Lunch box ideas?

[BeachbumAggie]

if it's just peanut free how about Nutella from time to time, chocolate hazelnut spread-it's my favorite treat!

I think the pinwheel idea is great, a little cream cheese, ranch or mayo as a base and some thin meat and cut it into bit sized pieces.

As a kid I would only eat peanut butter sandwiches or turkey sandwiches in my lunch box, our school did pizza day on Friday so I'd eat that or if we had leftover pizza at home I was always happy for a leftover slice in my lunch box! Although my mom never packed them for me I always like bacon sandwiches if ya'll eat bacon.

All of my friend's kiddo's love the lunchables but I would think by making your own you get to ensure the ingredients. They have pizza ones, taco ones, and such in addition to your meat, cheese and cracker varieties.

Good Luck!

 

[ckhagen]

Are the parents just freaking, or are the peanut/nut allergies really that severe?

Why can't they just have meds on hand for the allergic kid on the off chance they react?

Are severe nut allergies really that common in kids these days?

Because if so, I am going to start telling the parent of every misbehaving brat that I am a nutatarian who works in a peanut factory so their child should keep its distance!

There's been quite a few studies on the whole thing and none of them have been able to pin down the "why" as far as I'm concerned. Although I have my theories.

When I was little (first exposure landed me in the hospital at age 2), I was the only kid we knew who was allergic, but these days I could name at least 5 or 6 that I know. Some studies have shown the numbers doubling in recent years. It's definitely the most widespread, deadly food allergy. (80% of allergy deaths) I do have one friend whose child is so severely allergic that he cannot be in the presence of a peanut product. I cannot tell you how many times that poor child has been hospitalized and nearly died. His case is definitely one of the rare, insanely horrific cases. He will never attend school outside the home.. he can't even go to the grocery store and even a family event like Christmas dinner is such a burden on the rest of the family that his mom often just has to stay home with him and let her husband take the rest of the kids, which is totally devastating to her. His case is what I fear we will be seeing more of unless we get to the bottom of this.

I think the last count was somewhere around 2+ million Americans. Of course, the level of reaction ranges, but in my case it has gotten worse as I've gotten older especially since the last few accidental exposures.

EpiPens don't always work. If a child goes into full-blown anaphylaxis, sometimes the pen will only take the edge off just to get them to the hospital where an attempt can be made to open their airway through other methods such as steroids.

The thing is... if you can keep young children from being exposed for as long as possible once discovering the allergy, there's a chance that they can outgrow it or have mild reactions in the future. By the time middle and high school roll around, most of these kids will be able to handle it themselves as far as being exposed. But a young child has a higher chance of being exposed accidentally and each time, it puts them at risk for a more severe reaction.

If you look at the number of people being diagnosed with wheat/gluten and soy intolerance and allergies... well... it makes me wonder if because our society has veered so much from simple, whole foods, to processed foods, we're reacting because of over-exposure. I mean, try and find a processed food that doesn't have gluten in it. Same thing could be said for peanuts. We're being repeatedly exposed by products we wouldn't think even had peanuts in them. Even bath and body items are made with gluten and peanut products. So you're ingesting it, putting it on your skin, etc... Too much of a good thing?

 

[Matt J]

White bread and mayonaise sandwiches. If it's a special occasion add some sugar. ;-)

 

[jamie]

this is a real thing. i know a family whose little girl who is allergic to "tree nuts", not just peanuts. they have an epipen with them at all times. i taught preschool up until recently & know many children like this. we didn't actully have any at our school. however, the preschool where my nephew goes is peanut free. i like what ktschris said they did at her child's school. it's not fair to alienate the child with the allery--i am sure if they had a choice, they would choose to be allergy-free!

i believe this helps children learn tolerance, and the fact that we aren't all the same & to be sympathetic...as long as the parents display these same responses. in bigger, more metropolitan areas, it is very common for schools to be peanut/tree nut free.

some alternatives, which some have already been mentioned, are...for one, pack your child a thermos with leftovers from the night before (preschoolers usually are not as picky as you would think about the temperature of their food!), or chicken noodle soup or spaghetti, ravioli or noodles with butter. a hot dog. pizza. egg salad. tuna salad. quesadilla. chicken & rice. cheese & crackers. scrambled egg sandwich/biscuit. corndog. hamburger.

i can understand the frustration of not being able to pack peanut butter. but think of the frustration of constantly having to worry if your child may come in contact with peanut butter today & what will happen if she does. i don't have children, thus i don't have these worries; but i know people who do & the fear of your child being accidentally exposed & the fear of it being fatal is unfathomable to me.

just my thoughts...

 

[JSSTMK]

My granddaughter is in that preschool class. I think it is very unfair for all of the other kids. I am very sorry for the child with the problem but we cannot afford expensive alternatives. It requires alot of time and money to work around this problem. The school needs to find another way or perhaps the child should be home schooled. We do not need to pay the price to solve the problem.

 

[ckhagen]

My granddaughter is in that preschool class. I think it is very unfair for all of the other kids. I am very sorry for the child with the problem but we cannot afford expensive alternatives. It requires alot of time and money to work around this problem. The school needs to find another way or perhaps the child should be home schooled. We do not need to pay the price to solve the problem.

Typical response until it happens to you...

 

[JSSTMK]

excuse me? who is going to fund the extra expenses for us??? you? I doubt it?

 

[ckhagen]

PB is not the only cheap thing to eat. Leftovers are even cheaper. If anyone knows about not having money, it's me... we can talk about my $60 a week, for 4 people, grocery budget if you would like.

I understand that it's not fun to have to explore other options... but as a person who has never eaten a PB&J and didn't put my parents in the poor house over it (believe me, we were already in the poor house, I've been to a food bank as a 5 y/o) I can guarantee you that it's not the only cheap thing on this planet to eat.

 

[bluemtnrunner]

One study was looking at the fact that US children are not exposed to peanuts at an early age as a cause of the severe reactions. Countries like India in which children are exposed to peanut based food in infancy have a lower incidence of severe allergic reactions.

What about soybutter, sunflower butter, almond butter and other nut butters that are certified peanut free? There is even peabutter (INGREDIENTS: GOLDEN
BROWN PEAS, CANOLA OIL, ICING SUGAR (CONTAINS CORN STARCH),
MONOGLYCERIDE FROM VEGETABLE OIL (RAPESEED AND COTTONSEED OILS)

My kids grew up on turkey and cheese roll ups(nothing but turkey and cheese slices rolled together, yogurt, applesauce, english muffin pizzas, mac and cheese, veggies and ranch dressing, hummus, celery and cream cheese, jelly, tuna, string cheese.
I am so glad I am not packing lunches anymore. Now days the girls grab leftover sushi and run out the door!

 

[rajs4]

My granddaughter is in that preschool class. I think it is very unfair for all of the other kids. I am very sorry for the child with the problem but we cannot afford expensive alternatives. It requires alot of time and money to work around this problem. The school needs to find another way or perhaps the child should be home schooled. We do not need to pay the price to solve the problem.

As the parent of five children, I am constantly searching for the most economical way to feed my children. As mentioned before, peanut butter is a huge staple in our home. I had no idea how serious peanut allergies were until hearing some of the informative responses on this board. I could not send my child(ren) to school with a pb&j all the while thinking it would affect another child. I sympathize with other parents that must send their child to school wondering if they were going to be infected that day over peanut butter! There are so may more things that parents must stress over and this is such a trivial one. A little effort goes a long way and one must remember that it takes a village to raise a child.