Talking Allergies

We're thinking of getting our 2-year old one of those play kitchens, and they often come with pretend food. I'm just wondering if I should let him have the pretend versions of his allergens. I can see where it could be a good opportunity for teaching about taking care with allergic foods, but I don't want to "lighten" things too much about his allergens.

What would you do?

Thanks,
Marla

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*Son, 5 years old: Asperger's, allergic to eggs, peanuts, and mustard seed (outgrew dairy and soy)
*Son, 23 months old
*Hubby: allergic to cats and trees (non-specified types)
*Self: allergic to penicillin

At 2 I don't think I would they are just see that they are playing witht his food then when they see it other places they want to really try it. I would put it up for him to have and look at later when he can understand.

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Karen in Ohio mom of 7
Allergic to tons and tons of food as well as perfumes, scented air sprays and cleaners. Hubby to Fish, ds #2 Shellfish, youngest to Eggplant, potato, Caesin, Raw Tomato & spinach.

I sometimes think we don't give our kids enough credit. I think a little person can tell the difference between plastic food and real food, and I would use it to teach him about what his allergens look like. (Unless you think that is going to totally suck the joy out of his having fun with his kitchen, which occurred to me as I wrote that last sentence. )

The safety rules of not taking food from people outside the home would still be in place. But with this play food he can play and experiment just like other kids. I really don't think making play food "scary" or "forbidden" is a good idea. If we act like something is scary when it's not, we risk making them scared of stuff that there is no need to be scared of.

Just my 2 cents.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

We never restricted the food in our daughter's "kitchen." It helped her learn the difference between cow's milk and soy milk. She played with all of the foods including eggs and from time to time I talked to her about pretend food versus real food but she seemed to understand from the beginning. It will allow you to role play different situations with her from time to time also.

Our son has hammers, saws, staple guns and drills in his work bench and he knows that the real ones are dangerous. Your daughter will likely run into pretend allergenic foods at other homes, daycare or play centers and in kindergarten. So if you do restrict it at home, you will have to decide what to do when she encounters it at other places.

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

My sons had toy eggs in their pretend kitchen. I do agree that it can help them to feel comfortable in dealing with their allergies, and that there is very little chance of them getting confused with real life allergens.
We found it funny that my sons never included the eggs in play about eating/ preparing food (pretend picnics etc.), they mostly used them as props when playing with action figures. For example the evil Dr. Octopus drops an egg bomb on Spiderman, or Superman saves everyone from the horrible evil giant egg! Clearly, they were working through some of their allergy anxieties as they played.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

Thanks to all of you for the great replies. I always feel better about stuff after getting ideas/support from this forum!

Marla

We have toy eggs and cheese in our play kitchen too. They had always been there before the allergy diagnosis and I never really felt it was right to remove some of their toys as well. My kids even pretend that some of their stuffed animals have allergies, and are very good at knowing what certain animals can and can't have...and I mean these animals have had THE SAME allergies for a long time...a year after the webkinz pig was "diagnosed" he is still allergic to eggs...and the kids never forget!

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.