Sweethearts Candy Blog's

Back to school time is right around the corner for many of us, so I've compiled a list of links to help get you on track for a great year.

I've included links for preschool, elementary school, parties, play dates, etc. Some of the articles first appeared on this blog, some I wrote for other publications and the last one quoted me as a source. :)

I hope you find these to be helpful!

Preschool and day care tips Nut-Free Mom blog post

Elementary school checklist Nut-Free Mom blog post

Back to school with food allergies article for Chicago Parent magazine (by Jenny Kales)

Play dates and birthday parties with food allergies Chicago Parent magazine by Jenny Kales

Back to School with Food Allergies Real Simple magazine

FAAN Back to School Tips

When you have a family member with food allergies, sharing cups or other items is more than just potentially germ-inducing--it can trigger accidental allergic reactions. What if there was a product that could help you identify each family member's personal items to cut down on accidental exposures and cross-contact? Wouldn't color-coded labels come in handy here? However, labels you find at office supply stores fade immediately and can't stand up to dishwasher usage.

That's why I'm so happy to tell you about color-coded labels especially designed for this very important purpose. Elizabeth Goldenberg of Onespot Allergy is the mother of a child with severe peanut and tree nut allergies, and she knows firsthand how important it is to keep an allergic person's items separate--and safe. To help identify items at home, she created convenient, color-coded food allergy labels (pictured above). These handy labels can be used on everything: plates, glasses, a lunch kit, water bottles and more items that need to be identified for the food allergic person's use only.

Most labels and inks are made from toxic or carcinogenic materials. Onespot Allergy food allergy labels are non-toxic. The labels are designed to be fade-proof and will stay on your items, even when placed in the dishwasher. Plus, they can be peeled off items without leaving any residue, a huge bonus for the busy mom.

Elizabeth suggests choosing a color for each family member so that everyone knows what belongs to them and to eliminate potentially dangerous mix-ups.

In addition to food allergy labels, Onespot Allergy also offers back-to-school items such as EpiPen belts so that your child can wear their life-saving EpiPens at all times.

If you want to learn more about these color-coded labels, click here to see Elizabeth explain her product in a video.

For more info about any Onespot Allergy items for back-to-school or at home, visit the company web site web site.

As many of you know, I am a recent and devoted Sunbutter fan and had the honor of writing their current Guest Blog. Click the link to read the entire post. In my post, I talk about how Sunbutter makes a Nut-Free Mom's life easier. Does it ever.

Thanks to Sunbutter for letting me share my thoughts with their fans!

As a proud graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison, it is no surprise to me that this compassionate and progressive school would have a proactive approach to students' food allergies. I had to share this story from The Capital Times. It is inspiring and comforting. And besides that, University of Wisconsin-Madison is a terrific school. I loved my years there and I'm happy to see their accommodating measures for food allergies. My girls have visited Madison many times and said they want to attend the university someday. I say--go for it, girls!

I know it seems like a long way off to some of us, especially if your child has just been diagnosed. But I thought it was important to share this story as we all enter into back-to-school mayhem. If a huge university can have a positive food allergy policy for their food service, so can every school, everywhere.

Madison is just a great place and the campus rocks. I'll never forget when we took a trip with our two kids, then 4 and 18 months. My daughter wanted their delicious ice cream (made on campus from the school's own cows from agricultural studies!) and a student worker got a new scoop and opened a new container of ice cream just for her. My daughter still remembers that kind gesture.

This story should serve as reminder to all of us dealing with school flak that schools can and should help us make school a safer place for food-allergic kids.

Go Badgers!

Depending on when your school year begins, many of us have bought our backpacks, pencils, shoes and other school must-haves, but as we know, nut-free parents have a few more items to cross off our lists before sending out little darlings out the door.

Some of the following items are important if your child is a new student to the school (e.g. an initial meeting with the principal) and some will need to be done ever year (like providing medical forms an updated food allergy action plans). Before the First Day, be sure you have checked the following items off of your list:

•Speak with the principal (preferably in person) to let them know your family's needs. Ask them if they can include an item in the first parents' newsletter about food allergies at school and basic precautions to take (offer to write it, if they don't have time.)

•Work out a cafeteria plan if necessary. For example, will there be a dedicated peanut-free table? If not, what precautions will be taken for your child's safety? Can you introduce a peanut-free table if one does not yet exist, for kids who haven't brought peanut butter or nut products?

•Find out (from health office or principal) who is trained in EpiPen usage.

•Speaking of EpiPens--make sure your prescription is current and that you sign up for the new EpiPen registery (a form is included in your prescription.) It lets you know when your Epis are about to expire.

•Have at least 2 EpiPens for school--one for the health office and one for your child's classroom.

•Invest in a fanny pack or other carrier for your child to carry their EpiPen in.

•Make sure you have all of your doctor's notes and food allergy action plans filled out and ready to go. Be sure to initiate a meeting with the school nurse or district nurse to discuss emergency procedures (this can be combined with the principal meeting for convenience.) Include a recent photo of your child that can be glued/taped onto their emergency plan. FAAN has Food Allergy Action Plans on their website.

•Write a letter to your child's new teacher explaining their condition and offering to be the "Treats Parent" for the school year. If you're not the Room Parent, get their name, phone number and e-mail so you can contact the person (or persons) in charege about food before the first class party.

•If your school allows birthday party treats in the classroom (our new school doesn't!), make sure you send a "treats bag" with safe goodies with your child on their first day.

•Make sure your child has a MedicAlert or other medical I.D. bracelet and invest in additional "awareness" bracelets such as those found at Allermates. If your child feels fashionable, they will be more excited about wearing them.

Whew! That's my list...what do some of you have on yours? If I left out anything important, please let me know!

Back to school is now in full swing for everybody and if you have a child with life-threatening food allergies, you may be looking for convenient products for storing the Epi Pen and protecting school surfaces during lunch time.

Well, you're in luck because Alison of Allergy Essentials USA just let me know about a back-to-school sale currently running on her newly refurbished web site.

I wrote about this innovative company a while back and since then the site has been given a new look but the prices on Alison's same great products have been slashed.

Two products you might be interested in are: the Food Allergy place mat, which is great for protecting lunch tables. My daughter uses one--many designs are available and the mat even says "Food Allergy" for greater awareness. Currently place mats are $12.99 down from $14.99. They are machine washable and perfect for many uses including dining out, picnic tables and travel.

Also, the Epissentials holders are now on sale for $19.99, down from $24.99. These ingenious, adjustable holders come in sizes for both kids and adults and allow you to "wear" the EpiPen on your body -- such as your leg or arm--at all times. They even fit under loose-fitting trousers so you will know you're wearing it but no one else will.

I recently posted about ways to remember the EpiPen and the Epissentials holder is certainly a convenient way to do so.

The sales last until October 31st, so please visit http://www.allergyessentialsusa.com/ for more details and a large selection of allergy products.

Here is an interesting link from CNN sent to me by a friend. I like the way it discusses carrying an Epi Pen from the perspective of people who actually carry them, especially adults who have developed severe food allergies in later years.

The inclusion of food-allergic adults in the story is helpful in another way: it proves that anyone can have food allergies and that they can develop them at any age.

This Epi Pen discussion also reminded me that when we received our first diagnosis we kept forgetting the darn thing. It's hard to remember to carry something like that when you're not used to it.

I want to pass on our low-tech means of reminding ourselves to bring the Epi Pen with us: Post-It Notes. We placed them on the dashboard of the car, on the front and back door and on the fridge. I guess it looked a little weird to people when they saw Post-It notes with the word "Epi Pen" on them everywhere in our home, but it worked!

Anyone have a unique way they remember their Epi Pen?

Ready or not, here it comes! The school season is here or almost here and many of us find ourselves discussing our child's allergies with teachers and staff.

You will definitely want to print out this article by Linda Coss: "Attack of the Killer Peanut Butter Sandwiches" to bring along with you. It's a terrific explanation of what allergic kids (and parents) are up against at school and it takes the non-allergic point of view into account.

I'm on my way to a meeting on Monday (we begin school on Tuesday). I've been through several of these meetings already and have learned what to ask over the years. Here are a few "talking points" as you get ready to talk to the school about your child.

- Your child must carry the EpiPen at all times, to every location in the school. This is law in many states; for others you may be required to have a doctor's note. In any case, make sure that your child's teachers understand the need for an accessible EpiPen--every second counts. No locked cabinets, no "we only keep it in the health office." Explaining how a reaction works helps; a doctor's order will clinch the deal.

- Which staff members and teachers have EpiPen training? And will you use it? Asking them these questions helps identify what you may need to advocate at your school. It's been my experience that all staff are trained at our current school, but as schools all have different rules, please find out. Offer to train them or to have the nurse/health aide do a training. Make sure your child's teacher is comfortable using the EpiPen and ask what you can do to make her/him more comfortable. It's crucial.

- What are your emergency procedures? Get the exact details. You may discover that you want to revise these a bit.

- Please follow our Food Allergy Emergency Plan. Available at the FAAN website, this is the life-saving "go-to" guide if someone suspects your child is having a reaction.

- What's the "treats schedule" for the year? For example, any special holiday or event celebrations? If you can nail it down early, you'll be prepared to deliver safe treats to your child's classroom if necessary. You really don't want to be stuck making food at midnight. It makes you cranky.

- Make sure that you mark down the expiration dates for your meds--and ask if the school has a "reminder" policy for this. Many schools do, but you should be the one who really is on top of this so there are no gaps where your child is at school without their EpiPen. Just mark it down on your calendar for two weeks before it expires so you have plenty of time to get new ones.

I want to let you know about two great resources that are currently running sales promotions to help you and your allergic child prepare for the Back to School Season: Oliver's Labels and Vermont Nut Free Chocolate.

I just discovered Oliver's Labels after being contacted by them recently and I really like this product. If you've got kids in preschool, daycare or elementary school, you'll want to pick up these personalized labels that not only have your child's name but that also raise awareness about your child's nut allergy.

Labels are completely waterproof and carry a full-color "No Nuts" symbol along with your child's name or initials. Oliver's Labels also has stickers for egg, gluten and dairy allergies as well as others. You can use them to label clothing, book bags, toys, lunch bags, musical instruments--anything that your child takes to school. I really like the samples I received--they are eye-catching and quickly identify my daughter's belongings while raising food allergy awareness at the same time. Plus, when you order your labels, you get use of a free online service called FoundIt (TM) that helps you get your lost items back without having to share personal info with strangers.

I wish I'd had these sooner--especially when my child was in preschool and kindergarten. It's just one more layer of awareness as your child goes throughout their day. Click on the company's web site for more designs and colors.

If you order now, you can also receive 10% off of your initial order as a reader of this blog. Just use the coupon code OliversFriends at checkout.

Also, many of you already know how much I love Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate! They make delicious candy that is prepared in a peanut and tree-nut free facility, though they do use other allergens such as dairy and eggs. If your only concern is nut-free, however, you should know that they are running a special back to school promotion right now. Just use coupon code Back2School at checkout time to receive 10% off of your purchase through August 31st.

Vermont Nut-Free is a special treat because they make holiday and event-themed candy--a difficult thing to find if you need nut-free. The treats are great to have on hand in a "safe treats" bag that your child brings to the classroom. Check them out if you can!

I'll have more back-to-school resources in the days ahead, but I'm happy to pass along these discounted offers to all of you. If you need more info on either company, go to their respective web sites: www.oliverslabels.com and www.vermontnutfree.com.

Lately I've gotten a lot of feedback and e-mail from parents with children who are preschool age or younger. I've talked a lot about elementary school tips and will have more of those in coming days, but I want to welcome these new readers to my blog by sharing some preschool and daycare tips that worked for me and my daughter.



My daughter's first reaction (it progressed from hives and facial swelling to anaphylaxis) happened at preschool so I'm very aware of how important it is to have good policies in place in these settings. One thing that makes preschool and daycare so difficult is that you rely almost entirely on the teachers and staff to keep your child safe. Depending on your child's age, they will not be able to communicate as effectively about their allergies.



Another thing is that these places are almost entirely private schools and so can make their own policies--there is no standard. The exception for this would be a chain of preschools or daycare centers such as Bright Horizons that is peanut-free.

Peanut-free policies have become the standard at preschool and daycare centers and I would strongly recommend that you try to get your child into one of those. If your school currently is not peanut-free and you can't or don't want to leave, log on to the FAAN website to get stats and information to share with your school. If they have the facts, they will be more able to understand why you want the peanut-free policy.



Even at a peanut-free school, understanding of food allergies varies. Some preschools and daycare centers have mandatory meetings about how to use EpiPens and how to avoid allergic reactions. Make sure that yours does as well. You can get a DVD about food allergies from your allergist or from the manufacturers of the EpiPen--these are usually free. FAAN offers instructional DVDs as well. You will want to share one of these with the school.



Parents are often asked to give a "presentation" to the preschool about their child's allergies and to outline emergency plans. This is your chance to educate and advocate for your child and can be stressful. In my experience, you want to give enough information without overwhelming them. If you present your info in easy-to-read format using bullet points and lists, they'll be more likely to read and absorb the information.



When I presented my preschool/daycare info, I provided a brightly colored (easy-to-spot) binder with my daughter's name, my name and contact info and her photo. It included a brief description of symptoms to look for (provided by my allergist), a Food Allergy Emergency Action Plan (signed by my doctor) and also doctor's contact info. I included a diagram instructing them on how to use an EpiPen (available online at FAAN as part of their Food Allergy Action Plan docs). I also included a list of "safe foods" or foods that I would allow her to eat. This is a short list--and much easier to follow than an "unsafe foods" list. Update the lists as necessary--important, since labels change!! You may also want to share an educational book such as Linda Coss's excellent food allergy series.



If your child eats snacks or meals at preschool/daycare, consider sending your own lunch or meals to school. You should definitely have a chat with the school cook, but it's very hard to know what has cross-contact and what doesn't. I always sent my daughter to preschool and daycare with the following: alternative snacks (just in case, remember my school was peanut-free), a homemade lunch and "safe" treats for when kids brought in birthday food.



Birthday treats are another problem. These are almost never peanut-free (or dairy-free, egg-free, whatever your allergy is--you know what I mean.) My daughter ate her "safe" treats alongside the other kids, but a much better option--especially because so many kids have multiple food allergies these days, not just peanut--is a non-edible treat.



Currently my kids get a free paperback book of their choice for their birthday. This is paid for by the PTO. Daycare and preschool work a bit differently, but see if anyone would contribute $1 to a class b-day book fund. Daycare/preschool teachers can get great deals from the Scholastic Book Club so the cost should be relatively low. I would have suggested this way back when if I had thought of it. Or how about stickers or colored pencils? Cupcakes may be traditional, but they don't have to be the only option.



Understand that educating preschool staff will not be a "one-shot deal." As I said, understanding of food allergies varies so you may have to keep bringing your point home all year. If you remain upbeat, positive and compliment the staff on the efforts they make, you'll see that soon it will become second nature for your child's teachers. If it doesn't, speak up to the teachers directly before you go to the school director. Usually they want to help and just may need reminders.



I will have several resources for parents of daycare and preschool age kids with food allergies (as well as elementary school kids) in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. Also, please share your daycare and preschool experiences, both good and bad, so we can all discover how to best handle this issue. Thanks!

If your kids are headed back to school soon, you are feeling stressed right about now. Besides the added pressures of new shoes, book fees and extracurricular sign-ups, food allergy parents have tons of forms to fill out, teachers and staff to speak with, worries to combat.

With all of the food offered at school, whether for a class party or even for a science experiment, it's easy to get caught up in worries about what might happen. I feel anxious each year, though as my daughter gets older the anxiety lessens somewhat. Still, depending on where we live and what policies our schools have, back-to-school can feel like yet another battlefield for us to conquer.

I've felt the frenzy and all of the fears, especially right before my severely allergic daughter started kindergarten. That year I had to beat down the door of the principal's office to be heard about their FA policies--of which they really had none.

I was able to help craft a food allergy protocol that really worked for us and the other food-allergic families. The year had a few hitches (100th day of school "snack mix" comes to mind) but overall it went great.

It will for you too. If you've done all of your own homework with med forms, medications and talking to staff, you've done your best. As the nurse told my husband and I as we left the hospital with our newborn daughter all those years ago "Don't forget to breathe."

It's always good to be cautious and on top of things, reminding the teachers and staff about your child's allergy needs. But don't forget to breathe. While we have every reason to have stress about our kids' allergies, calm but firm parents get taken more seriously. Trust me on this one.

I hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of summer and that all your back-to-school preparations go smoothly.

School is just around the corner and for many of us that means packing our allergic child's lunch every day. I've found some great, environmentally-friendly products to help us do this the "green" way. Plus, these products give a little extra cheer to your child's lunch--especially nice if your child is eating lunch at school for the first time this year of if they feel conspicuous about not eating the cafeteria offerings.


If you're looking for reusable lunch containers and napkins, check out Litter Free Lunch, a company started by two moms--one of which is a "nut-free mom" that I met at the FAAN Conference last spring. Her company offers "green" lunch napkins that you can include in your child's lunch and just throw in the wash after using. Plus, they now offer stainless steel lunch containers and thermoses. Check out the site for styles--right now you can save 15% if you buy two or more sets.



What a great way to save $$ on paper napkins--not to mention helping the earth by reducing the amount of garbage you produce. We recently received our pack of Litter Free Lunch napkins and my daughter is thrilled with them. They're a nice touch to any lunch! And you know that moms invented these when you look at the back--each napkin has a label for your child's name. Cool!



As far as chic and green lunch accessories go, check out Litter Free Lunch's stainless steel lunch containers and thermoses. My kids really enjoy getting a hot lunch in winter and the Litter Free Lunch thermoses are a great option for soup or hot drinks. The stainless steel lunch containers are perfect for lunch foods and have handy compartments to accommodate condiments, etc. I really like these and I think my kids will too. Besides saving money on plastic sandwich and snack bags, you won't add to the landfill. It's a win-win.

I like to support the efforts of other moms who want to provide products or services that benefit kids with food allergies, so let me suggest a company to try if you're looking for something to fill your Litter Free Lunch food containers: FAB Snacks. Founded by the author of Food Allergy Buzz, FAB Snacks has nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free and many other allergy-free snack foods that are safe for kid with allergies.

I don't know about you all, but with the mad crowds packing the stores and malls right before the start of the school year, I like to sit back and shop the "point and click" way. Any other allergy-friendly back to school products that you love? Let me know.