I admit I had not given this issue much thought until a scare last month. Tyler went to the water park with his dad. He has the fairest skin in the world, not to mention eczema. Quite frankly, I wasn't interested in seeing how he would handle a sunburn. So I put a ton of sunscreen on.
Off hubby and Tyler went. About 30 minutes later, my husband brought him home, saying he was upset because he got sunscreen in his eyes. It was true, his eyes were swollen and red. He was very whiny and said he wanted to go to bed. I laid him on the couch, wanting to make sure I didn't have any other issues going on.
Instinctively, I read the sunscreen ingredients. I did not see the word "peanut" but I did some Googling and saw on the Internet that many sunscreens and lotions do have peanut oil in them.
By this time, Tyler developed an incessant cough and a runny nose. I began to feel like I was dealing with a reaction to something so I gave him Zyretc. About 30 minutes later, his eyes were fine, his coughing and nose issues had stopped. He asked for something to eat so I knew we were back to normal.
To be honest, I'm still not sure what happened that day. Was there an ingredient that had peanut in it but not on the label? Or was there a weird chemical sounding name that actually meant "peanut?" Was it a reaction to something else? I'm not sure.
This led me on a quest around the house to read all the lotions and such that I put on him regularly. I was shocked to discover the Cetaphil lotion I used on him daily for his eczema had macadamia nut oil in it! We are still not sure if he is allergic to tree nuts (long story) but I avoid these at all costs. To think I had been putting nut oil on him after his after bath! Goodness!
This post is not chock full of answers, I'm afraid. I've researched several times on this issue with few results. It's more of a warning to you to read everything that comes into contact with your child, not just food. You just never know where a peanut or tree nut might be hiding!
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5 comments:
California Baby is a great product and is completely soy, wheat and nut oil free! We get the sunscreen, bug spray, soap, shampoo and salves. It is fantastic and lasts forever. Maggie has very sensitive and white skin (she's a redhead) so we have to use it a lot and often-she has never had a problem. The only thing she had a tough time with was a salve that had some rosemary and lavender oil in. At the time she had cracked knees and it was a bit anaseptic. But-it's fabulous stuff and cheaper if you buy it on line.
I enjoyed this post and appreciate the link. I noticed my facial scrub and some of my other lotions contained tree nuts shells and oils just after we got our PA diagnosis. So off I went to the bathroom closet and medicine cabinet to see what was in our "stuff", and I looked on the internet too. Some Oil of Olay products have peanut oil in them and many lotions and cosmetics have tree nut oils or shells in them. I wish non-food products would be labeled for the major food allergens too! (See http://www.foodallergybuzz.com/2008/03/allergen-labeling-for-non-food-items.html)
Thanks for this post! My daughter was diagnosed with tree nut allergies today. Mostly to cashews, pistachios and almonds. However, we will avoid all tree nuts. I would have never thought to look at lotions and sunscreen!
I agree with California Baby products. good and allergen free, but let's me just say, if you ever have to deal with their customer service, one of the worst!
When my daughter had her first diagnosis, I had to "86" a bunch of my personal products, too. It just didn't seem worth it to keep them around.
Always look at "fancy" soap as well as lotion. They love to put nut oils in those, too!
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