How To Create an Allergy Action Plan for Your Child

If your child has a severe allergy, like a food allergy or an insect allergy, you probably work hard to keep them safe. But what can you do when they’re at school, where you don’t have the same kind of control over their environment that you have at home?

Allergist Sandra Hong, MD, explains why you need an allergy action plan, what that entails and how to make sure the adults in your child’s life know what to do in case of an allergic emergency.

How to create an allergy action plan for school

An allergy action plan is a personalized document that outlines your child’s allergies and what to do if they experience an allergic reaction. Creating one for your child (and sharing it with the adults at their school) can help keep them healthy and safe when they’re away from home.

Here’s how to make one.

Make an appointment with an allergist

Before the school year begins, take your child to see a board-certified allergist, a doctor who diagnoses and treats allergies, asthma and immunologic conditions. They can:

• Diagnose new allergies
• Confirm previous diagnoses
• Update your child’s diagnosis or treatment plan as needed

“The allergist will put together an allergy action plan that identifies your child’s triggers,” Dr. Hong says. “They can also help your child better understand what causes their symptoms.”

If you live in the U.S. and your child has severe allergies, they may qualify for certain classroom accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (often just called “504 accommodations”). If your child already receives curricular accommodations, their allergy needs can be included in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

What should be included in your plan

An allergy action plan created with your child’s allergist should include:

• A complete list of your child’s allergens, stated clearly — for example, peanuts, tree nuts, bee stings, etc.
• Possible symptoms of an allergic reaction for each allergen (like hives, swelling or difficulty breathing)
• A list of medications your child takes, including the name and dosage information for each
• An emergency allergy plan that includes step-by-step instructions about what to do if your child has a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)

“As hard as you try, accidents may still happen,” Dr. Hong recognizes. “So, your allergist should carefully go over the allergy action plan with both you and your child.”

Want additional guidance on creating your allergy action plan? FoodAllergy.org offers a sample Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Emergency Care Plan in both English and Spanish. It can be easily adapted for non-food allergies.

Share the plan with school staff

Once you have an allergy action plan, make sure the adults in your child’s life know about it.

“Share your child’s treatment plan with school staff, including administrators, teachers, the school nurse and cafeteria employees,” Dr. Hong says. Don’t forget about coaches and after-school caregivers, too! Make copies available to all of them, both in print and digitally.

Before summer ends, request an appointment to talk through the plan in person with your child’s teacher and/or school administrator. This way, they’re as protected as possible from the very start of the school year.

Discuss how to handle emergencies

Information about how to deal with an allergy-related emergency should be included in your child’s allergy action plan. But it’s worth reiterating just how important it is to talk it through with educators and other important adults in your child’s life.

In the U.S., all 50 states have laws in place that protect students’ right to carry and use medications for asthma and life-threatening allergic reactions.

“Children who are at risk for anaphylaxis should have an epinephrine auto-injector, like an EpiPen®, to use to prevent the dangerous reaction that may be caused by allergies to certain foods or insect stings,” Dr. Hong says. “Be sure your child and school staff know how to use these emergency medications.”

What about environmental allergies at school?

Environmental allergens don’t typically cause anaphylaxis, so an allergy action plan isn’t usually needed. Still, if they’re not properly managed, they can make your child’s school days miserable.

Though many schools take steps to mitigate dangerous food allergies, environmental allergens often still lurk in school buildings and trigger allergic rhinitis in kids. Here are some of the most common:

• Pollen: Air conditioning can help ease pollen allergies. But many schools don’t have it, instead leaving windows open to let in a breeze — which can make allergies worse.
• Dust: Furniture, carpet, window blinds, shelves and storage areas … these are just a few of the spots in schools that may harbor dust mites.
• Mold: Mold can grow anywhere, but it’s especially common in dark, moist spots like bathrooms, locker rooms and around leaky pipes.
• Pet dander: Classmates who have pets at home can bring dander with them to the classroom. This can cause allergy symptoms in kids who sit nearby. Class pets like hamsters and rabbits can cause problems, too.
• Rodents and cockroaches: Nobody wants to think about crawly critters living in their child’s school, but they can lurk in basements and elevator shafts. Droppings, saliva and roaches’ shed exoskeletons can all cause allergic reactions.

“You may want to ask your child’s teacher or a school administrator if you can walk through the classroom ahead of the start of the school year so you can look for specific triggers,” Dr. Hong suggests.

Consider this: Unmanaged allergies and allergic asthma can affect your child’s academic performance or even translate into absent days.

“There have been lots of studies that show that kids in school with allergies have a hard time concentrating,” she adds. “Other studies have shown that these triggers can affect students so that they don’t perform to their best ability in sports.”

Advocate for your child’s safety

If your child has allergic asthma associated with their environmental allergies, work with their doctor to create an asthma action plan. This personalized document is similar to an allergy action plan but focuses on what to do in case of an asthma attack.

If your child has severe environmental allergies, Dr. Hong says that you may want to meet with school or district administrators and urge them to make changes to help keep your child and others safe. This could include:

• Keeping the windows closed when the pollen count is high
• Regularly sweeping and dusting classrooms to get rid of possible pet dander
• Considering structural changes, like repairing leaky water fixtures to prevent mold and installing high-efficiency air filters to minimize dust

Dr. Hong notes that there are even times when your child may be better off in another classroom.

“Class pets like hamsters and rabbits can significantly worsen kids’ allergies and asthma,” she warns. “In that situation, you want to find a way to separate them. So, either the pet is switched to another classroom or your child is.”

Final thoughts on kids, allergies and school

As a parent, you can’t manage every aspect of your child’s life or environment. But creating an allergy action plan for severe allergies — or an asthma action plan for allergic asthma — can help ensure that your child receives the care they need in case of an emergency.

“If your child has a severe allergy, it’s really important to take it seriously,” Dr. Hong reiterates. “Working with an allergist can be life-changing for them — and having an allergy action plan in place at school can be life-saving.”