From what I can tell from perusing the Internet, Halloween tends to freak allergy parents out a bit. We've been lucky so far, and it has not been any big deal.
Halloween '07 (Georgia age 2 months): Dressed her up in a costume. Took photos. She wasn't even eating solids, and we had no knowledge of her food allergies anyway.
Halloween '08 (Georgia age 1): Dressed her up. Took photos. Like most 1 year olds, she had no idea about the trick or treating or candy. Didn't feel like she missed a thing.
Halloween '09 (Georgia age 2): Our first year with a toddler running around a Halloween party. Our first year trick or treating with her. I'm beginning to see where the parental nerves come from with this stuff. Our daughter's still at an age where it wasn't that big of a deal, though. We hit only 5 houses while trick or treating and were able to control all of the candy consumption.
The best part of Halloween (from an allergy perspective, I'm saying) was that she made great strides in learning to ask us which foods she can and cannot eat. We practiced at home with her. It was rather cute seeing her hold up each piece of her loot and ask, "Is this safe for me?"
I also tried to buy allergen friendly candy to hand out, in case any of the trick or treaters coming to our place happened to have food allergies. Who knows?
We went with Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, and Smarties. (Not my personal favorites, I have to say!)
This (Halloween with a food allergic child, that is) is just another one of those things that's going to continue to evolve year by year, I can tell. Right now I could sit here and tell you that I don't understand what all of the fuss is about. But then again, I don't have an 8 year old trading candy with her friends at school and that kind of thing to deal with. I'm sure my perspective is going to change!
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