Tuesday, 09 September 2008
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Evening Discussion: When Is It Safe to Give Peanut Butter?
by Momaroo Team
Peanut butter...yum. PB & J sandwiches used to be seen daily in lunch boxes throughout the U.S., but these days some schools don't even allow them because of the rise in severe nut allergies in recent years. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents wait to give peanut butter (and other peanut products) to their kids until they are 2 years of age (up to 3 years if there's a family history of food allergies). In line with this recommendation, some doctors even advise their expecting patients to avoid eating peanut butter while pregnant or nursing.
When did/will you introduce peanut butter to your child's diet? What does your family's pediatrician recommend?
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Comments (20)
My daughter is 16 months. Last night was the first time Ive ever given her peanut butter. Her older brother was snacking on a yummy PB&J and since she was asking for some nicely I tore a piece and gave it to her. I guess I wasnt supposed to?
She hasnt broken out or anything even though once she took a bite, she dropped it and "ick, mama" and shook her head no.
I guess she wont be eating that again for a while. :)
My guy began at 18 months. He did not show any signs of food allergies so we felt comfortable in trying peanut butter - neither one of us had a food allergy either...
I gave both of mine a taste at around a year old. We have no history of nut allergies so I wasn't concerned. They were both fine.
My daughter had her first PB&J at age 2 1/2 and it was her last. She broke out in hives and we realized that she has a peanut allergy that she will have to deal with for her whole life. We are lucky, as she is almost 7 and has never had an anaphylactic reaction, but the chance is always out there. I ate peanuts and peanut butter during pregnancy and while breastfeeding -- no one ever told me not to do so. Looking back, I wish I hadn't. I'm glad we waited until we did to give her peanut butter, because her body may have reacted more violently if she had it sooner. Moms, please know that you may not discover a peanut allergy on the very first time your child eats it. The body must be "sensitized" (basically exposed) to it once before it can go through the steps of an allergic reaction. The literature recommends that children not eat peanuts or peanut butter until age 2, so please think twice before letting your littler ones try it.
Yeah, I heard 3 years too!! That's too long to wait for a PB&J sandwich. Our pediatrician said if there has never been any family history, it's okay to let her try it (18 months old). And I know certain cultures use a lot of peanut oil in their cooking, so if the kid has been exposed to that, they most likely aren't allergic.
I honestly don't know too much about allergies. Not a single person in my family has ever had an allergy. We didn't wait long to give my son peanut butter. I think I gave him a cracker with a little PB on it when he was right around a year old.
I have to be honest and say that the thing I don't understand about allergies is the more the experts tell us to put off giving kids certain foods, the more severe allergies seem to be getting. Again, I am not a doctor, but common sense would almost tell me that if I was eating peanuts while pregnant, my unborn baby's body would naturally get used to it. I think it can be almost more harmful when waiting until kids are 3 and then have them be exposed for the first time... again... no scientific data to back up my theory, it's just a question.
I HAD a food allergy when i was little. Upon even touching a tomato/ketchup anything with tomatoes in it- my skin would turn the color of said tomato, and i'd get nasty hives.
I grew out of it. I don't know if that happens alot... or i'm some kind of freak. I agree with @Mamatomybabies@xanga. She just makes sense. Also I used to be allergic to that fauxvanilla flavoring stuff they'd put in vanilla coke, or stuff like that. I'd get hasty hives all over my hands, and couldn't hardly bend my fingers. (Although I had to drink nothing but those soda's to get the affects... 'cause taking a sip or two doesn't do much... So maybe i still am slightly allergic.)
But yeah. I am just sick of the food allergy/food restriction thing going on.
I can see waiting until the age of 2 or later if your family has a history of peanut allergies, however, I have none, and started my little girl at about 8 months. She did fine. She loves it. She has never had any kind of reaction to it whatsoever. Every kid is different though.
I had met with a pediatric allergist with my son (not for a nut allergy -but other stuff) and he said that first of all food allergies are quite rare - even nut allergies, and that many children outgrow food allergies - again, even nut allergies. I'd have to agree with mamatomybabies about the rise in allergies being associated with more and more restrictions. It's kinda like the vaccination thing .......the more we vaccinate against, the more problems will arise later on with strains that are resistant to anything. All four of my kids can eat peanutbutter (although only 1 actually likes it) and we tried them all around age 2.
Probably not for a lonnnnnng time. He just turned 1 on the 5th, but he's already tested positive for being highly allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and eggs. He was exposed to anything and everything through breastmilk with the exception of dairy. He showed a strong allergy to that early on, and I cut it out of my diet and his allergy is less now, but not enough to give it to him all the time. That's where I get confused. They say that breastfeeding is the best thing for your child to not have food allergies and yet my kid is allergic to a lot of things. Granted, I have a lot of indoor/outdoor allergies, but the closest food allergy is my husband's nephew. Go figure. At least I know that he was hardly sick at all during the frist 11 months- when I nursed him- and he would have probably been more sick because of his indoor/outdoor allergies if not for that.
We dont have food allergies in our family but i think im going to wait til she's at least 18 months before i give her peanut butter. She's 10 months now... so i guess another 8 months wont hurt her. Our pediatrician said we can give her peanut butter after she turns 1.
I think it's very surprising how peanut allergies have become such a widespread issue because of the degree of severity of and sensitivity to peanut reactions.
Is it only me, or does it seem like the number of children with peanut allergies increase exponentially in the past couple of years? An old co-worker of mine has two daughters with peanut allergies and need to bring Epipens to school "just in case." (How scary!)
I, myself, was not diagnosed with peanut allergies, but incredibly prone to being sick. My cousin, on the other hand, was only 3 years older than me and was perfectly healthy aside from his peanut allergy. He died from a reaction to M&M's given to him at a birthday party. This happened shortly after my first birthday party (so in 1985).
As a precaution my parents avoided giving me peanut products and I wasn't introduced to peanut butter until I was 3 years old because I would be starting nursery school. My older sister was originally allergic to milk, as an infant, was given small doses of milk in her formula until she built immunity to it, so my father tried a similar thing with me. (He's an anesthesiologist, not a pediatrician - I have a lot of uncles and aunts who are pediatricians, so I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have doctors in close and immediate contact in case anything happens to your child.)
I don't like peanuts. . .
they're not even nuts!
(instead they're legumes--which are not the same thing)
i don't remember the first time i had pb...i've eaten it off and on thru my school years (pb no j sandwiches for me :), i don't think anyone other than my sister and my father have food allergies....they mainly haver "reactions"...dad w/ apples and straight milk/ice cream, but if its mixed in w/ food like muffins, mac'n'cheese, etc, he can have it. sister same w/ straigtmilk/ice cream.
Having had rough pregancies both times around, peanut butter was one of the few things I could stomach, and I literally ate peanut butter toast and a glass of milk EVERY morning for about three months.
No one in my family has nut allergies, so I'm not too worried about it. I gave my 9-month-old a tiny taste of PB the other night (she LOVED it) and there were no adverse reactions. But other than that I'll probably wait until she's old enough to eat a sandwich before giving her more...just cuz it's so messy. 
My son had for the first time around 10 months. It's not his favorite food unless it is in a cookie.
Yipes! My daughter had it around 9 months give or take. Nothing happened- she still eats it and she is under 2.
By the time I was told I wasn't supposed to give my daughter peanutbutter, it was too late, we already had given it to her, thankfully with no ill effects. She was about 9 months old the first time we gave it to her. OOPS!
it's not peanut butter that causes peanut allergies, it's the peanut oils that get into millions of food products.
My sister and brother both "out grew" allergies to peanuts. I am waiting until 3 yo to try with my little ones. However, I do eat nuts, peanuts, and PB myself while nursing and pregnant. Not sure if this is bad, but I enjoy eating it very much and get good protein this way.