By Pam Moore 

My daughter has multiple food allergies — the kind that require having an Epi-Pen wherever we go knowing our bright, curious daughter could die were she to accidentally eat a rogue cashew. At 2, she was old enough to enjoy trick or treating but too young to understand that much of her Halloween candy would have to mysteriously disappear. 

Now she’s 3 and understands that she must ask before she eats anything at a party. But we’re still learning how to handle Halloween. If you’re also wondering how to enjoy trick or treating without being spooked by potential allergens, here are some tips.

Create Traditions You don’t have to replicate the Halloween of your youth for your child to love the holiday. As a parent, you have the freedom to invent your own traditions. Jennifer Roblin takes her non-allergic son trick or treating while her husband stays home with their daughter, who has multiple food allergies. Her daughter loves dressing up and handing out plain potato chips (which are safe for her). 

Leigh Goodwin Furline, who has one child with food allergies and one without, gives her kids the option to trick or treat or not. Last year, they decided to skip trick or treating in favor of staying home to watch a movie. They also received some safe candy and a toy of their choosing.

Meet the Switch Witch Trading candy for a toy means not only can parents bypass label reading, candy sorting, and the risk of cross-contamination, but also the hassle of candy rationing. Sarah Jean Shambo lets her son select a toy in advance, but she waits until Halloween to purchase it. Some parents call on the official Switch Witch doll, who needs candy to keep warm through the winter, to leave behind a toy in exchange for candy collected on Halloween. This limits children’s sugar consumption and helps keep food-allergic kids safe.

Make a Trade If you don’t want to forego sweets altogether, consider trading your child’s candy for safe treats. If you’re concerned about the possibility of cross-contamination, you could do what mom Sarah Hodges does. Instead of sifting through all of her son’s candy and reading all of the labels, she replaces everything with Enjoy Life brand candies. 

Megan McDavitt encourages her children to take non-candy or safe items if any are available while trick or treating. She lets them keep any safe candy and replaces others with No Whey brand candies. Kim Schmid, who has one child with allergies and one without, combines the contents of her two kids’ candy bags then sorts it. Her allergic daughter gets to keep whatever is safe for her. The rest goes into her non-allergic son’s bucket.

Encourage Their Voice Halloween is an excellent opportunity to give a child the chance to practice having conversations about their allergies. This Halloween, Adrianna Shook plans to help her almost 4-year-old daughter say, “Trick or treat! We have allergies to peanuts and tree nuts. Do you have something else?”

Many parents I spoke to said that they were happy to politely ask neighbors if their treats were peanut-free when their children were little but now that they’re older, the kids do it themselves. Not only that, but it turns out a little education goes a long way. Parent Charlotte Eugenio said that after a couple of years of polite no thank you’s in a row, she noticed some houses started offering a separate selection of nut-free options.

BYOC For parents of younger kids who want their kids to experience as much of the traditional (read: allergy-free) Halloween experience as possible, a little benign trickery goes a long way. Jennifer Devine Pirozzoli usually takes her kids to the homes of other family members, which gives her the opportunity to run up to the door with an entire bag of safe candy from which her child can choose, without ever knowing that mom hand-picked it in advance. Other parents, like Victoria King, who plans to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time this fall, will carry safe treats for their food allergic kids to munch on as they walk.

Cash for Candy There’s no reason a kid shouldn’t have the chance to cash in on his or her treats. Parents like Toni Gaudisio are happy to buy back their kids’ candy. “My kids [who are 8 and 11] are allowed to swap out five pieces of candy for safe candy and the rest I buy back for 25 cents. We usually take them [shopping] a few days later to purchase toys with their Halloween money,” Gaudisio explained. 

Other parents enjoy the benefits of getting rid of candy without having to pony up — when the family dentist pays for Halloween candy each year!

Life with allergies can certainly be scary, but Halloween doesn’t have to make it even spookier. A little creativity goes a long way when it comes to making Halloween fun for everyone, no matter what they can or can’t eat. 

Pam Moore is an award-winning freelance writer, intuitive eating coach, and host of the Real Fit podcast. This article was originally published on Motherly. Get her free guide to improving your body image at pam-moore.com.