How Old Is Your Child and Does He/She Wear an Epi-Belt/Fanny Pack with Epi-pen?

My son has never carried his epi-pen. I think he is too young (age 7). I know the school wanted him to wear it out during recess but I was worried that something bad would happen to him or the epi-pen and somebody might get hurt with it and get injected with it. Eventually he will have to become resposible for it but not right now.

Pam

My son doesn't wear an epi belt either.

Too many kids in his school of 800, some rough kids and the playground doesn't have enough teacher's on yard duty.
He has one in his back pack as well as the office.
I carry two in my purse inside a pack(SDM)fanny pack for epipen, and dh takes it when he is with only him.

ds is 7 yrs. old as well.
Actually, could have said ditto to leers post [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

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

My eleven year old wears a zoni (I think that's what it's called) that he attaches to his belt loop, sometimes tucks the pen in his pocket, sometimes just loose. It's a single pen - debated long and hard about maybe getting the double one. He never liked the type of carrier that strapped around the waist. This one is no trouble for him, altho he always needs pants with loops or a deep pocket. I also carry two pens in my purse.

I'm anaphylactic to bees and carry my EpiPen in the hard pink case that FAAN sells.

DD is 18 months. I carry her EpiPens, Benadryl and albuterol in a big baggie in my backpack diaper bag. I have a medicine kit on order from FAAN.

Anne

This is a surprising topic. I know many adults with anaphylactic allergies through my work with various allergy associations. I don't know any that have stopped wearing an epi-belt with at least one epi-pen. I also have met lots of teens with allergy as we have worked together on various volunteer projects and they wear their epi-belts still. Why stop? Coats, purses, back packs etc are not always right with you when you need an injection. If you search this site you will read about allergy deaths in the last few years that occurred in part because the adult who died left the pen in a coat room or in a car outside the restaurant. Please reconsider your approach to your children's epipen habits. My son has worn his pen every day since he started Jr. Kindergarten at age 3 and we are teaching him that he will never leave the house without it--even at 103! He is 13 now and does not question this approach.

I am with PeanutKate on this one! Epi-belts are built to withstand lots of pressure and to make the pens accessible but not easy to drop or lose. My son who is 9 has worn a pen every time he leaves the house from age 4 and his friends with this allergy also wear their pens always [ages 4, 12 and 17].

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

Six year old ds wears a e-belt (zonii) with one epi-pen. And he has one in the office at school. He started wearing it at 4.

I carry two epi-pens in my purse. And, I always have my purse with me - or at least as much as I would an e-belt. At home, I hang my purse up - but otherwise it's with me.

If I go somewhere that I need both hands free (like craft night at the school) I wear a fanny-pack with my epi's in it.

*********

I [i]could[/i] fit my son's epi in my purse (or fanny-pack), but I want him to always carry it himself.

I'm not surprised by this question/topic, I guess because I raised it, and I wasn't surprised by mae's thread either.

I happen to agree with PeanutKate (in this thread and mae's thread) and Kathryn in this thread as well.

However, I thought it was important to see what membership of the board was doing and I don't think that anyone should feel uncomfortable posting that they either don't have their child wearing an Epi-belt or wearing a MedicAlert bracelet.

If someone is uncomfortable posting, how are we to get information as to how much of our membership that chooses to respond to the question, are or aren't wearing the things I've asked about?

While some of us have had our children wearing items since a young age and hope that they become "part and parcel" of our child (and may even think that they have already), I still do think that perhaps this *could* be considered a "comfort zone" issue and I'd like to ask for some respect so that people feel okay about answering.

The school initially decided for me that my son was to wear an Epi-belt (fanny pack back then actually), but I'm glad that they did.

I didn't add extras - there is also an emergency medical bag in the school office with another Epi-pen. I have one in my purse and DH usually carries one as well.

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

also in the "losing the Waistpack thread"...

Cindy- thanks! I guess we are just at that limbo stage. He is started to feel the "stigma" of the waistpack and thinks that he can handle just "pocketing" the Epi pen.

As his parent, I know otherwise. He's a very aware boy...but forgetful. I like the fact that I can see the waist pack every day.

Talking to a couple teens who carry epi pens for peanut allergies and a severe fish allergy the other day, they admitted that on occasion, they forgot theirs at home, or changed coats and forgot to transfer the epi pen.

We are just at the stage of wanting to give him some independence, as he is a "young soul" in a Grade 5 body...and he is asking to be independant, and I'm finding myself saying "no", or look into other alernatives.

I'm going to show him the zoni belt on the web in the next day or two. I'm leaning towards that.
Maybe the more discreet option would suit him. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by mae (edited December 17, 2004).]

Mae, I've got a fourth grader who will be responsible for carrying his own Epipen for the first time this summer when he starts at a new summer camp. I'm also planning to get him the Zonii style belt, since I think it's much less likely to be forgotten than the holster type holder. (And I can't count on him always wearing shorts with beltloops or pockets in the summer.) I think this option is the best combination of discretion and unlikelihood of being forgotten somewhere. My biggest concern is that he'll forget to put the belt back on after swimming, but we'll see how it goes.

--Debbie

My son is 4, and I went nuts this past summer looking for a way that he could carry his Epi-pen that wasn't too bulky. I never did find anything. His preschool keeps one pen, and it is in his classroom. I ordered a soft, padded carrier from FAAN and it is clipped onto my purse. It's a rare time when I am away from my son, and on those occations, whoever is watching him has the pen that is usually on my purse.

I will have to revisit this when he starts kindergarten. Anyone have suggestions?

------------------
[i][b]Allergy Patrol Novice[/b][/i]

First I'd like to say "great post Cindy". I completely agree - we need to understand that different people deal with the epi-pen *issue* differently, and everyone has the right to do it the way they feel is best. This kind of discussion (with all sides voicing their opinions in a friendly way) can help people who are unsure what to do or in a transitional period - like mae is right now. Outgrowing one method, but not sure just what the next step is. (Hope I worded that appropriately mae. You've made me think about what I'll do in future for my son. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] )

Also, like Alt to M, when I approached the school about my son's epi-pen, [i]they[/i] wanted him carrying it. I wasn't very comfortable with that. Some may recall, I came to the board and got some opinions of what to do from everyone here. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way. (But that's me. My friend's son is the same age as mine and she doesn't want him carrying his own epi-pen. I showed her my son's belt so that if in the future she wants something she would have an idea of what's available. And then I dropped the subject.)

Darmage, I'll see if I can find some posts with links to a few carriers that are available.

------------------
[b]***ADDICTED***[/b]

Darkmage, here's a link that shows a few options for carrying an epi-pen. This is a Canadian site - but the same thing is available in the US.

[url="http://www.medicalert.ca/english/member/vao/medical.html"]http://www.medicalert.ca/english/member/vao/medical.html[/url]

My son wears the belt (first picture).

------------------
[b]***ADDICTED***[/b]

My 5 year old SOn wears an epi-belt. He started wearing it this school year (for Pre-K). Because his school doesn't allow backpacks - because they are so big.

Before this school year, he always had a thomas backpack- that was small, that he always wore when he left the house. on the outside I had made up a luggage tag that stated there was an epipen inside and all that jazz.

He also wears a medic alert Bracelet - starting this past summer.

He only wears one pei-pen. THe school has one epi-pen posted next to his picture on the wall (with the Safety sak), I carry one in my purse, there is one in younger brothers diaper bag (the thomas back pack), there is one in my Kitchen cubboard- by the phone, and one in the emergancy bag in the mini-van -- that also has the nebulizer - for those emergancies.

We also have a least expired epi at each grandparent house. Just in case.

My son is 18 and started wearing a fanny pack with his epi-pen in it at age 5, in Kindergarten.

In Grade 9 he started putting his fanny pack inside his backpack. He's now at college and still does this.

Going out, he puts his epi-pen (inside a hard plastic toothbrush holder) in his jacket pocket. (Summer is more difficult, no jacket, so sometimes he has used the epi-belt)

Running, he uses an epi-belt.

Thanks for the link!

My son will be six when he starts kindergarten and I don't know what the schools around here require yet. My allergist said that the schools in my town are good about it, but I think I'll be the judge of that! (hee hee)

I don't have a medic alert tag or band for him, but my husband has seen similar things at a local jewelry shop, so we may end up just making our own for him.

------------------
[i][b]Allergy Patrol[/b][/i]

My daughter is 4 yo. She attends a Peanut "aware" school. She has worn a Medic-alert bracelet since dxs at 14 months of age. The school has 2 epi-pens in a medical cabinet less than 30 ft away from her. That's good enough for me.
Kindergarten will be a totally different experience for us- we'll see what they suggest.

------------------
Patty

My DD is 3 years old. She started wearing her medic alert bracalet at about 21 months, just a few weeks after diagnosis. Her 2 epis & benedryl are in a fanny pack that either me or my hubby carries.

I know many people disagree, but I think she is too young to carry it. She will want to take it off. She is still pretty little & to a little girl the fanny pack is bulky and I would think difficult for her to run, play, slide on the slide, etc.

She is in preschool that is very aware & the teachers have the epis in the classroom. I feel comfortable with this.

My epi-pen is in my purse. It would be too difficult for me to have 2 fanny packs when it's just me & DD. Plus I don't want anyone to confuse my epis with hers. I never leave it in the car anymore and always make sure I have it with me at any meal.

Actuually, I only began carrying an epi for me recently. I was diagnosed over 10 years ago but never given an epi. I never even considered it until my DD was diagnosed & I started reading about people with allergies who never reacted for years and years & didn't carry epis until one day they had reactions & died. So I chatted with my DD's allergist & he said that I realy should have one.

------------------
Ellen
Allergic to Shellfish/ Mom to Jesse 9/01 who has PA

Sometimes I just want to say "blah blah blah blah blah."

Swimming and epi belt.

My child has worn an epi belt for three going on four years. He has tried to go in the pool with it on several times as he just forgets. He is nine now.

Unfortuately, he also forgets to put it back on after he is out of the pool. He usually remembrs it as he is dressing in the morning or going out the door at home, but there is some brain disconnection in the locker room.

Just a comment on the rough kids on the playground. I think the epi belt is very tough and can stand up to a lot of abuse during play. It is usually concealed under his shirt and is a lot less obvious than a fanny pack. Less subject to grabbing and yanking by others as it can't be seen. Grabbing kids by waistband, belt or backpack is off limits at our school. It's the same as grabbing your arm or pushing. Of course they have to be caught...

Quote:Originally posted by CVB in CA:
[b] I think the epi belt is very tough and can stand up to a lot of abuse during play. [/b]

According to the manufacturer, the epi-belt can withstand up to 1000 lbs. of force. I think that's a little more then my son can put on it in a playground. And, in fact, since switching to the epi-belt I allow him to keep it on in the car. (Yes, yes, I [b]am[/b] that paranoid. I would not allow him to wear the epi-pen in a pouch when in the car because in an accident I figured it just adds one more possible injury.)

------------------
[b]***ADDICTED***[/b]

My son is five and this past year has started wearing his epi. He wears a red pouch from FAAN for the bus and at other outings we have him a lot of times wear the allergypack neoprene pouch. We are trying slowly to give him more responsibility of his allergy ( I have a pen in my purse also)He also has been wearing a medic alert bracelet since he turned four.

I'm looking into other cases for him to carry as one of his pens misfired. I'm going to look into the e-belt also.