Preschool & Food Allergies: Am I Overreacting?
Lindsey is the mother of a little boy with CMPA, who has recently started preschool. He had an allergic reaction at school which the teacher didn’t notice. Luckily it was at home-time, so Lindsay noticed herself straight away. She shares her story here.
Preschool & Food Allergies: Am I Overreacting?
My son is 3 and a half. He has CMPA. If he eats dairy he throws up. If it touches his skin, he breaks out in hives. If it touches his eye, his eye swells and closes. Generally, after he has thrown up enough and the milk is out of his system he is OK again, and if he takes some Zirtek the hives and swelling goes down.
He started preschool three weeks ago. He has never been in creche before, he has always been with me or my parents. However he is a very social little guy and there wasn’t a bother on him starting. Our
worries however were his allergy. We spoke to his teachers on the open day in August. He carries Zirtek in his bag everyday in case he needs it.
Nut and Egg Free Zone
Due to other allergies in the building, the school is a nut and egg free zone. I find it very hard to think up ideas for snack time for him, that are dairy, egg and nut free! But your blog gave me some great ideas (thank you!).
When I picked him up during his 2nd week, I noticed him rubbing his eye. It was red, swollen, hives all around it and was starting to swell over. I asked his teacher what had happened and she looked at
him and got a shock (she didn’t notice before this). I immediately brought him to wash his hands as I suspected the dairy was on his hands then he rubbed his eye etc etc and gave him a dose of Zirtek.
In one way I felt it was good for his teacher to see how severe his allergy is. As in, its not just about him eating dairy, he can have a reaction even if he touches it. But at the same time, I was a bit cross that they hadn’t noticed that anything was wrong. What if it happened at a different time of day, not at 12pm when I was picking him up?
Should the School be Dairy Free also?
I didn’t react too much. However, I am thinking that if it happens again (and unfortunately I think it will) I might have to ask the school to be dairy free as well as egg and nut free.
Am I overreacting? I don’t know….
Thanks so much Lindsay for taking part in the blog link up.
What do you think? Is Lindsay overreacting in this case? I absolutely don’t think so. There is definitely a need for more communication with the school and a better understanding by the teacher of the boy’s allergy. Would love to hear from anyone who has advice for Lindsay.
