How to Teach a Child About Food Allergies

Teaching children at a young age about their food allergy offers the benefit of time to practice. With your help, making independent decisions will be gradual and feel less overwhelming for your child. Take the allergy seriously, but try to make the process of learning about it fun.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Teach your child what he is allergic to. Tell him the type of symptoms he will feel and show him the medicine, usually in the form of a shot of epinephrine, that must be used to make him better. You can find story books that teach this important information, including descriptions of reactions and treatment, in an age appropriate manner.
2. Tell your child never to eat anything unless a parent has said it is alright. Tell her to politely explain that she has a food allergy. If you know about your child's allergy at a very young age, you can model this for her when other people ask you if she can have something.
3. Instruct him on proper hand washing before and after meals. You never know when there could be trace amounts of food on grocery carts, playground equipment, etc. Give your child two soaps with different smells for the bathroom and try to guess which scent he has chosen by smelling his hands.
4. Call food substitutes by their real name. If you call soy milk "milk" your child will not know that she cannot have milk. If you use soy butter to replace peanut butter in a cookie recipe, call them soy nut butter cookies instead of "peanut butter" cookies.
5. Role play different dangerous situations that your child may encounter. Stranger danger, calling 911, getting help for a friend and food allergies. This helps your child understand that her allergy is part of the dangers in life that must be prepared for and keeps her from feeling that the game is pointing him out.
6. Show pictures of allergy foods. Cut out magazine pictures of foods that your child is allergic to and places they can be found on the back of a flash card. You can play different games with them; look on other learning type flashcard sets for ideas, to reinforce unsafe foods.
7. Give your child examples of how cross-contamination can occur. When making two types of cookies for the holidays, explain how food might be on the spatula from one batch and might be used when removing cookies from the second batch. Give everyday examples in a casual and informational manner whenever you happen to think of them yourself.

Tips & Warnings

• Praise your child when she makes a good decision.
• New situations will arise over time. The issue of kissing, going out with friends, embarrassment about the allergy and risk taking will need to be addressed. It is good to join a good support group to share ideas and issues with others who have experienced them. A support group will also help a child identify with others in the same situation.