Any mom's with peanut/nut allergy kids?????

My youngest DS was just diagnosed with allergies today and one of them is for peanuts. This is gonna kill him cause his favorite food is peanut butter. I have never had to deal with anything like this and am a little freaked out and worried. Any advice and things I should know and be on the lookout for? Thanks!!

Sunbutter! Really it's so good. My youngest has a life threatening allergy to milk and also allergies to eggs and peanuts. Let me know if you need more info or need to talk - it's hard making the adjustment.

Oh some stuff to think about.....

Candy - almost all candy has peanut exposure. So like even regular (not peanut) M&M's are typically off limits. You need to be cautious of the "could contain peanuts" or "manufactured in a facility with peanuts" stuff.

My brother is allergic to some fish and most nuts, and we had to go through this a lot when he was younger. He got a false result saying he was allergic to carrots and celery, and sunflower oil, etc. and it turns out he was never allergic to any of that stuff, but we had it out of the house for years. (He is anaphylactic to some things though - like fish). So make sure you have an accurate diagnosis.
There are a number of substitute butters available...
you also need to avoid bulk items, as bulk stores may use the same scoop or bin for nuts as well as all other products, and you can never be sure if anything is contaminated.

Chapman's icecream and Nestle Chocolate (do you have those in Maryland?) produce lines that are peanut/nut free. Nestle makes a bunch of different chocolate bars, and Smarties (which are like um... more colourful M&M's I guess). The packages that are produced in the peanut free plant have giant labels on them. I have heard that Nestle Products are harder to acquire in the U.S.? If you're ever in Canada though... Chapman's icecream makes all sorts of standard icecream flavours as well as popsicles and other frozen treats.

I hope the transition goes well and that you can find great substitutions for everything your son loves!

Sorry to hear this. My youngest is allergic to peanuts too. Everything the gals said above. Also, I keep some of the antihistime dissolvable strips and the single dose Benedryl in my purse at all times--in addition to the epi pen. Also make sure that the school/daycare knows what he is allergic to and has these on hand. Make sure the babysitter, or anyone else you leave him with knows what to look for if he is having a reaction and instructions on what to do. My DS breaks into hives for some things (cimmanon/mustard)and immediately vomits for peanut products--then breaks into hives/rash.

If the list of things he is allergic to is long, then you will want to retest again periodically. Sometimes, if his body was on 'allergen overload' at the time of testing, there will be false positives with the test--he may react to a ton of stuff and not be allergic to those things. Good luck with all this. I know it is no fun!