Children With Anaphylaxis Managing Their Anxiety - Episode #18
In this episode I briefly touch on one strategy that young children with anaphylaxis can use to manage their anxiety levels. The food allergy quick tip is about food ingredient contents always changing and a quick way to see if they really have changed or it’s just a mistake with the labelling.
Please forgive the green background, I was in a rush to record this episode before going to work and didn’t have time to setup the lighting, and then couldn’t remove the green very well in post production, so decided to leave it in for this week.
Talk soon
Aaron
Another great episode. This is an excellent topic and one I don’t hear discussed very often. Our PA son is not quite 5 but he is very aware of his allergy due to my vigilance. It is part of his daily life and ours too. Thankfully, there is something of a routine to it all now, and not the fear and nervousness he witnessed just after his diagnosis.
He’s an extremely affectionate child. But nowadays he is afraid to let friends hug him because he sometimes smells peanut butter on their breath. And you can see it makes him very nervous. Even at his young age, he remembers having trouble breathing during his big peanut allergic reaction.
Looking forward to episode 19!
good topic.
parental stress does rub off on children, and they absorb much more than we think.
as our son is 12 we try and include him in the ‘is it safe ‘ conversations.
when he was younger we found out that he used to listen to the ‘is it safe’ conversations between us , and ask very pointed questions later on.
so even if you think the kids cant hear you, they can, so back off on the non stop allergy conversations if you can when children are around.
Let the questions be led by the child. There is nothing wrong with being honest, but be practical, give tips on how to get around a problem.
focus on the positive, even when as a parent you dont feel that way.
my son has always been underweight, after all food is not such a passion for him.
I spend time cooking with him, preparing safe menus together for the whole family.
expect stress levels to rise for a considrable time after a reaction. being ultra careful for a while is a normal response.
stress that not every day is a allergy reaction day, and that for the vast majority the allergy management is going very well.
parents need to have a break, the lower your stress levels, the lower your childs.
good subject, thanks,
sarah
Great episode! My strategy is to learn to fight the « anxiety monster » my self in order to be a good model for my son. Like many allergic teenagers he says that his food allergy are not a problem for him. I don’t know if it is truly how he manage his anxiety.