iluvpink
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Posts: 4,370 
Location: Michigan
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Post by iluvpink on Aug 13, 2015 23:15:26 GMT
And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! I can only comment on this part, others more knowledgable than me have addressed the allergies issue. Does this child have type 1 diabetes and is on insulin? Because if so this is totally not true. Kids with type 1 diabetes can eat sugar in moderation just like everyone else. They just need to inject insulin because their pancreas doesn't produce it. And it's ALL carbs, not just sweets. So if the "sugar free" cookie you mention below that is being made contains flour or anything else with carbohydrates the child will still need to take insulin to cover that cookie to avoid her blood sugar going too high. Though perhaps the mother is assuming the child will be low from the physical activities at camp and the carbs in the cookie will help avoid that. I don't know and neither do you which is why you should have been told. My dd is 15 and has had type 1 since she was five. Every camp, child care, school situation she is/has been involved in has meant me including that on health forms AND attaching several pages of detailed forms with instructions, giving training etc. You can't just drop off a child with type 1 diabetes and not say anything! If it's type 2 that's different and I can't really comment on that with knowledge either. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 23:18:02 GMT
I'm the director for a kids daily camp that runs a full week during summer. Of course we get all the registration forms which asks about allergies. We had quite a few dairy "allergies", which was cause for concern because our snack for the last day is ice-cream. So I went through the tedious job of calling all the parents. Not one of them have an actual allergy. One child just gets constipated if he has too much, but they were more than delighted for him to get ice cream. The other just wasn't supposed to get cups of milk for who knows what reason. I understand that there are food sensitivities, our kids are sensitive to certain foods. But I would never dream of putting that on the form unless I wasn't ok with him having those foods. I wish parents could understand that there is a huge difference between food allergies vs a sensitivity. I'm re-thinking next year's forms. Perhaps putting a little note on the form stating we only need to know about allergies, not food sensitivities. And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! Why did you call them? Just take the info at face value. Don't feed the child the offending foods. My son was lactose intolerant but I found plenty of people who wanted him to drink his milk because milk is good for him. No, milk gave him a belly ache, gas and chronic constipation issues. Yes, he could have ice cream sometimes (he could tell what was going to be too much) But no on understood being lactose intolerant. They assumed they meant he should be forced to eat/drink because it was deemed a "healthy food and a balanced diet" I just wish adults would get over monitoring what someone else's child eats (or doesn't eat) |
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melissa
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Post by melissa on Aug 13, 2015 23:25:25 GMT
Perfect thread for me to vent on!
Dd is lactose intolerant. We do not consider it a big deal. She can generally manage smaller amounts of lactose with enzyme. No big deal. I have put it on her summer program forms just so they are aware. She's managed in summer programs all over the US and in Russia. It has never been much of an issue. In Austin, they treated her as if she were allergic because it was easier for them and she was thrilled as she got a nice salad for lunch that was made for her (everyone else had box lunches, always with cheese for some reason).
Anyway, as I mentioned, she's had no issues all over the US and Russia... until Ohio. Amazing how many cafeteria dinners they had with cream based main courses. Even the soups were usually cream based! They told her to eat the vegan meal, which generally had insufficient calories. At some programs, she would have just gone to the grocery store and picked up food to keep in her dorm room. Here, there were not allowed. They could go to Target once a week. It turned out to be a Target like we have here with minimal groceries. I do wonder if it would have been better had I indicated it was an allergy. Dd was sick several times from not realizing that there was lactose in the various casseroles, etc. Lesson learned.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 14, 2015 0:11:16 GMT
And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! I can only comment on this part, others more knowledgable than me have addressed the allergies issue. Does this child have type 1 diabetes and is on insulin? Because if so this is totally not true. Kids with type 1 diabetes can eat sugar in moderation just like everyone else. They just need to inject insulin because their pancreas doesn't produce it. And it's ALL carbs, not just sweets. So if the "sugar free" cookie you mention below that is being made contains flour or anything else with carbohydrates the child will still need to take insulin to cover that cookie to avoid her blood sugar going too high. Though perhaps the mother is assuming the child will be low from the physical activities at camp and the carbs in the cookie will help avoid that. I don't know and neither do you which is why you should have been told. My dd is 15 and has had type 1 since she was five. Every camp, child care, school situation she is/has been involved in has meant me including that on health forms AND attaching several pages of detailed forms with instructions, giving training etc. You can't just drop off a child with type 1 diabetes and not say anything! If it's type 2 that's different and I can't really comment on that with knowledge either. I did wonder about this as well, but got lost in the weeds of the allergy. Obviously sugar can cause some blood glucose swings, but to say absolutely no sugar? That seems like strange language for someone with a diabetic child to use. I would expect the mom to say no carbs but even then, diabetics need carbs for energy. |
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Post by Linda on Aug 14, 2015 2:42:02 GMT
I am one of those moms. DS is somewhere between a dairy allergy and dairy sensitivity. He has to have signed statement from his doctor so he can attend activities on post and so he can get an alternate lunch at school. I always fill it out as an allergy because I've found caregivers take an allergy more seriously. Case in point, at one hourly care they very proudly told me that they made sure he had soy milk for lunch.... of pasta alfredo. I educated them on what alfredo sauce is made out of and gave him Miralax that evening. DS will eat ice cream but he usually eats very small amounts and quits when his tummy hurts. Long story short, I call it an allergy so he isn't served alfredo with ice cream and milk. unfortunately that doesn't always help...all of mine have had dairy allergies (which thankfully they outgrew) and my oldest was served cream of tomato soup and pudding at day care (different times, different workers) because it didn't occur to them that either contained milk - and yes, both times resulted in a reaction and a doctors visit and it wasn't until afterwards that we figured out the cause |
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Post by flanz on Aug 14, 2015 4:26:24 GMT
I'm the director for a kids daily camp that runs a full week during summer. Of course we get all the registration forms which asks about allergies. We had quite a few dairy "allergies", which was cause for concern because our snack for the last day is ice-cream. So I went through the tedious job of calling all the parents. Not one of them have an actual allergy. One child just gets constipated if he has too much, but they were more than delighted for him to get ice cream. The other just wasn't supposed to get cups of milk for who knows what reason. I understand that there are food sensitivities, our kids are sensitive to certain foods. But I would never dream of putting that on the form unless I wasn't ok with him having those foods. I wish parents could understand that there is a huge difference between food allergies vs a sensitivity. I'm re-thinking next year's forms. Perhaps putting a little note on the form stating we only need to know about allergies, not food sensitivities. And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! I am in my 50s and have many horrible food sensitivities. IF a food doesn't potentially cause anaphylactic shock and death, it is labelled intolerance, no matter how severe the reaction. I cannot eat any grains at all. NO fish. No oranges. My allergist says I am not allergic to any of them, but a bit of grains ingested accidentally leave me literally feeling like I am coming out from under heavy sedation - and it lasts 3-4 days!!! Oranges make me cry all day long, no quiet weeping, loud wailing crying that i can't control. I could go on. I have a weirdly sensitive and intolerant system htat is a PITA. Using your newly proposed guidelines you wouldn't want to know that I need to avoid these foods... |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 5:49:41 GMT
I'm the director for a kids daily camp that runs a full week during summer. Of course we get all the registration forms which asks about allergies. We had quite a few dairy "allergies", which was cause for concern because our snack for the last day is ice-cream. So I went through the tedious job of calling all the parents. Not one of them have an actual allergy. One child just gets constipated if he has too much, but they were more than delighted for him to get ice cream. The other just wasn't supposed to get cups of milk for who knows what reason. I understand that there are food sensitivities, our kids are sensitive to certain foods. But I would never dream of putting that on the form unless I wasn't ok with him having those foods. I wish parents could understand that there is a huge difference between food allergies vs a sensitivity. I'm re-thinking next year's forms. Perhaps putting a little note on the form stating we only need to know about allergies, not food sensitivities. And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! Why did you call them? Just take the info at face value. Don't feed the child the offending foods. My son was lactose intolerant but I found plenty of people who wanted him to drink his milk because milk is good for him. No, milk gave him a belly ache, gas and chronic constipation issues. Yes, he could have ice cream sometimes (he could tell what was going to be too much) But no on understood being lactose intolerant. They assumed they meant he should be forced to eat/drink because it was deemed a "healthy food and a balanced diet" I just wish adults would get over monitoring what someone else's child eats (or doesn't eat) I called because I knew for a fact that there was a few that gave their children occasional dairy so I needed to know whether they wanted to provide their own snack or whether they were allowed ice cream. I would never try to force someone to eat something. |
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Post by lucyg on Aug 14, 2015 5:50:04 GMT
I can understand where there might be some confusion based on what the other ladies have mentioned. Thankfully, my kids aren't allergic to anything. I, however, have recently developed a sensitivity to lactose. I can't drink a glass of 2% milk without consequences and a milkshake causes me lots of problems. But, I have no problem with cheese or a regular size bowl of ice cream. It's really odd to me. If it were one of my kids with these sensitivities, I might be tempted to list it on the sheet if only to help my kids avoid those problems. Jen That's exactly my situation with dairy, too. I can have a little milk or ice cream, but I stay the hell away from milkshakes.  I also have problems with cream sauces and cream soups (it's sad). But I don't have any trouble with cheese. A dietician once told me that cheese is processed differently from other dairy and that most people with lactose issues actually can eat cheese, even if they think they can't. Anyway, I like the idea of sending out the menu in advance and telling parents to let you know when they will be supplying substitute meals. Also, of course they need to let you know about deathly allergies or issues. Which I would say the highly diabetic child would fall under.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 5:52:38 GMT
I'm the director for a kids daily camp that runs a full week during summer. Of course we get all the registration forms which asks about allergies. We had quite a few dairy "allergies", which was cause for concern because our snack for the last day is ice-cream. So I went through the tedious job of calling all the parents. Not one of them have an actual allergy. One child just gets constipated if he has too much, but they were more than delighted for him to get ice cream. The other just wasn't supposed to get cups of milk for who knows what reason. I understand that there are food sensitivities, our kids are sensitive to certain foods. But I would never dream of putting that on the form unless I wasn't ok with him having those foods. I wish parents could understand that there is a huge difference between food allergies vs a sensitivity. I'm re-thinking next year's forms. Perhaps putting a little note on the form stating we only need to know about allergies, not food sensitivities. And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! I think I'd put in a line: foods to be avoided. technically my son isn't allergic to dairy, but he will projectile vomit within minutes if it's injested, I certainly don't want you to think "oh, he is sensitive, but I'll give it to him anyway". I would NEVER in a million years dream of doing that, not sure where you got that idea from. All I said was it's frustrating when parents put down certain foods as an allergy but are perfectly fine with their child eating it at our program. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 5:54:18 GMT
And one reason people put them down is because if the child declines a treat, the program will know why. They may not be severely allergic, but for some places unless it's explicitly stated somewhere the kids are all expected to eat what is given, and some kids can't even though they won't die if they do. So putting it down (even under allergies) is easier than not and having the food wasted or the kid get grief for not eating it. Again, I'm talking about parents who put it down as an allergy and don't care if their child eats said food. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 5:57:59 GMT
And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! I can only comment on this part, others more knowledgable than me have addressed the allergies issue. Does this child have type 1 diabetes and is on insulin? Because if so this is totally not true. Kids with type 1 diabetes can eat sugar in moderation just like everyone else. They just need to inject insulin because their pancreas doesn't produce it. And it's ALL carbs, not just sweets. So if the "sugar free" cookie you mention below that is being made contains flour or anything else with carbohydrates the child will still need to take insulin to cover that cookie to avoid her blood sugar going too high. Though perhaps the mother is assuming the child will be low from the physical activities at camp and the carbs in the cookie will help avoid that. I don't know and neither do you which is why you should have been told. My dd is 15 and has had type 1 since she was five. Every camp, child care, school situation she is/has been involved in has meant me including that on health forms AND attaching several pages of detailed forms with instructions, giving training etc. You can't just drop off a child with type 1 diabetes and not say anything! If it's type 2 that's different and I can't really comment on that with knowledge either. I'm only going off what this mother is saying. They are low income and have a hard time buying all her medication. this girl is allowed zero sugar and is on a very low carb/glycemic diet. The cookies were GF, low carb. |
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Post by lucyg on Aug 14, 2015 6:03:58 GMT
I am in my 50s and have many horrible food sensitivities. IF a food doesn't potentially cause anaphylactic shock and death, it is labelled intolerance, no matter how severe the reaction. I cannot eat any grains at all. NO fish. No oranges. My allergist says I am not allergic to any of them, but a bit of grains ingested accidentally leave me literally feeling like I am coming out from under heavy sedation - and it lasts 3-4 days!!! Oranges make me cry all day long, no quiet weeping, loud wailing crying that i can't control. I could go on. I have a weirdly sensitive and intolerant system htat is a PITA. Using your newly proposed guidelines you wouldn't want to know that I need to avoid these foods... I would think the parent of such a severely sensitive child would proactively contact the camp people and work with them on their child's menu. The parents may need to supply her food themselves. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 6:07:25 GMT
I'm the director for a kids daily camp that runs a full week during summer. Of course we get all the registration forms which asks about allergies. We had quite a few dairy "allergies", which was cause for concern because our snack for the last day is ice-cream. So I went through the tedious job of calling all the parents. Not one of them have an actual allergy. One child just gets constipated if he has too much, but they were more than delighted for him to get ice cream. The other just wasn't supposed to get cups of milk for who knows what reason. I understand that there are food sensitivities, our kids are sensitive to certain foods. But I would never dream of putting that on the form unless I wasn't ok with him having those foods. I wish parents could understand that there is a huge difference between food allergies vs a sensitivity. I'm re-thinking next year's forms. Perhaps putting a little note on the form stating we only need to know about allergies, not food sensitivities. And the kicker? One mom didn't include under the medical issues line that her daughter is severely diabetic and can have absolutely no sugar. I realize this girl already knows to avoid sugary snacks, but we would have changed our Tuesday snack so she had more options. My biggest concern though is, we would not have known what was wrong if she had a medical emergency. She is severely diabetic and we didn't need to know. Oy! I am in my 50s and have many horrible food sensitivities. IF a food doesn't potentially cause anaphylactic shock and death, it is labelled intolerance, no matter how severe the reaction. I cannot eat any grains at all. NO fish. No oranges. My allergist says I am not allergic to any of them, but a bit of grains ingested accidentally leave me literally feeling like I am coming out from under heavy sedation - and it lasts 3-4 days!!! Oranges make me cry all day long, no quiet weeping, loud wailing crying that i can't control. I could go on. I have a weirdly sensitive and intolerant system htat is a PITA. Using your newly proposed guidelines you wouldn't want to know that I need to avoid these foods... There's a few posts on this thread where I talk about conveying to parents that I only need to know if the child CAN NOT have said food. So your list of sensitivities would indeed be respected. I think I need to reiterate, I respect food sensitivities as much as food allergies. I was caught off guard by all the parents that were perfectly ok with their child eating the very food they put down as an allergy. If I'm putting something down as an allergy/sensitivity it's because I don't want my child having that. I have children with food sensitivities, I get it. I have a child who needs to be auto-immune paleo, so again, I would never disrespect a parent by giving the child said food anyway because I think it's ok. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 6:28:38 GMT
I can only comment on this part, others more knowledgable than me have addressed the allergies issue. Does this child have type 1 diabetes and is on insulin? Because if so this is totally not true. Kids with type 1 diabetes can eat sugar in moderation just like everyone else. They just need to inject insulin because their pancreas doesn't produce it. And it's ALL carbs, not just sweets. So if the "sugar free" cookie you mention below that is being made contains flour or anything else with carbohydrates the child will still need to take insulin to cover that cookie to avoid her blood sugar going too high. Though perhaps the mother is assuming the child will be low from the physical activities at camp and the carbs in the cookie will help avoid that. I don't know and neither do you which is why you should have been told. My dd is 15 and has had type 1 since she was five. Every camp, child care, school situation she is/has been involved in has meant me including that on health forms AND attaching several pages of detailed forms with instructions, giving training etc. You can't just drop off a child with type 1 diabetes and not say anything! If it's type 2 that's different and I can't really comment on that with knowledge either. I'm only going off what this mother is saying. They are low income and have a hard time buying all her medication. this girl is allowed zero sugar and is on a very low carb/glycemic diet. The cookies were GF, low carb. I know this isn't you, but the parents. Zero sugar is close to impossible. Zero sucrose yes, but so many foods naturally have sugar that it would be pretty hard, if not impossible to live on a diet like this. I know you don't know this either and I'm not criticizing, just letting you know. People are not severe diabetics. You either have some form of diabetes or you don't. You can have severe low or high blood sugars or severe complications etc. - just a Type 1 diabetic since childhood that got tired of being told, "oh, you have the bad kind" when I just had a different kind with different treatment. Back to allergies. I get your frustration. I think some people don't know how to handle it all or they are in a hurry so they just scribble it in real quick. Morphine and I did not get along well at all during my first c-section. I've tried explaining my problems to some medical people when I have been seen for various things and some will tell me, "morphine doesn't do that." So when I was pregnant with my second child my doctor understood and told me to tell anyone that I was allergic to morphine. That doesn't work for me because I am not allergic to it that I know of and while I never, ever want it again I don't want to get in situations like you are looking at. So I kind of get stuck trying to figure out just what I should put down on the paperwork, especially when it doesn't always leave you much room to explain things. I hope you are able to figure out what to do about this. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 6:31:24 GMT
Now I'm wondering. Is it possible that the diabetic girl hasn't been diagnosed, but the parents assume she is diabetic? I just cannot imagine not putting that on medical papers for camp for a diabetic of any type.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Aug 14, 2015 12:57:22 GMT
I am one of those moms. DS is somewhere between a dairy allergy and dairy sensitivity. He has to have signed statement from his doctor so he can attend activities on post and so he can get an alternate lunch at school. I always fill it out as an allergy because I've found caregivers take an allergy more seriously. Case in point, at one hourly care they very proudly told me that they made sure he had soy milk for lunch.... of pasta alfredo. I educated them on what alfredo sauce is made out of and gave him Miralax that evening. DS will eat ice cream but he usually eats very small amounts and quits when his tummy hurts. Long story short, I call it an allergy so he isn't served alfredo with ice cream and milk. I would be fine with you putting that under an allergy because you are asking the caregivers not to give him said food. My issue is with parents that put down food sensitives for us to know about but are completely fine with their child having the problem food. Why put something down if you're completely ok with the child having that food? I'm also the parent of a child who has dairy sensitivity. She can't have milk for breakfast, cheese at lunch and ice cream for a snack or treat. One of those is fine. So if I knew she was having ice cream for a treat I would make sure she didn't have any other diary. Because you wouldn't know what else she had eaten that day I would put an allergy so she wouldn't be given ice cream, without my knowledge. She is nearly 13 now, so she knows what she can and can not eat, today I would not put it on a camp form but when she was younger I definitely would have. If you always have ice cream on Fridays you could have a question that asks that specifically. Please tick below if your child can not have ice cream for a treat on Friday. Then the responsibility is on the parent. |
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iluvpink
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Posts: 4,370
Location: Michigan
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Post by iluvpink on Aug 14, 2015 14:16:40 GMT
I'm only going off what this mother is saying. They are low income and have a hard time buying all her medication. this girl is allowed zero sugar and is on a very low carb/glycemic diet. The cookies were GF, low carb. What state are you in? Many states have special health care programs for children with chronic health problems like diabetes. We do here in MI and it's income based, but open to everyone. It covers all doctor's visits, medication/copays etc that aren't covered by your regular insurance. |
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Post by peasapie on Aug 14, 2015 14:35:04 GMT
i didn't read all the responses. I would, to be safe, just ask: any foods your child is not allowed to eat?
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pudgygroundhog
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Post by pudgygroundhog on Aug 14, 2015 15:40:10 GMT
A friend runs a summer day camp. Parents are provided with a menu of each day's meal and snacks for the next week. If the child cannot or opts not to eat the provided food, the parent is expected to provide the child's food. IMO, a day camp should not be expected to cater to each child's dietary restrictions. This is kind of what I was thinking. Obviously you want to be sensitive to the health concerns and needs of the children, but with such detailed forms and parents okaying/vetoing snacks, it's going to get very complicated. Around here it is not very common for day camps to provide meals and snacks. |
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Post by myboysnme on Aug 14, 2015 16:05:06 GMT
A Child with 'serious' diabetes is likely doing more than watching what she eats. Is she checking her blood sugar? Using insulin? As poster above said, diabetes doesn't mean 'no sugar.' I work in a long term care center where many residents have type 2 diabetes. They can eat things that have sugar or carbs. They just have to check their blood sugar and make other adjustments to their diet.
The number of people who want to monitor what they eat or tell them they can't have that or bring in some 'sugar free' high carb alternative is well meaning but misguided. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 18:10:54 GMT
A Child with 'serious' diabetes is likely doing more than watching what she eats. Is she checking her blood sugar? Using insulin? As poster above said, diabetes doesn't mean 'no sugar.' I work in a long term care center where many residents have type 2 diabetes. They can eat things that have sugar or carbs. They just have to check their blood sugar and make other adjustments to their diet.
The number of people who want to monitor what they eat or tell them they can't have that or bring in some 'sugar free' high carb alternative is well meaning but misguided. This child is 9/10 years and carries her diabetes bag with her. I had to phone home last night because she had forgotten her bag. Her parents were there immediately to give her the bag. And the alternative brought by another parent was sugar free AND low carb, not high carb. Personally if this was my daughter I would be supplying my own snacks for peace of mind. I'm also trying to cut the mother some slack. Our program runs for 2.5 hrs everyday for one week. This girl knows how to monitor herself, and I wonder if that's why the mother didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I'm not going to educate this mom on the do's and don't's of handling her daughters health. She has access to free healthcare, which would include seeing a nutritionalist. (Canada) But our healthcare does not cover prescriptions, and they might not qualify for funding due to his income. But if I remember correctly they're spending over $1000 a month on prescriptions which could stretch a lot of people's budgets. And it's hard getting your own medical insurance if you already have a pre-existing condition. And this is the kind of mother that would do all their own cooking, right down to sauces and mixes so going sugar free wouldn't be that hard. This child does get carbs but the mother monitors exactly how many she gets, they are diligent about keeping her carbs at a certain level. |
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Post by mikklynn on Aug 14, 2015 18:13:32 GMT
littlemama I respectfully disagree. If your child only breaks out with strawberries, per your example, that is what happens NOW. Allergies can escalate the more often the person is exposed. My dad thought he could still eat "a few" strawberries and went into anaphylactic shock the last time he ate them.
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Post by myboysnme on Aug 14, 2015 18:36:22 GMT
A Child with 'serious' diabetes is likely doing more than watching what she eats. Is she checking her blood sugar? Using insulin? As poster above said, diabetes doesn't mean 'no sugar.' I work in a long term care center where many residents have type 2 diabetes. They can eat things that have sugar or carbs. They just have to check their blood sugar and make other adjustments to their diet.
The number of people who want to monitor what they eat or tell them they can't have that or bring in some 'sugar free' high carb alternative is well meaning but misguided. This child is 9/10 years and carries her diabetes bag with her. I had to phone home last night because she had forgotten her bag. Her parents were there immediately to give her the bag. And the alternative brought by another parent was sugar free AND low carb, not high carb. Personally if this was my daughter I would be supplying my own snacks for peace of mind. I'm also trying to cut the mother some slack. Our program runs for 2.5 hrs everyday for one week. This girl knows how to monitor herself, and I wonder if that's why the mother didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I'm not going to educate this mom on the do's and don't's of handling her daughters health. She has access to free healthcare, which would include seeing a nutritionalist. (Canada) But our healthcare does not cover prescriptions, and they might not qualify for funding due to his income. But if I remember correctly they're spending over $1000 a month on prescriptions which could stretch a lot of people's budgets. And it's hard getting your own medical insurance if you already have a pre-existing condition. And this is the kind of mother that would do all their own cooking, right down to sauces and mixes so going sugar free wouldn't be that hard. This child does get carbs but the mother monitors exactly how many she gets, they are diligent about keeping her carbs at a certain level. I was just commenting generally not specifically. Sounds like you are doing the very best you can for the kids and the program. |
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happymomma
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Post by happymomma on Aug 14, 2015 19:32:57 GMT
A friend runs a summer day camp. Parents are provided with a menu of each day's meal and snacks for the next week. If the child cannot or opts not to eat the provided food, the parent is expected to provide the child's food. IMO, a day camp should not be expected to cater to each child's dietary restrictions. This is kind of what I was thinking. Obviously you want to be sensitive to the health concerns and needs of the children, but with such detailed forms and parents okaying/vetoing snacks, it's going to get very complicated. Around here it is not very common for day camps to provide meals and snacks. I really like Gravity's idea! Honestly if I were the parent of a child with special dietary needs, whether allergy or intolerance, I would want to be on the ball and provide her with foods that I KNEW were safe for her to eat. The focus on day camp should not be on planning a menu to suit multiple situations but on having fun or learning or enjoying the things they are there to learn and enjoy! Parents need to be responsible for special needs their kids have. If a child has an inhaler, parents are the ones to send it off with them. When food becomes a medical issue, they need to provide the correct foods. |
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Post by hop2 on Aug 14, 2015 19:42:08 GMT
On the flip side of that, my son has a reaction to mosquito bites that is very much more than normal. His bites from Mosquitos blow up as large or larger than a normal persons bee stings. He has inherited this from his father and there is no anaphylactic reaction whatsoever in either of them DH has had this for 46 years lol so since it is NOT an allergy I didn't note it on his forms for scout camp and I got an irate call from the person at camp about my sons legs the first year. The wanted me to pick him up immediately etc why didn't I tell them etc. I said you wanted allergy information it's not an allergy, nothing else is going to happen other than that huge lump.
So for years after that I'm the idiot parent who wrote the following under his allergy spot on camp forms:
Son has huge reactions to mosquito bites but it is not an allergy and has never had a reaction beyond the huge lump. He can have after bite, benedryl or cortisone cream. Call if questions.
Subsequent health people must have thought me insane. I stopped writing it around when he was 13 or 14 figuring he could explain himself if anyone noticed but Boy Scout camp was less involved than cub camp and his scout master already knew him.
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I also have problems with cream sauces and cream soups (it's sad). But I don't have any trouble with cheese. A dietician once told me that cheese is processed differently from other dairy and that most people with lactose issues actually can eat cheese, even if they think they can't.
