Keeping Safe with Allergies whilst out on Summer Camp
My child has life threatening food allergies. We’ve had our close call and hope that it NEVER, EVER happens again. But, I don’t want my son living under a rock, fearful of having fun and being, well, a kid. So, he’s off to a summer day camp this year. I’ve spoken with the program directors about my son’s allergies and drilled them on their allergy awareness and emergency protocols and I came away feeling confident that my son will be safe. Of course he’ll be wearing his epinephrine and asthma pump in a cute little hip bag/carrier, he’ll also be sporting a medical ID bracelet, and I’ll be reminding his counselors about his allergies everyday, but he’ll be having the time of his life at camp.
Food Allergy Focused Camps
When my son is old enough, I would love for him to attend one of these cool camps just for kids with food allergies. Check out the post about Camp Blue Spruce, a sleep away camp for kid’s with food allergies, to get a feel for the concept.
These resources have lists of food allergy camps – maybe there is one near you:
Regular Camps
If you can’t find a food allergy camp in your area, no need to worry. Your children can still have fun and be safe at a local camp, but you’ll need to be diligent in ensuring the camp is savvy and attentive when it comes to food allergies and especially to your child’s specific needs. Here are two great posts on this very topic:
Best Allergy Sites: Summer Camp and Food Allergies
Kids with Food Allergies: Make Summer Camp Safe for Your Food-Allergic Child
Have you sent your food allergic child to summer camp? What was your experience? What was your child’s experience?
Stay tuned for the next part of the Summer Camp Series: Eczema!
FROM: Allergies, Food Allergies
I love that you are letting him still go to summer camp, I know it takes a brave mom!! If it makes you feel any better, I went to summer camp with all of my anaphylactic allergies as a kid and never had a problem!! Once I even traveled to California for a camp and my family lived in DC! The counselors and medical staff were always great and I felt totally safe. I know he will have a great time and will make memories that will last forever!
It’s funny you say that because the camps sometimes seem better prepared for food allergies than schools. I think it’s because they really have to be careful since the kids change counselors and locations every day. I just want him to live a normal, happy life and not be imprisoned by his allergies – you know? It sounds like your parents felt the same and look how great you turned out! 😉 Hey, are you going to the new food allergy conference? Would be great to meet you!
I’m not sure i know about that conference actually, where is it!? Definitely interested!
Have a look at Immunophen. Many families have become food allergy free after taking it.
https://immunophen.com/what-is-immunophen/
Interesting. What about those with pine allergies? Or is this to help combat that, like desensitization?
The active ingredient is not pine, so it could be fine. I am not sure exactly how it will react, you can have a look at Dr. Cheney and how he explains the th2 to th1 shift and how pinecone extract can do this
Jennifer,
Have you tried using acupressure points on your child? There are 2 points that are supposed to help with allergic rhinitis and I checked with the Dr (who has a PHD in health sciences), he said these 2 points are good for food allergy and ecezma too. Check out my latest blog post on it. But do note that from my experience, natural healing method like this needs to be applied diligently on regularly basis to see its effect. Let me know if it helps your child.
Thank you so much Shan! What a great post. I hope I’ll be able to try this out when my spring allergies hit.