Three Things To Tell Your Child About His Or Her Medical ID Bracelet

If your child is young when he or she is tested and found to have a serious food allergy, the child may not be concerned — but you definitely should be. Your child's doctor will commonly recommend that your child wear a piece of medical ID jewelry, usually a bracelet, that reveals his or her allergy for people to see. As an adult, you likely understand the importance of this bracelet, but your child may not. Here are three bracelet-related topics that you should talk to your child about.

The Importance Of Leaving It On

Children often have a tendency to fidget with different things, remove them, and lose them, which is often a good reason to keep your children from wearing jewelry when they're younger. A medical ID bracelet is the exception, however, but you need to make your child understand that this isn't a toy. Medical ID bracelets are commonly made so that the wearer cannot easily take it off, but it's important for you to teach your child that he or she shouldn't ever try to remove or cover up this device. Without scaring him or her, emphasize that your child's health and safety depend in part on wearing the bracelet.

Telling Adults About It

For younger children, you'll want to make their teachers and other people in their lives aware of their food allergy. However, when your children have been diagnosed with their food allergy a little older, you may wish to empower them to let adults know about it. For example, when a child goes over to a friend's house, the child should plan to let the friend's parents know about the food allergy and show off the bracelet as a reminder. The parents can then take steps to prevent your child from coming into contact with the food to which he or she is allergic.

Accepting That It's Part Of Life

Some children may not be fond of wearing their medical ID bracelet because their friends may not have one. Lots of children want to fit in, and it's possible that your child may feel as though the bracelet makes him or her stand out as being different. You need to allow your child to share these feelings, but to also make him or her accept that the bracelet is simply a part of life. Just as a child with glasses will have to get used to wearing them and will soon be able to ignore them, your child should take a similar approach with the bracelet.