food allergies – Breastfeeding World

What You Need To Know When You See a Teal Pumpkin

Laranda Colbert — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 13:00:23 +0000

White, green, orange and maybe even yellow pumpkins, are found in just about any pumpkin patch, but have you ever seen a teal pumpkin? I have. Ok, not in a pumpkin patch, but definitely on store shelves. Many see the teal pumpkins and think, “that’s pretty”. But, there is far more behind the teal pumpkin than just a decorative element. Food Allergy Resource & Education, FARE, created the Teal Pumpkin Project^® to “raise awareness of food allergies and promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters through the Halloween season.”

What is the Teal Pumpkin Project^®?

The idea behind the Teal Pumpkin Project^®was actually conceived during an awareness activity hosted by the Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee. FARE launched the project as a national awareness campaign in 2014. It serves to promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters in a way that makes it safe and still enjoyable. People who wish to participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project^®display a teal pumpkin outside their door or hang a flyer or poster outside their home with the teal pumpkin logo. The display of a teal pumpkin indicates to trick-or-treaters that non-food treats are available.

Why should everyone know about this?

Halloween can be a scary, even life threatening, experience for those living with food allergies. And I don’t mean because of the ghosts, goblins and zombies that you will often encounter when you take your children trick-or-treating. Does anyone else get chills when they see the spooky creations others come up with? No? Ok, I’ll move on. When you have a child with food allergies, every knock on the door, every doorbell that is rang causes the parent to hold their breath.

My son has a peanut allergy. We cannot allow him to touch the wrappers of candy that contains peanuts since we have no way of knowing what level of exposure will result in anaphylaxis. When taking him trick-or-treating, I hover over his bag and watch what is given to him. Any candy contaminated with peanuts is quickly removed by myself or my husband and put into a separate bag that is later to be removed from our home. We have three children. Only one has an allergy, but we have to take any dangerous candy from all three children to dispose of it. That is three separate trick-or-treat bags that I am carefully watching simultaneously. Trick-or-treating for our family is a scary and exhausting process.

Here’s How You Can Help

It’s easy peasy lemon squeezy! FARE offers many free resources for advocating and educating on food allergies! You can paint a pumpkin teal and sit it outside your door or you can download a free poster from the FARE website to display outside your home! Teal is the color used to support food allergy awareness and has been used as such for over 20 years.

Just because you are supporting families with food allergies, does not mean you cannot continue to hand out candy. Just keep the candy and non-food treats in separate bowls! Guess what, the non-food treats can help other families of children that cannot have candy for a reason completely unrelated to food allergies! Win win!

Help! I have no idea what non-food treats to use!

Worry not my friend, I have compiled a list that will help you get some ideas. This list is not exhaustive, and I am sure there are many other options than what I have listed below, but this should give your brain the boost it needs to decide what is best for you! Hit up the local dollar store or wholesale distributor to get the most bang for your buck.

Glow sticks
Bracelets & Necklaces
Crayons, markers, pencils, erasers
Whistles, kazoos, noisemakers – the parents will totally love you for this!
Stickers
Mini-notepads
Vampire fangs
Cars
Bouncy balls
Finger puppets or other novelty items
Bookmarks
Puzzle books

There are many affordable options. One of my friends has even visited her local Goodwill to purchase miscellaneous trinket toys so that my kids have something other than candy to choose from! You should have seen the two youngest. They were thrilled!

“The TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT and the Teal Pumpkin Image are trademarks of Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE).”

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts and be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our hashtag

#BreastfeedingWorld

[col1][/col1]

[col2][/col2]

[col3][/col3]

SaveSave

Laranda Colbert

The post What You Need To Know When You See a Teal Pumpkin appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

My Child Has A Food Allergy, And Yes, You Should Care

Laranda Colbert — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 13:00:36 +0000

“Why should I care about their food allergies?”

“Seriously, my daughter only likes peanut butter and jelly. What is she supposed to eat if the school is a Peanut/Tree Nut Free place?”

“Can’t they just sit at a different table or something?”

“Why should we have to suffer because they can’t have it?”

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…

How many of these comments have you made? Have you heard them from other parents in your child’s schools? I would put money on the table betting you can name at least one person, maybe even yourself, that has uttered a phrase similar to the ones above. My focus for this article will be primarily peanut allergies, as that is what is most near and dear to my family. However, I would like to say up front, an anaphylactic reaction can occur with ANY food allergy. Dairy? Yep. Soy? You bet! Peanut? Of course! Tree nut (which by the way is COMPLETELY different from a peanut)? Yes, yes, yes. Shoot, breathing in pet dander or mold spores can cause anaphylactic shock.

What is a food allergy?

A food allergy is far more than a dislike for a certain item. It is truly life or death for the individual suffering from the food allergy. Just some science for those unaware. Anaphylaxis is the reaction by the body that causes the release, no, the flood of chemicals into the body as a defense. The reaction can happen within seconds to minutes after exposure. The body identifies the allergen as an enemy, and therefore begins attempting to annihilate the enemy.

A person experiencing anaphylaxis will experience a sudden blood pressure drop and narrowing of airways, causing difficulty breathing. Symptoms can include, but most definitely are not limited to rapid, weak pulse, visible hives or rash and nausea and vomiting. When left untreated, anaphylaxis can cause loss of consciousness and death. The only treatment for anaphylaxis is an emergency injection of epinephrine and a trip to the ER for further observation or administration of steroids, etc.

My knowledge comes from personal experience

How do I know this? Well, anyone, if so inclined, can Google it. However, in my case, I watched my then 1-year-old son, go through an anaphylactic episode after being handed a small amount of peanut butter on a cracker. I have EMT training and knew all of the right things to do, but that was my baby! He was given an oral anti-histamine, epinephrine and steroid breathing treatments. I watched as he gasped for air. He laid his head on my chest and I felt him struggle to breath. I am writing this through tears, because in that moment, I didn’t know if he would live.

That began a long painful journey of repetitive appointments to the allergist. Blood draws that required me to hold him still. My heart has ached and more tears have flooded my face from this experience than any other in my life. A food allergy is LIFE OR DEATH!

Kids in Public School with Food Allergies

I was inspired to write this after reading a post by a horrified mother in a Facebook group, specifically for parents of children with food allergies. I will paraphrase and omit names for privacy. This woman’s middle school aged daughter was in the first few days of school and called home in tears. Some students had decided to smear peanut butter and peanut butter crackers in her backpack “to see if she would really die.” These children are 12 – 13 years old, and they were experimenting with death. Ya’ll, that ain’t cool!

There were numerous comments encouraging her and wishing her daughter the best. I was overwhelmed at the sheer number of other similar instances posted in the comments. A kindergartener was chased with peanut butter sandwiches because she was identified as having an allergy on the first day of school. In this article by the Washington Post, “Bullies use a small but powerful weapon to torment allergic kids: Peanuts”, a fifth grader with a severe peanut allergy had peanuts thrown at him during lunch.

A Michigan college student was bullied with peanut butter, when his fraternity decided to smear peanut butter on his face as a hazing stunt at the beginning of 2017. In this article by SnackSafely, Food Allergy Bullying Leads to Death of 13 Year Old Boy, Arrest of Another, one 13-year-old boy flicked a piece of cheese into another 13-year-old boy’s mouth. The result? Anaphylaxis, followed by 12 days in ICU and ultimately, the loss of life.

How do I handle schooling and food allergies?

There has been some opposition and judgmental glares because we are choosing to home-school our youngest children. The initial reason being all of the intense situations you just read about. One local school system is a peanut/tree nut free environment, that sits all children with a peanut allergy at a specific table. I know of at least 1 person that sends their child with peanut butter every day despite the call to avoid it. By alienating them, they are putting a HUGE label over their head and providing ammunition for bullying. I have learned to be responsible for my son’s environment instead of trusting others to have compassion.

Another local school system serves peanut butter and jelly to those with no lunch money, therefore contaminating the entire school. Any surface that a child with peanut butter on his or her hands touches, is now a potential death trap for my son. We have since felt that homeschooling is better for our littles than public school for many reasons beyond the food allergy issue.

One day, when my son can be in control of his environment, I will slowly begin to loosen my grip. For now, I will watch every interaction he has. Be at every. single. event. he participates in. I will be the barrier that takes the unpleasant comments and judgement regarding my son’s food allergy.

What can you do?

1) Stop judging! We are all parents doing our very best for our children. What may be best for my family, isn’t necessarily best for yours. You know what? That’s okay! It’s more than okay. That’s the way that it should be!

2) Please teach your children to be compassionate. Please educate them on food allergies so that they can be aware of the people around them. As Ellen DeGeneres always says, “Be kind to one another.” After all, that is what we should be doing anyhow right?