[mynegation]

Thank you for your reply and best wishes to your family! I know it can be a bit of an intrusive question, but how do people discover that children have a particular allergy? Do you get an epipen the same moment you have a newborn, just in case? Do you try some small amount or potentially cross contaminated food just to test? Do you discover it randomly and hope there is going to be enough time to get to ER? I have been lucky not to have it for myself, or a child, but how did you know?

[viraptor]

Depends on the country, but some have a recommended list of foods to expose your kid to when they start eating solids. For example https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/allergy-prevention/ascia...

Epipen? No. But if I didn't live around the corner from the hospital, I'd probably test peanuts and shellfish while parked next to one : - )

That wasn't common when/where I was born, but then again, the cuisine there/then was more limited so I'd be exposed to most allergens naturally within the first year. (And face "I've never seen a prawn and I'm 20 - am I allergic to them?" later)

[wtvanhest]

Our son had skin issues (eczema) before he was old enough to eat solid foods. Eczema and food allergies are correlated so we fed him small amounts of peanuts and he had a crazy reaction. We were lucky he didn’t end up in er first time, but swollen lips, changed “voice” for weeks etc.

[whatshisface]

For anyone reading this, there are safer ways to test for peanut allergies than feeding someone peanuts, especially because peanut allergies can kill. I'm reminded of this: https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/11/26