Mamas of DC w/ food allergies... how will you handle trick or treating?

[mamato1]

I have been worried about how to handle all of the candy that we will receive that will either certainly have peanuts in it, or not have ingredients listed. I had thought about just buying candy I know DS can have and trading it out as we go. But, I am hoping some of you have BTDT might have some other ideas.

Chris

Mama to Brendan, aka Boomer, my little peanut who is allergic to peanuts! 01/16/04


http://b3.lilypie.com/FnI6m5/.png

[SnuggleBuggles]

You can probably go on to all the candy makers' websites and check out the ingredients. I know that sometimes things like little servings of mini oreos do have trace amounts of nuts even though big oreos don't. Research the common handouts before trick or treating.

We don't have to worry about food allergies but I always go through ds' candy to pull out candy I don't want him to have (when he was younger that was choking hazards now it is more likely gummy stuff to protect his teeth a little bit over chocolate). He has handled this well. It works that he doesn't really know what he is missing yet. This year may be the year he complains though (he is 4). More likely he will complain 2 days later when almost all his candy is gone since I sent it to dh's office. ;)

I try and consider kids with allergies when buying my candy. I have a seperate bowl where I keep Whole Foods' cheesey duck crackers and stickers.

GL!
Beth

[DandKG]

Hi,

We are planning on trading with him this year. We are going to get a new Thomas book and possibly a train (with a Michael's coupon) to trade with him after he gets home. I do plan on going through his candy and giving him a few pieces of the stuff he can eat. We also bought things that were ok for him to eat to hand out at our house. Hopefully, it will work. He is a little younger than your guy but we have already trained him to know there are things that he just can't eat so we are hoping that he takes it ok. Hope that helps! My son is allergic to peanuts too so I understand how difficult it is when your kid can't participate in something to the same extent that everyone else's kid can. Just the other day I was tearing up in the mall because I heard a mom telling her two year old that they were going to get ice cream, somehting we can't do.

Danielle

[MelissaTC]

My DS does not have a peanut allergy but quite frankly, I don't want him eating all the candy he will receive. I told him that if he picks a few pieces and leaves the rest out for the Halloween witch, she will take it and leave him a special treat instead. I told him that treat could be a toy, DVD, book, etc... He thought that sounded great and has decided he wants to trade his candy in. I thought I would make it his choice and he happily chose what I wanted. }( Maybe this can be an option for you?

[mamato1]

That's a great idea. The down side is I know the Halloween Witch and she has no willpower when it comes to candy. I know she will gain a few pounds with all of that candy.

Oh well, I can always exercise some more! :)
Chris

Mama to Brendan, aka Boomer, my little peanut who is allergic to peanuts! 01/16/04


http://b3.lilypie.com/FnI6m5/.png

[oliviasmomma]

DD doesn't have any food allergies, but thanks for the reminder that there are a lot of kids who do. I never thought about holidays like Halloween. Even more incentive for us to offer non-candy handouts! We bought some of the twelve-packs of play-dough to hand out as well as crayons.

(DD has to eat a low-fat diet, but at this point it hasn't affected us too much because she is still young. She will have to stay away from the fatty candy but can still eat things like sweettarts and twizzlers--not yet though!)

[tiapam]

Can someone suggest any good candy to get that would hopefully be universally ok for most kids with allergies? I realize age is a factor, too, though I guess I am thinking the older kids are more aware and would like to have an option for them.

-Pam

DD - Two years old!

[tarabenet]

I, too, appreciate the reminder about allergies. Thank you!

Growing up (I was a little kid back with the first "poisoned candy" scare happened), we knew that we were absolutely not allowed to eat any candy while trick-or-treating. We took it all home, dumped it out and sorted it with our parents. No food allergies, just basic health and safety concerns. Anything not well-wrapped went in the trash. We'd trade candy with each other, share a little of it with the parents, and enjoy a few pieces. After that, it went up where we couldn't reach it, and Mama doled it out in school lunches and for special treats over the next few months. If it is just the rule from early on that "we don't eat any candy until we get home and Mommy or Daddy checks it" it is not a big deal for a child to accept. And if you offer trades of safe treats for items that may be dangerous, you may even find you child eager for the sort-and-trade phase!

Love the non-candy treat ideas, though. I hate contributing to sugaring-up someone else's kids. Not to mention keeping the temptation out of my house!

[almostamom]

While DS does have food allergies, I'm hoping it won't be too big of an issue this year. He still doesn't know what candy is. Now, I could be in for a big surprise when we get home and he demands some!! We're actually on our way for a new allergy test today as DS has had some reactions to foods he previously didn't test allergic to.

Note to mom's with DC who have peanut allergies - have any of you also been told to stay away from all chocolate? We were told that most chocolate has trace amounts of nuts in it and to avoid it completely. Just wondering if we were alone on this one?

[bubbaray]

We only take DD to a few neighbor's homes (5 or so), and I've thought about actually taking some special peanut free candy to them before hand. DD has tested positive for peanuts on a scratch test, though she's never eaten them so (according to her allergist), we don't know for sure if she's truly allergic (and we don't intend on finding out until she's older, and sitting in his office with an epi pen close by!).

There seem to be quite a lot of peanut free halloween candy choices here (Canada). Mars bars, aero bars. I see bags in the stores now marked peanut-free. Not sure which of those brands, if any, are available in the US.

What about Welch's fruit snacks? I've seen those at Walmart here, maybe they are in the US too? I would think (though I haven't checked) that they are peanut free.

HTH

Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

http://bd.lilypie.com/SasRm7.png

[mamato1]

I have not been out to check labels yet, but for us I have found fruity, chewy type (starbursts, laffy taffy)candies to be OK. The exception is jelly bellies as they are made with peanut oil. I think we are going to give out play doh and Welch's fruit snacks this year.
Chris

Mama to Brendan, aka Boomer, my little peanut who is allergic to peanuts! 01/16/04


http://b3.lilypie.com/FnI6m5/.png

[MelissaTC]

Target has Halloween themed fruit snacks, mini microwave pop corn bags, animal crackers and pretzels. Last year, we handed out fruit snacks, animal crackers and plastic spider rings. This year, I let DH talk me into all the bad chocolate candy.

[proggoddess]

DD will be staying home to help me hand out the treats to the kids. No candy, just toys like plastic lizards, temporary tattoos (a huge hit last year) and crayons.

When she gets older, I think we will institute the buyback program as others have suggested.

[bcafe]

I was never told to stay away from all chocolate. DS's allergist went through the basic no no's. DS has had a tiny brownie before and DH gave him an Oreo(gulp) with no problems. MD said most labels that claim products have been manufactored in the same facility as tree nuts/peanuts are more of a liability issue than a true concern. Did that make any sense?

[caheinz]

DS is allergic to eggs, and our daycare apparently checked out *everything* for allergies. They let us know that both Milky Way and 3 Musketeers have eggs in them.

Good to know, and sucks for me, since Milky Way are one of my favorites!

And we did one of the big things of Play-doh from Costco for hand outs this year...

[lilycat88]

That does suck. Another hidden one I've run into recently is the "Little Debbie" version of rice crispy treats. Those have eggs as well. The regular/normal prepackaged ones that come in the blue foil package (I can't remember the brand) are fine.