Peanut Allergy Questions

To all of you mamas who have children with these allergies, you have to be careful too of the products you put on your children as well. Some may contain tree or nut oils. We concentrate so much on what we are eating, but the truth is, what you put on the skin gets absorbed in minutes into the bloodstream too!

If you want to be totally safe and assured, I've found a great line of children's products, from washes, to suncare and more. Just let me know if you are interested and I'll be happy to provide more information.

K.

I don't have any experience with any food allergies but my son does have a condition where administering medication can be critical ( we have one hour to avoid longterm damage). Currently, my husband and I give it to him since it is intravenous. When my girls are older-after he learns to do it himself-they will learn to give it to him. I also plan to have the baby learn when she is old enough. In an emergency, everyone in my family knows what to do until the medication can get there. His school has instructions and our babysitter knows what to watch out for. I think anyone that would have constant contact should now what to do and what to watch out for in these types of emergencies. As for having the pens, I think the other moms advice is perfect. My "nephew" had asthma and the inhalers were kept with the nurse at school, with the child care, with grandma and 2 at home in case it was really bad (one upstairs and one downstairs). Later, before he outgrew it, his best friend's mom also kept one on hand since he was over there almost all the time. It may seem a waste of money to have too many but better safe than sorry is how his mom felt. And one thing not mentioned, make sure he has an ID tag with his allergy. I bought my sons online from N-styleid.com They have a great selection for little ones without being expensive.

Hi and welcome to this new world of being a parent of a kid with a peanut allergy!

There are a few great resources out there if you haven't already located them. The FAAN (Food allergy and anaphylaxis network) is a great place to start in terms of research, practice and resources.

www.foodallergy.org

On that website, you can learn about local support groups like POCHA, POCA of DuPage and MOCHA which are all for parents of kids with food allergies. The Oak Park-based POCHA is having a meeting in a couple of weeks at the Oak Park library, Dole Branch, if you are interested. Dr. Mary Tobin from Rush will be presenting and then we all get the chance to share resources, stories, worries, etc. Email me if you are interested. It is free and a good resource.

RE: Epi-Pens, it is imperative that they are used at the first sign of a severe reaction, as it is harder to reverse the effects once the reaction has escalated. So, we keep 2 medical kits at home, three medical kits at school (one in classroom, one in lunchroom, one in director's office), one kit at grandparents, and one in his backpack which travels with him at all times to/from school and playdates. Each kit contains two Epi-pens (in case one fails), liquid Benedryll, topical hydrocortizone and our emergency contact info.

He wears a Medic Alert bracelet linked into the system, in case of emergency. Also, it is a nice visual reminder to people.

We have a plan in place at school, but since he is in a private school, it is not a formal IEP or 504 plan, just a written plan of care for the staff and safety parameters for the environment.

Now that our son is old enough for playdates, we have trained those parents (about 5 families) as well as anyone who babysits. All of our sitters must be able to communicate in English in case of emergency and agree to go through the training with us. All are at least 18 and have written permission to go with him to ER if needed. He has had one overnight visit with a friend whose parents are both nurses. He has also stayed overnight with an aunt as well as his grandparents.

Peanut allergies are the least likely to outgrow, unfortunately. There is a huge study (800 families) through Children's Memorial that is looking into this. Contact them via their website if you wish to enroll, or to get more info. Duke just released preliminary reports of their study, which looks at "exposure therapy", or basically treating children with ever increasing amounts of peanut dust in hopes of decreasing the onset of a reaction. I have read that some children are up to tolerating the equivalent of several peanuts. It is not a cure, of course. But, gives hope to parents who fear even trace exposure!

Email me if you need more info!

Good Luck!

My 20 month old is VERY allergic to peanuts (her other food allergies are not as severe - milk causes eczema, fish and eggs). Her daycare accidentally allowed her to ingest a piece of peanut tainted chex mix at 12 months old (thank god it was not the actual peanut) and then touched a peanut butter cup of a worker to her lips at 14 months. We pulled her out and she is now at a peanut and tree nut free place. We have the allergist or pediatrician write the prescription for 2 sets of Epi-pen twin packs at a time so we have 4 on hand. That way we have one in the house, one in the diaper bag, one at school and 1 just in case we are dropping her off at her grandparents or God forbid -- actually have to use one. So far, so good. Be extremely cautious about eating out -- cross-contamination is everywhere. I avoid all bakery cakes and make my own for birthdays, take a treat for her to her cousins' parties (she has 11 local cousins so there are ALWAYS parties), I stick with Italian restaurants and still ask about peanuts and peanut oils. Be cautious but not live in fear -- difficult balance. Just remember that fried things could be cooked in peanut oil and in the case of Chinese, other asian cuisine (like Thai) - chances are pretty good they are or contain them. I would teach any family member that ever stays alone with your kid how to use one. Best time to learn is not when it is actually needed (I was 10 and needed to administer one to my 7 year old sister 21 years ago...I learned on the job, so to speak).

Good luck! I am just scared about my kiddo stealing food from other kids or not understanding the severity of her allergy since she is so young. Oh, and only like 20% of peanut allergic kids outgrow; however,there was an article in the Trib yesterday (if you google, I am SURE you will find it as it was Associated Press) about building up tolerances in peanut allergic kids (only to be done by a doctor) and a vaccine they are just now trying for clinical trials...I am keeping my fingers crossed!!

We have 4 EpiPens for our son. One in the diaper bag, one at home and 2 at daycare (one in his classroom, one in the nurse's office). I don't know that you have to teach aunts, uncles and extended family how to use it unless they'll be babysitting. My pediatrician said that you have more time than you think when you do have to use the pen, so if you weren't right at his side if your son had an anaphylactic reaction, as long as your family reacted right away and got you, you should be fine.

sorry I can't answer your questions but wanted to let you know that I just heard on the news that a company is developing a way to ween kids from peanut allergies. It's not fda approved yet, but they are realizing that exposing kids to tiny amounts gradually makes them tollerant to nuts. They ended the story with, don't try this at home!