If your child is living with allergies, you’ll want to do everything you can to make their life easier.

There are a lot of simple steps you can take to help them manage their allergies. It’s all about empowering them to feel more confident and live a full life.

In this article, we’ll show you some tactics for helping a child with an allergy, allowing them to feel more in control of their life.

Understanding medication

If your child with allergies needs medicine to help them manage their condition, it helps if they understand what it does and how it makes them better.

For example, if they suffer fro hayfever, explaining how antihistamines work to stop their irritating symptoms should make them more willing to take them.

You can even set up a sticker chart to mark off every dose, with a reward if your child is cooperative.

Communicating their needs

It’s important for children to know how to communicate their needs when they are living with an allergy.

This is especially relevant if your child with allergies has anxiety. Offer them your full attention so they can talk through any fears and worries they have around their allergy.

Encourage your child with allergies to recognise their needs and let you know. For example, they may be worried about being left out of a party because they won’t be able to eat the food on offer. Talk through the issue and come up with a solution together, such as taking their own food to share at the celebration.

Recognising the signs

From both a safety and emotional wellbeing point of view, it’s important for a child to recognise the signs of an allergy attack.

Typical allergy symptoms include:

  • Itchy eyes
  • Runny nose
  • Sneezing
  • Wheezing
  • Vomiting
  • Dizziness

They should also know what to do if they feel an allergy attack coming on – for example, seek out the help of an adult or reach for their EpiPen if they can use it unaided.

Offering tasty alternatives

According to the Department of Health, one in 20 children is affected by allergies.

And a child with allergies on a diet designed for them may feel left out when it comes to family meals, celebrations and gatherings.

One way of dealing with this is to research tasty food choices together for meals at home. You can have fun looking up recipes and trying them out.

They can be presented not just as alternatives but as delicious choices that everyone can try.

If you’re planning on eating out at a restaurant, be sure to call ahead and pre-order your child’s food so they feel included.

Involving school

Make sure both your child’s school friends and teachers are aware of their allergy. You can role-play with your child so they can practise explaining to friends how their allergy affects them.

Your child’s school should have a policy to help children with allergies so they will know the drill when it comes to helping your child. If they have a nut allergy, for example, no children will be allowed to bring them into school.

Your child’s class teacher can be a point of contact for reassurance that their policies are being put into practice. Your child can also go to them if they have any fears or worries about keeping allergy-safe at school.

Not missing out on the fun

Just because your child has an allergy doesn’t mean that they have to miss out on all the fun!

Work with your child to think up activities that they can safely take part in. If your child has been invited to an outdoor playdate when they are suffering from hayfever, you could suggest an alternative location, like an indoor soft play centre.

Above all, instil in your child the idea that they can live a full life as possible with an allergy. It’s all about developing coping strategies, which will set them up for life.

Wearing an allergy medical alert bracelet

Wearing a medic alert wristband is a fun and practical way to help your child live with their allergy with confidence.

You can choose a simple silicone band for nut allergies. Or, you can choose a medical ID that you can write on with medication details.

If you’re travelling, you can even find bracelets in a selection of foreign languages.

Not only will med alerts like these bracelets look funky in bright and appealing colours, but they can also provide vital information about your child's condition. This means peace of mind for you and them.

Spreading the word about allergies

Letting your child know that having an allergy does not have to stop them from getting on with their life is key to supporting them.

We hope that the tips outlined in this article will inspire you to work with your child to manage their allergies without fear.

And, at Mediband, we are only too happy to help spread the word about allergies and other conditions with our medical IDs. Check out our entire range online and have fun picking some exciting colour combinations for your child!