Is Your Child Ready for Childcare?

Summer may have just begun, but if your child is preparing to start childcare in the coming weeks or months and lives with food allergies or asthma, now is the time to begin planning for a safe transition.

Consider creating a personalized checklist and scheduling a meeting with the childcare director, educators, health staff (if available), and any team members who will be responsible for your child's care. Share your child's emergency care plan, asthma action plan, and discuss how medications such as epinephrine auto-injectors, inhalers, spacers, or nebulizer medications will be stored, accessed, and administered in an emergency.

Ask about meal and snack routines, handwashing practices, cleaning procedures, celebrations, field trips, and how allergic reactions and asthma symptoms are recognized and managed. Confirm who has been trained to administer epinephrine and asthma medications, and whether emergency response procedures, including calling 911, are clearly established.

If your child receives accommodations through a 504 Plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP), begin conversations early about how those supports will transition into the new setting. Even if a formal plan is not required in childcare, discussing reasonable accommodations and documenting agreed-upon strategies can help ensure consistency and safety.

Depending on your comfort level, connecting with other families and sharing age-appropriate information about food allergies and asthma can also help foster understanding, inclusion, and a supportive environment for everyone. A little preparation before childcare begins can reduce anxiety, build confidence, and help ensure your child can learn, play, and thrive in a setting where they are understood, included, and protected.

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