Talk to the centres, visit them and ask to see their plans, who is qualified. My kids all have allergies but not too serious, but finding a center that took it seriously was hard. One even said that they only cook with a little bit of dairy!
Where my kids are now they have a couple of kids with epi pens. All the staff in his room are trained to use it and one is kept in his room and another in the office. The centre is now entirely nut free as even hand contact can cause a reaction.
Unfortunately a Nanny isnt a financially viable option for us.
There is one centre I have spoken to who has been horrified at what has happened with our previous centre. She even said herself, that it doesnt matter that it isnt life threatening, it matters that it makes him uncomfortable and in pain and thats not okay. Which right now seems like worlds apart to what the previous centre has actually shown to us.
Dd1 has an epi-pen and a few allergies. I made sure the centre was across all policies, had experience dealing with allergies and had trained staff.
In 4 years we had one incident but nobody could pinpoint the cause and could have been a plant she handled, not food. But the way it was dealt with was swift and proactive. I think you need to be comfortable that they know what they are dong and take it seriously.
Our childcare centre has a policy that we are not aloud to bring food to the centre. All the food is dealt with in their own kitchens.
They have a list of names in the kitchens with all the allergies the children have and what they are aloud to have.
Some parents may even choose that their child can only have brown bread not white and no yoghurt for instance.
I think you could to talk to the director who will then intern talk to all the staff and make sure there is always an eye on your child during meal times and that every child washes their hands after meals.
It is so tough though as even with the strictest centres there is always a chance something could get past. They just need to make sure they know how to act swiftly and calmly in an event.
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