Help! How did you teach your toddler about his/her allergy?

I raised an old thread for you with this same topic [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

One thing we have done, go buy a book with pictures of different foods. Teach him what they are and as you are doing that tell him will make him very sick. Let me tell you my darling son runs around (2 1/2) pointing these foods out saying very sick momma? He has even gone up to other kids and said no,no (Ryan) very sick. He has started to outgrow quite a few of his allergies (we think even peanut [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] ), so we will have to undo this, but it worked wonders with him. Good Luck!!

Sort of like KarenD's tip above, but my dd and I made a scrapbook of "foods that would make her sick". We used old magazines to cut and paste pictures of peanut and tree nut foods.

I think it sort of made her feel more in control that she knew what types of things to look out for.

Also as you start preschool, you need to discuss not sharing food with other kids. DD's wonderful preschool teacher had a great discussion with her (building on what I has already done) about the fact that her lunch/snack was packed just for her and that she needed to eat it and just it. Little kids are often generous and like to share, but FA kids need to understand that only there own food is what they need to eat.

[This message has been edited by Chicago (edited August 07, 2003).]

Thanks for the advice! I think that I will try the scrapbook idea ... I have a lot of old magazines, and it will be fairly easy to find pictures of nuts, candy bars, etc.

I also went surfing on the FAAN Web site last night, and ordered an "Alexander the Allergic Elephant" video and book. Hopefully, that will help, too.

Quote:Originally posted by marina_twinmom:
[b]I think that I will try the scrapbook idea ... I have a lot of old magazines, and it will be fairly easy to find pictures of nuts, candy bars, etc.[/b]

My daughter loved this! I would let her do her scrap book only when I was making dinner (to make it special and keep her very occupied).

In addition to magazines, we also used the weekly grocery store mailers. This worked really well because we'd then look for certain products at the store and read the lable to see if products actually had peanuts. Really reinforced the concepts of reading labels, that you can never tell just by looking, etc.

But DD loved the finding, cutting, gluing ~ definitely a favorite nightly past-time for almost a year at our house!

It is so important to educate your PA child about what is safe and what isn't. My child was almost 4 when he went into shock from peanut butter.
I have since made it a rule that before eating candy, cookies, crackers, basically any food, that he is to ask an adult to read the label for him for any peanuts or tree nuts.
i have also taken opportunities to show him particular candy bars and foods that areoff limits when we are in a store.
to explain the "may contain traces" thing we asked him what happens to his playdough after he has been playing with it.. some of the red is in the blue, some of the blue is in the yellow etc. to try and explain the cross contamination thing. he was having a hard time understanding why he couldn't eat plain m & m s.
i also think that it is important to point out what is safe so the child isn't afraid to eat or made to feel like everything is off limits.

Hi,

I made a story about my daughter and school. It dealt with her teachers and eating only "safe" snacks. I also started around 2 years of age talking about what she was eating at meals and what she couldn't eat. Pictures of "bad" foods worked well. My daughter is now 4 and always asks if food is safe before eating it. In fact, at Vacation Bible School, a student tried to give her Goldfish and she refused them successfully explaining why she couldn't and wouldn't eat them. We were so proud. The nurse at VBS was impressed too.

Good luck.

Quote:Originally posted by deeanne26:
[b]I made a story about my daughter and school. It dealt with her teachers and eating only "safe" snacks. [/b]

I really like this idea. Would you mind sharing more details about it?