Girl Carrying Epi-Pen

NCPeanutMom,

I have a 9 year old daughter. She wears an epi-carrier clipped to her belt when she wears pants or jeans. She has an epi-belt for when she does not have belt loops. We too have experienced the "it doesn't match!!" issue when she wears a skort or dress. She has worn the epi-belt under her dress a few times but she does not like the bulge over her belly or her butt if we turn it around. Her new solution is to clip the epi-carrier's belt clip to a belt or to the handle of the epi-belt and have the carrier hanging in a vertical position as if it were hanging from a belt loop. I don't like how this looks, but I am just glad that she is wearing it without too much complaints. It is a constant challenge to look good while staying safe. I am sure that we will start carrying it in a purse in a couple of years.

Have you seen the "Leg Buddy"? It is a carrier that wraps around their leg (or arm) and can be worn very discreetly under their clothes. It is by a company called OmaxCare. Check it out. They are great!

My daughter has an epi-bag she carries. She is in Kindergarten this year. Her school put up hooks at verious locations in the school and dd just carries her bag with her. For example in the morning she comes into cafateria hangs bag up and when it is time to go to class she gets it and takes to class she does this when she travels to special classes (library, gym , music ect.)It has worked out very well. There is also an epi-pen in the school nurses office. My daughter just didnt feel comfortable wearing the belt but was fine with her bag it has a clip on one end so she can just clip it on her backpack at the end of the day and it comes home with her..

Hi,
Just a quick question about your daughter carrying the epi-pen on her person. Did the school give you a hard time about this? Our public school said that teachers are not mandated to administer or be trained to use the epi-pen - only the nurses are. We were told that even if we got a 504, only the nurse would administer. Even though we felt that having our dtr wear it would make things safer, it turned out that it wouldn't really help at all since there would be no one close by to administer it. Our school is quite large and we knew that there was no guarantee that the nurse could reach our daughter in time, so we opted to private school her this year (where they are very accomodating and teacher wears the epi-pen at all times). Sadly, affordability has forced us to look at other options for next year. FYI, she is a kindergartener, too. Thanks for the info!

P.S. Could someone tell me what all of these abbreviations mean: "DD" and "DH" ... I am new to posting!!!

Lisa

Hi and welcome to the board. I can help you with some of the abbreviations but am in Canada so others will have to help you with the Epi question.

dd- dear daughter
ds- dear son
dh- dear husband
dw- dear wife
nka- no known allergies
mfa- multiple food allergies
ana- anaphylaxis
imo- in my opinion
imho- in my humble opinion
tia- thanks in advance
hth- hope that helps
ltfa- life threatening food allergy
kwim- know what I mean
ita- I totally agree

Hopefully others will add to this.

Oh my goodness! I feel like you have just opened up a whole new world for me! THANK YOU!

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I can't think of any other abbreviations for you, but as the OP (oh wait, there's one! Original Poster), I thought I'd answer your other question, as well. Our children are not only allowed, but encouraged to keep their epi-pens on them at all times. All of the teachers are trained on the use of the epi, and besides the nurse (who is not full-time) there are also other teachers in the school who are more extensively trained on first-aid, CPR, etc. They are not nurses, but if the nurse is not there, they can help to handle an emergency.

Has anyone else tried the "leg buddy"? It sounds great...how well does it hold up? I worry about my dd climbing all over the playground and bumping it. Also, is there a place to hold some benadryl, too? I was thinking of the meltaway strips.

I'm so thankful that I found this board. We are ordering the Leg Buddy and Ebelt tonight. We knew we needed to have the epipens more readily available, but didn't know how. (He's been carrying them in a belt camera case.)

What did you--who use the Ebelt--say to get your child to *want* to wear it?

I was just wondering if anyone knows where Omaxcare is located? I ordered a leg buddy from them over a month ago. They charged my card on the day that I ordered the item...but I never received it. There is no address or phone number listed on their site. They have not responded to my emails requesting assistance. I am SO disappointed in this company!

Edited to add that I looked for a location and it appears they are based in Miami, FL and they indicated they usually ship in 1-2 business days. If you go to amazon.com there are several good reviews for them and it indicates that they ship from the US and how fast their products are shipped.

Thank you, Skymom! I was able to find a phone number through Amazon. I wish I had ordered through Amazon to begin with. It has been a horrible experience so far! I have learned my lesson about being more careful with internet purchases. I doubt I will ever see my product and I'm thankful I only lost $40. Thanks again!

My daughter wears a small purse "messenger style" across her chest with her epi-pens, cell phone, benedryl, and id. We have a denim one that she likes to wear with shorts and casual clothes. We have a dressier one for dress clothes, and she uses a waist pack for outings.

I am struggling with this one, my daughter has been wearing her ebelt for three years now, and she detests it , she now covers it with a sweater wrapped around her waist , it works , I was considering letting her keep it in a certain location in the school depending on where she was but this doesn't sound safe, I need to come up with some kind of cute bag that looks purely like an accessory.
She loves her fashion and a big black hard belt is not what she likes to have to wear , I can't blame her, she tried wearing long fashion tops but there was always a weird bump that she hated, I feel for her .

Hi, I have not had my son out of my sight yet to worry about this but I am thinking about it for me. Because I carry his epens in a first aid kit with benadryl and stuff. But summer is here its hot. I dont know what to do with my bag. I cant leave it in the car & I can't put it down in the sun or near other kids??? Any ideas ??? I am going to the beach next month & the epipens have to go with us-because there are peanuts at the beach. [b]What do you do with the epipens then. My friend that is diabetic suggested I wrap the epipens in a cool face cloth and leave it in the first aid kit under a towel and wet the cold cloth every 1/2hour or as needed.. Any idea's what to do about hot vs cold weather and how would a belt or leg strap work in hot /cold weather. And how old does my son have to be to carry his own epen on his person at school.
Thanks Deb Son 3 1/2 PA

How old was your child or how old do you guys feel your child needs to be to keep the epipen on their bodies?

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My son, now 10, started wearing his epibelt at age 4 when he started school. We've never had a problem.

Katiee

my son will be 7 this month, he just started carrying his epi-pens halfway through the last school year. no problems at all. we bought the kozyepi.

as with all things regarding children, you have to know individually if a child can handle the responsibility. we had to make sure our son would not play with the bag or the pens.

Please could I get the telephone number for OmaxCare since I also ordered a Legbuddy product and haven't received anything so far and wish to contact them.

Wow! I haven't been here in quite some time, and I see that this thread that I started is still going!

As it turned out this year, my daughter's friend, who also has peanut allergies, is in her class (this is Kindergarten). Us Moms and the teacher got together to figure out the best way to keep epi-pens on hand, and we decided to have a bag with Benadryl and both epis that goes with them to all of their classes, lunch, recess, etc. The girls have joint responsibility in remembering to bring it (of course, the teacher won't let them forget, but they are good about reminding each other...beginning for them to learn to be responsible for their own allergies). So far this system has worked out really well.

Thanks, everyone, for all the replies you gave when I asked the question. I looked into all of them, and found the system that works best for us.

the best way to keep the Epipen handy in case of an emergency. Thanks to a carrier we found at www.omaxcare.com we are finally 100% sure that our son has the Epipen on him. Not long ago he went to the movies and had a reaction and thank God he had the LegBuddy we had bought from omaxcare.com on him. The onset was so fast if he didn't have the Epipen on him the doctor said it could have been fatal. If you have a kid, especially a boy that doesn't carry a purse I strongly recommend you buy them the LegBuddy.

Hi, since this subject just came up again I'll take the opportunity to tell you about my new webstore. I'm offering insulated carriers that don't look like carriers. Two pocket purses, single pocket pouches, both with adjustable straps, fanny packs and toss-n-go bags. I just ordered labels to add that offer a place for your name and number ( name inside, number outside). If you don't see a fabric that strikes your fancy, e-mail me and I'll see what I can do to accomodate you. My web address is in my signature.