Most of the time, snacks are served to young children, and as we know, it makes it difficult to find a snack that is completely allergen free (milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish).
We bring in a safe snack for Brody each week, but that doesn't mean that he couldn't accidentally grab another child's snack (which has baked eggs and Brody has had an anaphylatic response)
What are you thoughts? What has worked at your church or preschool to make you feel comfortable? What would you like to see done?
Your opinions are invaluable...I would love to share this with him on Sunday at church :)
Why not suggest that they serve fruit? It's allergen free and much healthier than the cookies/crackers that are usually served. A bag of apples is inexpensive and when sliced up would feed quite a few toddlers.
ReplyDeleteWhen Sophie was in the church nursery, and again when she was in preschool, I provided a list of safe snacks, and all the parents took turns bringing in snacks for the day, using only things that were on the list. A lot of the time the snacks were fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes people brought in other things that had been approved. Everyone was willing to help once they understood why we needed to change.
ReplyDeleteWe also instituted a policy of wiping down tables and chairs (and toys) regularly, and vacuuming between nursery classes to avoid accidental ingestion of Goldfish pieces, etc. Again, no problems with compliance after I did a little education. The Epipen trainer can be a good tool to encourage compliance too--no one wants to be the person responsible for a child needing a shot.
I will definitely be pay close to all the comments... my daughter hasn't started preschool yet (this fall) and I don't feel comfortable bringing her to our new church yet (they serve cookies with everything).
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of fruits and veggies, especially since that is one thing that Erica will eat!
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ReplyDeleteWish I could help with some ideas here, but did want to let you know that I finally posted a response to your question at 3SG! :) Good luck with this!
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