Friday, November 1, 2013

Passing out candy advice from an allergy mom


Chase is 2.5 years old and this was his first Halloween trick or treating. This was also the first year we knew about his allergy to peanuts. We talked about the rules for trick or treating before we left. You ring the doorbell once. You say trick or treat and thank you. You don't eat any candy. I brought the bendryl and epi pens with me.

Hubby went up to the door with Chase most of the time or he was with one of his aunts. We weren't too worried about what kind of candy he got because we didn't plan on giving him much, if any. Hubby said he mentioned that Chase was allergic to peanuts at one house when they asked what kind of candy Chase wanted. Let's be honest, Hubby and I love us some peanut candy and were totally ok with him getting it so we could eat it.

Most of the stuff Chase got was candy that we don't plan on giving him. There was a variety of suckers and non peanut items. I just don't like giving him sugar. He was so excited about a capri sun that he got at one house. We thought the capri sun was a good idea but it did make the buckets heavy. Besides candy he got fruit snacks, pretzels, and a cool mini coloring book and crayons.

As a mom of a 2.5 year old with peanut allergies I thought this was great. I'm guessing the high school kids probably wouldn't be excited about it. My cousin said some houses saw that Chase and his cousin were younger so they gave them fruit snacks instead of candy. So I guess you could get the little coloring book for younger kids and have candy for older kids.

There was a discussion on twitter today about kids asking for nut free candy. As a mom of a child with a peanut allergy I thought I could give my opinion on the topic. Personally, I don't think it is the job of the people passing out candy to provide nut free or gluten free choices. My plan as a passer outer is to usually get like the 150 pack at Costco and try to hand out the stuff I don't like first. I think as an allergy parent it is your job to educate your child on what they can and can't eat when they are old enough to go up to the door on their own. In the past, I would just grab a candy and put it in a kid's bag because letting them pick sometimes they take more than one or take forever to pick. Maybe now as an allergy parent I would let them pick.

I know a lot of allergy parents have candy or toys at home that their child can trade candy that they can't eat for. I also saw on twitter and heard on Ellen today about the switch witch. I just told Hubby about it and I think that's our plan for when Chase is old enough to care. Have you heard about the switch witch? Of course there is a cool poem on pinterest.

Isn't that a great idea? The kid trades their candy for a toy!

I hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween!

7 comments:

  1. Great post! And totally agree with you that it's up to the allergy parent to go through the kids candy and not the responsibility of those handing it out!

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  2. I like your post and your perspective. I think it's actually a little rude to ask for specific items when you go to a complete stranger's house and are ringing their doorbell with the expectation of getting something for free anyway! It's almost like telling them that their generosity and kindness isn't good enough. Besides, you can't possibly get candy and snacks enough to please everyone. "I'm sorry--this candy isn't acceptable. Do you have any fair-trade, sugar-free, decaffeinated options?" Umm...do you have any manners???
    Thanks so much for sharing this! OH, and you have such a cute little Thomas The Train! :)

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  3. I really like your idea about teaching kids to know what's ok for them and what's not. My kiddo is severely lactose intolerant, and has learned the hard way to 'just say no' to dairy products - even when everyone else is eating it.

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  4. I think the Switch Witch is such a great idea. :)

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  5. Great post! So many people are unaware of these allergies, especially a lot of the older people that pass out candy. We monitor McK's either way, even though she doesn't have an allergy!

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  6. OHH, I called it the pumpkin fairy- but same idea as switch witch. Anika chose candy even the pumpkin fairy/switch witch (ME!) didn't want! haha. I wanted chocolate!

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