Dealing with allergies

[JanelleM]

Hi All

I have a beautiful DD that is anaphylactic to eggs and peanuts. Over the last few months several media stories have been brought to attention that I know myself, has instilled fear into us when we think about leaving her in the care of others. By that I mean, childcare, preschool and then school.

There seems to be more and more kids these days with food allergies and I’m trying to find out what other people are thinking in terms of how you deal with it in your homes & when you go out? What are your concerns about sending your child to school? The Good Weekend (a part of the Sydney Morning Herald) had a food allergy article called “Death on the Menu” in December. On Saturday the reader’s letters were about the article. I was shocked and scared to read a family had encountered a group that were not only ignorant but selfish when they were implementing the school’s anaphylaxis policy.

Your thoughts on this topic are much appreciated. It will also be nice to hear if anyone is involved in food allergy awareness. If anyone knows of a forum where parents & sufferer’s can go and share ideas or just chat, please let me know. If there isn’t, what do you think of having a resource like this?

My email address is gjmeares@yahoo.com.au if you want to email me.

Janelle

[nemosmum]

Hi Janelle,

My son suffers from allergies too but thankfully out grew his allergy to eggs.

I work in day care and we currently have a young bub who is allergic to peanuts. We have a plan in place for her and an epi pen on hand at the centre (Knock on wood we never have to use it) but if we do all the staff have been trained to use one.

We have always had a no nuts policy at our centre and we take every precaution to protect the children in our care etc.

I dont know where abouts you live but if you look up the playgroup association they have allergy friendly playgroups for parents and bubs.

I dont know of any other support groups , sorry.

Sarah

[sarah81]

Hi Janelle,

I understand your concerns. My DS has had a few food allergies wheat eggs and nuts (mostly peanuts) diagnosed by an paedeatric allergy specialist. At almost 3 he has outgrow wheat and eggs but the nut allergy remains.

A few months ago we had an accidental exposure which resulted in a mild anaphylactic reaction, which was scary. No real breathing problems, thank goodness. But the specialist has reviewed him and given him an epipen just in case.

We worry about childcare etc, even family who can just forget or not read packets correctly. He is also of a age where we have started to eduacate him about nuts and he often asks if a food has nuts but that is certainly not foolproof.

Try the Analphylaxis Australia website (www.allergyfacts.org.au) for information and possibly support groups. When I attended a seminar in SA run by the hospital Analphylaxis Aus were advertising for families for a support group, that may have been Australia wide. You could also ring your local childrens hospital allergy clinic, they may run a support group.

If you want to chat about it at all let me know. All the best :)

Sarah

[Mamaduke]

There is a little girl in Jesse's kinder group who has a severe allergy to peanuts. Of course the kinder has a no nut policy in place but at the beginning of the session each child puts their bag in their locker and then goes into the bathroom to wash their hands before going into the class, just in case they have peanut butter etc on their fingers from brekky.
The children don't realise why their washing their hands but other than making sure that this particular child is safe, it teaches them good hygeine too.

[Chickadee]

Chloe doesn't have food allergies (knock on wood) but I can imagine how stressful it must be.

I was a bit surprised when looking at daycare centres here that none of the literature about them, the centre policies, or the menu info mentioned anything about being a nut-free centre. I suppose if I had asked they may well have said they were nut-free if that's their policy, but surely all parents would need to know even though we don't send food in it's still an issue as Carly says with brekky residue.

So it was nice to hear that there ARE places that are taking action. But generally I think Australia is a few years behind some other countries on this.

[Georgie'smama]

Hi guys,
just thought i'd post my thoughts. My son George has multiple allergies, and although the list has gone down drastically from when he was first diagnosed we still have milk, wheat and soy on the list. We have gone though 4 epi-pens since his diagnosis (he was diagnosed at 7 months and is now 21 months) so accidents do happen and because of this we have been force to keep him at home- i can't really pu him into anyones care (the last trip to the hospital happened because my dad(who knows about the allergies) gave him some special k - my hubby had bought it, and i had forgotten to mention to dad that it has both wheat and milk powder in it!)
George managed to eat 3 flakes, then started coughing,having breathing difficulties, and gettting those delightful trademark red eyebrows! lol
I was still asleep but woke up when i heard his coughing, and ran downstairs- dad ahad already given george his medecine, and i called the paediatrician to inform him of the situation. Seeing as the medication wasn't helping, we had to get out the epi-pen again. It is the owrst thing i have had to do- hold down my son and stick an injection into him, but it has saved his life, time and time again.
Needless to say, until i get an allclear on boht the wheat and milk, he isn't going into kindergarden- all sample menus that i have seen are nightmarse full of pasta (like mac'n'cheese) or else fish fingers or chicken nuggets! :eek:
Anyway i have been ranting and have probably got off the subject so will sing off, and apologise at the same time, for taking up so much room and time :rolleyes:

[JanelleM]

Hello Lovely Ladies

Thank you to all who replied to my post. It is comforting to know we are not alone dealing with this.

Has anyone tried the cookbook from RPA? I bought it a few weeks back & it is just fantastic. Great food ideas and helpful when having guests over as they can eat what you are eating. Very helpful as I suffer from coelliacs!

Please keep in touch - it is always nice to hear how are bubs (& us) are coping with allergies.

My DD has just started day-care & it is very and still is a bit nerve-racking. She is going to family day-care and her carer has had kids with allergies before in her home. My 1st question was not does she know how to use an epipen (a requirement by carers) but is she confident in using it. DD only goes to care 1 day a week but it is slowly preparing us. Her allergy specialist recommends she goes to day-care as she needs to be more independent than other kids at her age.

Take care
Janelle :smiliedance: