Hi all! new with 4 yr old newly diagnosed

Welcome!

I can't tell you anything with any medical certainty, I can just tell you how we feel about peanut allergy and what we do.

We avoid it like the plague. We read labels, we check for "may contain," we supply our son's snacks, we don't let any peanut into our house.

Our son has not had a full-on anaphylactic reaction yet, although we've had some close calls. But we don't know when and if it could happen. That's the thing about this allergy, you don't know when and if....

I hope some others here have some better information for you. Above is just what we do.

This place has been a great resource for me and I hope it will be for you as well.

My son is 4 and we had a similar experience as far as the reactions you are describing. We avoid all "may contains, may be processed with" too. The scary thing about peanut allergy is just because your childs reactions have been somewhat mild does not mean that the next encounter with peanuts will also be mild. The next encounter could lead to anaphylaxis, you can't predict future reactions bases on past reactions- which is what I find scary. My son is like your child in that he is very aware of his peanut/tree nut allergy and asks me to 'read the label first' before I give him food. (I read the labels anyway but I think its great how in tune he is with his allergy at such a young age!) I would also buy and read "The Peanut Allergy Answer Book" written by a Dr. Young. Its a very easy read and will answer a lot of your questions.

Hi,

You can't gauge the next reaction from the previous one they can be completely different.

After my son was dianosed I had the feeling that if he had eaten something previously that it should be fine to continue as long as it didn't have actual nuts in it I was so wrong. For one thing since then I have read studies that show somewhere between 7 and 17% of products listed with a may contain or manufactured in a plant - actually do contain peanuts. I was giving my son bakery french bread about a month after our diagnosis and he developed head to toe hives - and this bread had no nuts or warning on the label at all. I no long use any bakery item except big name sandwich breads. other big danger areas are ice cream shops and oriental foods. I like understanding and managing your childs food allergies by sicherer, scott. Getting a book really does help when you are first diagnosed. the info the allergist typically send home is really not enough.

Welcome!

Hello! I am a newbie also. I have to chime in and agree with everyone here-you can't base future reactions on the past ones. From what we've been told and read, you could have a very mild reaction and the next one be very serious. Ya just never know. That's why we avoid anything with the word 'peanut' on it like the plague. Welcome to the board, I'm glad you're here. I've found a lot of comfort here, knowing we are not alone.