POSITIVE Parenting

Allergic reactions in children can be difficult to manage at school, but an expert is assuring parents that working with school officials is a safe way to confidently manage the condition in the controlled environment.

Paediatrician, Dr Christine Gabbadon, stated that communication is essential in preventing an allergic reaction at school.

"Allergy can affect the children's attendance at school, hence affecting their performance level, and it can also give them emotional stress, so special care must be taken for prevention," she said.

The expert offers some tips that parents can find useful to keep their children who are suffering from allergies safe at school.

Discuss your child's allergies with school personnel. Get the school involved by making the class teacher know the type of allergy and what triggers a reaction.

Educate your child about his/her allergies early, so your child can learn to avoid situations that trigger a reaction.

If the child has severe allergies, let him/her carry around an epipen, (medication to be administered until help arrives), so that if the child gets into a severe reaction he/she can be given an injection.

Make sure the school record shows that the child has allergies.

Have a day-to-day plan. This is what's going to happen on any normal day, to minimise the risk of your child coming into contact with a trigger allergen.

Ideally, your child should be able to keep track of when it's time to take his/her medicine and, in the case of asthma, how to use the inhaler properly.

In addition, you should look around your child's classroom and other areas of the school where he or she might go, to see if there are any known trigger. If you identify any, you should work with the teacher to reduce your child's exposure to these triggers.

It is very important to give the school nurse all the medicines that your child needs, along with the proper instructions.

In the case of asthma, it is important to talk with the teachers and other school staff frequently, to make sure they're properly managing your child's asthma at school.

For food allergy, get the child to take nuts and fish from meals.

Get the child to minimise walks in wooded areas or gardens.

Inform the class teacher that the child should avoid sweeping the classroom.

Encourage sports participation, but inform coaches of medicines that may need to be taken before activities.

Do not let your child eat anything that you have not checked yourself. Have safe snacks available all the time and let the child know that he/she should only eat those items.

Communicate with school staff about field trip arrangements.

Let children wear bracelet or chain engraved with what the child is allergic to.