Re: Daycare ...diet and sickness

[Guest guest]

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to find a small home daycare provider who you interviewed with and who understood your child's " allergies. " Call them allergies from the get-go. Find out if they would be willing to supply the foods or if they would like you to bring food everyday. Some providers are reimbursed for providing food, so they may be willing to purchase it if you can provide them a list of acceptable foods/brands.

A lot of providers of home care are staying away from giving medications to reduce their liability, and I would say most would call the supplements in the same category. You might be able to get by with them if it's say, calcium or digestive enzyme chewable.

I stay at home but my 5 yr old is in Kinder without an IEP... I just don't give her mid-day supp (she gets some right after school) and they are aware of her allergies. She is still exposed to gluten in art projects and colors in paint. I have mentioned it to them but I don't press the issue because she is in regular school, has Asperger's... so I don't want her to stand out anymore than she does.

My son is 4 and ADHD, but has more problems than my daughter. His school knows about his food sensitivities and they try to work with me, but they refuse to give any supps even with a doctor's note (I'm getting ready to fight this b/c I spoke to the DCF and got info on that; they do see a difference in diet and medication... and the school should follow the dietary restrictions if written up by a doctor, differently than say the medication which is in another section of the state statutes...)

So anyway, point is it is not easy!!! It's a trade off.... do all the work yourself and stay home, so you can make sure there are no infractions, or risk infractions so you can work to pay for all this!!!

 

So we have been fortunate to have our 23 month old son stay home with us since birth- but there was a 2 -3 month period prior to his first birthday that we had our taste of daycare...he had gotten very sick for the entire period (and at that time we were very uninformed about antibiotics, vaccinations, etc) ...he began a long stent on antibiotics and that damage is unfortunately what we are working feverishly to repair now....Our major complaint about daycare is how sick our child could get and the risks associated with the daycare maintaining our diet -gfcfsfegcf diet.

My question for the board is how do parents manage care for our kids that require this strict diet and supplement protocol? Do most kids stay at home with a parent, nanny or what? Are there resources you can share? Just very uncertain about relying on daycare on the diet aspect of treatment.

Also, for kids that are already in daycare - that run the risk of getting sick when the class is sick....there are risks of ear infections, high fevers, etc...and the pediatrician would typically prescribe antibiotics, how do parents treat their kids who attend daycare and not use antibiotics?

Thank you for your help! We are considering daycare again ---but not convinced as yet that it is the right thing to do with how far we have gotten with diet, supplement and not having to deal with sicknesses!

Regards,

Azeema

-- Toni------Mind like a steel trap...Rusty and illegal in 37 states.

[Guest guest]

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to find a small home daycare provider who you interviewed with and who understood your child's " allergies. " Call them allergies from the get-go. Find out if they would be willing to supply the foods or if they would like you to bring food everyday. Some providers are reimbursed for providing food, so they may be willing to purchase it if you can provide them a list of acceptable foods/brands.

A lot of providers of home care are staying away from giving medications to reduce their liability, and I would say most would call the supplements in the same category. You might be able to get by with them if it's say, calcium or digestive enzyme chewable.

I stay at home but my 5 yr old is in Kinder without an IEP... I just don't give her mid-day supp (she gets some right after school) and they are aware of her allergies. She is still exposed to gluten in art projects and colors in paint. I have mentioned it to them but I don't press the issue because she is in regular school, has Asperger's... so I don't want her to stand out anymore than she does.

My son is 4 and ADHD, but has more problems than my daughter. His school knows about his food sensitivities and they try to work with me, but they refuse to give any supps even with a doctor's note (I'm getting ready to fight this b/c I spoke to the DCF and got info on that; they do see a difference in diet and medication... and the school should follow the dietary restrictions if written up by a doctor, differently than say the medication which is in another section of the state statutes...)

So anyway, point is it is not easy!!! It's a trade off.... do all the work yourself and stay home, so you can make sure there are no infractions, or risk infractions so you can work to pay for all this!!!

 

So we have been fortunate to have our 23 month old son stay home with us since birth- but there was a 2 -3 month period prior to his first birthday that we had our taste of daycare...he had gotten very sick for the entire period (and at that time we were very uninformed about antibiotics, vaccinations, etc) ...he began a long stent on antibiotics and that damage is unfortunately what we are working feverishly to repair now....Our major complaint about daycare is how sick our child could get and the risks associated with the daycare maintaining our diet -gfcfsfegcf diet.

My question for the board is how do parents manage care for our kids that require this strict diet and supplement protocol? Do most kids stay at home with a parent, nanny or what? Are there resources you can share? Just very uncertain about relying on daycare on the diet aspect of treatment.

Also, for kids that are already in daycare - that run the risk of getting sick when the class is sick....there are risks of ear infections, high fevers, etc...and the pediatrician would typically prescribe antibiotics, how do parents treat their kids who attend daycare and not use antibiotics?

Thank you for your help! We are considering daycare again ---but not convinced as yet that it is the right thing to do with how far we have gotten with diet, supplement and not having to deal with sicknesses!

Regards,

Azeema

-- Toni------Mind like a steel trap...Rusty and illegal in 37 states.

[Guest guest]

At the doctor's suggestion, we got the flu shot before he started Mothers Day

Out. His first year he started last January and got several ear

fluid/infections. His pediatrician told me they get a lot the first year just

being in contact with other kids, but the trade off is they are not as sick when

they actually start school since their bodies have built up an immunity. He

went/goes 2 days a week until 2, and I pack his snack and lunch. (BTW, he goes

to 2 different MDO programs - 1 at our church and 1 at a school he will most

likely attend.)

DO NOT expect them to buy a special food for your child; they buy the cheapest

food in bulk and GFCFSF is NOT in their budget. Supply and mark your own

snacks!!! Get a good relationship with the teacher and director. This does not

mean going in and issuing demands but explaining his condition.zs

He is now in his second year of daycare and has not been sick at all, other than

seasonal allergies. The only time we have problems is if we have a substitute

that is not aware of his schedule. (An e-mail at 2 am to the teacher and

director when he was up with reflux due to not being fed his snack has all but

eliminated any problems!)

If I were you, I would start with your church or a private faith-based daycare.

They are usually more expensive, but they are more willing to work with your

child. Personally, I am leary of home-based daycares just because they are on

the news constantly in the town I live in, and not in a good way! Our town also

has 2 special-needs private schools, one of which has a Pre-K program. If your

town has one, call and ask them for suggestions.

[Guest guest]

FWIW... there are some programs for young children that will be

mindful of the snacks. We had our youngest at a Montessori program

last year (when she was ages 2-3) and they fed to the lowest common

denominator of food requirements. She was the only one in the

classroom with a restricted diet so they just did snacks every day

that were okay for her.

This was not the most expensive Montessori program in town, just the

most thoughtful. It was wonderful and an amazing support system as we

tried to get her diagnosed that year. I loved that she wasn't

segregated during snack time and there was no risk of swiping foods

from another child. At that young age they just don't understand.

She is now 3.5 and she knows she can only eat food we send with her.

The school (different Montessori) is reasonably accommodating but it

isn't as much of a concern anymore.

- Kati