I recently identified several points that parents of children with food allergies need to be aware of as they prepare those children for entering a child care facility or school.  Those points from a guide prepared by FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were:

1. Become Informed and Educated
2. Prepare and Provide Information About Your Child’s Food Allergy and Medication
3. Build a Team
4. Help Ensure Appropriate Storage and Administration of Epinephrine
5. Help Reduce Fod Allergens in the Classroom
6. Consider Schools Meals
7. Address Transportation Issues
8. Prepare for Field Trips and Extracurricular Activities
9. Prevent and Stop Bullying
10. Assist Your Child with Self-Management

Today’s post will focus on becoming informed, educated and prepared for dealing with a child’s food allergy and medication.

It is difficult at best for any parent to prepare to leave a child in someone else’s care whether it is a child care facility or a school.  But when that child has a food allergy, that difficulty is compounded.   Prior to meeting with child care or school personnel, a parent should:

Become informed and educated about what is fully involved with the child’s food allergy.  Perhaps the best place to start is with the allergist who has diagnosed the condition.  A family doctor, medical clinic or care center can provide a referral to an allergist in the area.  Or one may be found by contacting the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 

Prepare and provide information about Your Child’s Food Allergy and Medication:  It is critically important that parents of a child with a food allergy should know:

• The foods that must be avoided.
• The signs of an allergic reaction.
• The ways a child might describe an allergic reaction.
• The role of epinephrine in treatment.
• The correct way to use an Epipen™, if one has been prescribed.

Learn about your child’s food allergy: Parents must not be intimidated about asking questions of medical personnel.  The American Academy of Pediatrics has published an excellent overview of allergy management guidelines that parents and child care personnel should become familiar.  In addition to these guidelines, the position paper identifies the reasonable expectations parents should have for managing a child’s food allergies in school.

Know the facility’s guidelines: Find out what guidelines the specific child care facility or school has in place for dealing with food allergy children.  Because food allergies have become such a critical health care issue, many schools have already established food allergy management strategies including the training of all school personnel.  I mentioned in Part 1 of this series how my school specifically dealt with one student with severe peanut allergies.

Inquire about support groups: Join a local support group if one is available.  Generally, child care facilities, schools or medical personnel can identify those support groups that are nearby.  Attending regular meetings of such a group can better inform parents regarding procedures and policies in place for food allergy management.  Comparing notes and tips from other parents is always helpful and can relieve some of the stress that parents may experience.

Recognize age-appropriate management techniques: Management of students with food allergies will often differ with their age.  As students become more and more independent, they become better able to handle the potential dangers of their allergies.  School personnel can assist parents in knowing appropriate strategies for the varying ages of their food allergy children.

Provide information to the child care facility or school: Parents of food allergy children must take the initiative in provided information about the child’s food allergy, treatment and medications to the school.  A good starting point for doing that is to complete an Emergency Care Plan or obtain a similar document that is provided by the school.  Whichever form is chosen, it should include:

1. A complete list of foods to which the child is allergic.
2. Possible symptoms of the child’s allergic reaction.
3. The treatment that should be administered and under what conditions is should be done.
4. Contact information including emergency medical services, the family physician/clinic, the child’s allergist and the parent.
5. A current photo of the child.
6. A plan with signature provided by the child’s allergist or other health care provider.

Parents should also be prepared to provide the child care facility or school with a history of the child’s previous allergic reactions and the following treatment provided.  Additional medical forms/information may also be required.

Epipen™: The child care facility or school must be provided with an epinephrine auto-injector (or two) if one is prescribed by the treatment professional.  School personnel and parents should be well aware of any expiration dates for those.

Usage of Epipens™ and additional medications: The child and any personnel coming in direct contact with the food allergy him or her should know how to correctly administer the epinephrine auto-injector.  For it to be most beneficial, the Epipen™ must be administered as quickly as possible.  Research (Sampson HA, Mendelson L, Rosen JP.  Fatal and Near Fatal Anaphylactic Reactions to Food in Children and Adolescents.  New England Journal of Medicine 1992; 327:380-384) has shown  that food allergy fatalities most commonly occur when epinephrine administration is incorrectly applied or delayed.

Next part in this series:  Build a Team

 Disclosure: I am a Better Beginnings ambassador. I receive compensation to write an article for them once a month.  The best thing is that I get to share with you great information about how children learn and how to encourage them in their learning.   All thoughts and opinions are my own based upon my experiences as a 30-year teacher and as a parent and grandparent.   The mission of  Better Beginnings is quality early education for all.  I firmly believe in that.