlphaHawk


I personally have already experienced the peanut butter sandwich issue. Three years ago my children attended school briefly with a child who had a severe peanut allergy. As responsible parents,we had no issue not sending peanut products to school. But then the letter came home requesting that students not consume peanut products at home either,before attending school. The child 's allergy was so severe that just the smell of it on someone was enough to trigger it. Now,that is where Wrabbits comment comes into play. We had to forfit our rights,for one person. What is it teaching that child? The world will not always bend to accomodate her,and sooner she learns that better off she will be. It is her responsibility as she grows older to ensure her own safety and exposure level. These current policies are working against that.

reply to post by AccessDenied


Both my boys have food allergies...one is dairy and peanuts..the other is peanuts and thankfully has grown out of dairy...both under 8..

I get that some folks on here want the kids to eat in another room and most likely they will be alone because as much as we hear about this allergy on the rise it's still a small number of kids per school. My son is the only one in daycare with a dairy allergy so he sometimes does sit by himself..I found this out the hard way when I came to pick him up early..I came in and saw him seperated from the group and it really made me feel horrible and so bad for him...

There is a lot of guilt that a parent holds when you have children with food allergies...what did I do in my lifetime to put him in this position..what the hell did we eat most of during the pregnancy etc...

It's easy to have a parents of children that are healthy as a horse not have any issues having some other parents kid sit at a seperate table but for me it's really painful.

I have asked the daycare to just sit him at the end of the table and they do try to accomodate him 99 percent of the time..this isn't a pitty party but just consider all the things you might take for granted that has dairy in it...this includes cupcakes that are often brought in for a childs birthday and my kid is inevitably left out..I have taken measures to leave my number and name along with the allergy issues in the other bins..My intent is just to have them call me that mornign or the night before just to give me a heads up if they are going to be celebrating a party and I will bake some stuff that morning or the night before...I have yet to be called and my son is usually on the recieving end of the short stick..I do leave some snacks at his daycare but again for kids it's all about inclusiion and fitting in.

Thankfully my kid will not go into shock with the dairy so I'm not so concerned about it..peanuts are a different story and to be honest I'm also fine with kids brining in peanut butter and jelly..my hope is that in middleschool kids just wash their hands at some point after lunch...I know that's not going to happen because they are just kids..

reply to post by AccessDenied


What it's teaching your child is to be considerate to others..compassionatte perhaps...I wonder what a child would say if you said that they cannot eat peanut butter before school and you explained how a child could get very sick. I'm pretty confident that the child would be ok with it...

I understand your frustration and I'm sorry that your child is denied a peanut butter sandwich before school..nothing better than a toasted peanut butter sandwich in the morning...

Funny story, when I was food shopping not long ago a kid bagging the groceries noticed the sunflower butter spread and asked why I chose that one..I explained someone in the house has food allergies..he replied that at the end of the school year a few of his friends smeared some peanut butter under his door handle of his car...they thought this would be funny if the kid got sick...I smiled and moved along...

It's a screwed up world....

reply to post by AccessDenied


Right she won't. This is to punish the parents who will either miss work and pay or will have to shell out for a sitter for three days. The kid gets three days at home with her parents. It was never meant to punish the child. To punish a child that young you use the time out chair which they do understand. This was a financial burden placed on the parents to drive the message home that they are serious about their policies.

reply to post by chrismarco

Since you have experience with a dairy allergy, I will ask for my own education.

Before your son grew out of the dairy allergy, were you able to have dairy products in your home? It would suck if you had to leave home to drink a glass of milk or eat a cheese sandwich.

reply to post by DeadGhost


Telling who how to run what business?

I don't care what the specific daycare business does in terms or 'telling them how to do it'. If they went too far here, they'll suffer quickly and directly as parents pull their kids in protest. It happens and it's happened locally here when a day care pulls a brain fart of some especially offensive nature.

The general lamenting on my part is how people insist...actually demand...that their very special and very narrow needs become the standard by which the majority of the population be forced to bend and accommodate. When it's a ramp for a wheelchair or it's other means of access? That makes sense and it's the least any civilized society can do within reason.

However, when one individual has an allergy that occurs in a very distinct minority and by it's nature, demands dramatic and serious changes or accommodation just to make an indoor space SAFE to ENTER? (Peanut allergy, for example, is no joke and casual contact can have extreme results), the burden to accommodate should be on the party with the needs...not the majority to change their whole way of handling daily life so the one feels accepted.

That's P.C. run off the cliff and yelling for more all the way to the bottom.

DJW001

AccessDenied

A Barrhaven daycare is taking a zero-tolerance hardline on food allergies. On Monday, the Centre de l’enfant aux 4 Vente daycare suspended two-year old Faith Murray for three days for bringing a processed cheese sandwich in a sealed ziplock bag onto the property.

Daycare director Deb Ducharme says she understands the consequences are difficult on parents but has to hold the line because some of these children have life-threatening sensitivities

LINK

The daycare’s zero-tolerance policy goes down well with parents whose children are at-risk but it’s unfairly excessive according to the toddler’s father Randy Murray. He’s considering pulling Faith and her older brother Michael out of the daycare and putting his freelance graphic artist career on hold so he can stay at home and look after them himself.

I find this to be above and beyond ridiculous. Why not just take the sandwich away, and get on with a regular day? Much ado over relatively nothing. I understand the whole allergy thing, but suspending a two year old...unbelievable.

Why not just have the hypersensitive kid eat in a different room? If it makes him feel ostracized, it might actually help him overcome his allergy.

You think someone can just will away something that is genetic? I can see it now sorry Johnny but you are too short go sit in another room and don't come back until you are a foot taller. Maybe you should go sit in another room for a while it might help you overcome your ignorance.

reply to post by butcherguy


In the begining no dairy...as my older son became use to it we gradually started letting it back in the house...when my second son had it we removed it once again...it sucked...we don't keep icecream in the house other than the soy kind...we never were big cheese people and we have been drinking soy milk way before the kids came along...My second son is starting to eat more products with dairy baked in so we again are changing what comes in..

I think you can control you home environment a bit more easy than a daycare...stuff is spilling, food is left under the tables at times,,kids run away from the table and touch toys before they wash their hands...

As for missing out I would get all my dairy needs met at work (lunch time)..

It's funny, the schools try to accomodate you by banning certain things and as a parent you are trying to get your kids to eat similiar things so she or he does not feel as though they are missing out..

Most parents look at the health ramifications of this allergy and I guess I look at the psychological ramifications of this for a kid growing up with allergies...as if acne and not wearing the brand name stuff is not enough of stress for kids

Wrabbit2000
For example...is there even another child in this place allergic to the cheese? If there is...why? That's quite a risk to take in trusting 2yr olds won't bring a food scrap which could be lethal.

The Daycare is accommodating any child with any food allergy. The only way to do this is to control what foodstuffs enter their premises. Nobody reasonably expects a two year old to do this, so the obligation is on the parents. The parent has the responsibility to make sure their child is not carrying contraband.

That is the business model they have chosen.

If the parent doesn't like it, use another Daycare.

reply to post by BritofTexas

The Daycare is accommodating any child with any food allergy. The only way to do this is to control what foodstuffs enter their premises. Nobody reasonably expects a two year old to do this, so the obligation is on the parents. The parent has the responsibility to make sure their child is not carrying contraband.

And that, right there, is the best example of the profound difference you and I have in world views. One view would have personal responsibility rule the day on matters of life and death concern (food allergy) and another would have the authority or state take full responsibility and dictate solutions to the masses for the care of the one.

The one should take responsibility and watch their own needs ...not demand the world alter their lives to redefine reality to their desires.

The problem really is....give it another 10-15 years and there won't be many to even remember how recently our nation wasn't obsessed with P.C. like this. We weren't regulating 2yr olds and what they had in their little brown lunch bags (almost EVERYONE brought their own lunch when I was in school and again..it wasn't THAT long ago) We're becoming a society where everyone needs to just be in a little plastic bubble and bounce each others bubbles to shake 'hands'....lest we take the foolish risk of exposure to infection of some sort. (rolls eyes)

It's just absurd. Cheese sandwiches and 2yr olds.....what have we come to?!