*** This is what works for my kids and my house. Be sure to discuss with your child’s doctor and come up with a plan that works for you. Also, be sure to read all labels, even if buying the products I have mentioned above.***

I had one of my really good friends text me this morning and say that her son, who is the same age as my son, ate a piece of candy at a wedding reception and had an allergic reaction to peanut butter that was in it. They had to call an ambulance due to his throat swelling and will be getting released from the hospital this afternoon. Today starts the life long avoidance of peanuts!! I thought it would be good to share some of the things we have learned over the last year and a half of being a nut free home.

You have to check everything and think about what could be cross contaminated when eating out. My kids have had an reaction from eating a hot dog at a local health food restaurant and the only thing we could come up with is they also serve PB&J sandwiches and that someone wasn’t careful. Stay away from restaurants that have peanuts laying around, especially if your child is young. My daughter is little enough she could quickly pick one up and everything goes straight to her mouth!

Also, think about events you may attend such as circus, baseball games, etc as to whether or not they may be selling peanuts. Not that you can’t go but you will need to talk through it with your kid and make extra pre-cautions. Thankfully, our allergist hosts a peanut free night at our local baseball field and so we will try to go that night and make it a special event. Talk to your kids about play dates where you will be eating lunch at it before you go so there isn’t a scene. A lot of moms pack peanut butter sandwiches for their kids, I know I would if my kids weren’t allergic!

We keep our epi pens with us all the time and keep benadryl pre-filled spoons or benadryl and dropper in the van, diaper bags, purse and in the stroller as well as at grandparents houses. Be sure to keep your epis at room temperature. I didn’t know this at first (my own fault for not reading the pamphlet) and use to keep them in the diaper bag in the car all the time.

As a parent you want your child to be and feel as “normal” as possible and a nut allergy can really make them feel left out from sitting at a separate table at school to not being able to eat the same treats as their friends. Birthday parties become another challenge. Most cakes and even some ice creams can contain nuts. We are so lucky to have a cake lady who is great at making allergen cakes and when I asked her she made nut free cakes she went through all her steps to avoid cross contamination!!! I was super impressed. She also makes the cakes egg free for us as well. We are fortunate enough to have a few allergen bakeries within 25 minutes of our home for very special treats!

At one birthday party I had brought oreos but it was the first time that it was a big party and that my kids couldn’t eat what the other kids were eating and the tears started coming. I calmly took them in the hall and let them eat their “very special snack that we don’t want to make the other kids jealous by eating in front of them” in the hall! We also talked about not wanting to touch any ones plates when we went back in and was still able to enjoy our friend’s birthday! Next time I will probably order a cupcake from one of our allergen bakeries so that the kid can have that. I have already spoke with a few and they are more than happy to accommodate our needs with a few days notice! With this being said my hubby and I are also working on teaching our children there may be times and places where they can’t have something and we will not always have a backup and that at birthday parties it is about their friend’s special day and not as much about them and trying to teach them how to handle those situations.

I have also found that for the most part Pillsbury Brand cake mixes and brownie mixes are nut free. So far this is the only brand I have found that I can buy to make for my kids that works with the egg allergy too. I haven’t found store bought cookies that the kids can eat and actually like so I make my own allergen chocolate chip cookies and our whole house really likes them, probably the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have found. Here is the link Nut Free Chocolate Chip Cookies or you could try these Nut Free No Bakes

I have learned that a lot of the store brand pretzels say they could possibly contain peanuts. We currently use these two options: (If you buy these make sure the ingredients or processing hasn’t changed – I always double take since places change things so often)

A good cookie we have found that is “safe” for our house is Oreos! I keep a baggie of these with me for when we do family functions or outings where friends may have cookies.

This is my favorite nut free alternative to peanut butter:

Another thing you have to be very careful with is candy! Even though the piece you have may not have nuts in it, it may still have traces due to the equipment it was processed on. Be sure to read all labels. Another thing to think about is if you allow your child to Trick or Treat if you still want to do it with the risk of eating something they shouldn’t. We let our kids go to just a few houses and immediately picked through their bags to remove allergen candies or candies we were not sure about. It is not worth the risk. An idea would be to let them dress up and pass out candy and have them a goodie basket ready at home.

This isn’t everything we did/do but thought these would be good tips for someone just now making the transition to a nut free home and things that I didn’t always initially think about. My best advice is to be cautious and be prepared for a reaction! They can happen when you least expect it. Don’t worry what someone else may think or say if you are asking questions about food – this is your child’s life and you are just protecting them by doing those. A lot of people will not understand, if they have not dealt with food allergies but then you will be shocked by how accommodating some people and restaurants can be!

*** This is what works for my kids and my house. Be sure to discuss with your child’s doctor and come up with a plan that works for you. Also, be sure to read all labels, even if buying the products I have mentioned above.***