Make your own food allergy alert bracelets!
I had planned to make these food allergy bracelets with Y in mind but it wasn’t as simple as I had planned. I decided to share with you how you can make these easily and learn from my mistakes! Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
For a while, I’ve been wanting to make Y food allergy bracelets, and with our travels coming up (check out my travel with kids checklist ) I especially wanted some sort of allergy ID on him just in case.
So I figured: why not go with a basic name bracelet concept, only use it to list his allergies?
The main issues I faced:
- You tend to need more text for allergy bracelets
- I’m used to making adult jewelry, not kids.
The perfect fix? I should have used much smaller beads. The ones I used were a whopping 10mm to the standard 6mm alphabet beads.
I also made a few more mistakes on the way. I should have tied down the beads on either side to fix them in place since I didn’t want to fill the bracelet with beads. I should have made a simpler sliding knot.
Anyway, I’m definitely going to share with you how to make these food allergy bracelets although I didn’t photograph our “fix” – I just had to get it done. Maybe some day I’ll have a chance to re-photograph it, but for now, I’m not going to let an imperfection get in the way of sharing a potentially super helpful resource with fellow food allergy moms!
So the tutorial below is the FIXED version – the one that works, even if the final images aren’t accurate.
If you’re nervous to make your own, you can order a custom engraved adult-size food allergy bracelet here.
Or try AllerMates bracelet. It annoys me that they don’t have sesame, or let me choose which to get, on their starter kit which is why I didn’t get it. But if you’re dealing with nuts, peanuts, wheat/gluten, dairy, and/or eggs it’s perfect for you. Otherwise, you can get add-ons or make this DIY version. The AllerMates bracelet is also a better option if you’re dealing with more than 1-2 allergies.
What you need to make a DIY food allergy bracelet:
- Alphabet beads – go for as small as you can find. 6mm should work.
- Leatherette or waxed cotton cord
- Scissors
- Accent beads
How to make your own food allergy alert bracelet:
1. Pick out the letters to spell out your allergy.
2.String them onto a piece of cord, with an accent bead between words.
If you have a generous amount of space, you can add accent beads to the sides too.
3.Make a knot on either side of your words to fix them in place.
4. Secure it with a single slider knot – find instructions for that here.
You’ll definitely need to knot your hanging strings, but if you have the space, you can also add fun accent beads there too.
Your food allergy bracelets are ready to wear!
I went with this design because I felt like it’s stackable – up to three-ish, and depending on the age of your child.
Do you or your child wear food allergy bracelets? Have you found it necessary to wear some sort of medical alert? What’s your favorite way to do it? Comment below!
Hi, this sounds really good, but I am not sure that the paramedics would be looking for information on such bracelets. Would it not be better to use the official Medic Alert bracelets?
Hi Bev, Yes and no. Medical alert bracelets come in so many styles, I’m assuming if a paramedic is looking for a bracelet they’d see it. It’s also great for when someone is in distress, can’t necessarily verbalize, but can show the bracelet as well as for young kids who are new in a classroom, to educate the teachers (who are likely to forget what exactly the allergies are). There are many reasons to wear this bracelet and this definitely helps in many cases. If you’re concerned, you can definitely add a bead with a medical alert symbol to make it more obvious what it is.
Also, to me this is best for two scenarios: 1. when you need a fix and 2. for a child who doesn’t want to wear something that looks like a medical alert bracelet, rather like a conventional one.