Accidental dairy at nursery!

I think this will be a learning experience for them and they’ll do better next time. I can totally see how this could happen. I’m sure they do a good job watching everyone, but their eyes honestly can’t see everything all the time. Kids that age are just naturally curious about everything. Maybe a suggestion could be that if they notice a kid does have dairy, maybe not sit your little one next to them during lunch if that’s possible. Although I’m sure after this incident, they will be super watchful about that going forward. I agree with what your partner said.

This is a red flag. At my daughters pre-school the allergy kids sit on a separate table with staff. I'd be furious at them letting my allergy child sit within arms reach of something dangerous to them. I bet they wouldn't be that lax with a peanut allergy. I'd be having a stern chat with nursery at how they're going to prevent this occurring again x

Big red flag for me. I’d be asking to see their written allergy policy and how staff are trained regarding allergies as that never should’ve been able to happen. Kids will absolutely be kids but adults are responsible for safeguarding them, that could’ve been an anaphylactic reaction… they are very lucky it wasn’t that kind of allergy…

I mean how serious is the allergy? My son had an allergy to regular milk, but all it did was cause a little bit of irritation using the potty. If it was a life threatening peanut allergy, perhaps sitting your child away from the other kids would be necessary, but if it's a mild allergy, I don't know how big of a deal that really is? I think people really get wild with this kind of stuff. I'm assuming they're in a room with several little kids, so I could easily see how a kid could reach over quickly and steal a bite. It happens.

And because they also know children are children, they should have better practices in place. I would ask them how they are planning to prevent it from happening again. What are they going to implement that wasn't there or what they failed to do that is part of their procedures. In our nursery all the children with allergies sit in a separate table and on top of that one member of the staff sits with them to be sure they don't share food. These come with downsides as they don't really integrate with the whole group. The other thing is that it could have been a genuine distraction from the staff, but they also could have made a mistake of giving him the wrong yogurt and they told you he is the one who took the wrong one... So on any case, it is good to enquire more about it and get reassurance on the steps they will follow next.

@Shay I definitely hope this will be a learning experience for them, but they were so nonchalant about it, it put me on edge. I’m not one to kick up a fuss, but there’s been a couple of things beforehand (not all good related) where they’ve fell short, and I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt each time

@Samantha it’s only a little nursery, with max 8 kids or so I’d say, so probably not the room to sit separately, which is fine, but my little one is pretty slow, I can imagine to grab someone else’s yogurt and eat it would take about 30 seconds, but maybe I’m wrong, will have a chat and see what they will do to stop happening again definitely x

@Skye very lucky it wasn’t anaphylaxis! But the seemed so chill about it on the phone, I guess I have to be grateful they rung me and didn’t just act like it didn’t happen 🙏

@Jessica it’s not super serious, but will cause blood in poo, probably rashes and a very very restless night for us as he won’t settle. I’m not getting wild with it at all, but he’s only little, and not that fast at all so would have taken him a while to lean over, take someone else’s food and eat it all without being detected. Kids will definitely be kids there’s no denying, but when they’ve fallen short on a couple things since starting it makes me nervous!

@𝔾𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕖 I will definitely ask on pick up how this will not happen again. I know there’s new staff there, but they’re lucky that little ones allergies aren’t anaphylactic. It’s only a little nursery so won’t have the room to do that, but just scooting his chair over a little bit would make a difference! It did cross my mind that they might have given him the wrong yogurt (new staff) and it was the first thing I thought as a 11 month old strapped into a chair has very slow reflexes to do all that without being caught! But maybe he has some ninja abilities I don’t know about 🤣

I used to work as a nursery manager. If the child is highly allergic, we would separate them to ensure food doesn’t get mixed. We even used separate plates/bowls/cutlery to alert all staff this child has an allergy. (Red for allergy, green for vegetarian and white for no dietary requirements). On their beaker there would be written on the back of their picture a list of allergies the child has. This is to ensure all staff in the room are aware of what allergy the child has, alongside a chart with every child’s dietary requirements to prevent any accidents occurring. This has to be taken incredibly serious, as for some children this could mean death if not properly watched. However, some children with less risks associated with their allergy, the children would sit at same table as other children to prevent exclusion. It really depends on the individual child. But as the parent, make it clear how serious the allergy may or may not be. It sounds silly but it’s the nursery dynamic

This exact thing happened to my daughter over a year ago. She grabbed another baby’s yoghurt and had put the spoon in her mouth before they could stop her. I was really upset and thought that was careless, but I know these things can happen. I had slip ups when I was breastfeeding too. After this, they made sure she was on a separate table from the others while they ate. Thankfully she had only a minor reaction (green poo).

We had something similar happen, but I honestly completely understand that these things happen, we can't watch them 24/7, it takes seconds for kids to grab something and eat it! I just talked to them afterwards and it hasn't happend again. Although, in pur case she didn't grab anything, they fed her a biscuit without realising!