Toddler with a peanut allergy

[2lilmunchkins]

Hi,
We will be moving to Singapore in a few months.

We have recently found out that our 13-month old has a severe allergy to peanuts and requires us to carry an epi-pen.

I'm very concerned about living in Singapore with his allergy, given that alot of foods are peanut based. I'm also concerned about cross-contamination of food products and package labelling...

Is Singapore "allergy aware"?

Will it be very difficult for him/us with this allergy?

Thanks,

2lilmunchkins

[kaurikid]

Nut allergies are not that common amongst Singaporeans.

There is a high chance of contamination in some eating places as peanuts are used extensively in Asia cuisine and so is peanut oil.

The best solution is to avoid eating hawker food.Sometimes people tell you what you want to hear rather than the truth, which can be problematic .
ALso trying to communicate this to Singaporeans that you are very allergic to something and that it could cause you serious problems can get people confused whose English is not so good.

I am allergic to Amoxillycin and accidentially ingested some because my doctor didn't understand the severity of my allergy.....long story.

Prepare your own food for functions and parties.There are quite a few organic and healthfood shops selling familiar products.

At a school level most International Schools have a no nuts policy!

[Julia_Warren]

Hi 2lilmunchkins,

We are considering moving to Singapore in a few months and I'm very worried about living there with my 16 month old's food allergies. He is allergic to peanuts and eggs and we also carry the epi-pen everywhere we go.

If you have already moved there, do you mind sharing how it is living in Singapore with your child's peanut allergy? Is it easy to find a good variety of "safe" foods at the grocery stores that are free from cross-contamination? Have you found a good pediatric allergist?

This will be a big factor in our decision on whether or not to go to Singapore so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Julia

[ascq]

Our daughters are allergic to all nuts and shellfish, which can be a challenge with the food here. But we manage. We don't do hawker centers, Thai or Indonesian. They eat mostly American, Italian, Japanese, French. The markets here are no problem. I was worried too, but it has been fine. As always, you must be vigilant, and adhere to the adage "Better safe, than sorry." Don't let it prohibit you from coming though. Good luck.

[Julia_Warren]

Thanks so much for the reply. We are moving to Singapore in March, so it's a relief to hear it's not too bad finding safe foods. My son has just developed fish and shellfish allergies, so now we need to avoid those as well as peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs. :(

Has anyone ever had cross contamination issues with dairy products like milk, cheese or butter in Singapore? I check for cross contamination issues with everything here in the US, although with dairy it's usually safe. Are there dairy brands that people haven't had any problems with?

Thanks for all your help!

[maddiesmom]

We too are in the negotiating process of a possible move with husbands work from the USA to Singapore -and we have a child with a peanut/tree nut/soy allergy. I am glad to see that other people are successfully and safely living there in spite of the allergies. OuUr daughter is 8 1/2 but was diagnosed at 18months old with the allergies.

I was worried about the labeling of products at the grocery store too, but I found one grocery store chain in Singapore that has an online site and found lots of the same products that we consume here-makes me feel much better. The schools that I have contacted are allergy aware too.

Good luck on your upcoming move-we are looking at coming this summer when the kids are out of school (although my husband may come earlier). Please keep posting so we can share info on doctors, safe places to eat, etc.

[Julia_Warren]

That's good to know about the online grocery stores. I'm going to check them out to see if they carry some of our safe foods too.

Another parent with a food allergy child recommended this pediatrician/allergist in Singapore - "Bee-Wah Lee". We talked to her on the phone and were happy with her answers to our questions so we are planning to use her as our child's pediatrian/allergist.

I'll definitely let you know any new info once we get there. Feel free to ask me any questions you have that you want to know before you get there.

[maddiesmom]

Just wanted to see how all of you with peanut/nut allergic kids are doing in Singapore?

We just got the official GREEN LIGHT to go to Singapore. We will be coming over in April to find a house and move over in June 2007. Now we are in the process of trying to register for schools (looking at SAS and CIS) for 2 kids-one with peanut/tree nut allergy.

Would love to hear any advice/tips etc of how things are over there and dealing with allergies.

Thanks!

[Julia_Warren]

We're arriving in at the end of this month so we'll let you know how it is once we get settled. I found another mommy who is interested in starting a peanut allergy support group, so I'll let you know if we get one started if you're interested. It seems like a great way to share information with other parents of peanut allergy children and meet new people. Good luck with your move!

Julia

[Julia_Warren]

We've been in Singapore for a week now and so far, it hasn't been too bad in terms of finding safe foods for our 20 month old who is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish and shellfish. I called a local bread company (Sunshine) to check on cross contamination in their production process and they were very helpful (none of our allergens on their bread line, although they have a peanut buns that are produced in the same plant, but further away). The Cold Storage near us at Great World City has a lot of American and Australian products which are pretty easy to check on cross contamination. The Tanglin Mall market has even more American products.

As our son is young, we bring all his food with us to restaurants so we don't have any experience with cross contamination problems there.

We're looking for a good preschool that is nut free for our son for this September when he'll be 2-1/2, so if anyone has any recommendations, please let us know. We haven't found permanent housing, but are looking in Orchard, River Valley, Newton, Somerset areas, so a preschool near there would be ideal.

Good luck with your house hunt and feel free to contact me when you get here if you have any other questions!

Julia

[maddiesmom]

Thank you for posting your update.

So glad to hear that the food situation isn't impossible-gives me hope too. When you called the local companies, do they speak English? (I know that may seem like a stupid question, but I wondered how difficult it will be to check the manufacturers about the safety of their products and what language they may speak?!?!)

How was the flight over with your son? Did you request a peanut free flight? Did you pack a bunch of extra safe snacks/food in your suitcase to get you by for a a few days until you explored the grocery stores?? I apologize for alllll the questions, just some things I have thought about in preparation for our move .

Take care and thank you again for posting an update. Hope to hear more.

[Julia_Warren]

The local companies here all speak English (thankfully) so I didn't have a problem explaining what I wanted. We're trying to stick with American/Australian goods though and send emails to find out about cross contamination. Be careful to check that the American brands are actually manufactured in the US though, since some may be manufactured overseas.

We made several stops on the way here since it was our first long flight with our son and we didn't think he would make it (due to his allergy and being cooped up that long). We flew United and Singapore Air. United is already peanut free in coach, although biz/first class has nuts. We tried to request a peanut free flight on Singapore Air (which I heard you can do), but it didn't happen and people were being served peanuts all around us which was pretty scary. Luckily, our son isn't that sensitive to airborne peanut dust so we were ok. We packed all the food for our son for all the flights. Zojirushi and Thermos have food jars that keep your food warm for 6-8 hours which we use all the time.

There's a grocery store right next to where we're staying so we went the day after we arrived to get food. We mostly feed him fresh produce and meat which we feel comfortable with being safe. Since we're staying in a Service Apartment so we can cook all his meals. We did pack a bunch of snacks with us until we could find safe ones here and also air shipped a lot of dry goods that we weren't sure if we would be able to find here or not. We were a little worried they would be stopped in customs, but we got everything ok.

Hope that answers all your questions! Feel free to email if anything else comes up. Good luck with your trip!