Kids Food Allergies Blog

Apparently, we’re not the only food allergic family who has had difficulty with the airlines.

This trouble even extends to esteemed members of the Senate.

At the 5/14 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) recounts:

(W)e fly a lot, obviously, going back and forth to Connecticut a lot, and without naming any particular airlines, the difficulty sometimes of getting them to understand that peanuts — calling ahead of time, stopping at the gate before you get in, getting on the plane, invariably the flight attendants have not been told by anybody, so they then look at you with annoyance.
We actually had a flight one time where the flight attendant told us we had to get off the plane, because they hadn’t — every other flight they serve peanuts on. We were in Phoenix, Arizona on our way back home to Connecticut — a long day with a 2-year-old — well that’s not a 2-year-old — a 1-year-old and said we had to get off the plane, because that was the choice. Needless to say, we stayed on the plane and there were no peanuts served, but nonetheless it took me battling to do it. I shouldn’t have to battle this to let it happen.

My family’s not planning to fly again any time soon.  But for those of you who are, FAAN posts useful information on flying with food allergies:

Based on correspondence with airline representatives, FAAN has concluded that the following airlines do not serve individual packages or bags of peanuts:

Domestic: Air Tran, American, Jet Blue, Northwest, United, US Airways, USA 3000
International: Aer Lingus, Air France, British Airways, El Al, JAL, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore Airlines

I wish someone would talk to Continental.

In the new edition of Newsweek posted just hours ago, I read a story called “A Plea for My Daughter.” It’s written by a mom whose 5 year old daughter was just diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy. The author is struggling with the same issues that many of us face: what to say to other parents, how to deal with people’s insensitivity, and how to help her daughter navigate the physical dangers and emotional challenges that accompany this diagnosis.

I wish I had easy answers for her.

The best advice I have seen comes from the testimony of two veteran food allergy moms at the 5/14 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families, chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

Teresa Walters: I think my biggest piece of advice for other parents would be, don’t let other people tell you how to react to your child’s food allergies. Don’t let them tell you that you’re being overprotective.

Chris Dodd (D-CT): We had a woman behind us one day (on a flight) eating a peanut butter thing, and I said, I apologize, profusely, and explained that my daughter has a severe reaction, potentially, to peanut butter, and her comment was, “What’s she going to break out in a little rash?” And I almost felt like saying, look — maybe I shouldn’t bother in a sense — that reaction of letting other people, sort of, cause you to be less than vigilant. So it’s a good piece of advice.

Colene Birchfield: I would echo her sentiment…(T)he key piece is to trust yourself and only yourself and educate yourself as much as you can, try to educate everybody around you. You may ruffle some feathers along the way, but it’s necessary. You must be the advocate for your child.

Good advice for us all to keep in mind.