Halloween Tips for Allergic Kids

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Halloween is an exciting time for children... costume parties, silly music, bags and bags of CANDY...

Yep. It's the candy part that gets our undies all in a knot.

Never mind the damage all that sugar does to those little teeth (Here's an idea-our dentist buys back candy at $1 per pound and sends it to our troops overseas!).

For the parent of an allergic child, the concern is more about the damage that the hidden food allergen might do to our kids. The zombie costumes are ghoulish enough- do we really need to amp up the freakishness with hives and giant swollen lips?

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology offers some Halloween tips here:
http://www.aaaai.org/patients/elements/1008/08halloween_checklist.stm

I think these ideas are a great start, but I do doubt the practicality of distributing your own safe snacks to neighbors in advance of trick-or-treating. (Not really fair to expect them to keep track- or even be able to recognize your kid if he or she is in costume!)

Here's my tip to add to their list (modified from our dentist's plan): "Buy back" questionable treats from your allergic child. In exchange for giving up what may easily amount to half of the trick-or-treating stash, offer your child a coupon for a trip to the movies, the toy he's had his eye on, or a special spa day for your little princess. Be creative- and let your child participate in the deal ahead of time- the anticipation of the value upon trade-in will make giving up all that candy much less painful!

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