Trick or treat!

Costumes ready? Trick or treat bag? Before you and your kids set out his evening for a few hours of fun, remember to keep safe and allergy-incident free tonight. We're off to some trick o' treating ourselves, and here are some precautions Itook and will be taking to prevent another mishap.

1. No rubber masks. I'm not sure whether my son has latex allergies, but I really don't need an allergy outbreak due to latex right now. Besides, they say that the more exposed you get, the more chances that a Latex Allergy can develop.

2. I'll keep his bottle of Fenistil drops handy. For those of you who have stronger reactions, an Epi-Pen should be kept handy, too.

3. Call me a stage-mom or a paranoid, if you want, but I'm tagging along. Although my son knows he has to ask someone to read the ingredient list first to verify if he can eat a particular candy, it may happen that in all the excitement and seeing other kids open their goodies might just make him forget. I'm not taking that chance.

4. I'll have him eat something filling, perhaps a sandwich, before trick o'treating. That way, he'll be less tempted to open his treats right away.

5. I'll prepare bag of nut-free sweets and non-food treats at home with which my son can exchange for those he has collected but cannot eat. Actually he said, I can have them all, but I just think it's a good idea for him to still have something special in exchange for giving up all those goodies.

For more tips, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis has more. If you want to read how other parents cope with food allergies during this season, the Bay State Parent tells of different strategies parents have adopted to ease their anxieties.

Happy Halloween and stay safe!