How Old Is Your Child and Does He/She Wear a MedicAlert or Similar Bracelet?

I have never worn a medic alert bracelet. But I always carry an epi-pen (sicne they became available many yrs ago)

My son is five - he started wearing his bracelet right before his last birthday, and hasn't taken it off since.

My son will be 8 in January. He has been wearing the medic alert bracelet since he was 2. But, he has recently asked for the new "dog tags" medic alert necklace. He thinks that they look "cool". Anyway, I have 2 questions:

1) will a medical person recognize those as medical jewelry?
2) do you think that a necklace is safe for a very active 8 year old (he would be wearing it all the time-during sports and all)?

And, about the bracelets re-sizing and braking. We take it to the jeweler to be sized, keep the extra links, and take it to be fixed when it brakes (about every 2 years or so). It gets so much wear and tear, as he wears it all the time, so I just expect it to break. Anyway, our jeweler never charges us to fix it or size it (and I've heard of this before), we just make sure to use him for any other items that need fixing (watch battery or band, etc).

[This message has been edited by Naturemom (edited December 16, 2004).]

my son is 3 1/2 and has worn it since 1 1/2 years old.

My son has worn a bracelet since he started school 2 years ago. Before that he was by my side the entire day.

Pam

My son will be 2 next month and does not have one. I feel like I need to get him one but have not. I guess I dont know what to say on it. I dont have the money and I dont know how he will react. I guess I am avoiding the whole thing. Stupid of me, I know.

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Lalow
James 3yrs NKA
Ben 21 months PA,MA,SA

ds has worn a bracelet since he was diagnosed 4 months shy of his 3rd birthday.

He is 7 and switched to a sports one 2 years ago now.
We have gone through many MedicAlert bracelets, we keep them in business [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

DD is 18 months and does not wear a Medic Alert bracelet. We're expats, and I don't even know if Medic Alert is available in our country.

I'm a SAH homeschooling mom, and DD is always with me. I keep her EpiPens with me at all times.

I'm anaphylactic to bees and have never worn a Medic Alert bracelet. I always carry my EpiPen.

Anne

Edited because I mistyped her age. (I don't want her to grow up too fast! LOL)

[This message has been edited by TRexFamily (edited December 16, 2004).]

My DS started wearing his MedicAlert bracelet at 4, when he entered pre-school. He's 4-1/2 now.

He was diagnosed at 3-1/2, but we never felt the need to get a bracelet at that time, since he was always with us.

All three of my kids started wearing medicalert bracelets by the time they started school. (Not pa related - 2 were penicillin allergies and one is insect allergy.)

Now, the oldest and youngest still wear them - but the middle son doesn't.

I wear one for food allergies.

My son is 4 3/4 and he's been wearing the Medic-Alert bracelet since he started preschool when he was 3 1/2(before that he was always with me). I did it mainly for the teachers at school - to be that last reminder of his allergy so they'll check twice before giving him something. He's never taken it off although one time he complained because one of the links was scratching him. We'll probably face some opposition in the future!

Naturemom, you asked these questions in another thread somewhere, didn't you:-

1) will a medical person recognize those as medical jewelry?
2) do you think that a necklace is safe for a very active 8 year old (he would be wearing it all the time-during sports and all)?

I'm not clear about the answer to the first thing. I recently received a new product catalogue from MedicAlert Canada and we don't have the dog tags in ours. They do sound cool though.

However, I'm not sure what age it is okay for an active child to start wearing a necklace all of the time. I was thinking that perhaps 8 was a bit young.

If you check the MedicAlert website, they may even advise on what age, I'm not sure. I know that when we just bought my son a new bracelet, we had discussed a necklace (not cool dog tags) and we felt he was too young at 9.

lalow, is your PA child always with you? My son was ALWAYS with me until he started school at 3-3/4 years old. He did not get a MedicAlert bracelet until he started school. I think that's okay if the child is always with you and you always have the Epi-pens on hand, JMHO.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

My son is either with me or in the same building as me at all times ( I do leave him in a nursery at church with strict instructions not to feed him anything that I did not bring in his bag.) I am in the building but not there in the room. In January I signed him up for a play group once a week that is at our rec center. His brother already goes to it and they ask that the parents not stay. I am going to stay in the building, however and the teacher has told me she will have no snacks with peanuts. I will still provide his snack. The only reason I think it would be good to have the bracelet is to give those providers an extra reminder. Of course I remind them everytime I see them too.

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Lalow
James 3yrs NKA
Ben 21 months PA,MA,SA

My son is 19 months and was diagnosed a month ago to PA. He doesn't wear a bracelette but if I get him into daycare I think I'd be more comfortable with one on him. Right now I'm a SAHM.

My dd (7) may need one due to seizures but we'll find that out next month when she has her appointment with a neurologist.

My son is 5, in Kindergarten, and just started wearing his medical ID bracelet. He loves it! His was custom made by a mom whom I've gotten to know through my non-PA son's preschool class. She makes medical jewelry, and started making them when her son was diagnosed with diabetes, as she couldn't find anything to fit him at such a young age. My son has 2 bracelets. One has train beads on them (A huge Thomas fan) and one has sport balls on it. The medical ID tag is interchangeable with lobster claw clasps and can be attached to either bracelet, or a new one if he outgrows the ones he has now. I've posted a link to her site before, I hope you don't mind if I do it here again. She has very reasonable, and beautiful things! My son loves wearing his, and proudly shows it off.

[url="http://www.dreamdesignsjewelry.com/"]http://www.dreamdesignsjewelry.com/[/url]

My son will be one year old in January and just got his bracelet last week. I checked out other threads here to see about opinions about this. I am a SAHM and have never left him with anyone, but do feel more secure about him having the bracelet. Someone reminded me that you never know about having a car accident or something like that, so it is good to know he has the important info with him at all times. I also hope it will send a message to some extended family members that maybe aren't getting the gravity of the allergy at this time.