Reply to Please don’t let your children eat common allergens while playing on public playground equipment

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "Please don’t let your children eat common allergens while playing on public playground equipment "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]New poster here, also with a child with both anaphylactic nut allergy and a hard time gaining weight.

OP you have to do the work yourself, and I’m sorry.  Parents—particularly mothers— have very full plates and they can’t take any of your burden onto themselves.  But you can find ways to help people help you.

I always go to the park or library with a loaded bag— epis and Benadryl yes but ALSO spare, protein heavy, nice snacks. Horizon makes yogurt pouches, for example. It is much, much easier to approach a parent who is giving her kid a larabar (my child is allergic to cashew) and ask if she wouldn’t mind putting it away when I can *also* show that I realize having a hangry or hypoglycemic kid is a burden for her that *I* have thought of by offering something else.  You have to come out of yourself a little bit and it’s so hard because you’re worried about your baby, but the way you’re going to find your people is to show that you care about other babies as well. Hang in there it will get easier!

(And, make sure you’re seeing an allergist who is aggressive on treating allergies— we went from 3 life threatening allergens to 2 which was HUGE for our quality of life)[/quote]

Thank you for being sane. I really think a lot of the pushback OP is getting is not because people don't want to do reasonable things to keep her kid safe, but because her post (and those from some of the people in the same position) seem to ignore that a lot (most?) parents, especially moms, are truly doing the best they can. I don't have a kid with allergies but I do have a special needs kid. I absolutely do whatever I can to keep other kids safe, whenever I'm aware of an allergy I do what I need to do to make sure we don't unintentionally expose the child, and we of course wash up after eating anything at the playground and also remind our kid about not walking around with food or trying to share her snacks.

But yes, my main objection to OP was just the idea that I need to be thinking about her kid in 100% of my decisions. I just can't do that. If someone at the playground told me that a snack we had posed a danger to their kid, of course I'd put it away. But yes, it would be great to be offered an alternative because especially for non-peanut allergies, I might be limited in what I have with me (it's incredibly hard to pack snacks for kids that don't contain at least one of the common allergens).

As a parent of a kid with SN, I know about the balance of advocating for your child while also recognizing that there are limits to what you can ask of others, and that sometimes you need to ready to remove your kid from a situation, or take extra steps to help others accommodate your child. It's hard. But it's good to remember everyone is trying and most people are stretched thin, and most of the time people aren't going out of their way to make your life difficult, they are just doing their best. Giving a little good will is a great way to get some back.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics