Even though families across the country are at home during the COVID-19 quarantine seemingly for months, it is important to remember that life will eventually return to normal. That means schools, daycares, playdates, and summer camps will eventually be in full swing again and it is critical to be prepared. Not only will our children need to acclimate back to a full schedule and will likely need reassurance about their health, you will also need to make sure they have everything they’ll need when they are away from you. That includes labels for any food allergies they have.

If your child is like the 5.6 million kids in the United States who have food allergies you need to make sure your child’s teacher, daycare provider, and camp counselors know the exact food allergies they have. Oftentimes, care providers and teachers record your child’s allergies in their personal file, but with so many children to take care of mistakes can readily happen that way. You don’t want that. It is far easier to ensure your child gets their individualized food and drink by using allergy labels. Experts at KidsHealth recommend that children go to school with medical bracelets. While those are great, too, allergy labels are easy to see for caregivers. If your child has milk allergies, for example, you don’t want them to ingest milk -- even in a small amount -- due to an oversight. Instead using allergy labels curb any mistakes from happening unnecessarily.

StickerYou makes creating allergy labels for your child incredibly easy. They have premade stickers with some of the most common kids allergies including gluten, eggs, fish, milk and peanuts. Each label is fully customizable. This is important as 40 percent of kids who have food allergies are allergic to more than one food according to experts.  StickerYou labels can be customized for your child by text, font, colors, images, and borders. You can also choose from three templates: oval, 1.5” square labels, and small round kids labels. 

When making your labels at StickerYou first choose your template. 

Then, once you have decided the type of template you want you can choose the label you and your child like best. It’s nice for you and your children to work together to make the labels they like as well. Here are a few samples of allergy labels that Stickeryou.com provides. There are many more and you can also design your own.

After you have chosen the type of label you would like it is time for the fun part: customization! We edited the first egg allergy label with a different background color, an extra image, and different text. It’s super easy and so much fun! Additionally, you can use one label per page or mix and match the labels you have created per page. You can even create one without any images, but with text only with your kid’s allergy or allergies, name and contact information. 

Stickeryou.com labels have been created for busy kids and parents in mind. The labels are: 

• Dishwasher safe
• UV Coated
• Removable without residue
• Microwave safe
• Waterproof
• Writable with permanent marker

All of the StickerYou labels can be attached to tupperware, sippy cups, lunchboxes, water bottles, and even backpacks. 

It is important to note that as much as we as parents place an emphasis on our children’s health when they are at school, daycare, or camp, don’t forget when your child spends the night over their friend’s house or has playdates. Make sure their labeled food and drink containers go with them and that the other parents have an emergency plan in place if your child ingests food they are allergic to or don’t even know they are allergic to.

Food allergies can be scary especially when you see your child get swollen lips, hives, or struggles to breathe. As a parent you can minimize their food allergies simply by being prepared.