Advice for educating ds re his allergies........................

[mymama]

DS is 2 and I have not really started educating because I don't have anything in the house that he can't have. I cook/bake all of our foods to accommodate his allergies. He is not cared for by anybody else and we take his food to our friend's houses etc. I would really like to educate him not to accept food from others and not eat anything without telling me first. Anyone have any advice on how I start???

When ds was reading my first word type books I would always say when he pointed to an object he couldn't have.

"Bob can't eat banana - banana makes him sick"

"Bob can't have egg...etc."

Apart from that I just said "no thanks, Bob has brought his special food with him".

I have seen on your other threads that Bob attends care. Does he know not to eat other children's food even when offered??? Have you shown him those actual foods as well as the pictures? I sound hopeless but feel daunted by the prospects. On a good news front found out today that my eldest's school (only opened this year) has 7 staff trained in epipen with only one allergy child in the school so far. DS won't attend for 4 more years but I am feeling really positive about their attitude.

Bob has been in a room with a plate of jammy dodgers on the coffee table. He didn't even try to take one. When he was hungry he came and asked me for "his snacks". He never had an oral phase, he didn't put anything in his mouth until he was well over a year old. Maybe related, maybe we were lucky.

I think the fact that he has only taken food from you and your family is a good start.

Once I gave him a piece of banana to see what he would do, he picked it up, sniffed it and threw it on the floor.

I think he knows better than me what he is allergic to!

Interesting you mention that Bobbybob, DS didn't have an oral phase either, and with some things, he seems to spot that there may be an offending ingredient in it even before I do. Sometimes I wonder if his being so fuzzy about his food is related to his long list of food intolerances...

The human body has a mechanism for recognising poison before it's ingested - I think it's a highly developed form of that.

The only thing that Bob's can't spot himself is flavour enhancers, food colourings and preservatives. But normal, natural food - yes he's like a psychic dog.

You probably are onto something there as DS didn't have an oral phase either!! An example of my main concerns are that I make muffins for our children that fit with his allergies and I don't know if he would refuse a plate of muffins elsewhere that would contain egg. Am I better off not cooking these to suit and tell him he can't have them??

Would it help to tell him that he can only have the things you cook/bake? or probably, telling him that he should ask you if he can have it before starting to eat one?

I really don't know, I tried to explain him today why his lunch was different to the ones of the rest of the children and he seemed to have no interest whatsoever. Have removed a lot of ingredients this week and out of a slight tantrum about cheese and lots of questioning about yogurts she has taken the "you can't have that one but try this other one" quite well.

P.S. Would it be too much to ask for the muffin recipe?

I better go to sleep now, can tolerate the amount of errors in my previous posts

Chandra happy to give you the recipe. Will post on your other thread so that I can read what your ds needs to avoid. I pretty much bake everything and substitute flours, butter, eggs etc. People can't tell the difference.

Thank you very much

think you've had good advice already. Presumably he does take food for someone else (partner/ grandparent/ other relative?) just in case you are ill anytime? Dog belonging to a friend's father nearly died because he'd trained it not to take food from anyone else and he was in hospital.

We found chocolate the most difficult so we had a staandard rule that all sweets must be brought home and if it was unsuitable they'd get something bigger/ nicer in exchange.

If they don't grow out of their allergies by school age you will need to check the epipen training happens every year but it is good they've had training already

mymama, i would love that recipe, dd2 is wheat and egg allergic and I am struggling with treats for her!

Chandra, Girly

Banana Muffins

I am posting original recipe so that anyone can adjust to allergy needs. I substitute soya flour, dairy free margarine, Orgran egg replacer, soya milk. I have also substituted 1/2 cup puree apple and 1/4 cup chopped prunes for banana.

1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour; 1/2 cup white plain flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/4 cup soft brown sugar; 60g margarine melted; 1/2 cup mashed banana; 1 egg white beaten; 1/3 cup low fat milk.

Preheat oven 210 degrees celcius. Sift flours and baking powder in bowl. Mix in brown sugar. Combine melted margarine, banana, egg white and milk, mix well. Add all at once to dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until just combined. Bake approx 20 mins and cool in tin for 5 mins.

Thanks for that Mymama One question, is the Orgran egg replacer soya free? I'm desperate to find something to be able to prepare chicken fingers or hamburguers.

Thanks again

Ingredients are

potato starch, tapioca flour, vegatable gum; methylcellulose, calcium carbonate, food acid: citric.

Says on front no animal derivatives so the calcium not from milk.

For hamburger I just mince up meat and form into patties between two old shopping plastic bags and then roll to desired flatness. I might mix in some approved herbs or spices first.

I serve any onions etc. seperately as its just too much faff to try to get everything to stick together.

Other egg replacements:

1 tbs arrowroot powder mixed with 1 tbs water
1/4 cup apple puree
1 tbs tapioca powder mixed with 1 tbs water
1/2 cup banana puree
1 tbs oil e.g. olive or vegetable
1/2 cup soya milk

Thanks for those Bobbybob and Mymama

Thanks mymama!

This is all new to me and i am on a steep allergy learning curve

for homemade beef burgers I bind them with some 'pure' marg.. I cook them in the oven as well so you don't need to keep turning them...

My DS just was aware of what he could and couldnt eat. We tried a phase of Red dots on foods he couldnt have,when he got older, but he used to come shopping with me and say'i cant have that' I suppose we just talked to him about it. Made nursery etc aware and took in his own treats so that there was something for him on birthdays etc!