Welcome to my first post! Knowledge is power! Before my son was diagnosed, I honestly thought parents of food allergic children were either helicopter parents, or had way too much time on their hands...now I see other parents looking at me the same way. Here are a few tips that I picked up along the way in dealing with a very scary, intimidating world of peanuts - it can be done!
1. Eating out: Read all your ingredients look for any peanut protein or traces of and also look for cotton seed oil as it has the same weight and molecular structure as peanut oil. Some restaurants IE. Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese cuisine often use peanut oil for cooking and frying you CAN NOT eat there, even if the food his eating is steamed as cross contamination IE. bowls, cutting boards etc. The peanut allergy is a tricky one as it’s often a hidden ingredient. Chilli and soups sometimes contains peanuts as a thickening agent. READ LABELS EVERY TIME. Eating out – talk with the manager and ask that the chef prepare your child’s food in a separate area and wipe his/her utensils down, also around 4 inches under the table where he/she is sitting is that is usually where kids stick food or food encrusted fingers. Wipe down the highchair and surface where he/she will be eating. If you don’t have the epi pen with you, no eating.
Try and stick with pure foods as the risk is generally lower.
2. Visitors: Anyone coming to your house needs to wash their hands and they can't bring any food in - some crackers and breads contain peanuts. Baking is off limits unless you bake it yourself, residue from peanut butter cookies last for months on cookie sheets – your child can have a reaction.
3. Taking stock: Check your entire house for peanut products (including shampoo and lip balm – you will be surprised) Throw out all unsafe products.
4. Peanut butter substitutes: We don’t use peanut butter substitutes as I feel it will only confuse our child. Every time I’m in the grocery store I show him the peanut butter and also raw peanuts and he knows them and stays away, I have also shown him the peanut free label and he does look for it on his snacks. Let everyone know to check their labels around him (create an atmosphere of understanding) and let everyone know he/she cannot eat anything unless you OK it first.
5. Kids at play: Playgrounds/play structures, use hand sanitizer and then wipe his/her hands as best you can with wipes. The best way to look at cross contamination with peanuts is imagine the peanuts are red paint and paint gets on everything the peanut touches, now wiping hands and surfaces doesn’t really do the job, but it helps. Hand washing is important.
6. Miscellaneous: Dog food/treats often contain peanuts. Bird feed is all contaminated with peanuts and if you have squirrels in your area, your neighbours may throw out peanuts for them. Some compost contains peanut husks, which may or may not contain the peanut "meat" which is the allergen.
7. Advocate/Educate: Tell people you come into contact with about your child's allergy and not to feed him/her, this could save his/her life – the more people that know, the chances are fewer mistakes. Even if this doesn't translate to immediate help for your child, it could help another.
8. Allergy bling: Get an allergy bracelet www.allermates.com and also order some allergy labels for sippy cups etc www.mabelslabels.com Carry two epi pens with you everywhere you can get a pouch for it that will protect it from heat and cold I got mine through
www.kozyepi.com. Remember epi pens only buy you 15 minutes per pen, so when travelling bring enough to get you to the nearest hospital.
You can take some control over this and not feel helpless, advocate and educate as many people around you as possible as it could save lives. The first reaction is rarely anaphylactic, but it can be and you never want to experience that. Kids eat pb & j and get right to playing (their parents have no idea how dangerous). Start teaching your child not to share or eat anything without his/her name on it ever, not to touch his/her face and make washing hands a ritual. Most importantly, remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
