ParentingHub

Food allergies can be very serious and must be managed by your child’s paediatrician as well as a specialist dietitian who is experienced with the management of allergies. For some children eating a small amount, or close contact with a small amount of the offending food allergen can lead to a life threatening reaction. Other allergic reactions can include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea: cough, runny nose, wheezing, and pronounced breathing difficulties; skin rashes from mild to severe, headaches and irritability. Some children may have multiple food allergies and need to be managed very sensitively. The most successful tool for diagnosing a food allergy is removal of the potential allergen and re-introduction challenge. However this process should only be done under the guidance of a dietitian and at the advice of your paediatrician.

Be careful of becoming a dietary policeman if you have a child with food allergies. Be careful not to take away the responsibility of eating away from your child. Keep it simple and avoid making your child’s allergies the topic of all social conversations. Teach your child to be responsible for keeping his limitations in mind. You can say – you can’t eat peanut butter so when you go to a friend’s house just ask for bread and jam. If your friend’s mother insists you can say you are allergic but you don’t have to make a big deal out of it’

Obviously in the case of severe allergies you will need to inform the relevant care givers in your child’s life. Ultimately if you keep it simple and matter of fact and focus rather on teaching your child to take responsibility for his allergies then you will protect him for life.

Once a diagnosis has been made and you are now aware about which food to avoid it is very important that you focus your energy on the foods he can have and foods you can use to replace the offending food. In the home include substitutes for the food in most of your meals so that your allergic child does not feel like a freak or on the other extreme see the benefit of the attention an allergy brings. If you hover over the child with allergies when it comes to her food, you will be creating a tool for manipulation and as far as eating goes this is not healthy so again be matter of fact, educate, substitute and be inclusive of the ‘new’ allowed foods into the family’s meal plans and you will raise a well adjusted, wise child when it comes to managing his allergies.