EBL Food Allergies

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ALLERGIES: Dining Out With Severe Food Allergies

by 8 Comments

Cough, cough, cough…wheeze…cough, cough, cough.  For any normal child this is no cause for
concern.  With an allergy child, it’s
different.  Immediately all heads raise
to look.  The worry kicks in.  You hold your breath and wait.  You ask “are you all right?” and hope that
their response is a “yup Mom, I’m fine” in a normal voice.  Then you can start to relax, and exhale. 


This is the very reason I do not go out to eat with my
son.  I find myself constantly watching
him and waiting for a reaction.  I feel
myself tense up if a hive develops.  I am
unable to relax and just enjoy my meal. 
I’m waiting for the coughing to start. 
Then the guilt, *sigh *, the guilt starts.  How could I be so naïve to think that a restaurant
could accommodate all of my son’s allergies correctly?  My ridiculous attempt of being “normal” and
going out for a nice dinner is completely ruined. 

I have come up with an alternative.   When we go out (which isn’t often) we go for
an early dinner when there are no crowds. 
I cook my son’s dinner and wrap it on a plate.  I also use a heated lunch box.  It will keep his food warm for a couple of
hours.  When our food is served I un-wrap
his plate and we all eat together AND…I’m actually able to relax and enjoy
myself.  Ahhhhhh…our life may not be “normal”,
but it’s our normal.  J

Comments

  1. Christina says

    Thank you for posting this. It is so hard to eat out and I know it will only get more challenging (I have a 2 year old right now). As of now, I can bring a bento style lunchbox with and always pack "fun" foods that he enjoys so he does not feel left out. He has no clue what he is missing at this point so it works well. I have a put in my stomach about this scenario 2-3 years from now. 🙁 I like the idea of a hot plate of food! What type of heated lunchbox do you have???

    Reply

  2. Elizabeth DiBurro says

    Hi Christina, My son is four and all he's ever known is being allergic and having his own food. It's his "normal". He doesn't know what the other foods taste like. He has never made any comments about wishing he could eat normal food. It's just the way it is. I try to always point out how others also have allergies and we discuss what they are. I think it makes him feel like he's not alone. 🙂
    We use a Warm & Tote heated lunch bag. It has worked really well for us. They have a bunch of different sizes. Sometimes we also use a Thermos depending on the food.
    thanks for showing interest in the blog.
    Elizabeth 🙂

    Reply

  4. Anonymous says

    Love this post! Thank you. Makes me realize I am not the only one out there that doesn't allow their child to eat at restaurants. Our daughter is almost 4 and has 15 food allergies. I could never imagine letting her eat food that we didn't prepare. We basically do the same thing except having the warm plate which is a great idea. Our daughter loves to go to restaurants and we pack her food every time. At this age she gets excited when a kid cup with water is brought to her!!! LOL. I know as she gets older this will wear off but we take it one day at a time for now. Thank you again!!!

    Reply

  6. janelle says

    I have to bring my son's food with us everywhere we go too. We don't eat out alot either because of the same concern. I love the warm and heated lunch tote bag idea – where did you get that?
    Thanks so much for posting your experiences 🙂
    Janelle

    Reply

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