Tag: food allergies

Navigating Food Allergies: At Camp, On Sleepovers and Playdates

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With the warm weather upon us, for many families, that usually means vacation, camp and extra time spent with friends and family.  For us, that means we ship the kid off to Va for a few weeks to our parents.

But for many families like ours, the logistics of spending time away from home also means managing kids’ food allergies.  Just because a kid has food allergies doesn’t mean that can’t have fun while they’re away from home; in fact, many organizations and establishments have found a way to safely navigate around kids’ food allergies, working together with families to ensure that everyone has fun!

I’m excited to once again take part in a conversation on TheMotherhood.com, and this time we’ll be discussing Navigating Food Allergies:  At Camp, On Sleepovers and Playdates!

Allergies, in general, affects so many families, so I know this topic is something that many of you may find informative.  And even if your family isn’t directly affected, since food allergies are so much more common now, having this sort of knowledge onhand certainly doesn’t hurt.  So, please, join us today!

Navigating Food Allergies:  At Camp, On Sleepovers and Playdates on TheMotherhood.com

When: Tuesday, April 12, at 1 p.m. ET

Where: TheMotherhood – Join us!

What: The class is called Navigating Food Allergies: At Camp, on Sleepovers and Playdates.  Join the experts to talk about ensuring your kids have fun and safe experiences in these environments away from home. Lori Sandler, Divvies Bakery will lead a discussion with Sandy Rubenstein of Camp Wingate*Kirkland and Renee Flax of the American Camp Association who have worked with many families managing food allergies.  Come with questions and your own best approaches. The focus is all about making sure your kids are taken care of physically, emotionally and socially so they can have fun!

The class is sponsored by ConAgra Foods and hosted by TheMotherhood.

The hosts and other co-hosts of this class are:

Lori Sandler, Divvies, http://www.divvies.com
Sandy Rubenstein, Camp Wingate*Kirkland, http://www.campwk.com
Renee Flax, American Camp Association
Caryn Bailey, Rockin’ Mama
Eleanor Garrow, FoodAllergy.org
Jodi Grundig, Mom’s Favorite Stuff
Nirasha Jaganath, Mommy Niri
Jenny Kales, Nut-Free Mom
Jill Mindlin, parent advocate
Ariella Rogge, Sanborn Ranch Camps
Jo-Lynne Shane, Musings of a Housewife
Abby Shapiro, Camp Source Network

Full disclosure:  I am being compensated for my participation in this webinar, which is sponsored by ConAgra Foods and hosted by TheMotherhood.  As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Holly Robinson Peete to Host Webinar on Food Allergies

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Because allergies run rampant in our family, this topic has been on my radar well before I became a parent.  Once I became a mom, introducing food to the kid with the possibility of food allergies became an even bigger reality.  Aside from real-life experience by helping my younger brother cope with being “allergic to the world,” my husband and I researched to educate ourselves for the uncertainty of having a child with food sensitivities.

Amidst all the gatherings this time of year, it’s the parties and family events that can be a cause of concern for allergic reactions.  After being so cautious with anything new that the three year old has eaten, over Christmas, he had an allergic reaction after having some cashews.  Of course, the reaction happened the evening of the post-Christmas blizzard and weather conditions would have complicated everything.  Thankfully, the kid is at an age where he can verbally communicate with us now, and immediately told us that his tongue was itchy—a telltale sign of an allergic reaction, and something that I always remember my brother describing after eating various things he was allergic to, when we were kids.

Always reluctant to let the kid have nuts in anything, for some reason, I thought he would have been ok trying cashews for the first time that night.  I thought he was in the clear with any nut allergies, but I was wrong.

The kid’s hives, swollen lips and an itchy tongue was enough to remind us that not all foods are safe for our allergy-prone kid.  Thankfully, we had Children’s Benadryl onhand to remedy the situation and that it didn’t require a trip to the ER.  We learned from this terrifying situation and are grateful it didn’t transpire differently.

Because of our family’s allergies and my interest in sharing this sort of information to other parents, I will be logging into a video webinar on the topic tomorrow.

Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest eating day of the year after Thanksgiving. Since severe allergic reactions to food send 90,000 people to the emergency room annually, TV personality Holly Robinson Peete of CBS’s The Talk (who is married to former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete) will be hosting an online video webinar about handling food allergy dangers at gatherings like Super Bowl parties. Nine out of 10 people say they will be attending one this year, according to a recent Nielsen survey.  Since Holly’s four children all have some kind of food allergy, she has plenty of expertise in this topic.

After the webinar, I’ll be one of a few bloggers who will ask Holly questions pertaining to allergies and her experience.  It’s always interesting to hear other parents shed light on issues that hit so close to home.  I’ll of course share Holly’s insight after the interview, but I’d also like to invite you to watch the online webinar.

Allergy Friendly Superbowl Webinar with Holly Robinson Peete

When: Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT)

Where: Click this link
 to get to the webinar, where you will be able to watch Holly via live video feed: http://agencyroad.na4.acrobat.com/allergyfriendlysuperbowl/

Full disclosure: I am being compensated for my participation in this webinar and Q&A via TheMotherhood. The webinar is being sponsored by Dey Pharma L.P.  As always all opinions on NKT are my own.