Most kids LOVE Halloween, but Trick or Treating with Food Allergies can be really scary. Here’s what to look out for and how to maximize the fun while keeping your child with food allergies safe. Hidden Dangers of Halloween While you are likely already accustomed to checking every label and may have a few treats [...] The post Trick or Treating with Food Allergies appeared first on Pocket Change Gourmet.
Most kids LOVE Halloween, but Trick or Treating with Food Allergies can be really scary.
Here’s what to look out for and how to maximize the fun while keeping your child with food allergies safe.
Hidden Dangers of Halloween
While you are likely already accustomed to checking every label and may have a few treats or brands that you consider safe, Halloween candy can have hidden hazards.
1. Mini-Size Candies May Contain Different Ingredients
We have found that many mini or fun-sized seasonal candies have slightly different ingredients than their larger year-round counterparts.
Even if the full-sized candy was safe for your child last month, check the label of the seasonal candies to ensure they are still safe.
2. Candies May Have Cross Contamination
Many candies come in bulk bags mixed with multiple types of treats. If cross-contact is a severe concern for your child, you may want to avoid those items.
A trip to the grocery store can give a good idea of which candies co-mingle in bulk bags.
3. Beware of Sticky Fingers
Candy is irresistible for most kids. Many will have eaten some of their stash while trick or treating, which means they may have residues on their fingers as they reach into the candy bowl.
If your child has a contact allergy, be mindful of this and monitor them closely.
Although she doesn’t have a contact allergy, my daughter often liked having a glove as part of her costume, which gave her a bit of a protective barrier. One year she asked her sister to handle all the candy touching for her. Find what works for your child.
How to Maximize Fun While Trick or Treating with Food Allergies
1. Set the Ground Rules Ahead of Time
Since learning of her allergy at 7 months, we always enforced a “no eating while treating” rule. Our child was welcome to take a candy and place it in her bag, but agreed not to eat anything she was given until we fully checked labels at home.
This prevents hurriedly checking labels and making a careless error that ends festivities with an Epi-pen. Now that she’s older, our daughter still strictly adheres to the rule when on her own.
2. Carry Safe Candies With You
It’s pretty tough to watch siblings or friends gleefully gobble up candy as they run from house to house.
We always start our trick or treating with a stash of safe candies (Dum-Dums) that our daughter could eat as she walked around the neighborhood.
3. Choose Non-Food Items
Some houses participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project which offers non-food items, like cool tattoos or glow sticks, for kids who are trick or treating with food allergies.
See my suggestions below for ideas!
Encourage your kid to choose one of those items, if offered.
5. The Power of No
Empower your child to politely decline any treat that she doesn’t feel comfortable taking. Practice what they can say- “Thanks, but I have a food allergy” or a simple “no, thanks.”
And remember to empower yourself to say “NO” to Trick or Treating if it doesn’t feel safe for your child.
6. Check Seasonal Labels Ahead of Time
On your next trip to the grocery store, swing by the seasonal aisle and check the labels of a few of your child’s favorite Halloween candies to screen for unexpected holiday ingredients.
You will still want to double check the label before eating, but you’ll at least know ahead of time if you need to avoid certain favorites and you can offer an alternative in the moment.
7. Supervise the Label Checks and Offer Alternatives
Even if they are older, at the end of the night, supervise your child as they go through their candy. Help them check labels, and offer them alternatives for the things they can’t have.
Some families have kids keep a portion of their candy and then trade the rest for a special non-food item like a book, toy, game, or gift card.
Others have the Switch-Witch visit to trade something special for the excess candy.
8. Focus on the Fun
The candy is fun, but kids really love the other aspects of Halloween, too!
Focus on the costumes, making spooky decorations for your home, Halloween crafts, and carving your Jack-o-Lantern. Let the candy be the afterthought.
Check out this article, Halloween Food Ideas, for inspiration.
Want to Make Your Home Allergy-Friendly on Halloween?
Here are some fun candy alternatives that might be more popular than you expect!
- toothbrushes (strangely, this is often a hit!)
- clementines decorated like jack-o-lanterns
- stickers or tattoos
- funny mini-pins
- crystals or polished rocks
- painted rocks (eyeballs, skulls, etc)
- flower seed packets
- glow-sticks or glow-necklaces
- Pokemon cards or trading cards
- fun pencils or erasers
- mini-notebooks
- sparkling water or juice boxes
I always have a basket of non-food items on hand for whoever rings our doorbell.
However you choose to celebrate, I hope you found this article helpful and I wish you a safe, spooky, and fun-filled Halloween!
Want More Food Allergy Tips?
For other Food Allergy-Related Articles, check out my other pages:
Other Great Resources
F.A.R.E. is a site with wonderful resources for food allergy families, particularly for early childhood.
The post Trick or Treating with Food Allergies appeared first on Pocket Change Gourmet.
