another newbie/family parties
My son, G, is 2.5 and we just found out a week ago that he is allergic to milk, eggs, nuts, and possibly soy. We did a blood test but the results aren't in on that yet. I feel like our allergist left us very uninformed and I'm considering switching to a new one. In the meantime, I have some questions for you ladies! Any help is greatly appreciated. This is so overwhelming! Also, we cut out his drinking milk and replaced it with mostly water and a little rice milk and his eczema has improved greatly.
1.) Where did you get your information from? They gave me the website foodallergy.org, but I didn't find it particularly helpful. Nuts is the big issue. How can I find all the foods that possibly have nuts that you wouldn't even think of (such as deli meat)?
2.) What do you do for parties? my nephew turns 2 this weekend and I don't know how to handle it. What do you do for these things?
3.) any other info that you feel has been extremely helpful to you. I feel so lost!
Re: another newbie/family parties
1. For a while I had to google every food and I spent hours reading labels in the store. Then I got more used to reading labels and learned which companies can be trusted.
2. I pack a cute little bento lunch with a cupcake for my girls to take to parties. When DD was first diagnosed I emailed everyone about the diagnosis and the steps we had to take to keep her safe (do not offer her food, do not touch her food, please wash your hands before touching her).
3. I found lurking on forums really helped me.
Its very confusing at first. I get a lot of good info from the other ladies on here, and I call my allergist whenever I have a question, I've also purchased many books.
As far as parties, I pack him his own food. I always make sure I have a few allergy free cupcakes and coconut ice cream. He loves it. I let the whoever is running the party know about it and they usually will find a discrete way to let people know that they shouldn't feed my son any food. You'll watch him like a hawk of course and its tough to relax and enjoy the party but as he gets older you'll start to trust him more and let go of some of the fear.
first of all, call your allergist and have him fax you the test results. You can post them here and we can help explain them. Second, switch your allergist.
I hated my first allergist and switched. No hurt feelings. your child is your priority and you need someone you can trust.
1.) - everywhere! i spent so much time on the web for the first few months (and still do). I joined yahoo food allergy groups. I joined https://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org which was REALLY helpful. I had long conversations with my allergist (the new one). But the best thing was forums and talking to moms that are going through it. I even joined groups on facebook which actually were my quick go-to questions.
You just need to leave your kid at home and take a couple of hours and go to whole foods and read the ingredients of as many products as you can. It will be such a frustrating process -but good for learning. When it comes to deli meats, some have milk in them.. i just ask the guy if i can look at the ingredients due to allergies and they are more than helpful to go to the back and get me a new Turkey so i can look at the ingredients.
2) parties is a very frustrating process. We no longer go to certain homes which we know will not care about DS allergies. We try to have BBQ's at our house and make it as much allergy friendly as possible. If we do go to other homes, we are the ONLY ones that can care for LO, if someone picks him up -they need to wash their hands and absolutely no kissing. The no kissing was hard -ppl gave us a hard time but we just put our foot down and made it very clear that NO ONE is allowed to kiss our son on the face (not even grandparents).
We bring my son's food to every occasion. We NEVER trust anything that someone has made. My SIL said these potatoes are safe, she made them specifically for my son (very thoughtful) but i just asked one question -what spray did you use? PAM -he can't have it b/c it has soy. You learn to question everything! The only time he's allowed to have something at someone elses house is when there is a package and i can read the ingredients.
3) take a deep breath and it does get easier. Probably more emotional, but it does get easier. thankfully we're not back 15 years ago where there was nothing our kids could eat w/ such allergies. Now we have many vendors that cater to us. You become super creative. If you asked me 2 years ago that i would be making delicious desserts without milk/soy/eggs -I'd laugh. But now i can't imagine putting an egg in anything.
I found the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) website to be really helpful. They have lists that detail the names for allergens that are used in labeling. They even have little cards you can print out and keep in your wallet which I found to be extremely helpful in the early days. I agree with the PP that you will need to take some time at the store by yourself to read labels the first few times. It's time consuming but very important.
For parties I usually pack safe food just in case there isn't anything safe being served (we have milk, egg, peanut, tree nut and sesame allergies). And I ALWAYS have a safe treat packed because with your LO's list of allergies you can assume the dessert will not be safe for him. I like the Food Allergy Mama and Divvies cookbooks for snack and dessert recipes. Food Allergy Mama also has a great website/blog.
It's overwhelming at first but you will hit your stride. And be sure to hang out here - lots of great ideas and support helps alot.
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame
allergicliving.org and livingwithout.com are helpful sites and allergic living has a forum that's geared towards parents of fa kiddos. I did (and still do) tons of goolge research/lurk on different fa forums/reading articles books etc. to learn as much as I can.
Definately block out a few hours to go grocery shopping and really take the time to read lables. If you have a smart phone you can use that to help you find safe brands or google some of your family's favorites before you head to the store.
For parties- we bring our own food most of the time. We have a few famliy members and friends that I now trust to cook safely but anywhere else- we pack food. I usually call the hostess ahead of time to find out the menu so I can bring a safe alternative.