Parents of children that have severe allergies might be a bit perplexed about what their child can do for fun this summer. You probably had a pretty good idea about what sort of allergens to expect that your child could encounter at school, and were prepared for them. What do you do now, when your child is out of school? The trick is to modify fun activities around your child’s allergies.
Its nice to be able to play in the sprinkler on a hot, July, day. Parents of children who have no allergies can simply set up the sprinkler in the backyard, put their kids in swimsuits, and send them out to play. Kids with allergies are going to need some modifications made before they can participate in this kind of activity.
If your child has especially sensitive skin, or has had an allergic reaction on his or her skin from lotions, soaps, shampoos, or laundry detergents in the past, you need to be especially selective with sunscreen. Find one that is hypoallergenic. Sunscreens made for infants and young children can sometimes be easier for people with skin allergies to tolerate. That is because the ingredients often contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, (two things that many allergic kids can handle).
Is your child allergic to grass? If so, then you cannot simply stick the sprinkler in the middle of the lawn. One option is to place the sprinkler inside a medium sized “kiddy pool”. Your child can stand inside the pool, on plastic, and never touch the grass.
He or she can feel what it is like to have a sprinkler cool you off on a hot Summer day, without having to suffer through an allergic reaction to find out what that experience is like. Another option is to take your child to a public swimming pool that includes a kiddy section with sprinklers. There won’t be any grass there!
Kids who are allergic to peanuts can attend a Summer baseball game. Some stadiums have started having “peanut free” sections for certain games. These sections are thoroughly cleaned before the game starts, in order to remove all traces of peanut. Vendors are informed not to sell peanuts anywhere near that section of the stadium.
Camping, in “the great outdoors”, can be risky for kids with environmental allergies. The last thing a parent wants to have happen is for their child to have a severe allergic reaction when miles and miles away from the nearest hospital.
Creative parents could recreate some of the fun that is involved in camping. Set up a “pup tent” in your living room, basement, or even your child’s bedroom. Play a CD that includes nature sounds. Pack a picnic style dinner of foods that one might eat while camping. (You can modify this around your child’s allergies).
When it gets dark outside, turn of the lights in the room. Use some flashlights, and tell some ghost stories. You could put a battery operated lantern in the room in place of a fire. Your child could fall asleep in the tent, inside a sleeping bag. It would be similar to the fun parts of camping, without the risk of exposure to environmental allergens.
Image by rbphalen on Flickr