Halloween Non-Candy PSA

gutsymama

A lot of things have been getting me down lately, but one of the more trivial things is that Lucas will probably never be able to binge on sugar and I will have to either drastically restrict his trick-or-treating, or else take all his candy away. Kind of a stupid thing to be upset about in the grand scheme of things, but I don't want to have to take away some of the basic childhood pleasures on top of everything else. So I shed a few tears when I got this email this morning: 

"Does your child love the fun of Halloween but can't eat the candy? Or do you know a family? Are you like me and also give out Non Food items for those who can't eat candy? There is a website called MommiesofMIracles that you can list your address (no personal information other than street address) as a house of candy and non food treats.  You can also get a list of homes near you that will be distributing Non Food treats.  There is also a "badge" you can print for your child that lets the givers know your child can not eat candy. There is a lot of other helpful information on the site.  Check them out at www.mommiesofmiracles.com "

If you can, consider registering your house and having some non-candy and/or non-food treats available this year. There aren't a lot of houses registered yet but I'm hoping that will increase as we get further into the month. 

[Deleted User]

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Karebear6978

Awww. That is so sweet

sparkymcgeee

It's a great idea. There's really no reason why non-food treats aren't a thing yet. Oriental Trading would be a great place to get a bunch of fun non-food toys. You can get things for like 10 cents a piece if you order 50 or something (I do this for our social committee at work) 

I also saw a non-food house thing where you buy and paint a pumpkin teal and that way people know this is a non-food friendly house. 

I might be purchasing this.

https://www.orientaltrading.com/super-toy-assortment-a2-4_8037.fltr?prodCatId=550203+1237 

sparkymcgeee

Oh or this!

https://www.orientaltrading.com/halloween-novelty-assortment-a2-5_877.fltr?prodCatId=550203+1237 

https://www.orientaltrading.com/halloween-sticker-assortment-a2-25_2494.fltr?prodCatId=550203+1237

[Deleted User]

Hugs, lady. I would sign up if I had a house. I like the idea and unless DD outgrows her allergies she is going to be able to eat, like, 5% of what she gets anyway, which I'm sure will be upsetting for her, so I hope when we do go trick or treating in the future there are homes who do this. 

atlvol

This is a great idea!  When we start turning on our lights and handing out candy again, I will be sure to have a non-candy option too!  

MRads

I love this idea!

If he does get candy, a girl on a local board poster her idea bc she doesn't want her one year old eating a ton of candy. After trick or treating, they wil leave the bag of candy outside and the great pumpkin will delver a present in return for the candy.

LauraB1016

This is a great idea. I am registering now.

The boy who lives next door has a ton of life threatening food allergies and his mom always places flyers in our mailboxes to remind us of what things he can have (and suggestions of non-food items) and what he will be dressed up as. Our neighborhood always does a great job of getting him things he can have or giving out non-food items.

Thanks for sharing. I will pass this along to his mom.  

andrea0418

I just registered and ordered a 50 piece pack of Halloween toys from amazon!

cwhitloc

I saw at our wholesale store (BJs, kind of like Sam's and Cosco) a pack of little toys or non-candy treats to hand out for Halloween.  Guess we'll grab a couple of those.  I try to always have non-peanut candies available but having friends with kids who have allergies to peanuts, I know most of the candy is cross contaminated anyways. 

PrimRoseMama

What are some good candy alternatives? I want to have a bag or two on hand.

andrea0418

PrimRoseMama said:

What are some good candy alternatives? I want to have a bag or two on hand.

I ordered a bunch of Halloween toys. There's all kinds of fun stuff in it. Fangs, balls, pencils, rings, spiders..

PrimRoseMama

Also huge hugs mama. I hadn't even thought of this challenge for y'all. :x

PrimRoseMama

Encchanted said:

@PrimRosemama, we always hand out microwave popcorn. You can get a box of 36 or so little packages at Sam's/Costco. We also throughout the year go to library sales/yard sales and buy children's books and give kids the option of popcorn or a book.

I steer clear of popcorn because of the choking hazard until around age 5.

Foods:

•Hot dogs (especially cut into a coin shape), meats, sausages, and fish with bones

•Popcorn, chips, pretzel nuggets, and snack foods

•Candy (especially hard or sticky candy), cough drops, gum, lollipops, marshmallows, caramels, hard candies, and jelly beans

•Whole grapes, raw vegetables, raw peas, fruits, fruits with skins, seeds, carrots, celery, and cherries
Dried fruits, sunflower seeds, all nuts, including peanuts

•Peanut butter, (especially in spoonfuls or with soft white bread)
Ice cubes and cheese cubes

•Foods that clump, are sticky or slippery, or dry and hard textured
Food size and shape, especially round or a shape that could conform to the shape and size of the trachea (windpipe).

The size of a young child's trachea (windpipe) or breathing tube is approximately the size of a drinking straw in diameter.

Combinations of food size, texture, and shape can pose a threat. For example, a slippery hard candy with a round shape about the size of a drinking straw could block an airway (windpipe)

Kitten80

I heard of one family that put flyers out and asked for neighbor's willing to give out a special treat to their son - they provided the special candy (he had an allergy) and the neighbors knew what costume he was wearing and just gave him the special treat when he went up to the door. It was sweet (ha ha on the pun).

I've always tried to have stickers, temporary tatooes, mini bubbles, non chocolate candy, and sometimes mini slinkies/glow sticks/mini coloring books. We didn't get many trick or treaters. It is hard now because it takes my littles so long to walk around, we aren't home for much. This is a great idea though.

andrea0418

I had to do the baby heimlich on my niece a little over a year ago because she got a hold of a cough drop. Hands down one of the scariest moments in my life. My sister literally threw her at me and said, "you know what to do!"
No one should have to experience that!

Kitten80

Also meant to say I know people that do the candy for a present or the dentist cash exchange as well.

gutsymama

So scary, @andrea0418!  >:D<

@PrimRoseMama In addition to the awesome ideas above, the mommiesofmiracles website lists these suggestions: 

stickers

small toys

temporary tattoos

bubbles

coloring sheets

pencils/pens

erasers

crayons

kids' jewelry

fake teeth (i.e. "bubba teeth")

PrimRoseMama

Thank you!

dliz87

Thanks for posting this @gutsymama‌ ! Big hugs to you as food challenges are rough especially at times like Halloween when you just want your kid to trick or treat like the other kids. As an allergy mom, we look at Halloween as a challenge. We have historically done a "swap" when we get home; DS hands over his bag of candy and we had over a bag of goodies. When bringing DS trick or treating at my work, I pre-stocked all the desks we'd visit so they had DS specific items to hand out. I love the idea that there are houses we can visit where he could actually keep what he collects!!

We are doing a FARE walk this month, which is the fantastic organization that started the Teal Pumpkin Project. A friend and I painted teal pumpkins on Sunday.

beckyanddon

I have read about the teal pumpkin project!!!!
A mom in my mom's neighborhood makes up baggies of foods and prizes that her son can have and delivers them to neighbors willing to help her out. He still gets the experience and the mom knows he's safe. Hard work but a good mamma.

DenverBride2005

We are trick or treating at our friends' house this year, otherwise I'd definitely be getting some non candy items! My nephew has life threatening food allergies (peanuts, milk, soy, etc) but I never thought about what he does on Halloween!

martyn17

I'm not sure if this counts but last year I included little bags of goldfish crackers as a choice and was surprised how many kids picked them over the candy.

sparkymcgeee

martyn17 said:

I'm not sure if this counts but last year I included little bags of goldfish crackers as a choice and was surprised how many kids picked them over the candy.

I would think Luke would love that. Or pretzels. 

[Deleted User]

maryannespier said:

That list indicates that every food imaginable is a choking hazard. Only puréed beets from now on, Giles! Anyhoo, you can often find cheap Halloween themed coloring books. That might be a good candy alternative.

I thought the same thing and then I panicked and thought of all the times my LO could've choked over the past few months and then I CTFD

gutsymama

sparkymcgeee said:

martyn17 said:

I'm not sure if this counts but last year I included little bags of goldfish crackers as a choice and was surprised how many kids picked them over the candy.

I would think Luke would love that. Or pretzels. 

@sparkymcgeee He would be thrilled to get pretzels  

opheliainwaders

econmama said:

Of course it's not the same, but since I'm allergic to chocolate lots of Halloween candy was always off limits. My parents still let me go trick or treating, and we'd donate any of my chocolate candy.

This was me, too. On years when my haul was overwhelmingly chocolate, they'd replace some with non-chocolate options so I wasn't totally SOL - maybe you could do that with little toys instead of candy?

blairwitch

A fb friend just posted an article complaining about this stating "you'll get your house egged. We want candy!" I normally don't comment on such foolishness but I had to. She's 37 with 6 kids. Wow.

gutsymama

blairwitch said:

A fb friend just posted an article complaining about this stating "you'll get your house egged. We want candy!" I normally don't comment on such foolishness but I had to. She's 37 with 6 kids. Wow.

:-w X(

blairwitch

@gutsymama‌ Lauren commented as well. And she was a little more blunt She even edited for content because she didn't want to cause issue with the woman.

lovemyminions

We don't get many trick or treaters, so we give out large candy bars and little toys. Usually we know all the treaters, so I offer what I know the kids can have. My girlfriends 4 yr old is diabetic.

danigirl7181

I love this idea, thank you!! I will be getting non food item to pass out this year in addition to candy.

blairwitch

She DD the post...then bragged about doing a good deed today. Maybe she felt guilty

Kitten80

We are going to have so much stuff, even though we are barely home for trick or treating. Hopefully weather will be nice. We have candy galore (choc and not choc), goldfish, stickers, pencils, tatooes, and some little halloween colored insects/skulls/etc. Oh and I think mini coloring books.