Discovering your child has a food allergy can be a shock. But with the right support you can find a way forward

Food allergies among children are on the rise, I'm grateful for the medical care and empathy shown by friends, family and community

• Sharing the Load is a column about parenting children of all ages

I was at a trendy cafe when I bought a fancy acai bowl with perfectly sliced fruit. I mashed a piece of a banana and fed it to my nine-month-old son.

Within 10 minutes, his face reddened like he had been in the sun for too long. For a microsecond, I thought he was reacting to banana. Then, I remembered the peanut butter on top. Still, I didn't believe it was an allergy. After all, I had given him peanut butter twice before when he was six months old and it was uneventful on both occasions. We also didn't have any family history of food allergies. His three-year-old sister ate everything fearlessly.