Dairy allergy + peanut allergy + vegan

[lp75]

My son has just started preschool, and we have one child in his class with a severe dairy allergy plus two more with severe or fairly severe peanut allergies. We also have one vegan student that I know of...

I would love to get some ideas for lunches that I won't feel so bad about sending with my son, and snack ideas also. As far as I know, our school hasn't set any specific "no dairy/peanut" rules but I would feel much better sending foods that are safe for everyone, as we all know how kids tend to share (or take) each others' foods...

I am not quite as concerned with everything being vegan, but if I could somehow manage all three restrictions without breaking the bank and without a ton of preparation/cooking, that would be ideal!

Thanks!

-Lisa

[cristeen]

I wouldn't worry at all about the vegan. Your child eating egg or meat near him isn't going to cause anaphalaxis.

What kinds of foods does he normally eat? Other than PB&J, the big ones to avoid would be cheese and dairy yogurt. That still leaves lots of things to eat, both from the animal kingdom (meat, eggs) and the vegetable kingdom (everything from beans to carrots to apples). If you're wanting to be very careful, you'll need to read ingredient lists on things like bread for hidden dairy, but that shouldn't be too difficult to find dairy free.

[WC_hapamama]

I'd avoid anything messy, prone to spill, or sticky/gooey, but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.

Most of us parents of allergic children tend to teach our kids not to share food with anyone with asking us first.

[Therese's Mommy]

One easy alternative to PB&J would be to replace the peanut butter with Sunbutter. We have been eating that in our house for about 18 months and all of us agree that we like it better than peanut butter (and we did right from the beginning).

But, the best thing you can do to protect the other kids would be to make sure your child does not share his lunch. Even if you have none of the offending foods on your ingredient list, there is always the risk of cross contamination. If you don't live with food allergies I think it is hard to realize how easy it is to cross contaminate. Also, teach your child to wash his hands and around his mouth well after eating. These are the rules in place in our house in order to keep our food allergic child safe. Also, make sure he knows to not share drinks either. We deal with quite a few allergies with my dd. We still eat her offending foods (except peanut butter, which no one in our family is allowed to consume at any time) and she never has a reaction at home. We are just really careful about hygiene after eating (along with only allowing eating to take place at the kitchen table) and make sure that our 4yo knows that she can never ever share food or drink with her sister.

Finally, as a mother of a child with many food allergies, I appreciate your concern for the children with food allergies. It is really tough for these kids and it is nice that you are looking out for their welfare as well.

hth,

Beth