Navigating the Holidays With a Child’s Life-Threatening Food Allergy: Support, Anxiety Relief, and Calm for Allergy Parents

By Dr. Tera, Anxiety Therapist Supporting Parents of Children With Food Allergies

The holidays are often described as magical; filled with family gatherings, comfort foods, and & meaningful traditions. But when you’re parenting a child with food allergies and/or anaphylactic, life-threatening food allergies, this season can feel far from peaceful.

In fact, it can feel like everyone else is enjoying the glow and sparkle… while you’re quietly scanning rooms for risk, monitoring every ingredient, and trying to protect your child in environments that simply weren’t built with their safety in mind.

If the holidays feel heavy, overwhelming, or just plain exhausting — you’re not the only one.

Why the Holidays Intensify the Emotional Load

Food Is Everywhere — and So Are Hidden Dangers

Holiday meals are filled with “may contains,” secret ingredients, cross-contamination risks, and well-meaning but often uninformed relatives. You might be the only one thinking about shared serving spoons, airborne allergens, or that “just one bite” pressure that family members sometimes give without having a clue about the danger.

Family Understanding Can Be… Complicated

It’s painful when people you love don’t fully grasp the seriousness of a life-threatening allergy. Comments like:

• “You’re being overprotective.”

• “He’ll be fine.”

• “She needs to be exposed to more foods.”

can leave you feeling unseen, dismissed, or alone.

The Emotional Toll Is Real

Research consistently shows that parents of children with food allergies very understandably experience higher rates of stress, anxiety, and hypervigilance. The constant responsibility of preventing a reaction — especially during food-centric holidays — is a weight that most people have never had to bear.

You’re carrying so much love & fear.And that love is heavy sometimes as you desperately try to prevent a reaction, but also want to be able to leave the house and be with family.

A Resource That Understands You: May Contain Anxiety

Tamara Hubbard’s book, May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies, is a comforting, practical companion for this time of year.

Hubbard writes not just as an experienced therapist, but as an allergy mom herself — someone who has lived the very fear, guilt, planning, and emotional whiplash that come with allergy parenting. Her book is filled with compassion, grounded strategies, and validation that so many parents tell me they’ve never heard before.

It offers:

• tools for managing holiday-related anxiety

• language for talking with family about safety

• grounding skills for moments of overwhelm

• permission to take care of your mental health, too

If you’ve ever wished someone truly understood what this life is like, her book feels like a warm hand on your back.

What If This Holiday Season Could Feel a Little Lighter?

If you feel that you are ready for more support, therapy won’t change your child’s allergy —but it can change how relentlessly stressful the world feels.

Plus, during the holidays, when expectations rise and safety risks multiply, having emotional and practical support from someone who gets it becomes even more important.

In therapy, I work with my clients to:

• Find calm in the chaos when gatherings feel overwhelming

• Set clear boundaries with family around food safety

• Prepare for events to reduce feeling consumed by fear

• Soothe your nervous system when you’re triggered

• Talk through grief, frustration, or loneliness that often surface this time of year

• Build confidence so you can connect to your values as a parent and enjoy small moments again

You deserve space to breathe. You deserve a place where your emotions matter. You deserve support — especially now.

You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone — Connect With Dr. Tera

If the holidays feel heavy…If the mental load feels too big…If you’re tired of holding everything together while also keeping your child safe…

I’m here for you.

I (Dr. Tera) specialize in supporting parents navigating the intensity, fear, overwhelm, and emotional exhaustion of raising a child with life-threatening allergies. I work virtually in therapy with allergy parents (mostly moms) in 43 US states.  Whether you’re struggling with holiday gatherings, family misunderstanding, anxiety, or the daily pressure of keeping your child safe — therapy can help you feel steadier, calmer, and more supported.

You are doing the hardest job in the world. You don’t have to do it alone.

Reach out today to begin coping in a way that brings more peace, more relief, and more room for joy — during the holidays and beyond.