Halloween safety: ER doctor on candy allergies & sleep time

And obviously, Halloween weekend is here. And that means there's going to be more than just costumes and candy. The clock is going to change. We were just talking about that earlier sunsets. And with Halloween on Saturday and daylight saving time ending early Sunday, how can parents keep track of all the fun and making sure that people aren't going to be staying up too late, go to bed too early, and getting their kids' sleep schedules off? So joining us live is Kaiser Permanente, Georgia pediatrician, Dr. Ediong Ipe Apo, also known as Dr. DeeDee. Doctor, I appreciate you being here this afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here. And just for clarification, I am an emergency physician. Emergency physician. But we do see kids, and I'd love, love to talk about all the things that we need to be really aware of so that we don't end up in the emergency department this Halloween. Yeah, I mean, as an emergency physician, I'm sure that you unfortunately see everyone at their worst as you try to get them stable and all of that. And on Halloween, what are some of the dangers that you guys can see come into an emergency department? Well, certainly we want to emphasize pedestrian safety. So kids are on the road in their cute costumes, parents are walking with them, and not all of those roads are secured. And so you want to be very careful to make sure that you don't get hit, don't get in accidents, because we do see that sometimes. but we see other things. Sometimes we see accidents just from kids playing, they run, they fall as they're going down the streets. Unfortunately, we sometimes see some allergic reactions, which is why we really need to be careful about the products that our kids get on Halloween. And sometimes, not always on the day of Halloween, but we do see some accidents surrounding pumpkin carving and things like that. So very important to be careful when we're doing those fun activities. With trick-or-treating, before those kids start digging into their big candy haul, is there something that people should really be aware of? Yes. Labels, labels, labels. Really important to know what exactly your kids are eating. And also to know that some of the miniature versions of the candies we love don't always have the exact same ingredients as the full version. So make sure that you know exactly what your children are eating. Inspect their candy for any sort of package dysfunction or tampering if it doesn't look right it's just one piece of candy there's plenty where that came from just throw it away and for our children with allergies we really encourage parents being careful about it letting friends and family who may be joining our kids with trick-or-treating know about those allergies i know my kids love to change or trade candies so make sure that anyone who is supervising your child while they're consuming all this yummy candy or getting it knows what's in it, read the labels, inspect the candy, and be very careful about something that doesn't look quite right. Be okay just tossing it. And I want to go to something that piqued my interest. You said that sometimes the fun size candies may have different ingredients or not all the same ingredients as the normal size candies. What are some of the big changes? Are there changes that you notice, especially with allergies? That seems like that could be pretty concerning. And then sometimes there's not even enough room on the label to even put what the ingredients are that you should be aware of. Absolutely. So I don't suggest that there's major changes, but sometimes you're going to have a few more nuts, a few less nuts. Things like that, you want to watch out. So look at the consistency. There might be more caramel. I've seen one instance where the main version had soy and the smaller version did not. Not sure why that would happen, but those are the kind of things that I would just be on the lookout for. And you're right, Tyler. Sometimes you can't read the labels. They're very, very small on those miniature candies. If you're not sure, once again, I want to emphasize, just don't use it. Just don't let the kids eat it. Yeah, and because, I mean, that would be incredibly scary because you're obviously letting your child eat it. You assume it's normally fine, but in the case of that candy that the soy was in there, when it's not normally in there, there are people who do have soy allergies and can't have that, and that could obviously be a problem. If there is an allergic reaction of some sort, what should be the first call? Obviously, for parents who have kids with allergies, they might have epinephrine, but should that be the first line of defense and should 911 be called? What should we know? So first line of defense is knowing, knowing and understanding what an allergic reaction looks like. So things like swelling of the face, tongue, lips, sometimes a rash is the first sign. Sometimes it's cough or kids with reactive airway disease or asthma start wheezing. So just knowing what it looks like or what could be an allergic reaction. That's first. Second, knowing what's a severe allergic reaction. So if you start to notice that your child is having swelling of the lips, the tongue, difficulty breathing, not acting like themselves, looking lethargic as if they might almost pass out, that's when you grab the epinephrine pen or EpiPen as they call it that you referenced, Tyler. But yes, in any severe allergic reaction, you want to have somebody call 911, but be prepared, carry those EpiPens. They can go inside the candy collection bags too. And then one final question I have for you, obviously the clocks, we get an extra hour of sleep. I know I'm super excited for that because obviously in the spring, you hate having to spring forward. We get to fall back this time and it falls essentially on Halloween night. So a lot of parents might think, oh, I have some extra time for my kids to sleep, but that might not be the entirely best thinking in this situation, right? What should parents know in regards to falling back? Falling back. So you're right it's not an automatic switch in our bodies just because the clocks change and certainly not for our kids so just understanding that there might be some changes in their circadian rhythms and maybe preparing them in the days forward like giving them an extra 15 minutes or just adjusting their sleep schedule a little bit more each day if possible um recognizing they may wake up earlier even though they're supposed to and just being aware of signs of sleep deprivation changes in mood, irritability, and things like that. We all adapt. Kids will adapt too. But just being aware that our bodies are not like clocks, unfortunately. I don't know if I agree with you that I will ever adapt to springing forward, losing that extra hour of sleep. Never, never fun. I feel like I always am falling asleep that next week at work because I just feel like I need that extra hour. But Dr. Didi, I really appreciate you joining us this afternoon to talk about this, talking about candy on Halloween and also uh the extra hour of sleep I appreciate your time oh it's my pleasure be safe have a happy Halloween weekend yes hopefully everyone has a happy Halloween and hopefully get to enjoy the weather that we are seeing