Bans at Pre-School

Ok, so I technically belong in the 2nd Trimester Belly Belly group as I'm pregnant with my first child. However I'm a step mum to a 4.5 yr old and 18mth old (so have had to learn pretty quickly).

Yesterday I picked up the 4.5yr old from pre-school for the first time, and the teacher came over to me with a big red piece of paper wrapped around the museli bar I had packed for Emma saying they have a 'no nuts' policy. Fair enough, I understand some kids have allergies to nuts and it can cause very bad reactions to them - so for total safety, there is a no nut policy. No worries - makes sense (it made me feel old and wonder how much things have changed since I went to school when there were no bans of any kinds on food ).
Then she goes on to tell me that they also have a water only policy, no cordial allowed. Apparently Emma was hyper active in the morning due to the cordial I had packed for her. I wondered how do you tell a hyperactive four year old from an energetic one (which Emma is, no matter if she's had very little sugars in food or drink or not)...

Is this water policy in most pre schools that you all know about, or where your kiddies go?



What other bans does your kids' pre-schools have in place? I know the obvious like no toy guns, weapons, superhero outfits, hat policies etc - any other bizzare ones out there?

Yep most schools as well as childcares usually have a water only policy as they are trying to teach the kids healthy eating etc.

hugs xoxo

My daughter's kindy has a no packaged foods policy which means if the food comes with a wrapper around it they can't bring it. Only water too.

my son's kindy has a nut free policy and only allows water. No drink bottles allowed.

and i believe some - if not all are moving to no "junk" food at all eg no biscuits cakes or sweets etc - i don't know how common place this is though as I'm not there yet either as my daycare provides the food but is definitely nut free

Gosh, our preschool doesn't have any rules like that, but then there are no children attending with a nut allergy either. They have tried implementing the 'no processed food' rule, but parents ignored it and when I asked about this once, the Director said that if they took the food out the lunchboxes that was processed, some kids wouldnt have anything left to eat. I do put a wee drop of cordial in Erin's drinkbottle, but she doesn't have juice at all with her lunch, so that's why I give i too her.

Ours has a no nuts policy, and in Tom's room they have asked for us to consider not putting in strawberries as a girl in there has an allergy, but this isn't mandatory. It isn't a water only policy but I wouldn't mind if it was - I only send water and milk anyway (I assume a milk for lunch is ok?). In fact my boys only drink water and milk.

I suspect the idea of the water only policy would be in part education for the parents. Nearly every parent I know gives their toddler juice believing it to be healthy. If I didn't know some dieticians I'd probably do the same thing. I would love it if more parents had access to better information about what is and what isn't good for their child (diet wise).

Caro, when she starts you can still get creative with what you are allowed to pack and what she will eat. As my kids go only 1 day a week, I just pack them the same thing every week. It is harder when they start school and you have to pack it 5 days a week.

LOL Sherie, my boys go two days a week and Jack always has the same thing (just with a different piece of fruit). He will only eat a sandwich and yoghurt for lunch. I can give him the yummiest lunch in the world and he won't eat it. He is a creature of habit. At least I don't have to keep thinking up ideas. And Tom, well he'll eat ANYTHING!!

We have a water only policy and even then they can only get it out of the drinking container supplied by the kindy, can't take a bottle of it with them

There is no super hero clothes, although it isn't strict as such.

Healthy museli bars are fine cause kids are not allowed to share their food, but if they do get a child that has a severe reaction to nuts then they will put the ban in place.

We also can't take yoghurt, custards, fruit in cups in case of spillages and the ants in summer.

We have a very strict healthy eating policy. Sherie, our teacher do take the "bad" stuff out of kids lunchboxes and put it back in their bags. There is always a supply of "healthy" alternatives on hand at the kindy so they don't miss out

Love

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The creche at the gym has a no nuts policy but Yasin's CC doesn't.
All the children have to bring their own drink bottles but they also give them cups of water through-out the day.
They have a no junk food policy but I think a few parents ignore it because the letters mention it often. I sometimes put a home-made muffin Yasin's lunch and he seems to eat it.

I think his carer has an unofficial no hard-boiled egg policy because every time I've put one in Yasin's lunch box he's bought it home.

ETA - we have to send in 2 pieces of fruit and they cut them up and make a big, shared fruit platter for morning and afternoon tea.

i think it is pretty silly the places that dont allow the kids to have water bottles.
daycare tries to inforce the healthy eating and only water thing but i havent been too strict witht he families i have because i have some pretty fussy eaters and i would rather them be eating then to fight with them to eat fruit when they wont eat it at home.

Not even sandwiches are really "healthy" for kids. Look at the salt content of the bread for a start, that's not even going into the rest of it. I think it would be great if day care, school etc provided a list of "healthy" foods for parents. Having said that, Jack will only eat a sandwich and yoghurt for lunch (he will have fruit for morning and/or afternoon tea), so I do give him a sandwich. I make the bread when I can to reduce the salt content but I'm still not convinced it's good for him.

Our kindy only allows water in drink bottles but i have seen kids with juice at lunch time. Can't remember if they have a no nut policy but i wouldn't pack anything with nuts in just in case.

It's going to get harder to know what to pack next year when Kimberley goes 5 days a week. It's a shame that they don't give you a list of ideas on what to take and what the other mums pack.

I send James to school with a water bottle (they prefer the kids drink water only) and a small frozen popper in his lunch box.

I've not heard of a no nuts policy at school but his old daycare had that policy. School is also anti-junk food too, they have foods that are categorized as green, yellow and red light foods sold at tuckshop. Obviously red light foods are erring on the junky side...come to think of it, I think they've only got one red light item on the tuckshop menu. We're lucky the school is so small that tuckshop only operates once a week.

I pack some type of fruit - sometimes with a toothpick to make eating a bit of fun, cheese and crackers (James has been known to rock up to school with camembert and crackers), a muesli bar, sandwich or roll, sometimes a yogurt, soy crisp or rice snacks - this is all packed in a thermal lunchbag with an ice brick. Variety each day usually makes sure they do eat. You do get caught in the trap of packing too much too sometimes. What doesn't get eaten usually gets eaten for afternoon tea or in the car on the way home.

I've got a book called toddler snacks and lunch boxes with some great ideas.
It's one of those little family circle ones. It only cost me about $2 on ebay.
Yasin only goes 1 day a weeks so he usually gets the same things each time(sandwiches, a tub of yoghurt, a chicken leg, some dates or a muffin).

Matthew`s preschool is a nut free school.

I`m not sure about the drinks but I only pack water for Matthew as that`s what he`s use to drinking, I have in the pass packed milk as well but I often found it out on the bench when I picked him up so I only pack water now.

Matthew only goes once a week for morning tea he has rice cake and fruit - banana or apple, lunch he has a roll filled with ham, cheese, grated carrot and then I pack sultanas.