Leaving a young anaphylatic child with friends - do you leave epipen as well?

[Gwu]

Hi There

DS has an epipen in case he drinks milk. This has only ever happened twice in his whole life and he's 4 y.o. One time was my fault (I gave him a few mouthfuls of Krispy Kreme and the other time this dumb ass relative gave him a few mouthfuls of her tea as she forgot he was allergic to milk).

He's at the age where I can leave him at friend's houses. Of course I'll tell the parent about his no touch, no drink food policy and about his severe reaction to milk but do I leave the inhaler, antihistamines and epipen as well and tell them how to use it and basically, scare the life out of them so that he never gets an invite again? I'll be about a 15 min walk away and contactable by phone.

What do you mums of anaphylatic children do? I know this is such a stupid question and a dumb thing to worry about given everything else?

Thanks in advance.

G

[ToughDaddy]

We leave 2 pens. We also have simplified chart of symptoms, actions, contact number, everything all on one page that we leave.

[Julia76]

Sorry for all those typing mistakes. Hope you could read it ok.

[Julia76]

Hi all, sorr not been on for a while as really busy but thanks for all your sugestions. I sent me ds with Epipens etc when he went to play around our friends the other day. She looke dafter them whilst he played whith her ds & then when he came home, she gave them back to him & he then gave them to me when he got home. I had a good chat with him & explained the importance of looking after them & not broadcastin gthe fact he had them etc. hy he needed them with him at all times(although he does know this) but I thnk he now undersatnds that this is sometihnfg he will need to get used to having the,m ewith him all the time. I am already careful to whom he stays with. He only ever plays at my sister's house, his nan & grandad's, & our friends(his best friend).. I can actaully say they are brilliant. They do not have peanuts or nuts in their house anymore, as he spends alot of time their, & they do go out of their way to make sure there are no risks. My ds & their ds share the same birthday & my ds is going to their house with his db for a birthday tea & cake. All food & cake is safe for him to eat & its such a relief to know that there is somewhere my ds can go where I can feel comfortable that he is pretty much safe(although we always worry dont we?)
I will try to get a epipen belt for him & I need to also get him a medicalert bracelet as this will give me some peace of mind.

[IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo]

How come is already nearly 3:00???

Off to sleep!

[IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo]

Obviously you have already a lot of answers but to add to the consensus. Epipen should never be further away than a child than the same building and in the ususual place where everyone can find it.

I send DS with his kit (epipen, inhaler and piriton) whereved he goes. He is normally invited again.

Having said that, I'm very careful of who I leave him with. Some parents have the best intentions but are heavily distracted (know a very nice woman who has shown up to my house with an almond cake, and think nothing is wrong with serving nutella to her children when DS is at her house. She knows DS is allergic, she knows DS reacts by eating or skin contact but someway it doesn't sink that when allergic you react to everything not only to peanuts wearing their own shell...). She is nice, has the best intentions, keep inviting him, but I just can't. So I say "we can't that day but why don't you bring your LO over on this other day?"

[hellish]

julia76 - try this (I'm in Canada so you may find something similar in the UK) but my dd loves hers.
www.kozyepi.com/

I tend to look after the epi pen whenever she is with me (as I think the responsibility of having it at school is enough for now). Her teacher is very supportive and we have never had any problems.

I just keep thinking about a statistic I once read about almost all anaphalactic fatalities happening because the epi pen was not with the person who needed it. (sorry if being over-dramatic)

In my dds school there are 10 children who carry epipens and in each room (including toilets, staffroom, library etc) there is a poster with photos of all those children and info on what they are allergic to. It gave me a shock when I saw her pic up there but none of the kids have ever made a big deal of it and she just knows that's how it is.

[tatt]

Maybe encourage him to wear it first when you go out as a family - so he gets used to it under supervision first? Then let him take responsibility for remembering to take it out.

Our primary said they would put in place a system where there would be a red card in their emergency back that any child could take to the office. The office would then know they should call an ambulance and send the pen back. I don't think they ever implemented it (i.e. briefed the children what to do if it was needed/ made sure office staff knew) but it's something you could consider.

[Julia76]

hellish: I haveq uestioned how the teachers would get my ds epipen (kept in staff room)in the event they needed oit. Fortunately they always have either learning suport assistants in the class room(so always more then 1 adult in the class at a time) so someone can run up & get the epipen. The staff room is close by to his class so not far to go, although Im unsure of the distance from his new class to the staff room next term. Actually it as made me think about when he gets in to year 5 & 6, as they are in a different building to the school office & staff room. Mind you by then he will hopefully be responsiable enough to carry his epipen around with him. Maybe I should try him with his epipen in the pouch around his waiste when he goes to his friends & see how he gets on & then after this if he has shown he can be responsaible I can then try him waring it at other times. Do you think maybe I should do this, so he wares it at school so it is with ihm at all times?

[Julia76]

As I said I trust him to walk to school with his brother, as with his older brother who is very responsiable, but I would not allow him to walk to school by himself. He is not responsiable enouhg to walk to school I think by himself. He will turn 8 in a few weeks but he is quite imature for his age, althouhg just starting to mature. He walks round to his mates which is not quite as far as school & he not near busy roads, unlike on the way to school. I do not wrap my boys in cotton wool if I give you this impression. If my 2 older boys are out together I allow my ds(8) to play in the park & football green(but my friends who has him at theirs alot, lives close by so they keep an eye on him for me.

[hellish]

My dd1 takes her epi pen to school with her in a special little pouch that can go round the waist or over one shoulder.

She is 4 and carries it at all times whilst at school. There is a second one for her in the school office but the school insisted that she have one with her at all times too.

At first I thought this was over the top, but she hasn't had a problem at all with this and now I'm glad, if she was in the hall/ in the library/ on the playing field when she needed it, how could the teacher leave the class to get the epipen / take her to the office to get it?

[tatt]

Confession time - I still have one here, with a cork on the end and back in the tube . I have tried our gp who said take them to the pharmacy. The pharmacy seemed a bit bemused last time so I didn't rush there with this one. I've also given one to the school nurse and asked her to dispose of it for me (it had been used during school training). I'm very careful about disposing of the orange, though.

I didn't realise until I practised on fruit what a kick they had, so I'm glad I did that before using one in earnest.

If I couldn't trust my child to carry their epipen I wouldn't let them walk to school on their own. First time they were allowed out I was terrified but you have to let them go sometimes.

[Julia76]

I forgot to say. My mil has practised on fruit. Good job I sujested it as she did not do it right but hopefully she now knows the right way. I have had to administer the real thing so I know what & how to administer it. I did tell my ds's this am that they could practise on an orange so that in the event of him needing it, the both knew what to do. Tatt, what do you do when you have used the out of date pens for practising on orange's? Do you take them to the chemist to dispose off?

[Julia76]

He does not eat on the way to school, hoewever becasue of his anaphylactic in the past being from cross contaminaton, he needs to be extremly careful as he could have a reacton just by obviously touching someone who has been eating peanuts or crunchy nut cornflakes etc. His cp said that it could be that a reaction could be set off just by slight contact or even just by being in the same room as peanuts. Anyway, he is a very touchy feely child, & I worry that he will cuddle or touch someone whic will then result in needing his medication. He is getting more responsiable but he has some special needs & is being refered as we & the school feel he may have a behavioural problem. Nothing major but we tihnk their are eliments there. I had a qucik talk wit him this am &about starting to carry his epipens when walkig to school & his friends & told him we would talk later. My other ds(11) said he would look after him & epipens if I wanted him to but I wll discuss tihngs further with them later.

[tatt]

does he eat on the way to school? If so he needs it with him if not he still does technically but he has more risk of being run over.

At primary we had 2 at home, 2 at school so you didn't have to worry about forgetting to take them/ bring them home. If she was going to someone else's home after school she took one of the home ones in her school bag. It was never needed.

Initially I used to show parents because I didn't think my child was strong enough to do it if needed. The real thing is much easier to use than a practise pen.

Do you practise on fruit with out of date pens? Once your child can physically use one they ought to be trained to do so.

[Julia76]

What about when he walks himself to school then? My eldest ds(11) quite often walks him to school, although this will be less often when my ds(11) starts secondary school in September and then I will have to take ds(8) more regualrly. Do you think he should have it in his bag incase he ever needs it when walking to school. My ds(11) has been shown how to use it & would be confident enough to if he felt necessary & knows what signs to look out for etc. Im just not sure how the school would react knowing that he had his epipens etc in his school bag, as if they looked after them all day, he may forget to bring them home after school, then not have them for home. I think I need to have a chat with my ds(8) & show him what to do in the event of needing it. I just worry about him having it as i feel he is not yet responsiable to have charge of it, but then saying that I suppose then I need to be walking him around to his friends house & to school in that case. I worry incse someone finds out he has got Epipen's & trys taking them off him or even worse injecting him to see what happens.

[Ariela]

One of DDs friends is 7 and has charge of her own Epipen, but it does go everywhere with her in its own bag. I do know how to use it from previous First Aid training but have never been shown by the mum (who doesn't know I was trained in FA years ago), but then the girl herself is a very grown up sensible type and I'm sure she wouldn't eat anything she was doubtful of and also she would know to self administer.
I have to say her mum always says 'she'll be fine and knows what to do, but I'm leaving this is just in case she needs it although I'm sure you won't actually have to use it'

Doesn't put me off inviting her round (she's lovely!) although I tend to feed them indoors and not let them eat tea in the garden in case of wasp stings after this sort of time of year!

I would definitely definitely leave it with him those few minutes - getting hold of you to come round in the other parents mind could be dangerous/fatal so from my point of view the reassurance it's there is better than the worry 'what if something happens and I can't get you to come quick enough'

[tatt]

If he's responsible enough to walk around on his own isn't he ready to start taking responsibility for his epipen? Some people have a special peg near the door and hang a bag there so it becomes habit to take it when you go out. We have a rule - no epipen no food. I don't think mine has ever stuck to it when out of my sight but it's something you could tell your friend.

[Julia76]

May contirdict myself here but going to ask anyway. The only time my ds has not got epipen with him is when he walks round to his friends house. They live few minuts away. 3 streets away. My ds(8) regularly walks to his friends. My friend phones me to let me know he has arrived & when he is on his way home so I know. But his Epipen is always at home with me whilst he is at their house. I should send the epipen/s round with him shouldnt I? Silly question as I know the answer. As Tatt said, its no use not with the person who needs it. Cant believe all this time I have not sent the Epipen round with him. I suppose I have always been worried if he is responsiable enough to take charge of having it.

[teafortwoandtwofortea]

Yes, the pen should be with the person who is supervising the child at all times, whther at home, at a friends, nursery or school. It wouldn't put me off having a child round to play - DS1 has a friend (age 2.7) and she has one.

There have only been 2 deaths from anaphylactic shock in the PCT where I work, both were known food allergies, both people checked with the restaurant staff they were served by that the food they were allergic to was not present and neither had their pens with them. Entirely preventable and very sad - we should all learn from them and be trained to use epipens IMO.

[tatt]

an epipen is no use if it isn't with the child. If they have an anaphylactic reaction you only have minutes to respond. Therefore I always left the epipen and used to get people to practise with a trainer pen. It does mean fewer people will have them but better that than a dead child.

Now they are older and meeting people we don't know as well they take their epipen but I don't instruct the parents in how to use it.

[Julia76]

Obviousally leave inhaler & anti histamine too........

[Julia76]

I have a child anaphylactic to peanuts & I always leave the Epipen with whom ever is looking after him. The epipen needs to be with him at all times. I also find people get put off by my sons allergy & having to be responsable with medication etc in case of an reaction or anaphylaxis.