Halloween fears go beyond Goblins for allergy sufferers

Parents of children with food allergies have more than ghosts and goblins to fear on the beloved candy night. As many food allergic children get dressed in costume for tricks and treats…we, as parents, must be armed and ready for battle against any hidden dangers lurking in the night. Navigating our way through the spooky allergen forest can be challenging to say the least. But with a little planning – our little pumpkins are sure to a have a frightfully good time!

Now that E is in preschool, I am trying to figure out some ways of making his experience as “normal” as possible. (Nothing like a sugary holiday to go spoil that for me)! Here are a few tips and tricks that have helped us get through this so far.

School Parties

-Bake: a treat or two so you know the snacks are safe.

-Help: plan for the big party day by getting involved with parent volunteer opportunities. (Trust me, I have taught in Early Childhood classrooms for many years and no “sane” teacher would dream of turning away helpful parents)!

-Volunteer: to help out at the party so you can embarrass your child watch to make sure they stay safe.

-Communicate: with the teacher by suggesting that instead of food and candy, that prizes and trinkets could be used in place.

Trick or Treating:

-Buy safe treats ahead of time and make a secret switch of what treats are in the bag once you get home.
-Don’t forget medications and Epipen while trick-or-treating.
-Read all labels! If the candy item does not show ingredients, toss it to the curb (not really, but do get rid of it)!
-Give family and friends safe treats for your child and only go to those houses.
-Talk to your child about the importance of not opening any wrappers until mom or dad has a chance to eat the good stuff look at the loot.

Other Fun Stuff!

-Skip the trick or treating: opting instead for a fun local activity! We have a haunted zoo, haunted park etc that is so much fun for the kiddos to dress up and enjoy on Halloween.

-Host a Halloween Party: Our neighbors all got together when I was younger and we had a garage party! The host would have hotdogs and games or whatever for the neighbor children. Host one and feel good knowing you can decide what treats go home with the little ones.

-Stay home and hand out candy: Have the kids get all dressed up and have a spooking-good time scaring neighbor friends while giving them some treats. Involve your kids in decorating your front porch and let them be in charge of passing out treats. You could even get them excited about this by spending the afternoon putting together some really great Halloween munchies (see below)!

TIP: Avoid passing out candy such as chocolate bars or anything containing nuts, since you know personally the agony this can bring for any allergic child and allow them to choose what treat they would like…you just might have one knocking at YOUR door.

I just love some of the ideas I found at the parenting.com site! Check these and lots more fun treats at:

http://www.parenting.com/recipes-article/Mom/Recipes/Halloween-Snacks-and-Sweets/

Above all…remember that this is supposed to be FUN! Don’t let the Boogie Man or anyone or anything else ever allow fear to conquer us. We may have allergies…but we are strong! No need to tempt fate though by saying “Candy Man” three times in front of a mirror, or going out into a corn field after watching “Children of the Corn” or moving onto a street named Elm…or, or,….whatever! Just DON’T!!! Seriously- just freaks me out. Excuse me now while I go check under my bed.

Oh yeah, Happy Halloween!!!