How To Still Enjoy Going Out When Your Baby Has Allergies

How To Still Enjoy Going Out When Your Baby Has Allergies

Not everyone will be as savvy as you are when it comes to being careful around your baby who has allergies. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t know what to do and how to be mindful - even family members. I am speaking about my personal experiences and how I’ve learned to set boundaries with people I love dearly, as difficult as that was.

After having a shock A&E visit with a wheat allergy and faced with a 7-week wait for further testing, we were hyper-aware of who held our son and other people’s homes - you can’t be too careful when your baby is allergic to a very common food.

We were invited to a BBQ by family, which made me anxious, but I was determined to not let my anxiety hold me back from letting our family see our son. We discussed the boundaries we would set in place beforehand, so we were both on the same page and a united front in the name of protecting our child.

Before food, relatives were allowed to hold him once they had washed and sanitized their hands. After food, no one touched him but us, no matter what.


At this point, I was instructed to be wheat-free, so it was down to me to have him, which I was perfectly fine with.

Most of the time, as irritating as it is for parents of a child with allergies, most people’s actions are habitual and they just don’t think properly. Pretty much everyone was aware of our boundaries, except for one lady, who wanted to pick him up. She did, and we thought nothing of it considering she hadn’t been there long and we thought everyone knew of our rules. The host comes running in to tell her she had to put James down as she had eaten food. There was slight panic and a sincere apology, which we accepted of course since it was an honest mistake - and they happen, and that’s fine! And our son was fine, we had successfully visited the family without an allergic reaction!

Be prepared for questions, some of them seem really obvious and it may frustrate you (such as, “So can he still have wheat then?”), but most people are clueless when it comes to allergens if they’ve never dealt with it before. Keep that in mind when setting your boundaries and try to be patient with those around you.

 

About the Author:                                   

         

Lauren is a trained business journalist, editor, social media expert and business and life coach. She started Freshly Brewed UK, a marketing and coaching business, during her maternity leave when she was faced with the decision of whether to return to her work and give up breastfeeding due to no remote working allowed or run her own business to continue her breastfeeding journey.

Known as The Bizzy Mama, she has also set up a networking support group for mama-owned businesses and is launching a monthly online networking event with guest speakers to talk about their entrepreneurial journey. In her rare spare time, she is an author, a knitter, a voracious reader, a lover of hikes and an animal person, being a fur mum to huskita Smokey and cat, Sasha.

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