Peanut allergies -I had a random thought, now I'm getting obsessed!

Has anyone ever had this problem or thought of it? I have two little grandaughters who have life threatening nut allergies. They wear bracelets, carry Epipen and the smallest amount of peanut or peanut oil can be dangerous. My daughter has to fly on planes that don't allow peanuts and announce there is someone with the allergy on board, not to eat nut snacks, etc. It's HORRIBLE for my daughter to keep on top of it all the time, she even speaks at the schools every year.
So.....what if you paint some kid that just ate peanut butter or a peanut snack (the oil could stay there for hrs.), etc and you're using your paints & brushes on them. You can't always see the residue. Can you transfer it to a kid like my grandaughters and give them a life threatening reaction? Because of what I see with my granddaughters, I am concerned that I could possibly cause a major problem with some poor child. Should I wipe kids face/mouth with a wipe before painting? Does anyone do this? For some reason I'm getting obsessed with this thought, maybe because there almost was an incident again at my grandaughters school, even after all the peanut education. My daughter picked her up only to find they were feeding her ice cream at a party and they "forgot" to check the ice cream container for cross contamination. It can happen so easily. Thanks for any advice.

I would go for sure... Use seperate brushes, only for your grandchildren and if you can afford it, seperate paint.
I also heard of a kid so allergic he would react to the tiniest bit of not invisible amount of residue of peanuts...

Thanks Lizzie. What I meant was that I was afraid for ALL the kids with peanut allergies that might be painted by me.

I have to admit for long gigs my quick and easy snack of choice has always been peanut M&Ms.

I like peanuts. We cook with peanut oil, bake peanut butter cookies. Even if I didn't have the M&Ms I probably have trace on me.

It is an "AT YOUR OWN RISK" activity so, while I think I may stop taking peanut as my shove in my mouth between kids snack, I am not taking any special precautions. There is no way it is feasible.

It is a parental responsibility - if they have concerns they should ask first.

I should add, due to the way I work - clean sponges and brushes for each person, cross contamination risk is low.

I have the same reaction to peanuts - I'm extremely allergic, have an epipen, if someone eats the peanuts next to me on a plane I have to move seats, etc. but having said all this I think the chance of someone having peanut butter on the outside of their mouth, then you doing a full face design, then transferring the invisible amount onto a brush or sponge that happens not to get washed or rinsed, then it staying on the brush/sponge long enough to get transferred to someone who has an allergy to peanuts that is so severe is ridiculously unlikely.

Most people have to actually swallow the peanut product, not just have a minuscule amount on their face to have a life-threatening situation. Sure, they might get a rash and other side effects but yeah, there are other risks we take every day that are a lot more risky than that situation!

As a parent with my own food allergies as well as a child with food allergies, while I understand the concern, the world isn't accommodating our allergies.... I hate to sound insensitive about it, but I can't help it. All of the schools around here are completely nut free, but my daughter is having reactions all the time from school. While I know they can't make the whole school (or even her classroom) go completely gluten and dairy free, I'm just saying, it's something that people with allergies have to learn to deal with. I'll grant that my daughter's isn't immediately life threatening, every reaction is more cumulative, permanent damage to her system.

Can I ask that every child that sits in MY face painting chair not have Doritos, hot dog crumbs, etc on their face and hands for MY sake? I wish I could... but it just isn't reasonable. I take the risk and I deal with the results all the time.

I have to agree with "Perry". I too have allergies and it is up to me to monitor things, not everyone around me. If I had an allergic child and were afraid of the FP, I just wouldn't let them do it. It isn't your responsibility.

This brings me to a gripe about the elementary school parents I deal with at work. Some of the parents were going to sue our small school if they didn't provide a separately cooked lunch for their child....really! When I was in school, mom made my lunch every day so there was no chance of eating something I shouldn't. That's the way it should be IMHO.

I am a mom of a child with life threatening allergies. Since I am aware of food allergies on a personal bases , i put up a CLEAR sign "allergy alert, if you have any concerns please ask for ingredients list and a patch test" This puts the onus on the parent to think about it. I am a VERY clean painter, a one sponge per and am constantly cleaning my many brushes! I ,however, can not guarantee that the child before didn't have a peanut butter sandwich. Due to my sign , I have had many conversation with parents, some of which opted out on the face painting.I do what I can to make things safe , but sometimes it is best that the child not be painted.

Perry Noia wrote:As a parent with my own food allergies as well as a child with food allergies, while I understand the concern, the world isn't accommodating our allergies.... I hate to sound insensitive about it, but I can't help it. All of the schools around here are completely nut free, but my daughter is having reactions all the time from school. While I know they can't make the whole school (or even her classroom) go completely gluten and dairy free, I'm just saying, it's something that people with allergies have to learn to deal with. I'll grant that my daughter's isn't immediately life threatening, every reaction is more cumulative, permanent damage to her system.

Can I ask that every child that sits in MY face painting chair not have Doritos, hot dog crumbs, etc on their face and hands for MY sake? I wish I could... but it just isn't reasonable. I take the risk and I deal with the results all the time.

Perry - I had to stop reading and respond after reading this post.

As the mom of two kids that have those issues (one has celiac disease and the other is allergic to dairy) I sing that song EVERY SINGLE DAY as I listen to teachers tell me how they are peanut free for Jimmie and Tommy, but they accidentally gave my kid Twizzlers because they didn't realize it would have wheat in it. I also vividly recall rushing to Children's Memorial hospital when my little one was 18 months and experiencing anaphylaxis - but she can have tree nuts so clearly when I tell people "Don't eat cheese and then touch my kid" I'm kidding.

That being said I have a sign "NO FOOD ALLOWED". I will not paint a messy child, and I obsessively wash/clean brushes, paints, etc. If I see a child with a medic alert on I will explain about the fact that I cannot guarentee that there are no traces of someone else's anything. Surprisingly enough I've only had one parent tell a kid "this is a bad idea, what if you react". Everyone else either says "patch test" or "it'll be fine, he/she is not that sensitive".

I so hear you tamariel!! My son is allergic to everything BUT nuts. The fights I have had a school when he was younger because people thought you could only have anaplaxis to nuts, and not something as "harmless" as eggs and dairy! I actually had to deal with idiots who had a petition to have my 4 year old son(he is 15 now) to be removed from his kindergarten class!!!!! they did not like the idea of only fruits/vegatables/applesauce and some granola bars as options for their children for snack time.I was called into the school one time as they removed him from the class as some stupid parent insisted that their child be allowed to eat yogurt. Momma bear went to school that day

Thank you everyone for your responses. I'll take all to heart, some good tips here. I feel for everyone here too, that have children with allergies, it's so difficult to oversee everything at school, no matter how hard you try. Some parents are so cooperative, some act like THEY are being put upon, yet if it were their own child, they'd feel way differently. Bottom line I always want to try as much as I can to keep the kids I paint safe :-)

debranewmanart wrote:I have to agree with "Perry". I too have allergies and it is up to me to monitor things, not everyone around me. If I had an allergic child and were afraid of the FP, I just wouldn't let them do it. It isn't your responsibility.

This brings me to a gripe about the elementary school parents I deal with at work. Some of the parents were going to sue our small school if they didn't provide a separately cooked lunch for their child....really! When I was in school, mom made my lunch every day so there was no chance of eating something I shouldn't. That's the way it should be IMHO.

I agree with you. My son couldn't eat the daycare's food. Did my daycare bill get reduced? No. Did they adjust THEIR eating schedule AROUND my son? NO. I packed a LUNCH and special "MILK" and "SNACK" for MY SON. He had "SPECIAL" birthday treats at the daycare so he wouldn't be left out when an occasion came up. I adjust for my son, not the daycare. Same for the school.

Nor do I complain about the fact that the school doesn't.

I've dealt with my own food allergies through school (wheat, milk, eggs, chocolate etc etc etc) and my own skin reactions (eczema etc) and my own immune problems. If I can make my activity safe *enough*, I will. They still have to make the judgement for themselves if it is enough....

I don't let food near paints, I don't paint body/face parts that have food on them, I don't paint open sores/rashes. Once my brush or sponge touches a face/body, it doesn't go back to paint before being washed out, and sanitized (and dried). So my paints are kept "clean", and my brushes certainly are when I pick them up.

I do this for hygiene reasons, I do this for allergy reasons, I do this because I want to.... side effect is, I hope people who don't consider that my activity *might* cause them a problem will still enjoy it - and hopefully by talking to them I can educate them about what potential problem it might be in the future and what questions they can ask....

When ordering pizzas for a regular monthly meeting, I made sure to order cheese pizzas, vegan (no cheese but lots of vegetables) pizzas, and gluten free pizzas, all in addition to regular types that had meat etc - still up to the person with the allergies to decide if they were willing to risk the situation it might have been made in, but at least they had a starting place. One person who came for the first time was shocked to discover that even with a dairy allergy there was something available for her (vegan). I'd rather make the option available to people.....

TinafromNY, I really understand you.
I'm scared often. Many children have allergies in our country. Me too.
I have a lot of allergies:-(
I always want from parents to wash their children's mouth. I worry about allergies of children. And allergy of me.
Most nuts and peanuts.
My allergies: nuts, peanuts, onion, garlic, celery, tomatoes, peppers, leeks, strawberries, apples, banana, honey, rice, wheat flour, potatoes, red dye - in medicaments or drinking, peach, apricot, red watermelon, pepper, spices, metals (earrings). Antibiotics and medicaments.

Good heavens Seekorka, what is there left to eat besides meat and lettuce?

Wow! I never even thought of this! I am very clean at what I do and use one sponge per child. I'm constantly using wipes on my hands and children's faces.

I've seen a painter(hobby) paint every child at a party with the same brush, no water or wipes. The designs were mostly eye designs, too. I thought it would be bad if someone had a cold, but now I worry about allergies! EeK! The eyes have no defense!

My son went through a time as a toddler when my hubby would eat nuts and kiss my son on the cheek. My son would break out in hives! Scary! Thank God he grew out of it!

My daughter has a boy in her classroom with a peanut allergy and at the beginning of school, the teacher told the parents no nuts at all. I have no problems with that. I care about kids and people why would I want to hurt someone or their child?! In no way would I even think about trying to kick someone out of a school or clasrsoom because of an allergy. That's just wrong! Sounds like the parents are bullying the kid!

Debra :-D I love tomatoes and apples and strawberries.
I eat medacimanets and eat it. I cant stop it :-D