Mother finds difficulty getting child care for son with food allergies

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Finding reliable and safe child care could be a challenge for parents, but for parents of children with food allergies, it presents more challenges.

A Gaston County mother told Channel 9 she's going to have to quit her job because she can't find anyone willing to watch her son, who has severe food allergies.

Shelby Helms is balancing a real estate job and helping out with the family business.

“I am a better wife, mom, person when I work,” Helms said.

[ALSO READ: 8 percent of children in U.S. have food allergies, study says]

Now, she has to leave work behind to stay home and take care of her son.

“(A child care facility) actually called me an hour after I left and said, ‘Sorry, we don't think we can keep your son safe,’” Helms said.

She said it was a shock when she learned her 16-month-old son, Lucas, was diagnosed with severe food allergies.

“The most reactive is nuts, and he's contact-reactive to them,” Helms said.

Workers at the child care told Helms they couldn’t accept Lucas days before he was supposed to start, and that was after being on a waiting list for months.

“Right when we think we found someone, something would pop up, like: ‘Oh, I'm not sure. I don't wanna take that risk if anything happened,’” Helms said.

Charlotte allergist Dr. Nikhila Schroeder said Helms is not alone.

“I would be surprised if there was any large facility that doesn't have someone with a food allergy at this point in time,” Schroeder said.

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 8% of children, or one in 13, have a food allergy.

Schroeder said that on the surface, handling an allergy can seem like a daunting task but not if caregivers and parents act as a team and figure out a solution.

Helms hopes she can find the right fit for Lucas and his allergies so she can get back to the family business.

“So, whenever he needs that education to pay (for), I want to do those things, provide money,” the mother said.

Breakthrough treatment could help people tolerate foods they're allergic to Breakthrough treatment could help people tolerate foods they're allergic to

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