Guide to Babysitting Children with Food Allergies
There is a lot to remember when taking care of kids with food allergies. Be ready for anything with our babysitter resources and guide to allergic reactions — whether it's your first time watching a child with food allergies or you just need a refresher.
Flying With Food Allergies
Whether you’re heading out for spring break or to grandma’s for the weekend, air travel is a necessity for millions of people, including those living with food allergies.
Recent headlines have highlighted a key reason why traveling with food allergies is tricky. While food allergies are defined as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, airlines abide by a different set of rules defined by the Air Carrier Access Act. Under these guidelines, a pilot can prevent you from boarding or ask you to get off the plane if you make yourself or your child seem “medically fragile," according to his or her own discretion.
But don’t let the uncertainty surrounding air travel keep you grounded. With a little extra planning and the right resources, every family can have the adventures they deserve.
To clear the air and make flights smoother, we laid out the 16 tips for flying with food allergies, identified the top six “food allergy-friendly” airlines and found a mission-driven mom dedicated to making air travel easier for all of us.
16 Tips for Flying with Food Allergies | 6 Top Food Allergy-Friendly Airlines | No Nut Traveler
First Steps With Food Allergies
Whether you’ve been managing food allergies for six months or six years, you probably still remember the people who dropped everything to answer your questions. Now, you may be the one sharing your wisdom with friends of friends about their newly diagnosed food allergy, outlining those crucial first steps and helping them come up with a plan. You take the call or meet for coffee because you remember what it’s like to be scared and searching for answers.
To help parents coping with their child’s first allergic reaction, as well as anyone who is responsible for your child's care, we’ve created a step-by-step plan that lets you move forward. Now take a deep breath – you’ve got this.
36 Skills to Teach Your Food Allergic Child
When teaching your child a life skill, it’s all about baby steps. Whether you’re potty training, practicing the ABCs or learning to cross the street, there’s a lot of hand-holding in the beginning. Ultimately, the job of a parent is to guide their children to independence. Kids with food allergies have an extra set of lessons to master. We’ve huddled with food allergy moms, allergists and psychologists to create a list of skills every food allergic child ultimately needs to learn – whatever the pace – these are simply suggested ages to introduce the concepts. Wherever you are on the journey, we encourage you to take a well-deserved break and look at all that you and your child have undoubtedly accomplished. Early Childhood | Preschool | Elementary School | Middle School | High School
CVS Generic Auto-Injector
CVS recently cut the price of their generic auto-injectors nearly in half. This marks huge progress for the millions of people who rely on auto-injectors as a lifeline, but it raises a number of questions for consumers. Spokin is here to tell you what you need to know.
7 Best Allergists in Chicago
An allergist plays a vital role in a life with food allergies, from the inevitably overwhelming initial diagnosis and annual updates to, hopefully, eventually introducing us to the latest treatments and therapies. We want a doctor who has a skilled medical professional side and who will also handle us with care, even holding our hands when needed. Spokin is excited to unveil Top Recommended Allergists – this list represents the most recommended allergists from Spokin users. Our inaugural list features the 7 best Chicago-area allergists, and we look forward to bringing you our picks from other cities soon.
Prepare For An Allergy Emergency In 3 Steps
Dr. Christina Ciacco is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Chicago and a faculty member in the Section of Allergy/Immunology. The news of a food allergy-related death shocks us to our core. First and foremost, our hearts break open for those families. The news of anyone losing their life too soon, most recently Oakley Debbs, painfully reminds us of our worst fear. Soon after, we naturally seek to know how it happened in order to ensure it never happens again. Our research shows that the majority of food allergic related deaths have occurred because either the auto-injector was not present or it was not used early enough. These tragic events are invariably accidents but accidents do happen in life and you need to be prepared. A person with a mild allergy should be just as vigilant. According to Dr. Christina Ciacco with the University of Chicago, past reactions are not an indicator of future reactions. So even if prior reactions have been mild, future reactions have the equal potential to be severe. Don't let your guard down. We honor Oakley by promoting awareness. Here is what you need to know.
Managing Multiple Food Allergies
Managing one food allergy can be daunting but managing "multiples" and living a robust life is downright admirable. Jennifer Keller, an active and dedicated mother of 3 young children, generously shares some of her best advice and top picks. Her youngest, Elliott, is allergic to dairy, egg, peanuts and several, but not all, tree nuts. She navigates it all with grace and optimism. A self-proclaimed non-cook, Jennifer manages to safely feed her son and her family's soul.
How to Read a Food Label
Dr. Ruchi Gupta is an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Expert Food Allergy Travel Advice
Shawna Huffman Owen has helped food allergic families navigate travel to destinations around the globe. Although she doesn't personally manage food allergies in her home, almost 50% of her family clients do.
As an owner of Huffman Travel, Shawna is an expert travel advisor that specializes in international family travel. Shawna shares with Spokin how she designs safe travel for food allergic families and lets us all in on some of her best travel tips.
