S/O - FA parents, do you take DC Trick-or-Treating?

[BabbyO]

I don't even know if it is appropriate to take DS Trick-or-Treating (he's just over 2 yo now) at this age.

But if it IS, what do you do if you have FA's?

DS is allergic to milk protein. Most of the Halloween candy we tend to see will have milk protein (any chocolate) and other types of candy, I just won't know because of the way halloween candy is usually packaged. The ingredient info is on the main package not the individual pieces.

We do have a local dentist that for the last 2 years has sent any halloween candy kids bring in overseas to the troops. I can't remember what the kids get in return. He may be doing that again...but I don't know if that will be an option.

Any thoughts? TIA!

[amldaley]

We took DD to just the 5 houses closest to us when she was 15 months so she could just see everyone. I took her trick or treating with a friend of hers when they were 27 months and they had a GREAT time.

As for the FA, I think it would depend on what the allergy is and how severe it is. DD can not have milk, and I am paranoid re: chocking hazard candies. So, I let her pick a couple of items from her bucket that were safe and then I traded the rest for packs of teddy grahams, safe candies like Sund Drops, etc. She was young enough that she did not really notice or care that most of her candy disappeared after the fact.

[wimama]

We take DS out trick or treating he enjoys it and enjoys collecting all the candy even though he can't eat it. He trick or treats with some of his friends, so it is more about the experience and having fun than the candy.
I bring along some safe candy for him to eat when his friends are snacking on candy. After trick or treat we trade him for something he wants and a little bit of candy. It works out great and he doesn't wind up with a ton of candy to eat. Last year we just brought the candy to the office for the staff to eat. For a trade, last year we surprised him with the Playmobil ghost pirate ship he wanted as a trade out . This year we have negotiated the prize already and he wants a General Grievous toy mask.

[crl]

I did. DS's milk allergy was mild so I wasn't worried about incidental contact. We confiscated everything he was allergic to at the end of the evening and traded him something for it.

Catherine

[BayGirl2]

Not a FA mom, so maybe there is a different concern, but I wouldn't allow DS to eat any trick or treat candy while we're out anyway. We don't do a lot of houses at this age, but even so we bring everything home and sort through it first. Then, at this age, I take a lot of it away and allocate the rest, he doesn't even notice.

So I wouldn't see accidental exposure as an issue, unless someone is inviting you in for milk and cookies or something.

[BabbyO]

Not a FA mom, so maybe there is a different concern, but I wouldn't allow DS to eat any trick or treat candy while we're out anyway. We don't do a lot of houses at this age, but even so we bring everything home and sort through it first. Then, at this age, I take a lot of it away and allocate the rest, he doesn't even notice.

So I wouldn't see accidental exposure as an issue, unless someone is inviting you in for milk and cookies or something.

I wouldn't let DS have anything while trick-or-treating.

I guess my biggest concern is not knowing IF there is allergens in some of the candy. I know the obvious candies (chocolate bars, etc) but I don't know about candy that would be in those "halloween mix" type bags. The individual pieces won't have the ingredient info on it (they're usually on the big bag)...so I'd have no way of knowing if certain pieces are of concern. I guess I'm just not up on my candy ingredients! :)

[YouAreTheFocus]

I would take him, as I think the act of trick or treating itself is the fun part at this age. My son is almost 2, and honestly he doesn't really know what candy is yet, but he is interested in the colorful krinkly packages :) I think he will just enjoy collecting the pieces of candy or whatever and putting them in his bag. Then afterwards you can eat, or toss, or trade into the dentist.

ETA: I'm allergic to peanuts & went ToTing when little--afterwards my mom checked thru my candy and made my brother trade for my peanut stuff. But yeah, she had to know what was/wasn't safe.

[tribe pride]

DS1 is 3, and severely allergic to milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. We have not yet taken him trick or treating (other than to our next door neighbor's, and she just gave him fruit). I figured he was too young to realize what was going on at such a young age, and since he didn't know what he was missing, it wasn't worth it to deal with the stress of figuring out which candies were safe for him to eat. Last year we went over to visit some friends who live in a VERY popular neighborhood for trick or treating, and DS enjoyed just dressing up himself, and getting to watch bigger kids come to the door. And I made him some allergy-safe cupcakes to eat instead.

This year, though, I think we may go trick or treating, and I'm still trying to figure out how I'll handle it. I agree with you- since you can't read the food labels on all of the candy you'll be collecting, I'd be very, very reluctant to let your child eat any of it. From talking with other FA parents, it seems like the options are to
(1) Not go trick or treating at all, and just play up the fact that your child will get to be the one at home handing out treats to other boys and girls.
(2) Bring along safe treats for your child to eat while you're out, and immediately take away the candy he/she collects. (Might be something to consider since your child is so young; I couldn't have trusted my DS not to eat the candy in his bag when he was that age.)
(3) Take away the candy your child collects, and them trade it in for a toy, book, etc. instead.
(3) Go beforehand to the houses you will be visiting, and give them "safe" treats that they can give to your child when you come trick or treating. (This option obviously only works if you are going to a small number of houses, and know the people you will be visiting.)

I'm not sure yet what we're going to do. But I don't think we can void Halloween any longer. DS is in preschool, and they're having a party. At this point, I think I will just take away the candy he receives from the party, take him shopping for a small toy instead, and have DH take the candy to work. If we do any trick or treating in the evening, I will likely do the same, and bring along a few snacks for him to munch on.

Good luck! Dealing with food allergies during holidays can be really difficult!

[crl]

I wouldn't let DS have anything while trick-or-treating.

I guess my biggest concern is not knowing IF there is allergens in some of the candy. I know the obvious candies (chocolate bars, etc) but I don't know about candy that would be in those "halloween mix" type bags. The individual pieces won't have the ingredient info on it (they're usually on the big bag)...so I'd have no way of knowing if certain pieces are of concern. I guess I'm just not up on my candy ingredients! :)

Well, I googled the ingredients on those things--looking just at the manufacturer's site. If I couldn't find the ingredients, I told ds he couldn't have it.

Catherine

[BayGirl2]

Well, I googled the ingredients on those things--looking just at the manufacturer's site. If I couldn't find the ingredients, I told ds he couldn't have it.

Catherine

:yeahthat:
I'd say better safe than sorry and just take it away. FWIW, we take away almost all the candy anyway. Our candy policy for Easter was to give it out for only a couple days then get rid of the rest. I don't think 2 YO's need much candy to get the spirit of the season, and they forget after a couple days.

Whether you go out or not really depends on your social situation IMO. We are close with our neighbors and our HOA has a big Halloween party. For the last 2 years we went to our close neighbors houses. Last year DS, at 1.25 YO was able to stand at the door, take the candy, and put it in his bucket. He got a huge thrill out of at and the neighbors enjoyed seeing him dressed up, it wasn't really about eating the candy. I'm hoping at 2.25 YO he knows more about what's going on and enjoys it more but still cares less about the candy. I wouldn't want to skip the experience for a FA kid because it was a big social thing growing up for me. I'd feel like keeping a kid at home to just answer the door would make him miss out.

I also think there is some risk there for any kid w/ the candy - FA or not, so I want to make it more about the costumes and fun than the eating.

[alien_host]

We do TOT, our motto is "if you can't read it, you can't eat it" and DD understand this.

We also have the Halloween Fairy visit. DD leaves all "nutty" candy by the front door and the fairy brings her a small gift. I figured I'd rather her have a small toy than me buying her more candy that she can eat. Although we only give out nut-safe treats to hand out.

DD knows now (6) not to pick up peanut candies (she recognizes most). I don't let her eat while TOT and I carry Epi Pen and hand wipes for her to try and keep her hands clean (since I find Reeses often "leak" and seem to have PNB on the wrapper).

The problem now is when she goes to a house that has stuff she can't have she sometimes annouces, "I have a nut allergy" when they show an entire bowl of Reeses.

[alien_host]

Be careful of the "fun/snack sized bars" they often have different labeling than the bigger bars. For example, Hershey's Full sized chocolate bars are SAFE for nut allergies, but the small snack bars (with no individual label) are NOT SAFE for nut allergies.

If in doubt, throw it out! Or eat it yourself ;)

[MamaMolly]

Lula loves ToT. We swap out the unsafe (peanut) candy for safe candy I've bought ahead. This year we might give her the option to trade for money, like a quarter a piece or something.

DH and I have a lot of fun on Halloween 'jumping on the grenade' for her and eating all that nasty peanut candy before we go to bed ;)

[bubbaray]

Yes, my girls love to TOT. I buy "safe" treats for them and then they "trade" the unsafe ones for safe ones once they are done.

Last year, they TOT'd with a group of about 5 kids from our neighborhood. One of the boys saw me sorting the girls' stuff and offered to trade them. Well, we ended up with a huge "trade a thon", it was so cute.

FWIW, TOTg is HUGE in our neighborhood, we buy for 300 kids and always run out of candy before the kids are home. There are LOTS of nut-safe options here.

[BabbyO]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Since DS is just over 2 I'm thinking that maybe we'll take some safe stuff to the neighbors and ask them to give it to DS when we stop by. I don't think we'll be doing a lot of ToT, unless the sitter's kids decide to come over to our neighborhood (there are few houses where they live).

I wouldn't let DS have much while out anyway. He gets very little candy/sweets because of his allergies and thinks fruit is the best treat!

It may be worth giving it a short go this year so that next year and subsequent years we have a better idea of what to expect.

I was thinking of googling ingredient lists...which I think I can do for most items...but there always seems to be those few that aren't really labled. Since DS is allergic to milk we know we can cut out all chocolate (when I was nursing him the only chocolate that I found was safe was Enjoy Life brand...and that is WAY to expensive and obscure to get ToTing).

[bubbaray]

Well, its your call, but *I* think its worthwhile to start teaching them early:


no eating food from strangers until a parent has checked it
swapping unsafe food for safe food or an alternative (stickers, other reward)

My girls are VERY aware that they are NEVER to eat TOT candy until we have checked it. At home, in good lighting. We have in the past swapped candy for stickers or other goodies.

[BabbyO]

Well, its your call, but *I* think its worthwhile to start teaching them early:


no eating food from strangers until a parent has checked it
swapping unsafe food for safe food or an alternative (stickers, other reward)

My girls are VERY aware that they are NEVER to eat TOT candy until we have checked it. At home, in good lighting. We have in the past swapped candy for stickers or other goodies.

Definitely some good things to teach DS. The funny thing is that DS isn't really even aware of the fact that there are foods he can't eat. DH and I have altered much of our diet to match DS' because I had to when I BFed anyway. He's just now starting to see that there are certain foods he can't eat and mommy & daddy can. Maybe we should have introduced this earlier.

[ett]

DS2 has food allergies and we do take him TOT. There is no way that he will put up with staying home while DS1 goes out. The boys do not eat any candy while they are out. When they get home, I take DS2's bag and remove all the unsafe candies and replace with safe ones.

[Clarity]

I do take my dairy/egg/pnut allergic dd TOT but only because we have an older dd who wants/needs to go. We carry an epi-pen and she eats nothing until we return home and find something safe.

I will say that in your case, I likely would not take my dc TOT. At 2, they're really too young to *get* Halloween. Having the added layer of them not being able to eat the candy they collect would make it not worth it to me. It's worse in that a lot of Halloween candy isn't appropriate for a toddler so I didn't even bother to take my non-allergic dc TOT until she was 3. It's more for us at that age - they really do look so cute. Just my .02, though! :)

I do agree w/Bubbaray that it is important to start teaching them what they can and cannot have. My dd is not quite 3 but she can ask if something "has allergies" or not.

[almostamom]

We've always gone ToTing and DS has multiple food allergies. Once we get home from ToTing, DS puts his pumpkin bag and candy on the dining room table. As we sleep, the "Pumpkin Fairy" comes to visit our house. She takes all of the candy and leaves DS a toy that he's been wanting. It's worked well since DS was two. He'll be almost 7 this year at Halloween.

[alien_host]

I'm glad others do the "fairy" as well....the fairy is very popular here!

FWIW, DD is now 6, but was diagnosed just before her 3rd halloween at 2.5 yrs so she did go TOT w/ a nut allergy at 2.5 yrs. It almost was easier then to take her b/c we didn't allow her to eat the candy "on the road" and she was OK with us swapping out or taking away. By the next halloween (3.5 yrs old) she was so excited to get home so we could sort and check her candy, she totally understood.

If you want the TOT experience (we love it here and she has gone every year since 6 months) then I say go for it, it's never to early to start teaching about allergy avoidance.

[JTsMom]

I bought DS's candy off of him last year. I think we said .25/piece, which turned out to be WAY too much b/c my neighbors were giving out an insane amount of candy. He was thrilled though. lol I also bought some safe treats for him to have.