How to deal with DS's allergies?!?!

[MinnieMom]

We are getting closer and closer to our next Disney trip! WOOHOOO!!

I'm starting to worry about how I'm going to feed ds there. He'll only be 18 months and he is allergic to all dairy, eggs, berries, melons, and nuts. Any suggestions on which restaurants may have some food options for him?

Do any of the restaurants tell you what is in the foods?

I never had to deal with this with dd, so I never paid much attention to the food really.

Any input or suggestions would be great! Thanks!

 

[tmt martins]

Go to disney disabilitiy I think .It has food alergies Disney is very good for this the chefs given enough notice will also make you feel confortable as well.

 

[gigi1313]

wdw restaurants do a great job of handling food allergies... they have ingredient lists everywhere and will gladly make dishes "safe" for your child if you ask... the disabilities board also has some posters w/specific phone numbers to call to get add'l assistance...

enjoy!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi, my DD will be 17 months this upcoming Jan when we will be there. She is allergic to eggs and dairy too. Aren't those pain in butt allergies, they are in everything. I would hate it if shew as allergic to berries and melon. She eats a lot of furit and meat. All she can eat (not nuts yet so we don't know one way or another, but don't think she is.)

This will be my 1st trip with food allergies. I am a little worried, but I have heard WDW is really good about food allergies, so I am hoping it will be easier then going out to eat around home.

To make things even harder she is still breast feed (and will be for the winter.) So that means no dairy or eggs for me. It is actually much harder for me then her, she has no idea what she is missing.

I know I shoud mention it with the PS, but I haven't made them yet. It is the conter service places that concerns me the most.

 

[Tink n Poohbear]

We've gone a couple of times with my DS 3 who is allergic to dairy and pork, and it wasn't a problem at all. In fact, it was easier dining in WDW than anywhere else because they are so sensitive to assisting their guests.

When you make priority seating, tell them about the food allergies and they will make a note of it. You can also request the phone number to the restaurant to call ahead, though I found it wasn't really necessary to do so. When you arrive for your PS, remind the host(ess) and the server of the allergies. They will have the chef come out to talk to you about what foods your child can/cannot eat. If there's a buffet, they will probably walk through the line with you to explain everything.

We were amazed at how accomodating everyone was. No one every made us feel like it was a problem to make him special foods. In fact, they made it seem like they were happy to make him feel so special.

Before we went on the first trip, we reviewed all the menus that are posted on this site to make our restaurant selections. That way, we already had a pretty good idea about what he could eat. We mostly ate at sit-down places, so we could talk to the chef. But we also found that people at the counter service places were happy to get someone to review the ingredients for us.

Good luck!

 

[Cam2Mike]

One of the main reasons Disney has become my vacation spot of choice is that I don't worry about my DS's food allergies at all when we are there! The Disney chefs are great at accomodating people with allergies. They will make special meals just for you! There is definetly more on this on the disabilty board. Have a great trip!

 

[DisneyPhD]

What about non TS resturants, or if you don't have PS?

We want a more laid back trip this time and while we plan to do some TS I really don't want every meal planned out. We want to eat a Ohannas, Cyrstal Place, LLT (for lunch) Maybe the land. Maybe Jinko or Bomma.

I don't know why I don't want to plan it out, I have to at home. Maybe that is what I want a vacation from. Food allergies are a lot of work! Might I just add that this holiday season is gong to bite. Meaning I can hardly bite anything. So many parties. So few foods that don't have dairy in them.

 

[whiterice5]

I can so appreciate your situation...I am taking my 18 month old dd in Jan. She is allergic to egg, dairy, soy, and milk. Ugh! This is what I am planning... I am bringing food with me for her! Crackers, cereals and other snacks she can eat are going a suitcase. When we get there we are going grocery shoppping for rice milk, fruit and other perishables that I can't pack in the suitcase. I plan to pack a small cooler/lunch box for her food and a reuseable freezer ice pack to go in it. I know I may be able to find some things at restaurants...plain noodles...baked pototoes, veggies, etc. But then again they may have butter or who knows what on them. I feel better just bringing my own food along than having to call and preplan everything. I don't usually buy them, but gerber, I think, has those jars of diced foods which may be very handy.
HTH,
chris

 

[tublady]

We went two years ago when DD was 2, she is allergic to dairy, that's hard enough, but I could not imagine adding other allergies to it. I was really worried but didn't need to be, every place we went were great! At the counter service places, we asked if they could check the ingrediants, all of them would (some things they could not check - we just stayed away from those items) and let us know which ones had dairy and which ones didn't. They also have lots to choose from and were willing to substitute items in a combo if needed. All of the table service and buffets were very nice and very helpful, they would walk us through the menu or the buffet line and make suggetions, some also had things that were not on the regular menu. The Canadian restaurant in Epcot even made us special dairy free bread, it was yummy. Also make sure if you are staying at a value hotel if you need a fridge (we did to store DD's soy milk) to let them know ahead of time that it's for medical reasons and they will provide it for no charge. Our TA let us know that, she did suggest that we take a note from our Doctor just in case, but we didn't need it.

 

[DisneyPhD]

We went two years ago when DD was 2, she is allergic to dairy, that's hard enough, but I could not imagine adding other allergies to it. I was really worried but didn't need to be, every place we went were great! At the counter service places, we asked if they could check the ingrediants, all of them would (some things they could not check - we just stayed away from those items) and let us know which ones had dairy and which ones didn't. They also have lots to choose from and were willing to substitute items in a combo if needed. All of the table service and buffets were very nice and very helpful, they would walk us through the menu or the buffet line and make suggetions, some also had things that were not on the regular menu. The Canadian restaurant in Epcot even made us special dairy free bread, it was yummy. Also make sure if you are staying at a value hotel if you need a fridge (we did to store DD's soy milk) to let them know ahead of time that it's for medical reasons and they will provide it for no charge. Our TA let us know that, she did suggest that we take a note from our Doctor just in case, but we didn't need it.

So the bread at Canada normally has dairy. Good to know. I that it when I can't eat the bread. Everyone else is eating and I am sitting there wacthing them. We were considering LaCelier. After all a good steak is normaly pretty safe (but not cheese soup!) We are DVC so we do plan on bringing some food and going to the store. However part of WDW is the food. I hear the Minnie bars are Dairy free. I hope so since there will be no Mickey bars for DD and me.

Has your DD outgrown it? My doctor thinks my DD will, but it is a waiting and avoiding game for now.

 

[tublady]

Yes, the bread at Le Cellier (thank you, for the life of me I could not remember the name when I was posting before!) had dairy (at least back then). We had them check for us after they set the yummy assortment down. They checked (we had forgotten to tell them about the allergy) and sure enough it did, so they can accomidate you if you don't plan ahead, then they came out with the dairy free that the chef made special for us.
DH and I try to eat dairy free as well, we feel kind of guilty eating stuff in front of her, and now she likes to try stuff off our plates so it's just easier for all of us to avoid it.
DD's 4 1/2 now and the DR says that she will not grow out of it.

 

[BriNJ]

I've got 2 kids with food allergies. Both are allergic to nuts and peanuts and DD was allergic to milk. She's finally (at nearly 4yrs old) able to eat things with milk in them in small quantities. I found Disney to be very accomdating for table service meals. For counter service meals though, it was very hard to know what the kids could eat. I'd defiantely plan table meals where possible and bring food for your child just in case.

Food allergies are awful, aren't they?

Hugs
B

 

[DCDisney]

If you haven't already checked it out the new Disney Passporter for Special Needs has tons of food allergy info. Our local public library has it even. But anyway it listed many restaurants that are particularly allergy helpful and a few to avoid (everything asian if you have a nut and/or soy allergy). It had some great suggestions for various safe snack items.

The biggest issue I had was with baked products because most of those were not produced on site and they didn't have ingredients. The basic white breads and rolls they usually knew were nut free but anything else they didn't know. Things like Mickey Crispies had no ingredients label so I couldn't have them at all I'm hoping that's changed.....

At the buffets they were great but again baked goods were a total no and I had a lot of problems with desserts. I am allowed to have stuff from factories that also produce nut containing stuff but they basically don't differentiate so most stuff was a no (particularly anything with chocolate) but at the table services it was fine. Chef Mickey's and Hollywood and Vine I think I couldn't have any desserts or possibly there were 1 or 2 that were ok that I didn't care for.

I do try and avoid buffet's like Boma where there are always nut crusted food items and foods with unfamilar ingredients.

Yvonne

 

[DisneyPhD]

If you haven't already checked it out the new Disney Passporter for Special Needs has tons of food allergy info. Our local public library has it even. But anyway it listed many restaurants that are particularly allergy helpful and a few to avoid (everything asian if you have a nut and/or soy allergy). It had some great suggestions for various safe snack items.

Yvonne

Thanks for the tip, I am going to look into it.

 

[HLAuburn]

I don't mean to "hijack" the thread, but I thought this might be a good place to ask all you moms of kids w/ allergies a question. I suspect DD has an egg allergy of sorts. The first time she reacted, she had eaten mac and cheese with eggs baked in it. She vomitted, her lips swelled, and she developed a rash and a runny nose. Since then, she's had French toast, a bite of cheesecake, sweet potato casserole, and lasagna (the latter two I found out had egg in them after she ate them), and threw up after each one. The only connection I can make is the egg.
She can eat things like frozen pancakes and waffles without any problems. Is it possible to be allergic to eggs, but be able to tolerate them in a small amount, like cooked into the frozen pancakes? Or are allergies "all or nothing"?
Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[DisneyPhD]

I don't mean to "hijack" the thread, but I thought this might be a good place to ask all you moms of kids w/ allergies a question. I suspect DD has an egg allergy of sorts. The first time she reacted, she had eaten mac and cheese with eggs baked in it. She vomitted, her lips swelled, and she developed a rash and a runny nose. Since then, she's had French toast, a bite of cheesecake, sweet potato casserole, and lasagna (the latter two I found out had egg in them after she ate them), and threw up after each one. The only connection I can make is the egg.
She can eat things like frozen pancakes and waffles without any problems. Is it possible to be allergic to eggs, but be able to tolerate them in a small amount, like cooked into the frozen pancakes? Or are allergies "all or nothing"?
Any thoughts?

Thanks

Not sure about the all or nothing thing, but I know in the case of eggs the amount (one egg in an entire cake) and if it is cooked well does make a difference for some people. My DD still can't eat eggs in baked goods, but many can and I hope sometimes soon (6 months or so) she will be able too.

Her egg allergy is not a servere as her dairy one. In fact we didn't even know about the egg one until she was tested (I requested the test because of the dairy.)

Your DD's reaction does sound like an allergic one and I would talk to your doc as soon as possible and get some tests run. It can be hard to avoid what you don't know is causing the problem. Avoid eggs until then just to be safe. Not eating them won't hurt her.

However get some tests run, they won't hurt her to do it. My doc did blood work. She has an 2 for eggs and a 3 for milk. Not life threating allergys, but enough to make eating a pain in the bum.

There could be other factors you don't know about, dairy or soy in all those products. Also your DD could be allgergic to the whites or the yoks. My DD is only allgergic to the whites, not the yoks. However it is hard to seperate them so we have to avoid all. That being said Angel food cake is not a good choice for her or any high concentration of egg whites.

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out. I have found the more info I have the better prepared I am to deal with it. When I didn't know just what was causing my DD's rash it was driving me crazy. She is doing much better now that we have worked things out.

The good news is there is a lot ways to cook with out eggs at home. Pancakes, walffles, cookies, cakes and other baked goods can be done quite well. There are a few brands of egg replacers or even recipes you can make yourself.

Let me know if you want some info.

 

[amarberry]

I don't mean to "hijack" the thread, but I thought this might be a good place to ask all you moms of kids w/ allergies a question. I suspect DD has an egg allergy of sorts. The first time she reacted, she had eaten mac and cheese with eggs baked in it. She vomitted, her lips swelled, and she developed a rash and a runny nose. Since then, she's had French toast, a bite of cheesecake, sweet potato casserole, and lasagna (the latter two I found out had egg in them after she ate them), and threw up after each one. The only connection I can make is the egg.
She can eat things like frozen pancakes and waffles without any problems. Is it possible to be allergic to eggs, but be able to tolerate them in a small amount, like cooked into the frozen pancakes? Or are allergies "all or nothing"?
Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hi there...I'm the mom of a 17 month old DD with a severe egg allergy (she got a 4 on the 0-4 scale when tested). The symptoms that you are describing sound like an allergic reaction. Luckily, it doesn't sound like your DD has had a life threatening reaction.

I was told by our allergist that it is quite likely that my DD will grow out of her allergy in a few years, but complete avoidance of egg will speed up the process. Like DisneyPhD (hey there ....hope your DD is doing well ), I'm still breastfeeding my DD, so that means avoidance for me as well since I would prefer for my DD to get over this (hopefully) sooner than later!

Avoiding eggs isn't as hard as you would think. You just get used to reading labels and, if you have a natural foods store near you, you can find things like egg-free cake mixes for birthdays, etc.

To the OP, my DD will be visiting WDW for the third time at the end of January (she'll be 18 months old). In addition to her egg allergy, we are also vegetarians. I can't think of a better place to vacation than WDW for people with dietary issues. WDW is VERY sensitive to allergy and non-traditional dietary choices. I feel confident that I can ask "does this have eggs, meat, etc. in it" and get a correct answer from the CM. I certainly don't feel that way everywhere.

Best of luck to you with this issue.

 

[HLAuburn]

Thank you both for your responses. Sounds like all our girls are really close in age. My DD is 16 months - her birthday is August 5. We'll be going to DW in late Jan, right before she turns 18 months.

That's interesting what you said about BFing, too. We're going to have to start being more serious about avoiding eggs, but we're still BFing, too, and I hadn't even thought about my diet. I really don't eat a lot of eggs anyway. Thank God she doesn't have a "serious" allergy - the foods she reacted to I would have never even guessed had egg in them - mac and cheese and sweet potato casserole?

Again, thanks for the info.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Wow, maybe the 3 of us (and any others who want to,) should start a new thread. Who would of thought 3 little girls so close in age, all with egg (and other) allergies and still breast feed.

Lily's brithday is Aug 3rd btw. Our trip to WDW is early Jan, so we will miss you.

I myself have started to let a little egg products back in my diet. Moslty a bit of mayo sometimes (I love mayo) and sometimes the egg batter or egg roll in chinise food. Mostly every other day or so. It doesn't seem to bug her, but her egg allergy is less then dairy.

How did your DD react to the MMR shot (at 12 months or 15 months?) My DD had hers at the allergiest, but had no reaction at all. They said not to get her a flu shot though.

 

[HLAuburn]

Chandler did fine with all her vaccines, including MMR and the flu vaccine. Weird. I haven't even mentioned all this to her pediatrician b/c I wasn't quite sure it was the egg. My MIL just thinks all these vomitting episodes are just a strange coincedence.

Thanks again for all the info. And 3 little BFd girls the same age w/ egg allergies all going to Disney in January...it really is a small world! We should start a club!