How to be peanut free in a nutty world

This may help the reader navigate through the touchy subject of peanut allergies with friends and families. While it seems that there is peanut product in EVERYTHING, there are ways to make the world safer for your child.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Patience, diligence, sense of humor, more patience

1. OK, so you got the results of the allergy tests back and your child is allergic to peanuts. The Allergist gave you the warnings and statistics. (which sometimes vary from Allergist to Allergist) Things are looking grim. Your child is now one of THOSE kids. Most likely your child is still a toddler...so you will have a lot of time to get used to the idea right? Wrong. Get used to it now. Get online, surf the web. Learn Learn Learn. And never have that Epi-Pen out of arms reach.

2. While your child is a toddler, you control his world - so keeping him peanut free isn't going to pose that much of a challenge, right? Right - in theory. True you do control most of his world. So de-nut the house. No more peanut butter toast for you. Get used to it. Read labels on everything. EVERYTHING. Did I mention that you have to read labels on EVERYTHING? Many items that you wouldn't think contain peanut products do...or are manufactured on the same equipment as products containing peanuts. Or there is the "May Contain Peanuts" warning. Don't buy any of these. It's not worth the risk.

3. Get your friends and family on board. Seems easy. Not so much. People have a hard time believing that if their little Johnny ate a pbj sandwich for lunch and then 2 hours later plays with your little Johnny there will be a problem. Unless they are going to "DECONTAMINATE" their little Johnny, there just might be. Peanut protein is very resilient. Educate them. Send them articles and web sites. Invite them to YOUR house, the peanut free zone. Show them what to look for. If your child has a play date at their home, you take the snacks...for both kids.

4. Preschool-Kindergarten. Yikes. Now things get dicey. You can ask your school to become peanut free. Good luck. It does happen. But chances are it won't. So it's up to you. Get involved. Talk to the important people. The cook. The teacher. The principal. Have a letter sent home explaining the allergy and how serious it is. Ask parents nicely to avoid sending in peanut laced lunches or snacks. There will be backlash. You will be ready. Ask the teacher if you can come in and talk with the class. Make your child part of this. Talk about the peanut allergy...there are great peanut awareness kits out there that many schools are willing to buy. They include Videos for kids, for parents, and for faculty. If you have access, use this to your advantage. When the parents call the school to say, "My kid won't eat anything but peanut butter," and some will, just wave it off. The kids in your child's class will be educated and in no time will be telling their parents to please not put peanut in their lunches because it will make their friend sick. Kids are great that way. You can also request that if your school is serving peanut butter for lunch, that your child be able to eat in the office...and to bring a friend.

5. Get involved. Sign up for the P.T.A., or be a room mom. This will insure that you are there and able to monitor what your child is eating and what those around him are eating. Also you will be able to see the flaw in the hand washing routine and bring that to the attention of the school officials. Remember - peanut protein is resilient. Don't be afraid to speak out. Some parents want anonymity for their child so they won't be singled out. With my own peanut allergic child, I told everyone I came into contact with. If we were at the park, I wanted everyone to know that "There's the kid with the peanut allergy." That way, they could police themselves and their own kids. Nobody wants to be the one who makes the peanut kid sick...that's for sure. And, I can't speak for anyone else's experiences, but it did not scar him, or ostracize him from his peers. It was just like.."the kid with Asthma" or "the kid with a cast on his arm"...a kid just like any other kid who might need a little extra care in one particular area.

6. Relax, take a breath, and remember it's not the end of the world. My son, who was diagnosed at age 10 months with approximately 45 different food allergies was a challenge. Now at age 13, he has outgrown all but peanut and egg. He is six feet tall and has a monster sized shoe. Last week after the game where he scored his football team's first touchdown of the year, I watched him. I watched 2 very cute giggly girls in his class come up to him and say, "What exactly can't you eat? We'll make cookies for you guys." My son just smiled and replied, "I can't eat your cookies, but make them for the team, you can get me a pack of Skittles." And they did. It all works out.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't be afraid to speak up. Squeaky Wheel gets the grease. Just remember to be a polite squeaky wheel.
• Don't be afraid to email the school administrator with web sites of information, or the occasional cautionary tale of schools who accidentally fed an allergic kid peanuts. Amazingly these seem to get everyone on board.
• ALWAYS ALWAYS read labels. Also check with your allergist, many times ingredients lists use names that we aren't familiar with.
• Have your child wear a medical alert bracelet.
• Keep antihistamine and Epi-Pens with you. Have one for your school, and one for the teacher in the classroom, if the school will allow it. Make sure everyone is trained.