Peanuts in Playcentre

I think you do have some rights. I know there are some schools that have banned any peanut products at their school due to allergies.

I know you can't cotton wool them as peanuts are around, but you would think at a playcentre it would ok to say hey look he gets them on his skin and we are looking at death here, lets try and not have it happen.

I would like to know why they don't want them banned. If I was told at DC that they didn't want peanuts in the centre due to allergies I would be sweet with that (not that my boys have anything with peanuts in them anyway).

That is so strange, the daycare centre that Spencer went to had a blanket ban of peanuts for children and staff and the playcentre that we went to look at last week had the same as well as also having all allergy childrens images and list of allergies and necessary actions up on the wall.
I find it strange they are so flippant about it.

I think the best thing to do would be to go along to one of the parents meetings and explain how serious this is for your child and that leaving a peanuts around is the same as leaving out rat poison. Perhaps if you don't want it to seem confrontational you could come at it from the angle of showing the parents how epi pens work, what signs to look for it a reaction happens and who to phone and what to tell them (i.e 111 and he's eaten a peanut and isn't breathing). Perhaps that will make the other mums realise just how serious it is.

I really feel for you about over this, Spencer's allergies are mild and I still tie myself up in knots about what food is around him and what he might accidently eat etc.

A little girl from Quinn's kindy has just moved to a different daycare. She has a severe reaction to egg, can't even touch an egg carton or be near egg, but the kindy refused to ban them. I don't think they have a legal obligation to ban these foods but I do think they have a moral obligation. What if you went around some of the other mothers and spoke to them about how serious it is? I would really be kicking up a big fuss.

Good luck!!

We're similar - Ella's dad and I aren't particularly allergic to anything, but Ella has an anaphylactic reaction to dairy - random!! Good on you for talking to them - if you can't make it to this meeting then definately be at the next one. I found an Epipen demo helpful amongst family, especially if they get to try a training one on themselves and feel how hard you have to jab it into the child's thigh to get it to work... no-one likes the idea of having to do that to a child.

I don't actually think you're asking too much for Playcentre to be peanut-free... kids don't even need peanuts in the first place! If it were milk or egg, or something much more difficult to eliminate, then that's a little different, but why do kids need peanuts at playcentre?! The staff need to be reminded that whatever kids eat is guaranteed to end up in random places around the building, only to be found be other kids later and maybe tasted

A primary school here in Palmy is peanut-free for staff and kids as they have children there in your son's situation, and I think that's awesome of the school. Though I was shocked to still hear someone whinging about it and saying it was 'over the top'. People just don't understand unless they have to. Good luck!!!

Yea Hannah's kindy has a blanket ban on all nuts and nut products and Hannah told me about how a couple of weeks ago one of the kids had a muesli bar with nuts packed in his lunch and was told by one of the teachers that he would have to open it at home. This is all because just one boy is anaphylactic (I'm slowly getting there with the spelling!).

We're in a family where I have a food intolerance but all the rest of us are fine but I don't mind the nut ban because I know roughly what kind of reaction that little guy is up against - and also that it's among the most allergic of foods for preschoolers. Nuts are so easy to do away with, especially when it just comes to lunches, compared to things like wheat and dairy.

Just to update. Peanuts are now officially banned at my playcentre. I wrote the letter to the board and the president backed my decision, so it has now been enforced and there are signs up. I have also now been appointed as the health and safety officer so i can get a better system of identifying the kids with allergies underway. Thanks everyone for your feed back and support!

wow! well done

Only things annoying me is other parents doesn't understand the risk with the allergies. My son's old kindy have strict blanket ban on peanuts, egg and milk, but staffs get some parents complain about it....or sneak in some food in the food box lucky staff always supervision the food areas so they can step in and remove bad food. Then have "word" with parent about it


Edited by soph

Wow that is very cool!

Well good on you, Jenna! Way to get the job done!