Peanut Allergy - Hanover,MA

I have a peanut allergy and have had it all my life. I have an anaphylactic reaction with less than 20 minutes to get help, so you know I take it seriously! I'd be happy to offer any help you may need. Let me know how you'd like to converse. You can also get good information/ideas/recipes at www.foodallergy.org.

Hi

My 4 year old son was given peanut butter when he was 3 and within minutes I knew. We rushed him to the hospital.

My two year old daughter is allgeric to milk and egss and we just found out peanuts too.

WHy?? I have no nut allergies my husband has no food allergies so why all of a sudden is so many kids developing this??

Holloween is a nightmare..

would love to chat..

Thank tothe other mom for the haeds upon the pita chips...

Yes waiters are clueless. we told one that she was allergic to milk and eggs and he brought my sons milk ontop of her applejuice stacked and was pissed when I made him get me a new one, or he said it has just a little butter on it so that doesnt matter - I said that could send her to the hospital ...

Not many people beleive they are serious..

Oh and my old school grandmother said she bought the peanut butter with no nuts so they could have it. She didnt understand that creamy peanut butter still had nuts...

Yes you read that right.... She is always supervised with my kids...

Hi I have a 2 year old son that has a peanut allery.I also am allergic.Any advice from you i would love.And if you have any questions for me i would be happy to help

Hi A.!My daughter was diagnosed today with a peanut allergy. Have you been battling your daughters allergy for long? She is my first child, so I'm learning alot along the way! Any advice is always appreciated!

this allergy can be so scary - and really frustrating!!! i discovered a company that was started by a mom who had children with allergies and medical conditions that made eating a nightmare!!! her company is called wildtree - it is amazing!!!!!!! check out www.jenwarr.mywildtree.com fo rmore info - or contact me! it is peanut free as well as no msg, preservatives, additives, food dyes, and many things are gluten free too.

Hi A., my name is M. and my son has a peanut allergy along with many other food allergies. He is only affected when he ingests the foods, so I am able to keep peanut butter in the house. I actually love peanut butter, so it surprised me that my son has been going thru this since birth--he is 5 now. My suggestion to you is has your child gone to an allergist? If your child has a peanut allergy chances are your child may have other allergies that an allergist can pinpoint. Good luck.

Hello, My 2 1/2 daughter has a peanut allergy. It is very stressful at times and I urge you to always ask about ingrediants esp when you are at out eating. I was at a Macaroni Grill having lunch. My mom ordered a dish that came with homemade pita type chips. My daughter wanted one and something told me to ask the waiter what they were fried in. Thank goodness I did b/c he told me they were fried in a oil they fry a peanut dessert in. I was horrified! If I did not ask I would have been calling 911. I asked to speak with the manager and explained the situation and how that should have been noted on the menu. Peanut allegies are not to be taken lightly and I was very upset that I could of endangered my child's life b/c of their ignorance. You have to always be aware.

L.

My son is 10 1/2 and has a peanut allergy. How bad is your son's allergy?

I have 4 children. When my second was 2 (he is now 5 1/2) my sitter at the time gave him 5 cashews and he blew up to the point I barely recognized him. It was very scary. I had him tested and he is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, eggs and seasame seeds. When I started reading packages of food items I couldn't believe how many products contain all of the things he is allergic to, or processed on the same equipment. Anyway, I thought that by having him home with me I could better monitor what he was eating. Then came kindergarten this year. The school has been great with working with us and making sure they do their part in not giving him any food.
My advice would be First have a plan of action ready for when and if your child has a reaction Second carry an Epi-pen and Benadryl everywhere you go with the child and Third make sure everyone you child comes in contact with is aware of their allergy. One of the toughest things to get across to family memebers was that it is a real serious allergy and a child may die. Finally I think after 3 years they all realize it. I now have 2 more children younger and I will not give them the food my second child is allergic to until they can fully talk and tell me what is going on.

My two children, age 6 and just turned 4 on Monday are both allergic to peanuts and sesame seeds. I guess from what I'm hearing now this is a heriditary trait. I haven't had an emergency experience yet and count us lucky! For my kids, they would need to ingest peanuts or sesame seeds to have anaphalaxis. There is hope your kids may outgrow it - I have a friend whose two kids outgrew their milk and peanut allergies! Best of luck!

Hi A. B,

I have a 6 year old son with a peanut/tree nut allergy. If you'd like to chat about it that would be fine.
Have a great day!

Hi A. - My son Eli is 5 years old and is allergic to Milk, Eggs, Peanuts and Treenuts. He has outgrown his allergy to melons, and we have been told he outgrew his Eggs so we've been experimenting.

There are so many things we can talk about, but I think the most important aspect is support for you as a parent of a child with food allergies. I'm not sure where you live, but there is a support group called the Seacoast Food Allergy Group. The next meeting is next Monday at 7:00pm at the Portsmouth Regional Hospital. It's a great way to get tips and tricks and even cry if you need to. we all get it!

It's really important to join FAAN. And I couldn't live without allergygrocer.com. Please feel free to contact me personally.
R. V. Durham NH

Hi A. - I would love to exchange ideas. I have a daughter who has a peanut allergy as well and a number of other allergies. She is also allergic to chicken and beef if you can believe that! We have been dealing with her allergies for the past 3 1/2 years. Would love to have chat if you have any questions.

K.

i have 2 children that have tree nut allergies, but are not allergic to peanut butter, you are going to have to be so care ful with her, always have the emeg medication with you at all times in the home and with you.
My 2 kids just need to smell the nuts and they break out in hives.....
You are going to have to read the box of everything that you are going to serve her, there are many times that my kids have been unable to have a snack or treat or even birthday cake because of the nut allergy.
I hope i did not scare you, but you need to be on your toes with a peanut allergy. My sister was allergic to eggs also but she did grew out of that.

Dear A.,
My son(now 15) had milk and peanut allergies since he was a baby. He outgrew the milk allergy( although he still does notlike milk) but still has the peanut allergy. He was also allergic to raw eggs( we discovered when he tried to help mix up a meatloaf and had hives allover his arms!). Luckily daycares, schools are now very much aware of this allergy. Teach your child early on to not eat anything unless she checks with you first. If she learns early, she will be able to question evertyhing before she eats it.
My son was not highly allergic but those that are can not eat M&M's, even plain because they are made in the same factory and the shells may contain nuts.
Good luck, it is a fairly easy allergy to be viligant about-S.

HELP!!! I am a mother of 3 I have a 4 yr. old daughter, a 22 month old daughter and a 2 month old son, and have been dealing with peanut allergies for the last two years. Just when I think I have it under control I feel like something happens. My oldest is touch sensitive and we are assuming that our other two also have a peanut allergy.
J.

My almost 3 year old son was diagnosed with a all nut and seed allergy almost 2 years ago. He also has a severe allergy to eggs. We carry an epi pen and single dose benadryl with us everywhere and daycare has a set too.

When it comes to the nut allergy, it was not a surprise to me. I am allergic to peanuts and have been since I can remember. The most important thing for you to do is talk to your child about food that is not safe. This works for my son. For the last year he has talked openly about food that is not safe for him. If he wants a piece of chocolate, we talk about why it's not safe for him and the conversation ends. He doesn't have a fit or beg for it; he just accepts that he can not have it. If you give your child those tools from the beginning, they will be better able to survive in a world where we can not protect them at all times. It's important to stress not sharing food with other kids, not touching or hugging kids - you just don't know what's on their hands or bodies.

It gets easier, I promise you that. Just start talking about food and what's safe and what's dangerous. It will start to come naturally soon.

sunbutter (sun flower seed) it is yummy

soy nut butter.

that is for as if ur kid want to eat something like peanut butter or some bit of protien.

Hi A.-
I am a mom to two teens and have a baby due any day now. My husband (and many of his relatives)and both of my kids have had extensive food allergies, including nuts and tree nuts. They are all touch sensitive for Peanuts.
First off, it gets easier! when they are small it is extra scary, but as they get older they learn about what they can and cannot eat. As little ones, I was always more concerned about adults pushing foods on them that they shouldn't have. We had beef, pork, fish, milk and wheat to contend with also.
One of the first things I did when they were accurately Dx's by an allergist ( I recommend seeing one-for a skin/blood test) was to see a nutritionist. I learned so much from her. I learned, for instance that my DD was so sensistive to peanuts (which are legumes) that she also had reactions from PEAS (which are legumes). She has a mustard allergy and BROCCOLI is in the mustard family. The nutritionist helped her learn about foods and empowered her to make good food choices. She is fifteen and still sees one every six months or so.
When the kids start school be sure to seek out the cafeteria ladies or any teachers who will be around when the kids are eating. I always sent treats for the teacher to keep in her desk if someones mom sent treats that the kids could not eat. I always made sure that it was the cafeteria staff who knew about the epi pens and that they were kept where the food was. What good is the epi pen if it is locked in a nurses office on the other side of the building? This sometimes took some doing, but my persistence paid off and made a safer situation for my kids. They were also allowed to be seated at peanut free tables or could move away if someone had a PB&J. Many school already have these measuresin place now, which I am thankful for.
I also made an index card, which I laminated. IT was updated yearly, and had all of the pertinient info like what they were allergic to, what to look for in a reaction, what to do about it as well as their picture and doctors numbers. It was great for babysitters, relatives and teachers. I had a few copies on hand. When my girl was about 1 year old her g'mother gave her spagettios that she had taken the meatballs out of (I had asked her to give her no meat!!!) she had a reaction so severe that she had to show the emergency room a photo of her so they could tell what she was supposed to look like, her face was so swollen. That is why I included a pic on the index card.

I have even been advised to avoid peanut products my self during this pregnancy in hopes that it may eliminate or reduce the severity of an allergy in the baby. we'll see.

feel free to message me anytime!! best of luck!

I have a 2 year old boy who is allergic to all nuts except for hazelnuts and Brazil nuts. I've purged my house of nuts, with the exception of foods that only my husband and I eat (ice cream and we do have almonds in the house). I'm careful not to let him have them. We also enjoy Sunflower seed butter as an alternative to peanut butter. I let everyone know that he is allergic and carry his EPI pen with me at all times. Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

I am also a stay at home mom with three kids ages 4, 2, and 4 months.

Hi A., my son has food allergies as well. 38 to be exact including the top 8 and everything else. He eats 8 foods and only the eight foods which are pork, venison, apples, bananas, carrots, greenbeans, watermelons and oranges. He sees a GI in Boston and Dr. Accetta allergist. So I would be glad to talk to someone who is going threw the same thing as me.

good morning! I actually have a husband with nut allergies, an 11 year old with a (possible) nut allergy and a 5 year old with an egg allergy and possible nut allergy. The possible ones are because every time they are tested it comes back inconclusive. Its definately a chore. The yound one loves to cook and we have to be sooo careful with raw egg. My advise(ive been doing this since I met my husband) 17 years ago. read read read. Even if you think it doesnt have nuts/peanuts in it suprise there they are! Have you have any incidents yet?

Sunbutter is delicous, we buy it at Shaws (or Whole Foods if you live near one). Vermont Nut-Free Chocolates makes safe chocolates and holiday candies - you can find them & order online (delicious). That helps for Halloween, Easter. Cherrybrook Kitchen has wonderful cake, frosting, brownie & cookie mixes that also great - a hit with everyone plus nut and egg free.

Bringing your own treats to share at birthday parties (like the Cherrybrook cupcakes or rice krispie treats), always packing lots of "safe snacks" and teaching your daughter (and everyone around her) that whatever is not "her" food must be cleared by you first. Good luck!!!

We just found out last week our 20 month old has a level 2 peanut allergy. So far we have just been reading labels.

My daughter is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. We are fortunate that she has to actually ingest it for it to affect her, so she has rarely been exposed. The few exposures she has had since diagnosis were in the first year or so. We haven't had any in the last year. You do get used to reading labels and reminding people not to bring nuts to your house. It ends up being fairly easy to avoid. The egg thing is, of course, harder, since eggs are in so many things. People are getting used to the idea of food allergies, so most are cautious about giving food to a child not their own. As she gets older, you will be able to teach her how to protect herself. Hang in there.

J. (-:

You're not in VT, but you can get advice here anyway, I'm sure: http://www.vermontfoodallergyorg.org/

You can also research on the web for food allergies and intolerances.

Good Luck!

Hi A.,
I do not have a child with an allergy but my best friend does. Her daughter is allergic to yellow and red food colouring and dairy. Ensuring her daughter gets all her nutrients and avoids the bad foods is difficult. I know educating her daughter has been difficult (kids hate being left out) but important. A nut allergy is very scary as so many packaged goods can contain traces of nuts, and an egg allergy rules out so many foods also. If you're worried about your daughter getting all her nutrients I can highly recommend a juice that I give to my children to ensure they get all their nutritional requirements. (check is out at: www.my-monavie-juice.com) My kids love the taste and i know they're getting everything they need, including s protein profile similar to an egg, high fiber with a low glycemic index and more than 16 phytonutrients and antioxidants. The main ingredient of this juice is the acai berry which mothers in the amazon jungle use to nourish their babies if they're unable to breast feed. I'm noticing improved concentration in my school aged child and improved behaviour in my 3 year old. It's good for them, they like it and I know there are no additives or preservatives. And because it's a juice I know it's easier for them to digest than a tablet. I could go on and on as I'm noticing a huge improvement in my childrens health and development (no colds, flu or tummy bugs since taking the juice) but it's entirely up to you if you'd like to know more.