Having a child with food allergies can be frightening at times.
Here are 4 things you can do to decrease the fear of your child having an allergic reaction.
Face the fear
- Acknowledge the fear.
- It can be scary.
- Food allergies may be new to you and your family.
- You may not have a medical background and may be concerned about when or how to treat an allergic reaction.
Get the facts
- Learn about food allergies
- Ask your child’s doctor for resources, websites, book, magazines and webinars.
- Learn how to prevent, recognize and treat a reaction
- Make sure that your resources are reputable.
Get support
- Studies have shown that having supportive understanding friends can be helpful..
- Investigate local or online support group
- Find a few understanding and empathizing friends.
- If the fear starts to interfere with your daily activities, you may want to seek professional help.
Take Action
- Always have epinephrine to treat an anaphylactic reaction and call 9-1-1..
- Stress the importance of hand washing.
- Strict label reading.
- Consider removing food to which your child is allergic from the home or having specific shelves/utensils for your child if you choose to bring their allergens into the home.
- Possibly organize food allergy training at your child’s school or daycare.
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