My Child's Attempt With Honey Nut Cheerios

When my daughter was first diagnosed with food allergies she was able to eat Honey Nut Cheerios. It always boggled my mind because it says, 'Honey Nut'. At the time, being new to food allergies, I didn't take the time to figure out what kind of nut it was because it never affected her. Plus I talked to another mother whose daughter had nut allergies and she said her child was able to eat Honey Nut Cheerios also, so, no big deal, right?

Sometime later, I gave my daughter a bowl of the cereal and she said it made her tongue feel funny. I asked her if she was sure. I thought she was fine when it came to this cereal. So I tried a bowl of it myself. I don't know if I was trying to "empathize with her", but it left a metallic taste in my mouth. Just like any mother who is weirded out by stuff, I threw the box out. This prompted me to see just what kind of nut they actually used in the cereal. I know, I know, bad mother. How could you feed your daughter something you haven't fully researched? Well, my daughter never had severe reactions to food like most other kids did and her allergist also told me that peanuts and cashews were the ones I needed to look out for. Not getting much help from her allergist, I realized how serious it really was after doing research on my own.

Now, we jump to the present. I was in the store shopping for cereal when I came across the "new" Honey Nut Cheerio. Well, it was new to me. Apparently they took out the nut and put in almond flavor instead around 2006. I figured we could try it again because the actual nut is no longer in it. So I gave her a bowl and she happily ate it. Halfway through the bowl she stopped eating it and started on her bread. She had a weird expression on her face, so I asked her if the cereal made her feel funny. She said that it did, with a little hesitance. I think she really wanted to finish it, but I didn't let her. This convinced me to pull out her results again and look them over to see what her number had gone down to. It went from a 2.58 (class 2) to a 0.44 (class 1). Now my question is, how is it that when she was listed as a class 2 she could eat the cereal, but now that she has dropped to a class 1, it seems to bother her? Am I the only parent out just doesn't get this whole allergy thing, or are there others?

Unexplainable Hives

I decided to make some oatmeal raisin cookies for my family's luncheon on Saturday. I figured if I made them from scratch my daughter would be able to eat them also. So I pulled out all the ingredients for them and proceeded to create them. Once I was done, I put them in the oven and cooked them. After they cooled off, I gave one to my daughter to try. As usual, she was hesitant to try it. I think she has been told no so many times that when it comes to trying allergy free foods, she thinks problems will still occur.

For some strange reason she went downstairs to eat it. It was a good thing she did because she yelled out that her throat felt funny. I was able to give her something to drink and her throat felt better. I am beginning to believe that her food allergies aren't as life threatening as some other people's children. She doesn't seem to go through all the major symptoms that some other children go through. Don't get me wrong, I still treat them as though they are. You never know when it could change.

After I gave her something to drink, I thought that everything was fine. She went back to playing and it was as though she never had the cookie. I then put her in the tub to give her a bath. While she was in there she told me her legs were itching. I told her, her skin was probably dry. She use to have eczema when she was a baby, so her skin tends to be a little drier. When I took her out and started to put Vaseline on her, I noticed scratch marks on her legs. I asked her what had happened and she said after her throat started to hurt, her legs started to itch. She had little bumps all over her thighs. I told her to try and not scratch as it would put marks on her legs.

Later on in the middle of the night she woke up to tell me her legs were itching her really bad. I turned the light on and examined her legs. She had actual hives on them. I had to look for the topical benadryl to put on her. She stated that it didn't help, but she was able to go back to sleep.

I can't figure out why that happened. It is always hard to tell when it is not directly related to food. There shouldn't have been anything that would have set her off in the cookie. The only thing that I can think of is either the nutmeg or the cinnamon. I don't think she is allergic to either of them, but those were the only seasonings in them that she doesn't usually have. I don't know, maybe she is truly allergic to one of them or maybe she is just having a pseudo allergic reaction to them. Only time will tell.

Parsley ~ An Actual Food Allergy

There are so many different types of foods that children or adults can be allergic to. Sometimes I am not sure if my daughter is just not feeling well or if she is really having an allergic reaction. Most of the times her reactions to certain foods is pretty much clear cut, but then there are those times when she just vomits (pardon my words) hours later and has no other reaction with it. Those are times when I am left wondering if it is truly something to be avoided or not.

A while ago we had a big dinner at my parent's house. Everything was "food safe", so my daughter could eat until her heart was content. At least that is what I thought. A new item that was presented was red potatoes with parsely and olive oil. Now looking at that, you wouldn't think that it would affect someone in any way whatsoever. But later that night, she got up out of her bed and told me she felt sick. She then went into the bathroom and plopped herself in front of the toilet. I have been blessed to have a young child who can tell me she is going to be sick and still make it to the bathroom before throwing up. As gross as this may sound, I have been in the habit of checking her vomit to see what has made her sick. This time it was red potatoes and parsely. Wow, who would have thought that would be the thing to make her sick!

Today I decided to look on the internet and see if someone could really be allergic to parsely. Can you believe it, you can. I have always kept her from it after that one incident, but that is just because I tend to get paranoid when she has any type of reaction to food. On Wikipedia I found out that parsley is part of the Birch family. Some of the other foods in the Birch family are: almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, carrots, celery, cherries, chicory, coriander, fennel, fig, hazelnuts, kiwifruit, nectarines, parsley, parsnips, peaches, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, prunes, soy, strawberries, wheat, and potentially walnuts. After seeing this I thought that I should have done research on it sooner. She happens to be allergic to almonds, hazelnuts, wheat, and walnuts. It is hard to say what to avoid and what not to avoid. She can eat apples, bananas, carrots, celery, cherries, soy, strawberries and wheat (her number for this is so low she is not affected by it) without a problem. Unfortunately, it is going to have to be a guessing game for me for the rest of her life.

Copyright © 2010 Allergykidmom. All rights reserved

Food Allergic Kids and Babysitters

The other day I had to leave my daughter with a babysitter who has never watched her before. I usually try to take her with me or leave her with my sister or parents. I had no choice this time. It can be a little nerving leaving her with someone new, whether it is a family member or a friend. I always wonder if they are doing things the way that I want them done. Not to sound like a brat, but it is my kids life we're talking about.

I have found a way to make it a little easier on myself and maybe for others who read this too.

1. Prepare food for them to eat. I find this option very useful. When you do this, you don't have to worry about what the babysitter will have to feed them. You know that whatever goes in their mouth is going to be food allergy free.
2. Babysitter should watch what they eat. If they are not in a food allergy friendly home, the babysitter needs to be careful what they ingest also. If the child is allergic to nuts and the babysitter eats peanut butter and has some on their hands when touching the child, it could set off an allergic reaction.
3. Inform babysitter to read ALL ingredients. If you don't have time to prepare food , you can let them know what they need to look out for. Make sure they know to look over all the ingredients and make sure they also know what hidden words that are used. This is very important.
4. Allergy Bracelet. If your child has a bracelet, it usually has the foods that they are allergic to listed on it. You can let them know if they forget, they can look at the bracelet to help them remember. Another good thing about one of these bracelets is that if anything goes wrong, you can call the number on the back for help. Actually, this is with the Medic Alert Bracelets. I'm not sure how the rest of them work.
5. Food Allergy Card. These are very helpful to hand out when someone is watching your child and they aren't sure what foods to watch out for. They have them on the Internet to purchase. I made some up myself and handed them out to all my family members. I can't speak for the other cards, but the one I created has her allergens listed from severe all the way to very low. I also listed foods to watch out for/avoid and cross contamination issue.
6. Know what symptoms to look for. Knowing the symptoms of an allergic reaction is important for a babysitter. Different symptoms show up with different kids, but they are generally the same. It would be imperative for them to know the ones that your child tends to suffer from. Itchy skin/hives, tingling in the mouth (my daughter tends to say her mouth or her throat feels funny), stomach pains, difficulty breathing, swollen tongue or throat, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of consciousness. One sign that is not usually listed but happened to my daughter is falling asleep. This could be right before loss of consciousness, so telling them this would be important.
7. The EPIPEN or EPIPEN JR. I feel it is very important for the babysitter to know how to use the epipen, just in case something does happen. You should let them know to use the epipen (make sure they know how to use it correctly), then call 911 and follow up by calling you.

I'm sure a lot of people already know or have done this, but if you are new to having a kid with food allergies and you have to leave them with someone, I hope this can help.


Copyright © 2010 Allergykidmom. All rights reserved