What If the Child You’re Fostering Has Allergies?

An allergy sounds like a reason to hesitate. For most families it turns out to be a checklist, not a crisis. Here’s what actually happens, and why you won’t be figuring it out on your own.

Please note: This article gives general information about allergies in foster care, not personal medical advice. Figures and guidance below are correct as of September 2026. For current guidance, see nhs.uk and anaphylaxis.org.uk.

What Counts as an Allergy?

An allergy is the body treating something harmless like a threat. Food. Pollen. A cat. A wasp sting.

The reaction can be a rash that fades by teatime. Or it can close someone’s airway in minutes.

Around 1 in 11 UK children are being treated for asthma. About 4% of pre-school children and 2.4% of school-age children have a diagnosed food allergy, according to Allergy UK. Hay fever affects somewhere between 1 in 10 and 1 in 7 children too, usually showing up as sneezing through a whole summer rather than an emergency.

So at some point, the odds are you will be asked to care for a child who carries one of these.

Will I Be Told Before the Child Arrives?

Usually, yes.

If a child’s allergy is already known, your supervising social worker talks you through it before they move in. Not after.

Sometimes it isn’t known yet. A reaction can show up for the first time in your home, weeks or months in. If you spot the signs, you ring your supervising social worker and get the child seen by a GP. Nobody expects you to diagnose it yourself.

What Does an Action Plan Actually Look Like?

One sheet of paper, kept somewhere everyone in the house knows to look. The fridge door. The hallway.

• What the child is allergic to
• What a reaction looks like for that child, specifically
• What to do, step by step
• When to call 999 instead of working through the steps

You keep a copy. The school keeps a copy. It sits alongside the other records you’re asked to keep as a foster carer, and your supervising social worker checks it with you at each review, not just once and forgotten.

What If It’s a Severe Allergy?

For some children, a reaction can tip into anaphylaxis. The throat narrows. Breathing gets hard. It is frightening to watch and it moves fast.

If a child is at risk of this, they carry two adrenaline auto-injector pens, and so do you, everywhere, without exception. Anaphylaxis UK is specific about the number: two, in date, always.

You’ll be shown how to use one before the child is placed with you, and you’ll practise on a trainer pen until it stops feeling frightening. Giving the injector counts as giving a child medicine, so the same rules apply: know the plan, know the dose, know who to tell.

If a reaction happens: use the pen, call 999, stay with the child until the ambulance arrives. Not improving, and the ambulance hasn’t come within ten minutes? Use it again.

What About Asthma?

Asthma isn’t the same as an allergy, but the two often travel together, and the same “know the plan” rule applies.

In an attack: sit the child upright, don’t let them lie down, and stay calm so they can borrow your calm. One puff of their reliever inhaler every 30 to 60 seconds, up to a maximum of 10 puffs.

Call 999 straight away if they don’t have their inhaler with them, or if the puffs aren’t helping. If the ambulance hasn’t arrived after 10 minutes and things haven’t improved, repeat the inhaler steps and call 999 again if needed.

It sounds like a lot to hold in your head during training week. By the time you’re actually doing it, it’s muscle memory, the same way checking a seatbelt is.

What About a Food Allergy, Day to Day?

• Read the label every time, even on foods you’ve bought a hundred times before. Recipes change without warning.
• Check the “may contain” line, not only the ingredients list.
• Learn the child’s safe foods and unsafe foods together, out loud, until they can spot them too.
• At a café or a friend’s house, say the word allergy out loud to whoever is serving the food. Don’t leave it to chance.

What If the Allergy Is to a Pet?

This one catches people out, because so many foster families already share a home with a dog or a cat.

It doesn’t mean rehoming anyone. Keep the pet out of the child’s bedroom and off the furniture they sit on, and wash anything the pet has touched at a proper hot wash. Most families manage this by rearranging a routine, not by giving something up.

Does My Home Need to Change?

Sometimes, a little.

Allergy-proof bedding for a dust mite allergy. Windows open more often to clear damp air. A check of what’s growing near the back door if pollen is the trigger.

None of this is far from what’s already checked at your fostering home safety visit before you’re approved. It just gets a sharper focus once you know what you’re managing for.

What If I’m Worried I’ll Panic?

Most carers say this before they welcome their first child, and then don’t, when it matters.

You’re not doing this from a standing start. Training covers first aid before a child ever moves in. The action plan tells you exactly what to do, so in the moment you’re following steps, not making decisions from scratch. And the number for your supervising social worker is saved in your phone before day one.

You will not be doing this on your own

Your supervising social worker is there for exactly this. Read more about the support you get as a foster carer. At Fostering Hearts, our supervising social workers each support around six families, not sixty, so when you call about a rash at eight in the evening, someone who already knows your family picks up the phone.

Frequently asked questions

Do I Need Medical Training to Foster a Child With Allergies?

No formal medical qualification. You’ll get training on that specific child’s plan before they arrive, plus ongoing support from your supervising social worker.

What if I Only Find Out About the Allergy After the Child Has Moved In?

It happens. Speak to your supervising social worker straight away and get the child seen by a GP. An action plan can be put together quickly.

Can I Foster a Child With Allergies if I Already Have Pets?

Often, yes, with adjustments like keeping pets out of bedrooms and washing bedding at a hot temperature. Your supervising social worker will talk it through with you.

What Happens in an Emergency?

You follow the child’s action plan: the adrenaline auto-injector if anaphylaxis is suspected, or the reliever inhaler for asthma, and you call 999. You are never left to handle the aftermath alone.

Does a Food Allergy Mean I Can’t Foster Alongside My Own Children?

No. Most families manage safe and unsafe foods in the same kitchen with some relabelling and a clear conversation with everyone at the table, including your own children.