New here! Just found out that my 18 month old has a peanut allergy!

First off I would say, Don't panic. Your 18mo old is fine now and as scary as the initial shock of the reaction was, it is over. My son was 9mo old when I made him jelly on toast squares. Before,I used the same knife to make myself pb and jelly on toast. Within 20min he was swollen so bad he could not see and having trouble breathing.I didn't know what was happening and took him quickly to the doctors.Once he was treated and going to be okay, I panicked. I thought how am i going to protect him from this. I felt alone and I guess stupid because I didn't know anything about this.My whole family was shocked also since no one in the family has a food allergy.I suggest that you do all the research that you want till you feel comfortable with this situation. Soon you will be a pro at reading labels and a quick scanner of ingredients and will learn what your child can or cannot eat. My son is now 8years old and have only had one reaction. Every new situatuion will be unsettling for a little bit(ex- daycare, school, birthday parties,HALLOWEEN...)but as your child gets older he will know what he can or cannot eat.One thing I would advise is to not even have peanut products in the house. Some parents with other children that do not have a PA allow them to eat peanut products. I think that that is just an accident to happen. Anyways good luck and write back
I love this web sight . This has helped alot also.
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Take care,

First of all, make sure you are with a good ped. allergist and have epi pens! They are so important and make sure to keep at least 2 with you(him) at ALL times and also some Benadryl and measuring spoon. Ditto to the above post - Jo is right, it gets easier and you will feel less panicked. I also agree with no peanuts or peanut products in the house. We have no history of food allergies either so when my daughter was diagnosed at 2 from eating a cookie, we were shocked and scared. This is a great web site and you will learn a tremendous amount from here. Also, become a member of FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) their website is [url="http://www.foodallergy.org"]www.foodallergy.org[/url] - they have great info too.
Good luck and stay safe.
Diane

Hi. It truly does gets easier as you go. I also agree with no peanut/nut products in the house. Also, try at all times to "think outside the box" when it comes to picking safe foods for your child. Items that you wouldn't consider being unsafe may actually be. I always do a search on here to find an answer to a new food or as always you can call the manufacturer. You will quickly learn that there are certain manufacturers that you can trust and others that you wouldn't let you child eat anything from in a million years.
Best wishes.
Jaime

Hi!
My son is just about 18 months old and was diagnosed at 9 months. It is very overwhelming, but I have found much support here. It's a lifestyle change...to say the least. Use this board to ask lots of questions, get the epi pen and benadryl. You may also want to get a medic alert bracelet. We ordered ours over the phone and got it within a week. My son wears his without problem, as its a sports band type.
Stay strong.... [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]
Allison

Did the allergist tell you to clean out your cupboards? Get rid of all peanut products in your home and anything, (like the jelly in your fridge) that may have come in contact with peanut. Many people also like to get rid of the 'may contain' products especially when they have small children.