Talking Allergies

I ordered my daughter a medical alert bracelet the day her allergy to peanut and tree nut was confirmed. In all my infinite wisdom, I picked the sports bracelet. I chose it because 1. It had cats and dogs on it, and she likes cats and dogs. 2. It went to four inches, and thus was the only bracelet that fit her tiny, tiny wrist. She is small boned. After I ordered it, we talked it up and I told her it was special and beautiful and it was coming in the mail just! for! her!

You know where I'm going with this. It arrived, she was pleased, I put it on, she threw a knock 'em down, drag 'em out, hysterical tantrum and insisted it was very, very ouchie. And you know what?! It kind of is. It's rough. I wouldn't want to wear it. If it gets wet, I think it would be even more uncomfortable. I should've ordered the classic kind and taken it to a jeweler. I didn't.

So, being the crafty mom I am, I fashioned my own stainless steel bracelet with a lovely lobster claw on it and put a beautiful little pink glass heart charm on it. I wrapped it up. I put in a gift bag. I told her it was a beautiful present just for her. And she hates it. It's ouchie. Except it's not. She just doesn't want to wear it. She doesn't like getting dressed, never mind wearing the bracelet.

Now if this were somebody else's kid and I was reading this post, I'd say tough beans. She's gotta wear it. Eventually she'll get used to it. But I don't know. This is bad. She hates it with a special passionate hatred. She just shakes her wrist and screams, "TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF RIGHT NOW!"

Long story short, I need your advice. How did you get your 2 year old to wear a medical alert bracelet?

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Me- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
Husband- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
DD- Allergic to peanuts and pecans (avoiding all tree nuts)

You start wearing a chain bracelette. Lead by example. Show it to all of your freinds and gush, "How do you like my bracelette?"

Tell her she'll have to wait until she's older. It's big girl jewelry.

Bribe her. Tell her if she wears it for a week, you'll buy her a ---(insert name of useless but lovable toy here)---.

Take your pick!

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

We went through that with DS when he first started wearing his medicalert bracelet. He was only about 18 months I think, so wasn't complaining about it being ouchie, but kept trying to pull it off. I like the medic alert stainless steel bracelets because there is no way the child can take it off. This only went on for less than 2 days and by day 3 he totally ignored it. The odd time he notices it's on, like last month went he went down the slide feet first on his tummy and the emblem got caught in the crack at the top and he was hanging by one arm screaming but other than that he doesn't even notice it anymore. So make sure it is a bracelet that she cannot remove and just put up with the complaining for a couple days then it should be fine.

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DS Sept 2006 - peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, coconut; contact reactions. Asthma. Many animal and environmental allergies.
DS Oct 1990 - Environmental allergies

Our son was 14 months when he started wearing his bracelet. We purchased the medic alert standard chain style and haven't had any issues with it. The first day he pulled at it constantly, now I don't think he even notices. Looking back it was almost easier to get him accustomed to wearing it as he was so young . Our daughter calls it his bling, if you ask him where his bling is he'll proudly show off his bracelet.

I wish you all the luck in the world, we are closing in on the 2 year mark and everything is becoming more 'challenging' to say the least! At 14 months our son could wear (it was large but didn't fall off) the smallest size the medic bracelets came in , I am fairly sure it was 5" including the pendent.

All the best with the terrible two's!

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

My now 4.5yr old DD was diagnosed at 2.5 and we got her a stainless steel bracelet from Medicalert. I was worried because she's 'picky' about clothes, etc, but I made a big deal of it, how pretty it was, how special it was and she was OK putting it on, and we just never took it off. Until. . . . she started getting a rash, and realized she's allergic to nickel. I then ordered a silver one, which was great.

Then, DS was diagnosed around age 2 and the stainless steel also gave him a rash. I bought a silver one, but he seemed to react mildly to that, and then it fell off at the park and we lost it.

He's also very small boned and tiny, and needs a 4.75 inch bracelet. . . the medicalert sports bands started at size 4-5.5 inches non adjustable, so it would be 5.5 inches which would have fallen right off his wrist.

I ended up ordering a different brand of bracelet from this online store: http://www.stickyj.com/medical-emergenc ... elets.html which has an adjustable fabric band. I had to get DD a new one too because she liked the design on the band instead of her plain old sterling silver one. There are a couple of Cdn retailers that have this too, but I've asked if they have different strap lengths like StickyJ does, and I haven't heard back from either: http://www.beadinghearts.ca/shop.php and http://www.peanutfree.com/Medic%20Jewellery.html You could let her pick her own strap design and maybe she would go for it. I've felt it and it's not scratchy and pretty hard for a toddler to take off if they tried. Only thing is it has to come off at bath time.

If you go with this design, I recommend engraving vital info on the front instead of the back, because it's a pain to take off the bracelet to see the engraving - think of a teacher who wants to see exactly what the child is allergic to, etc. I fit 4 lines of text on the front, including all their allergies and location of epipen.

Good luck!

Oh, I forgot to add that this type of bracelet obviously doesn't come with the 24 call centre support like Medic Alert. However, for my situation, I think wearing it is better than having a medicalert one that gives my DS a rash, or one that is too big and will fall off. When they're older, I'll probably switch back to a medicalert product.

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DD 2004 Allergy to peanuts, egg, sesame, and new: lentils and chick peas
DS 2006 Allergy to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, egg, kiwi fruit, eczema

Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to reply! Susan's suggestion of wearing a bracelet myself ended up being the winner. I took out my old charm bracelet and wore it, then slapped on hers and told her we had bracelet power. We invented a secret bracelet shake, which involves shaking the wrist and then bumping out fists together. She didn't want to take it off last night and asked for it first thing this morning.

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Me- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
Husband- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
DD- Allergic to peanuts and pecans (avoiding all tree nuts)

Well done! Allergy moms have to have an imagination, no doubt about it!

I've been considering a bracelet for my DD (who is 18 months old and only 16lbs - any chance one will even fit her??).

I figured that as long as she is always with me or DH and not in daycare or preschool that we should be ok without one. But then I wonder if I got her in the habit of wearing one now, she might not fight it as much as an older child?

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6 year old son - eczema and sensitive skin
4 year old daughter - allergic to nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mustard and eggs; has outgrown allergies to wheat and legumes (by age 2) and to dairy, soy (by age 3.5).

Urmila, we got our daughter a bracelet even though she is with us all the time and is not yet in daycare or preschool (she's will go to preschool in Sept 2010) because if we were in a car accident or if we were separated (ie she somehow got away from us at a fair or shopping or something) people would need to know. Also, I wanted her to get used to it.

edit to add: Talk to the medic alert people on the phone and let them know your daughter's wrist size. The smallest steel bracelet is 5 inches (it says 4.5 inches but they add a half inch for comfort) so i let them know she has the smallest bones EVER and we needed it to be no bigger than 4.5 inches. They can accommodate that. My advice is to not get the sports bracelet. That was a waste of money! Might be good on an older child, though.

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Me- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
Husband- No allergies. No eczema. No asthma.
DD- Allergic to peanuts and pecans (avoiding all tree nuts)

When getting bracelets for my children from Medic Alert, I was twice able to get a 4.5inch bracelet. I just told them my children's wrist size, and that they needed a smaller size than what they had listed on the website. It was no problem, so I'm sure they would accommodate if you needed something even small than that.

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DD 2004 Allergy to peanuts, egg, sesame, and new: lentils and chick peas
DS 2006 Allergy to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, egg, kiwi fruit, eczema

Thanks for the info, I had been talking to DH about the possiblity of a car accident. No one would know what (not) to feed her! Actually the idea of this is stressing me out now.

For those of you who's children have multiple allergies, do you list them all on the bracelet? Or just the major ones? I'm guessing from the previous posts that we won't be able to use a real Medicalert bracelet yet because of her small size.

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6 year old son - eczema and sensitive skin
4 year old daughter - allergic to nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mustard and eggs; has outgrown allergies to wheat and legumes (by age 2) and to dairy, soy (by age 3.5).

Urmila, It brings great he peace of mind knowing our son is wearing his bracelet for exact reasons you mentioned. I fear being hurt myself and unable to explain to a temporary caregiver not to feed my child as he has allergies etc. You should have no problem fitting your daughter for a medic alert bracelet. Many of us have ordered bracelets for our children some younger than your daughter. Our son started wearing his at 14 months. I have read since a few posts (above) where people actually ordered them even smaller than the one we received for our son. Call the medic alert number and talk to them, you will be able to ask any questions you have directly to a medic alert staff member.
As far as what to word on it, you can tell them or they have medical reps. who go over it with you. Our son's allergies have multiplied since we had the bracelet made, it only lists a few. Our daughter's suggestion was to have a medic alert charm bracelet made in order to accomidate all his allergies

I feel SO much relief knowing he's wearing it especially as he is too young to talk. You can update the medical file any time online and you will receive two wallet cards with a full allergy/medical history, medications, dr.'s contacts etc. each time you update.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Well d'oh, I just realized that I misread Alison's Mom's post right above mine where she said that she ordered tiny Medicalert bracelets.

DH suggested that we just stamp "Do not feed me" across Sandhya's forehead. But I pointed out that since she has bangs, that's not really going to help either

I'm going to get on this now, and go measure her wrist. My daughter is 18 months old but its the size issue - she's only 16 lbs (wears size 6 months clothing).

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6 year old son - eczema and sensitive skin
4 year old daughter - allergic to nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mustard and eggs; has outgrown allergies to wheat and legumes (by age 2) and to dairy, soy (by age 3.5).

She'll probably be allergic to the dye in the stamp!

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

LOL LOL LOL

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Adair who is 23 months wear his bracelet from Petite Baubles Boutique - we got a monkey on his, so it would be something "fun" to wear. At first he started trying to take it off all the time, but I showed him a bracelet mommy wears and he was soon ok with it. Now he doesn't let us take it off and loves showing his "monkey" to people!

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Son (09.08.07) - Peanut/Nut Allergy, Dogs, Cats and Eczema
Daughter (16.02.09) None that we know of