I have now known a week that my daughter (2.5) is allergic to tree nuts... I still haven't braved the shops to investigate all the labels, and see what she can no longer have... but I did have a glance in our cupboard and didn't realise how much food we had, that "might" contain traces of nuts!

It would be nice to talk to someone else who has a child with an allergy to nuts, or an allergy... advice on where to start would be great.

Recently got told, I should try and role play with her... and get her to always ask what is in her food and "can I have this?" before she eats something.

Is anybody able to hlep, or advise?

A little stressed and overwhelmed at the thought of the what IF's and WHY's...?!

Help!!

It is pretty daunting, that's for sure.

I'm allergic to tree nuts (and peanuts) myself, just in case you want to ask me anything.

Good luck.

Has your allergist told you to avoid "may contain traces" products? If not, it may not be as tricky as initially think.
DD2 has allergies to treenuts, sesame, dairy, egg & kiwi. Our allergist told me not to worry about products that contain traces - and so far she has been fine with them. (Although we had an issue with a particular loaf of bread that had traces of sesame.) It is definitely worth asking the question about what the allergist thinks about traces, especially if your daughter has already been eating food with traces of nuts already without a reaction.

On the positive side, there are lots of products without traces of nuts. I find the health food aisle at the supermarket has lots of specialty products without nuts. (Near the gluten free products.)

A lot of the coles brand food as well is OK.

DD is allergic to tree nuts but can eat food the has "may contain traces of nuts" anything that is labelled "may contain traces of tree nuts" I avoid

agree - thank god for the Coles brand stuff. I know their monopolisation of food products is not so popular but I am soooooo thankful for having them as an option because they have many products that DS would otherwise not be able to eat.

OP, have you been to see an allergy specialist? They will be able to give you info pertaining to your childs allergy and ongoing management, it also helps to have a good GP.

There is lots of info on the net, and particularly here on EB for living with allergies.

It is very scarey to find out your child is anaphylactic to a common food product. all I can say is vigilance with what they eat, are exposed to, and educating myself as much as possible about the allergy has been helpful in increasing my confidence. I am still petrified in lots of situations, bday parties, thinking of when he starts kinder, etc. but its just a matter of giving my son the best life possible within those boundaries. I often remind myself there are lots of parents and kids worse off than us.

I hope you find the info you need specific to your daughter...... and for moral support come back to this allergy section in EB

The beginning of an allergy journey can be very scary and daunting.

The 'may contain traces of tree nuts' does not indicate that there are traces of tree nuts in the product. This warning is put on labels by the manufacturers of products to indicate that although tree nuts are not an ingredient in the product, the product is manufactured on equipment that makes other foods that do contain tree nuts. Therefore they cannot exclude the possibility of a trace contamination. They put these warnings on for liability issues.

For this reason, most children with allergies can eat 'may contain traces of' products. I say most, because there are exceptions. Did your allergist give you any information specifically regarding this?
This is a handy link from the Australian Food Standards which specified what nuts are included as 'tree nuts' for food labelling purposes:
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerin...nutallergen.cfm

The ASCIA page on peanut/tree nuts allergies is also good reading if you haven't seen it already:
http://www.allergy.org.au/aer/infobulletin...nut_allergy.htm

Roleplay is a great idea. Tree nuts is such a tricky allergy because most people think of 'nuts' as peanuts and nothing else. Anything your DD can do to make people think twice before giving her something to eat will be enormously helpful.

Anaphylaxis Australia is a membership support organisation for people at risk of anaphylaxis - you can find their website at http://www.allergyfacts.org.au/index.html You might consider joining, they also sell some useful products like books, stickers, epipen trainers etc. I found my membership quite helpful when DS was first diagnosed with peanut allergy.

Thanks to everyone for all those posts, makes it a lot easier hearing it from "like minded people"!!

I was told to avoid the "may conatin traces..." etc, which is why I suddenly panicked as I realised how many products MAY!!

I have started trying to get her to ask if they have nuts, before I give her any food... she thinks I am mad, and doesn't quite get it yet.... but we are getting there slowly.

The test is when we do a big shop saturday, and when her sister has her birthday party... need all food nut friendly in case she tries to grab something she shouldn't... which she wouldn't normally do, but... just in case right!??!

Thanks again all, I am feeling much better... although hard when I am tring to educate myself, and the rest of the fmaily at the same time!!

Ok RPA told us that assume all cadburys chocolate does contain nuts not may as it has a high contamination rate.

Carrs water crackers and McVities Digestive Biscuits are nut free (They are also egg free). Home made treats are easy for parties, eg anzac biscuits, brownies, choc caramel slice are good ones to make. (obviouslty a nut free recipe for the brownie). From memory most chip brands are fine, if you are doing the catering for the party you should be fine.

Belcolade chocolate was always nut free which is great for cooking with. I always keep a supply. It is actually proper chocolate unlike kinnerton but kinnerton is useful at easter where they do nut free eggs.

when my daughter was diagnosed- nearly 9 years ago, we continued to eat the things we had before, ie arnotts biscuits etc. we have never had a problem in this time. I don't let her eat chocolate that "may contain traces" while we are out, but sometimes she does at home.
this is the only thin I really worry about with the "may contain traces".
When she was first diagnosed the allergist we saw then said that we had to give up everything that may contain traces, I'm so glad I didn't as it would have made our life so restricted. OUr allergist now at a big paediatric children's hospital says not to avoid them. All the best