Allerbling!

Since E is now going to preschool a few mornings a week and church a couple of times a week, it was time to get an allergy bracelet for him. I researched many different types and finally settled on Allerbling.

The Allerbling set comes with bracelets in two different sizes, along with eight charms representing the top eight allergens: peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, fish, and shellfish. The charms can be snapped into the bracelet to customize it for each child's individual allergies.

The bracelets and charms can also be purchased individually. In addition to the top eight, they also offer these individual charms: sesame, corn, coconut, strawberries, chocolate, and bee stings.

When I first saw these bracelets, my concern was that E would take the charms out and lose them. I emailed the company and received a prompt response, assuring me that the charms stay in the bracelet securely. When they arrived, I couldn't even get the charms in; I had to ask Nick to do it. I'm happy to report that there's no way that E could get them out once they're in there. Even so, the manufacturer recommends this product for children over the age of three because the charms are a potential choking hazard.

There are a lot of things I like about the bracelet. It's bright orange, which is eye-catching. I like that it has a medical alert charm. Some of the other allergy bracelets I researched looked too much like the bands that all the kids wear. I wanted something that would stand out. It seems to be very durable, it's latex-free, and I like the fact that it's waterproof.

Each charm has a picture of the food on it, plus the written name of the food. E can go through each picture and recite his allergies.

E wasn't too sure about wearing it at first, but he quickly got used to it. I don't think that I'd be able to say the same about some of those metal bracelets. He now wears it to school and church, and it stays on well. When he gets home, he takes it off and hands it to me, so that I can put it in a special place. We don't want this bracelet getting lost!

One drawback is that the bracelet only holds four charms, plus the medical charm. To me, it looks as though it would be possible to add spaces for two of three more charms, so I'm not sure why they didn't do that.

With E, we chose the ones that we feel are most serious and that he would most commonly run into, and added those. For us, it was peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, and sesame. He wouldn't be as likely to encounter fish and shellfish in his classrooms, but I'd still feel better if I could add them to the bracelet.

My only other little complaint is that I don't like to spend $5.00 on shipping when it only cost $1.38 to ship. I don't mind a little more for materials and such, but that seemed like a large increase. On the plus side, they did ship the product quickly.

Overall, I think we made the right choice, and I like the fact that he has one more thing to help protect him. We waited a long time before letting him to go any classes or events alone, and I still say a prayer every time he leaves, but he loves his classes, and it's great to see him learning, having fun, and making new friends.