Want to hear your opinion on this

As a parent you would say that you would rather pack for your child and have them be safe, which is understandable. However, how would your child feel being the only one in the group that is singled out and cannot enjoy the common snack for the day? For fairness, and equality for that child, you should really prepare a snack that is safe for all. They did the right thing by alerting parents of any known allergies, and parents should all respect that so all the children are included.

Agree

I agree with you. As the parent I would take the responsibilty to ensure my child was safe. Plus I wouldn't burden other parents with the added responsibility.

i do believe the childs mom should provide nut free snacks but so should all the other parents. Children will not always make the right decision not to eat something when all the other kids are and it looks good. The some children have such a severe allergy that they do not have to just ingest nuts to have some sort of allergic reaction. I would like to think if it were your child you would like for the other parents to be a little more compassionate even though they don't have too.

I don't think purchasing snacks with no nuts in them is a big deal....however if it were my child, I would not take a risk either. I would bring snacks that I knew were safe for my child, because the thing is....it's MY child and it's my responsibility to not only protect them and provide for them, but if they do have a food allergy to educate them so that they know what foods are safe and are not.

I don't know if this input is valuable or not, but I think you and your wife both have good points and I can see validity on both sides.

Signed,
Sweden

I would not take that chance and would provide a snack in her/his things. I would not rely on other parents doing it since often the product is labeled way down in the ingrediates. Parents of children with no allegies may forget when picking something up from the store to look.

My daughter can not have large amounts of Milk or ice cream. It will upset her stomach. So when they have events I take sherbet for her to have. (not such a big thing now that she is not little, when she was in daycare it was a huge thing) She would tell the teachers no I cannot have that it will hurt me. She was 3.

I agree the parent of the child with the allergy should provide the snacks for her child, but depending upon the sensitivity of the child's allergy, someone eating nuts and touching a table top may put her at severe risk. And in that case, there should be an epi-pen close by (provided by the parent). I cater and this is always a problem! Just because there are no nuts in a food, that doesn't mean that nuts didn't touch a surface.

To all those with severe allergies: Make sure you RSVP an event with the allergy listed! Don't come to the cook at the event and ask about a "gluten free" plate when the person who hired me didn't mention any allergies * I always ask, it is on the form*! And if your 6 y o can't eat wheat, BRING YOUR OWN SNACK / DINNER just in case!

As the mother of a child with a severe tree nut allergy I say this: What people don't realize is that depending on the severity of the allergy coming into contact with another child who has touched the allergen then touched the child with the allergy it could be fatal. So, if you buy snacks for the class and they all eat it (except the child with the allergen) and it contains the allergen YOU are still putting that child's life at risk. The children who ate the allergen with their hands could touch the child with the allergy and send that child into anaphylactic shock. It's not that hard to read labels...look for the cross contamination warning on the package...it's in bold.

Depending on the severity of the allergy, yes, I might pack my child a special snack to be on the safe side.

On the other hand, it's not that much to ask. Please, choose one of the many possible snack options in the world that doesn't contain macadamia nuts.

I'm not allergic, but could go years without eating a macadamia nut, so I certainly don't see that this is a wild request.

You'll see a number of classrooms in schools that are declared "nut free" because of students with very strong allergies.

If there were dozens of different allergies, then it might be time to rethink the whole process. As it is, I'd say work with it. It's not that big a deal.

We signed my daughter up for an extra curricular class once a week. There's about 15 students in the class and all parents are required to provide snacks on a designated week. So when the instructor mailed out the schedule for the parents, one parent responded by letting everyone know that her child is allergic to Macadamia nuts and some other foods with nuts in them.
So my wife and I discussed it and are in disagreement about what should be done. IMO, if a child could have an issue with food allergies, the parent of that child should make the snack for that child and not rely on whether or not other parents in the class go out and buy the right snack that won't affect her child. If it were my child with the issue, I wouldn't take the chance.
My wife disagree and says that she did the right thing by letting us know and that we should comply to keep the child safe. There are many options that can be got for snacks and shouldn't be a big deal to shop for them.

So what do you think? Oh and I'm not gonna "rub it in" if more people agree with me. I'm just curious to see if I'm off base.

IF it were my child i would definatly let people know, and if it was known to me that a child in the class was allergic i would definately plan any snack to adhere to her needs, why?

A children share
b. children (age not important) do not always make good choices.

hell a few years ago at a wedding i had a piece of cake knowing that there was a good chance it was strawberry, had a red filling could have been either strawberry or rasberry , but i took, the chance.. it was strawberry. i got as sick as a dog.
and i am 42.

If there weren't thousands of different snack choices, I might agree with you.

There are so many items that are nut-free, I think you should be considerate of this child's allergies. Be happy that you child has no such allergies and provide snacks that everyone enjoys.

How you you like your child to be singled out in the same circumstances and have to eat the snacks his/her parent's provided rather than sharing the same snacks as the other kids.

As a child, it is important to be part of the group. Relax. There are plenty of opportunities to battle on more important issues. I agree with your wife.

You have no obligation to be considerate, however, that doesn't mean you should not try to be or that you shouldn't teach your child to be. Of course, I'd be willing to bet that the mother of this child will make sure her child has a back up if she's unable to enjoy the group snack. Every person, small or large, wants to feel a part of the group. I doubt she's attempting to shirk her responsibility by letting everyone know of her child's allergies. More likely, she's just asking for your consideration if it's possible for you to give it.

We have food allergies within my office and we often have group meals. Most often, we avoid food's with the specific allergen, however, on the occasion that there is a dish that isn't suitable for everyone, it's never the only option and it's well labeled. As someone else mentioned, sometimes just using a common serving items is dangerous depending on the severity of the allergy. We care about our friends too much to allow an accidental event that could be life threatening.

So, you are never obligated to be considerate, but it would be a kind thing to do.