Allergy Safe-Tee
By Cara Schrock
When a red, infant-sized “Dairy Free” t-shirt from Jeeto!’s Allergy Collection arrived on my doorstep, I thought the Fashion Gods had finally answered my prayers. Style and practicality: A cute t-shirt my allergic son could wear to remind everyone around him that he shouldn’t eat dairy foods.
Julian, just shy of one year, has shown signs of a dairy allergy since he was a newborn. Since then, I’ve had permanent cold sweats. I’m a first-time mom for crying out loud. I worry about everything and now I have to worry about food-pushing Grandmas trying to deal him a piece of cheese behind my back.
For reasons I can’t explain, my mother cannot grasp the concept that Julian should not eat dairy foods, even though I’ve explained that it will make him sick. That means leaving him in her care had turned into a major source of anxiety for me. Along the bottom of the rules and regulations I make her sign when babysitting, I have in big, bold letters: “IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE AT ALL, NO DAIRY!” But what was I likely to see when I walked back in the door? A yogurt-filled spoon heading towards his mouth with my written warning still tacked to the refrigerator. I got the same “I didn’t see the note” excuse every time.
But now, no more excuses: Jeeto! has our back. That first week, Friday date night rolled around for the husband and me. We got Julian dressed in his comfy cotton Jeeto! tee. I wondered if it would work.
Of course it would work, it had to work! Who wouldn’t notice the happy little cow gleefully shouting “Dairy Free” across Julian’s chest? If the t-shirt wasn’t enough for this Grandma, then we’d slap some of the stickers (also available from the Jeeto! Allergy Collection) all over his head or sew one of the dairy-free patches across his mouth to ensure no illegal consumption.
Much to our delight, the t-shirt did its job and no cow products came within his reach. We’d only asked that she watch out for dairy-related foods, but if the picture of the cow makes her steer clear of anything that moos, that’s fine with us.
We’re still trying to figure out if Julian has any other food allergies. But even if he does, Jeeto! has us covered if the allergies end up being of the gluten, egg, peanut or tree nut variety.
But until Julian grows out of the allergy, or until he can talk and identify dairy products (which is more likely than his Grandma finally catching on), he’ll just have to be happy wearing the same t-shirt every Friday night.
You can learn more about the Jeeto! Allergy Collection of products at http://www.jeeto.com/allergycollection.html
To read more of Cara Schrock’s (aka mamac-ta) editorial reviews of unique baby and parenting gear, visit www.urbanbabyrunway.com.