XP: NWR Peanut Allergies?

MrsKathyC

My oldest grandson (at just 18 months old) has been diagnosed with a peanut allergy.  I know we're all going to have to be super careful around him now, but can anyone share some things that we may not be considering?  Like foods or products you wouldn't think have anything to do with peanuts, but do?  TIA

Mrs.B6302007

Even a peanut-free product made in the same factory as peanut products (M&Ms come to mind) should say something on their packaging about the possibility of trace peanuts. 

mbuckley85

I cannot help you there but I will say that my mother watches a little girl who is 2.5 and has a peanut allergy (diagnosed 1 year ago) and her parents have chosen not to stress about every food that goes into her mouth.  Obviously, they don't feed her things that they KNOW have peanuts/peanutbutter in them, but they also have made a conscious decision not to scare the crap out of their child by asking for every recipe from every person the child will come in contact with.  They always have an epi-pen on them in case of accidental exposure, but that has only happened once and the reaction was mild enough to be treated with Benadryl because it was only a very small exposure.

I guess one thing that they said was that chinese food is a common thing that people will avoid (and I'm not 100% sure why).  They do give their child chinese food and she has never reacted in any way.  Things like m&ms say on the packaging that they are not safe because they may come in contact with peanuts, but its all in how strict you want to be.

Mrs.B6302007

Just doing some reading and arachis oil is another name for peanut oil.

rlavach

It's really going to depend on how bad their allergy is. I have a mild allergy, so I can eat 2-3 peanuts, but after about 4, my throat starts to itch & close up. I know some who can't go to baseball games because the peanut residue that goes in the air gives them a horrible reaction. Even the leftover oils on someone's hands if they were handling peanuts, just ate peanuts or anything derived from it, can cause a reaction. Just the leftover oils on the skin. Obviously don't go to Five Guy's burgers (everything fried in peanut oil) and then visit them. Be conscious of what you've eaten before you visit.

HockeyFan4

Get in the habit of just reading the packages of everything.  Labels in the store are very clear about containing peanuts or being in a plant where peanuts are used.  My H has a dairy allergy, and at first it was a pain in the butt to check labels, but now it is second nature.

AdeleDazeem

Peanut allergies run from mild to severe.  How bad is your grandson's allergy?

For example, I know some people will go into anaphalatic shock of they so much are in the same room as peanut residue.  That's pretty darn severe.  However, I had a friend growing up who could not eat peanuts.  She could sit next to them, she could watch me eat a peanut butter sandwich, she could handle a peanut butter cup, but it definitely couldn't go in her mouth.

The most important thing is to educate him about his allergy.  He's a bit too young to do this effectively right now (haha), but I know my friend understood her allergy from an extremely young age (we met in nursery school). 

Good luck!

saacjw

One of the girls that I used to nanny has a fairly severe peanut allergy. The big thing her parents did when she was little was to make her very aware that she had an allergy, so that by the time she was about 3, she knew not to take food from friends if they were all playing outside or dance classes, preschool, etc, unless an adult said it was ok. When she got older, she started reading the packages of food herself. 

Bonzo2011

Like PP said, how careful you will be will depend on the extent of the allergy, and it may take a bit of time to really figure this out. Also, don't be surprised for it to change as he grows. One of the girls I babysit was in a peanut free classroom last year. She loves peanuts and peanut butter, so it was a bit hard! Some things the parents and I learned to be careful about when helping her pack lunch were granola bars, some crackers or cookies. She started eating sunflower butter sandwiches and said it was really good.

MrsKathyC

Thanks for all the input. They're still figuring out the severity of his allergy. But I'm guessing it's not good, he only had a bite of someone's sandwich and broke out all over. My poor little man

ElisabethJoanne

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_xp-nwr-peanut-allergies?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:9fc2dba2-b07c-458c-8c3b-d7cb1f8f08ffPost:00b48be9-26cd-4c75-a52d-cf7332272b81">XP: NWR Peanut Allergies?</a>:
[QUOTE]My oldest grandson (at just 18 months old) has been diagnosed with a peanut allergy.  I know we're all going to have to be super careful around him now, but can anyone share some things that we may not be considering?  Like foods or products you wouldn't think have anything to do with peanuts, but do?  TIA
Posted by MrsKathyC[/QUOTE]

After a couple serious scares with my little sister, age 2 to 3 at the time, we learned she had a deadly allergy. During the last 20 years, we've learned that reading the ingredients is not enough, as others are saying, elsewhere on a label, it may say, "May contain peanuts" or "Manufactured on equipment that also processes peanuts." This includes almost all chocolate and lots of cookies.

At home, we had a special cutting board for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and special procedures so that the peanut butter knife never went into the jelly jar. Everything went right into th sink as soon as the sandwich was made.

At school, my sister basically never ate anything baked in someone else's home. As she got older, there were some families who understood. But even "plain" chocolate chips could have peanuts, etc. We couldn't be sure that other families were as careful about cross-contamination as we were, unless we knew them.

My sister is 22 now, hasn't had an attack since preschool. She spent 2 semesters abroad in college. She's much more comfortable about her allergy than I am, in some ways.