Preschool and a Peanut Allergy

When most people have a 3 year old, the idea of preschool is fun. Mom gets a break. Child gets some fun learning time. What could be better? How do you handle it, however, when your child has a life-threatening peanut allergy?

I really wasn't sure how to answer this question until this week. In addition to a peanut allergy, Tyler also has a condition known as "hypotonia" (weak muscle tone). This has affected his speech to a certain degree.

When he completed speech therapy preschool (this was a class that required parent attendance so he was never away from me), his speech therapist told me it was vitally important to enroll him in preschool next year so his speech could continue to develop. I intended to enroll him in our school district's preschool since I knew they had peanut policies. The problem has become, according to his pediatrician, the muscular condition makes potty training impossible for him at this age. No amount of working with him has helped. And the preschool I pre-enrolled him said he must be potty trained.

So, I was back to square one on preschool. I didn't feel comfortable looking in the phone book and calling random daycares to see about their peanut policies. Would they be honest if they really didn't understand?

Then I met another mom with a PA son. I told her my quandary and that I had just decided to not do preschool until he was potty trained, saying I felt his safety was more important than his speech. She told me about the daycare her son attended and how wonderful they were with his peanut allergy. Still a little skeptical, I called. The woman on the phone seemed to understand how to mange PA completely.

On Tuesday we toured the facility and we were very, very impressed. The woman (one of the owners) talked in depth to me about how they manage their multiple food allergies. Here are a few of the highlights that makes me feel comfortable sending Tyler there:

* They have never had a peanut reaction even though they do have a few peanut allergic children, including one who has airborne reactions.

* They are nut free. (The only exception is if a school age child brought a PB lunch. This would not be eaten at the daycare, only taken to school with the child. Tyler would not be in the school age area so this is not a big concern.)

* EpiPen administration is part of their required annual first aid training. Every teacher knows how to do it.

*In each classroom they have a list of children with food allergies. Each child’s allergies are listed by a picture of them. They have the same list in the kitchen.

* She talked about being nervous in certain situations where she has called parents to double check. I told her the fact she gets nervous at times (just like I do!) actually made me feel good.

* They will allow me to bring “safe snacks” if I want to. I want to talk with the cook before I decide if I will do this. I hope he can eat what other children eat.

*They want a separate EpiPen just for their school so there is never a possibility I might forget it. This, I felt, was a great precaution.

In the end, we have decided to send Tyler to this daycare for their preschool program. I'll admit it still makes me a little nervous. The facility is less than 5 minute from the house so that is something else that makes me feel like I am never too far away. I'm sure I'll be back posting about the preschool once he starts September 2...