Are Your Kids Suffering From Allergies?

My whole family suffers from allergies. This Spring has been really hard on all of us. With grass and pollen all around us, it makes it a super uncomfortable place to live. Especially hard on our dear children.

Up to 40% of American children have allergies, and they miss about 2 million school days a year due to bothersome symptoms such as itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, and runny noses.

I know my kids in particular have been suffering. I feel so badly when they sneeze and itch.

It is so important as parents that we help our kids out by treating their symptoms so they can have an easier time of it.

This is where Children’s Claritin products can help. These powerful, non-drowsy products are the #1 pediatrician recommended to help kids cope with their allergy symptoms. Kids only need one dose per day. This will help them focus more on their daily activities rather than their allergies. It is no fun playing outside in the sun when your sneezing and itchy.

Children’s Claritin comes in great grape chewable tablets or syrup. There are also RediTabs Tablets for kids.

I have been treating my children’s allergy symptoms with Claritin and I can tell a difference between then taking them or not. They are not as itchy (and sometimes not itching at all), no runny noses, and they play happier.

Tips For Managing Your Child’s Allergies:

·         Identify the specific allergens that trigger your child’s symptoms so he or she will be able to help limit contact with them.

·         Tell your child’s teachers, school nurse, coaches and caretakers about his or her allergies, triggers and medications.

·         Remind your child to wash his or her hands frequently to avoid spreading allergy – causing substances such as dust, pollen and pet dander.

·         Help manage your child’s home environment by taking steps such as keeping windows closed, cleaning air filters regularly, washing bedding often and using a dehumidifier.

·         Have your child shower and change clothes after playing outdoors since allergens can collect on hair, skin and clothes.

·         Treat allergy symptoms with a non-drowsy antihistamine, such as Children’s Claritin®, that will last throughout the day.

For more information about Claritin – visit the new Claritin Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/Claritin or their website at www.Claritin.com .

Help your children have a happier allergy season!

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure- I was sent product samples of this product. My opinion of this product is 100% my own honest opinion and has not been swayed in any ways.

Home Free – Treats Your Allergy Suffering Kids Can Eat

I do a lot of writing on this blog about my son who is 11 years old and suffers tremendously from Allergies and Asthma. So when I was approached by a company who asked if I was interested in trying (and letting him try) some treats that are Organic, peanut free, tree nut free, egg free, and dairy free, I couldn’t have been more excited.

My son IS allergic to Eggs and Peanuts. DO you know how hard it is to find foods without eggs and that are not cooked in a facility where nuts are also in other ingredients ? VERY !!!

So, I was sent some samples to try and also they sent a couple packs made just for my son. He was so happy to get this special attention. (he is a middle child and feel’s left out sometimes, lol) The products are from HOME FREE.

I was very delighted to be contacted from this company to try their products, but at the same time, very ummm… hesitant. I truthfully was worried that they wouldn’t taste good, that cookies without eggs ? would taste like cardboard or something.

WELL… To my shock I was surprised VERY PLEASANTLY surprised!!! These are the BEST Oatmeal, chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted in my life !!! They were soooooooo moist, and soooo good. I raved about them to my husband, my mother, and anyone else who came by for over a week! They were just soooo good. They sent me a few boxes of these cookies and Let me assure you, all the cookies were GONE in about a week, or less.

I let ALL 4 of my children try them, and they ALL loved them. My child with the allergies loved them and so did my mom and my husband.

Here are some facts about these cookies :

• Whole Grain
• peanut free
• tree nut free
• egg free
• dairy free
• no trans fat
• no cholesterol
• all natural, organic ingredients

The Big cookies are individually wrapped for easy snacks to take along with you. The boxes are 6.3 oz. boxes and hold 6 delicious cookies.

There are also mini cookies that come in chocolate, chocolate chocolate chip, and oatmeal chocolate chip.

These treats are so delicious! They truly made my allergic child not feel like an outcast. In Fact, these cookies made my son feel very special and important.

You can read more about Home Free products by visiting : www.homefreetreats.com You can also find Home Free on Twitter and Facebook!

FROM THE COMPANY :

HomeFree cookies carry a suggested price of $4.99 per box at retail locations or $5.49 per box (plus shipping and handling) through the company’s website,www.homefreetreats.com.  HomeFree cookies are available in a variety of flavors including chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip, and oatmeal (6.3 ounce boxes), as well as mini chocolate chip, mini chocolate chocolate chip and mini oatmeal chocolate chip.  Individually wrapped cookies are $1.49 each or $14.90 for a case of 12.

HomeFree cookies, allergen-free baking cookbook and specialized allergen-tested baking ingredients are available for purchase through the company’s website.  The cookies are available at over 450 retail locations nationwide including participating Whole Foods, Wild Harvest sections of Shaw’s supermarkets, Food Town and Giant Carlisle Supermarkets, as well as at a growing number of supermarket chains and institutions such as schools, camps, and sporting venues.

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure – Home Free sent me some samples boxes of cookies to try. All of my opinions of the Home Free products are 100% my own honest opinion.

Winner of Aller-Ease Gift Package

Congratulations to : KAREN   You, are the winner of the All-Ease Gift Pack off of this blog!!!! ENJOY

You have 48 hours to email me at : plussizemommy@gmail.com  with your name, phone # (for shipping), and address to claim your prize.   If you do not email and claim within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.  Please put Aller-Ease in the subject line, thank you.

Thank you so very much to all who entered.

The Plus Size Mommy

*This prize pack will be sent directly from the company, at no cost to me.*Disclosure – I have stated my true personal opinion on the Aller-Ease products.  I would like to thank  The Motherhood for asking me  to participate in the “Spring Into Action” Aller-Ease campaign. For my participation, I have received an Aller-Ease package with several of their products and a stipend.  Depending on the participation of my blog, I may be able to earn a gift card.

Spring Into Action With Aller-Ease and The Motherhood, Giveaways Too!*

I am so excited to tell you that I have been asked to participate in this Great campaign:

Just in time for Spring!!!! I will be featuring a lot of great Spring cleaning products this week and to kick it all off I bring to you the “Spring Into Action” presented by Aller-Ease campaign!

I was chosen as part of  a great group of 15 top mom bloggers to help bring this great info. and 2 great giveaways to you. This campaign is also teamed up with “The Motherhood”.

I must say, I do not like to clean but the newness of Springtime just instills a Bug into me to have my house freshened up and get it ready for the wonderful Summer to follow. It is a way of bringing a sense that Winter is finally over and when everything outside starts to blossom and bloom, I like to think the inside of my home smells and looks so fresh too.

It is time to clean out the cobwebs, dust mites, dander, mold, and any other things that can cause allergy problems in your home.

My family is SUPER SENSITIVE to many things, and ALL of our allergies flare up in Spring. My son who is 10 has extreme eczema has had allergies from birth. My husband is super sensitive to dust mites and cats. And I am allergic to any pets, dust, pollen, and ragweed. I try to search for ways to reduce or eliminate dust and anything around my home as much as possible. So you can imagine how excited I was to be apart of this campaign and to learn more techniques and about products to help me and my family, and also to tell others about them to help them and their families.

The products I received from Aller-Ease were 2 pillow protectors, a mattress cover, and a Aller-Ease pillow. I immediately put the pillow covers on one of my pillows and on the new pillow and started using them. Then I also covered my mattress too. The covers are all white and crisp and the pillow is sooooooo nice and comfy. I am all about pillows. Which with allergies isn’t always a good thing because mites thrive in them. But with the Aller-Ease protective covering I no longer have to worry as much.

When Spring cleaning I always go through my children’s rooms too. I get rid of stuffed animals that were collected in the previous year. The “Special” ones I wash in hot water. This is just one of the many things I do while Spring cleaning.

Aller-Ease would like to know what cleaning tips/advice you do that you will share with other moms and families for a chance to win a great gift basket. Which cleaning supplies do you love and cannot do without? Are you a “Green” Spring cleaner? Do you go through bottles of Clorox and pine sol ?  What cleaning tips were passed down to you from your mother and grandmother?  Aller- Ease & The Motherhood want to know! (and so do I).

From all of your tips Aller-Ease will be putting together “The Best Spring Cleaning Tips of All Time” tip sheet.

For more info about the Spring into Action campaign please visit the Aller-Ease website ,Aller-Ease Event on Facebook and the Aller-Ease Spring into Action Circle at The Motherhood. You can also follow along on twitter by searching the #allerease hash tag.

Now onto the giveaways, there are 2 separate ones so be sure to follow the guidelines for each :

GIVE AWAY #1 -

ONE subscriber to The Plus Size Mommy blog will win the following -

• 1 Aller-Ease Pillow
• 2 Aller -Ease Pillow covers
• 1 Queen Size Mattress cover

Here is how to enter  (USA Entries Only) :

1. Comment and tell me your Your favorite Spring cleaning tip = 1 entry per tip (no limit, separate comment for each)
2. Comment and tell me your favorite cleaning product = 1 entry per product up to a total of 5 (separate comments for each)
3. FAN “The Plus Size Mommy” on Facebook = 1 entry
4. Join the Spring Into Action Circle at The Motherhood = 5 bonus entries (leave 1 comment 5 times letting me know you joined)
5. follow @plussizemommy on Twitter = 1 entry comment and let me know you did
6. FAN Aller-Ease on Facebook = 1 entry, comment and tell me you did this
7. Post about this giveaway on your blog = 5 bonus entries, link to this post and comment 5 times letting me know you did
8. Tweet the following on Twitter ” Share your Spring cleaning tips and you can win from #allerease  http://twurl.nl/xtesm8  ”              You may Tweet this as many times per day as you like, leave a separate comment with tweet thread for each tweet.

THEN :

From all of these great tips, Aller-Ease and theMotherhood will be combining all the spring cleaning tips posted ontheMotherhood and will randomly select THREE bloggers to win a Spring Cleaning prize basket!

This Spring Cleaning basket will include :

• An Aller-Ease Queen Cotton Mattress Protector
• An Aller-Ease Cotton Comfort Allergy Protection Pillow
• 2 Aller-Ease Cotton Comfort Allergy Protection Queen Cotton Pillow Protectors
• Kleenex
• Halls Cough drops
• Clorox Wipes
• Various cleaning supplies
• Spring linens (hand towels, etc.)

So don’t miss this chance to win this wonderful gift basket as well. Don’t forget!  You get extra chances to win if you post your tips over at theMotherhood “Spring Into Action” circle as well.

You can gain more chances to win by visiting the other sites who are participating in this campaign as well :

All Star Aller-Ease “Spring Into Action” team:

Caryn @
Rockin’ Mama
http://www.rockinmama.net

Felicia @
Go Graham Go
http://www.gograhamgo.com/

Stacie @
The Divine Miss Mommy
http://thedivinemissmommy.com/

Tonya @
A Family Completed
http://afamilycompleted.blogspot.com/

Diane @
Something Snappy
http://somethingsnappee.blogspot.com/

Becky @
Nickles-n-Dimes
http://blog.nickels-n-dimes.com/

Piera @
Jolly Mom
http://www.jollymom.com/

Angie @
My Four Monkeys
http://MyFourMonkeys.com

Kimberly @
Pretty Pink Momma
http://prettypinkmomma.blogspot.com/

Shannon @
The Mommy Files
http://www.themommy-files.com/

Stephanie @
And Twins Make 5!
http://andtwinsmake5.blogspot.com/

Tammy @
Tammy’s Two Cents
http://tammystwocents-tammy.blogspot.com/

Robyn @
http://www.RobynsOnlineWorld.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RobynsWorld
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/robynsonlineworld

Bing @
Icefairy’s Treasure Chest
http://icefairystreasurechest.blogspot.com/

This giveaway starts NOW and ends on 4/12/2010 at 8PM EST. Winner will be chosen via random.org. Winner will be posted by 4/13 and will have 48 hours to claim their prize by emailing me their name, address, and phone #. Winners Will NOT be emailed, so if you enter, please check back to see if you won. Only Subscribers to this blog can win and must be an address in USA.

Good Luck to everyone !!! Thank you for your entries.

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure – I have stated my true personal opinion on the Aller-Ease products.  I would like to thank  The Motherhood for asking me  to participate in the “Spring Into Action” Aller-Ease campaign. For my participation, I have received an Aller-Ease package with several of their products and a stipend.  Depending on the participation of my blog, I may be able to earn a gift card.