Help Keeping Dd gluten-free At Vbs

[kbdy]

I picked up my girls from VBS this afternoon & on the way home ydd tells me that she's hungry b/c they lost her snack.

I advised them of her having Celiac on the registration sheet, told both teachers & they said they understood the restrictions. I told them that I would bring her a snack each day so they didn't have to worry about it.

Well, today they misplaced her snack & then told her to eat their snack of pudding & cookies!!. Ydd said that she can't have that & the volunteers kept pushing her to eat it. Ydd said "mom, they kept telling me to at least take a bite, they wouldn't listen to me!" She was so sad.

Thank goodness dd knows what she can & can't have. I called the director as soon as I heard & the director tells me that it must've been a mistake. *Yeah, no kidding!* I told her that we can't have that kind of mistake b/c dd will get very sick. She kept repeating it was an honest mistake & tomorrow they'll make sure she has pretzels. HELLLLLOOOOO. She can't have those either!!

She also tells me that they had her playing in oatmeal & with play-doh. She knows that she can't use the play-doh, but didn't know that the "mud-pies" were made with oatmeal. UGH.

WWYD at this point? I'm planning on going in early tomorrow to explain again & I've made a button for her to wear that says "do NOT feed me, I have allergies"

[Pattymom]

We finished our VBS a few weeks ago, I was the teacher for dd (4), so I brought her own snack and gave it to her each day. I did then run over to my son's table in a different group to take his snack away and give him one I had brought. I used the better than principle so they were always pleased with their snack. I had told the volunteers the deal and his snacks were labeled in the kitchen in a bag with his name, but alas the volunteers are teens overwhelmed with all the kids, so they never remembered to give it him, so I needed to give it to him myself. all the place settings were laid out so he always sat in front of a gluten snack spot, but after the first day when he saw what I brought was better, didn't try to sneak a bite (My 4 year old won't cheat, my 7 year old will, sigh)

It's hard with volunteers because so may our so busy and concerned with so many other things. Plus, it's only for a week, so it's nto quite like working with a teacher. I would talk to whoever is in chargeof her group when you drop her off, and then with whoever else looks like they are helping that group,about the serious risks, and whatdo for snack and other activities. If all else fails, you could always volunteer to help out, seldom do they refuse help at a VBS, then you have control over keeping your DD safe.

Patty

[home-based-mom]

I picked up my girls from VBS this afternoon & on the way home ydd tells me that she's hungry b/c they lost her snack.

I advised them of her having Celiac on the registration sheet, told both teachers & they said they understood the restrictions. I told them that I would bring her a snack each day so they didn't have to worry about it.

Well, today they misplaced her snack & then told her to eat their snack of pudding & cookies!!. Ydd said that she can't have that & the volunteers kept pushing her to eat it. Ydd said "mom, they kept telling me to at least take a bite, they wouldn't listen to me!" She was so sad.

Thank goodness dd knows what she can & can't have. I called the director as soon as I heard & the director tells me that it must've been a mistake. *Yeah, no kidding!* I told her that we can't have that kind of mistake b/c dd will get very sick. She kept repeating it was an honest mistake & tomorrow they'll make sure she has pretzels. HELLLLLOOOOO. She can't have those either!!

She also tells me that they had her playing in oatmeal & with play-doh. She knows that she can't use the play-doh, but didn't know that the "mud-pies" were made with oatmeal. UGH.

WWYD at this point? I'm planning on going in early tomorrow to explain again & I've made a button for her to wear that says "do NOT feed me, I have allergies"

I'm assuming that your church bought one of the themed VBS kits? If so, everything is spelled out for them - snacks, crafts, everything. Either research on line or get the info from the director. Talk to the volunteers, talk to the director, call a special meeting, do whatever fits into your time schedule. I'm not sure how deep of an impression you can make at this late date. However, as Patty said, you could always volunteer as VBS people could always use another volunteer!

[slmprofesseur]

My ds (2 yrs old) was in the nursery. I took all his food and snacks, although one night the nursery volunteer brought me a bag of gummy snacks to check and see if they were safe. Our VBS had a medical info section on the registration form to fill out. I read the section for all of my students..... Our church surprised me when they started serving salad at dinner. (That was all I could eat!)

[debmom]

I would ask them if they would push a child with a peanut allergy to eat peanuts. Usually people can understand the severity of that. Then if you can go in during the snack time to volunteer, I would try to do that for at least a day or two to help them set a pattern.

My 16 year old went to Georgetown University for a summer future medical student camp, NYLF, a few weeks ago. We arranged ahead of time for her to have plenty of food and I was assured that they dealt with gluten issues all the time and had gluten free bagels, waffles, breads, etc with a gluten free dedicated toaster for breakfasts. she found the gluten free toaster, but no food. After three days, she made an appointment to speak with the dietician, and was promised better availability, but that only helped for one day. After that, she would ask the workers for the gluten free food and was told each day that no one knew where it was and the dietician wasn't in. So I guess what my point is-- there are going to be issues all the time. I just sent her with two grocery bags of gluten free bars and baked goods since there wasn't a refrigerator in the dorm room. She ate that and salads at dinner and was fine, if a bit bored with her selections.