Help, my 6 yr old daughter was invited to the movies for a B.D. party this weekend. It is the new Grinch movie, so it will be packed. It is the first movie of the day. The mom of the party will only be getting popcorn for the kids( this is not my concern, as i could send her own). My concern is that it will be a full theatre with probably alot of kids eating those old Peanut products. She has never reacted to smell but her last test was off the scale, the dr. said he wouldn't suggest taking her to a closed in place (ie. chocolate factory with choc. covered peanuts being made)..you get the idea. What has been your experience....Please reply asap because the party is Saturday and I am still leary. I hate to deprive her of the normal childhood things. It would be better if I knew the movies were not going to be packed. Looking forward to your answers.
A busy movie theatre-help!
Posted on: Thu, 11/30/2000 - 12:15pm
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I can understand your concern. I just wanted to say we have been to many theatres with our PA son and never had a problem. I never bought popcorn at the theatre though, because I find they sell so many different foods there that I was too concerned about cross contamination and I don't know what's in the fake butter they use, etc. Many theatres don't allow patrons to bring in their own food--it might be worthwhile if you want to send popcorn with her to call ahead and explain the situation so they don't hassle her. Good luck!
Hi Madi's Mom,
I hear and understand your concern. My 2 year old is allergic to peanuts to the extent that we had to leave a baseball game when everyone started ripping open their bags of peanuts (he started crying and his eyes were watering).
We went to see Rugrats in Paris last week to a full movie theatre. To tell the truth, I didn't even think about people eating peanuts around us. The movie theatre we go to sells peanut candy (obviously) but not loose peanuts.
It's all about what your 'comfort zone' is. I adore going to the movies, and being a single mom, I can only get the chance to go with my son to the kiddie flicks. I believe I have read on the posts in the past that people bring little handi-wipes to wipe down the chairs to rid them of possible peanut-residue.
Personally, if your child doesn't react to smelling peanuts (I'm sorry, I can't remember if you said that or not), then I'd say "go for it." But you know what is best. In fact, I'll wager that you already have the answer you want in your head and your looking here for someone to validate it. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Keep us posted as to what you decide and why and was the movie any good!?!?!?! LOL
Has your child been to a movie theatre before, and if so, was there any sort of problem/reaction?
We've been many times with our PA son and we haven't had a problem. I'm still not comfortable about having him eat food purchased at the theatre, and then I worry about cross-contamination from touching the seats and chairs, so we don't buy anything or bring anything (this is me and my comfort level!). However, if you want to, I don't see why you can't just send in some food for your daughter--I know the theatre doesn't want people to do that, but I haven't seen any theatres check bags and pockets, so I'm sure bringing in a small bag of popcorn wouldn't be a problem.
Can you go and just sit behind her? Or if you don't go ask the birthday child's mom to sit near her so she can keep an eye on her?
Good luck with this one! I totally understand your concern--you should have seen me the first time we went to the movies with my son--I watched him and not the movie. Also, if you search these boards there are some other threads about movie theaters from a while ago.
I agree to the suggestion that you go along. You can observe the whole situation and be in a better position to make decisions like this in the future. I know if it were me, I'd go with her.
This is perfectly timed for me. This past weekend we took our PA son to his first movie in a theatre. Before we went into the theatre, we visited the arcade. He played one game, and ended up with a hive on his face after just a few minutes. We went to the movie theatre right after leaving the arcade. We washed his hands, and ours, and I wiped down the seats in the theatre as best as I could - they were mostly cloth. I checked before we went in to see what kind of oil was used for the popcorn, not because we were going to eat any, just to be aware of what kind of residue we might be dealing with (besides candy). It was canola oil.
Anyway, once in our seats (we sat in the back in case we would have to leave), our son started rubbing his eyes, and his nose started to run. I gave him a dose of Benadryl, and in about 20 minutes, the hive was gone, and so were the other 'symptoms'. He was fine through the whole movie. About 3 hours after that dose, I had to give him another because the symptoms returned. I think it was because his clothes had 'residue' on them from the theatre. We were sure to wash his hands upon leaving the movie.
It's kind of hard to be sure whether he was reacting to the theatre, or just to the arcade, but I think it was to both. I kept one eye on the movie and one on him. Sorry this has gotten so long!!! I'd go along. Good luck, and enjoy the movie!
If your daughter doesn't react to touch or smell then I wouldn't be too concerned about her. I'm sure you would feel a lot better if you could tag along just to keep an eye on her. Is that possible?
My 3 yr old pa son has been to several movies with us. He is allergic to touch so we just lay something over the chair so he doesn't touch anything. We took him to see The Grinch the first weekend it was on, and with it being winter, we just laid one of our big winter coats over the chair.
In my opinion, I wouldn't be as concerned about the "smell" factor in a movie theater as I would about being on an airplane in a small confined space with everybody opening bag of peanuts all at once. I would be more concerned about her touching some peanut candy crushed or smeared somewhere.
I would let my son go and have fun. That's not to say that I wouldn't worry, but I'm sure I would worry even if he didn't have a peanut allergy. Take care. Deanna
I had made the decision not to let her go, but now I am having second thoughts. As far as I know she does not react to smell, but we got her tested last year and her weil on the skin was the size of two loonies put together. THe redness around it continued to grow from the back around the side of body. The dr. said not to put her in a confined area and up to this point she has never been in an enclosed area with open peanut products. So I do not know for sure. TO DMB , how allergic was your child. and was the theatre full???
My son had a cap rast test done last spring and was a level 5 (5 being the highest level for that test). He had an anaphylactic reaction at 18 mos to a tiny bite of a piece of candy that was in the same box as other candies that contained peanuts.
He also reacts to peanut residue--a kiss from his cousin who had eaten a pb sandwich hours earlier, touching candy dispenser machines (is that what they're called??), playing in the play area of McDonald's, playing with toys at his cousin's house. . .and the list goes on.
The theater was packed since it was the opening weekend of The Grinch. Your daughter should be at the age where she would realize if she were having some sort of a reaction and could leave the theater if she were uncomfortable.
I really didn't worry too much about him being around people eating primarily because my husband and I were with him (he's only 3). But you have to do what you feel comfortable with. If she hasn't shown any signs of being sensitive to smell, then I'm sure she'll be fine during the movie. If you decide to let her go, let us know how she did. Good luck. Deanna
P.S. What does your daughter think about it? Is she nervous about going?
(Though I'm figuring the movie-event has already occurred) -- My biggest concern would be the peanut residue on seats & arm rests & arcade controls & door handles (to theater room & to bathroom). So much peanut product being eaten in seats & by many people with little/no handwashing. Our child is very peanut-touch sensitive -- at 11 months, he had a whopper hive outbreak on his ankles where I touched him (held him up for diaper change) after I had touched a once-washed ziploc bag which (I found out later) had held peanut-clusters. [Needless to say, all recycled ziplocs were tossed that day!]
For us, concerns about peanut residue also stem from the fact that our 2-year-old still occasionally sucks a thumb. . . [Please, no thumb-sucking advice, THX.]
Hope all went well!
EB
[This message has been edited by ajas_folks (edited December 02, 2000).]
my daughter had a RAST 5. as far was we know she is not touch/smell sensitive, although she does have lots of environental allergies (pollen, ragweed, etc.).
She has been going to shows/moveis since she was 3. We have never had a problem. Lately i have been questioning the movies to make sure their popcorn isn't made in peanut oil but i haven't seen any actual peanuts being sold. maybe just peanut products, like candy bars.
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