When Can We Try Peanut Butter...

Recently in the news, it was reported that more children actually got allergies because the children had waited so long to eat nuts, as recommended by their pediatricians. So I think you'll see more pediatricians now saying it's ok to eat nuts earlier...more like a year or so instead of 2 or 3.

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Hi There,
Go with your gut. The guideline is usually 2 if there are no food allergies in the family. My daughter was 18 mos. when she tried foods with nuts/ peanut butter on occasion. Our pediatrician said it was fine. Our pediatrician explained that the problem with nuts is that there is an enzyme in nuts that can be hard to digest for young kids whose digestive tracks are not fully developed, therefore, if some kids get too much of it, they begin to build an antibody against it... she said that for so many kids peanut butter became a staple in there diet at such an early age (fussy eaters, easy to make) that peanut allergies became a bigger problem. She said a little bit now and before 2 would not hurt. Also, I have recently read that it can actually be a bad thing to wait until 3 or later because a childs body will not have been exposed to those enzymes and could have trouble breaking them down. I am a true believer of everything in moderation... just don't go overboard. Ofcourse be wary if there are other allergies in the family. On the other hand, both my husband and I have bad seasonal allergies and we both love peanut butter and have no issues with it (one responder said that seasonal allergies and food allergies often go hand in hand, which isn't necessarily true). Just be carefull and let your child enjoy another childhood treat!

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Do it now rather than later. If your son has no allergies, you should be fine. I just gave it to my son a few weeks ago. He's 13 months and he loves it. No problems at all. A new study just came out saying that kids who waited longer had a greater risk of allergies than kids who were fed peanuts earlier. I can't seem to find the link but here is a recent Time Magazine article that mentions something similar. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,###-###-...

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I had a VERY bad experience with my son when he was 14 months old! He had an extereme allergic reaction, within 5 seconds of eating the peanut butter that I gave him for the same reason you mentioned (this was 11 years ago, when peanut allegries were hardly spoken) he broke out in hives all over his face, his eyes were swollen shut, his lips and tongue blew up like a balloon, and he started to have a hard time breathing. Thank God I had liquid Benadryl in the house, which I gave him immediatelyand called the doctor! (Who did not send me to the E.R. for some reason, and I like a jerk listened!) I also do not have any food allegries nor does anyone on boths side of the family. But looking back their were some signs that I or at least the ped., should have noticed. The one time I ate peanut butter when I was pregnant, was the one time I threw up. My son also had very bad eczema all over his legs, arms, and hands which were probably reactions to the peanut butter and sunflower seeds I was eating while I was breastfeeding him, (he's also very allergic to sunflower seeds, the highest his allergist has ever seen) Oh and looking back at his baby pictures, his eye lids were always so red and he had "allergy shiners" under his eyes. Needless to say I stopped going to the ped. after he missed a bunch of allergy things with my son for the next 2 year, funny the ped. was in the NJ Magazine for being a top doc. LOL. I would suggest talking to your ped., and think about giving him the peanut butter in the doctors waiting room. It is easy and a great source of protein, it would be a shame to miss out on it, if he can have it! But, it was scary, I would hate to see another mom go through it!

You absolutely do not have to wait!! That advice of waiting til 2 is already being refuted (studies have shown that waiting has no affect on incidence of allergies), and in a family where there are no food allergies, I wouldn't be concerned at all. My daughter has probably been eating pb since she was 18 months old. Not sure what the signs are, since my daughter had none.

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that we do not have any family history of allergies either and I ate a lot of peanut butter during pregnancy and breast feeding and my daughter is severely allergic to peanuts. If you are going to go ahead with it, just make sure you are prepared with Benedryl and the correct dosage.......just in case. Start off with a small amount on a cracker and then wait a few minutes before giving another. They say the first reaction is the mildest. I gave my daughter about 2 or 3 crackers probably(without waiting in between) before she started to develop a swollen top lip and little red or lumpy spots (hives I guess) around the bottom half of her face. Luckily Benedryl was enough for us. It could be as severe as the throat swelling and/or difficulty breathing. If he does have even a mild reaction be sure to get him tested at an allergist to confirm the allergy and prescribe an Epipen. The next reaction could be much worse than the first. Good luck!

P.S. I give my daugther Soynut butter and she loves it. It is located in the organic section and costs about $5 but it's so worth it for protein power and convenience. Of course, soy is a potential allergen as well.

P.S.S. If you suspect he is having trouble breathing or tongue is swelling or something very serious like that, call 9-1-1 after giving Benedryl. (i don't mean to scare you, sorry!)

If your doctor doesn't object for some reason, why not. My daughter has been eating pb since a year.

Hi C.
I too am a peanut butter lover. I ask my ped when my daughter was a year old when we can try and he said now so a few days after her 1st birthday I put a very small amount on my finger and let her suck it off. She seemed to like it. Now at 18 months she has only had a pb&j a few times (it is messy). Look for trouble breathing and rash. If he has trouble breathing take him to the hospital right away if a rash comes up call your doctor. I just read in the March issue of Parent Mag there is a study to give your child peanut early before 1 help reduce the chance of having an allergy.
Hope this helps.
L.

My daughter just turned 1 and her ped. said everything is ok now except honey.

Hi C.,
The AAP recommends not starting peanut butter til 3 years of age. While people may say to check with your pediatrician, many pediatricians give advice that isn't based on current AAP recommendations - don't know where they get their ages of one, two or whatever else from. The later age recommendation is due both to alleries and to pb being a choking hazard.
Good luck.

My son is 21 months old and I started giving him peanut products at 17 mos, even though the ped said to wait until age 2. I just felt in my gut that he would not be allergic, and he wasn't.

As always though, consult your dr first just incase.
Good luck!
L.

You are probably safe. If you are concerned you could put some on his skin first to see if there is a skin reaction. A peanut allergy usually shows up as a severe reaction, trouble breathing, swelling etc. My aunt had kids with allergies & she would strip them naked, have them touch the food, eat & then she would look for any hives or skin reactions. Sometimes that was followed by a trip to the Doctors. Good luck!

Check with your doc. to ease your mind if you need,but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Does your son have other allergies or problems like reflux? If not I would go ahead, I know both mine had peanut butter between 1 and 2. My doc. used joke about 12months being the magic number for so much. Congrats on the new baby.

When it comes to foods such as this, it's always best to ask your pediatrician first. We also are very avid pb eaters in our house as well with no history of food allergies. For both kids, I gave them their first pb when either going to the hospital anyway (for something unrelated) or on a day I would be close to a hospital. Figured if there was going to be a reaction, at least I'd be right there! Both had pb shortly after their first birthday, although it really depends on how your pediatrician feels about this.

I would wait to be on the safe side. I just saw on "The Doctors", a TV show, where they were saying to prevent possibility of peanut allergies, a person should wait to feed their children p.b.
I hear all that you are saying but why risk it when it's only a few more months versus a potential lifetime? Just my thoughts. Best of luck!

My daughter had peanut butter shortly after turning one and has never had any problems, it is a almost everyday thing now. Just start slow, a little on a cracker or piece of bread and wait a day or so.

She never had any problems with any foods other than a little diaper rash after oranges and pineapple.
have fun:-)

I would be very careful with peanut butter. I would wait until 2 or even later. We have no family history of food allergies and I have 2 children allergic to peanut butter and eggs. If there are other allergies - pollen, animal, any type of allergy can manifest itself as a different type of allergy. My husband is allergic to animal dander and that is where the likely hood of an allergy in the children came from. (or so the allergest says) I waited until they were 2 1/2 to try peanut butter and my second daughter said that she didn't like the smell and was reluctant to try it. She vomited about 10 minutes after tasting it (just one bite). Her body know not to eat it, hence the dislike for it. Listen to what they tell you. She has never had breathing touble with a reaction, just the vomiting and hives, but we carry an epi-pen just in case. Talk to your pediatrition and be careful.

You should probably wait since the reaction can be very serious if he is allergic. I too ate peanut butter while pregnant, while breastfeeding and during my son's first year. At 1 we found out he has several food allergies. You don't necessarily find out the first time they eat it either b/c your body builds up anti-bodies each time they are exposed. For example at 1 my ped said it was ok to give my twins eggs. We jumped right in and gave them eggs that very day. We weren't nervous at all since there are no food allergies in our family. After 8-10 times of eating eggs my son broke out in hives all over his face, neck, ears, lips... He was screaming and crying and scratching. I was shocked b/c he had eaten them so many times without a reaction. To make a long story short, we went to the dr for bloodwork and they found out he was allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk and soy. When they test the blood it shows what your body has built up anti-bodie to. So although I never "fed" my son nuts he had ingested it in products. THe ped said probably some kind of filler in a cake or cookie. So if I didnt find out when I did once he actually ate p.b. he could have had a serious anaphalactic reaction. We were given an epi-pen that same day and had to remove ALL p.b. and nut products from our house. This is a serious allergy my son has and I'm not saying htis will happen to your son (hopefully not) but I wanted you to have some info on what and how it can happen. I knew nothing about allergies and was so shocked by the fact that it gets worse each time they are exposed. And his twin sister has NO allergies, so there is no telling who will and won't react. So I hope this gave you some insight. In my opinion I would hold off...better safe than sorry. If you do decide to give it to him just be sure you have Benedryl around. Good luck

We started both of our kids on peanut butter at 1 yr. As long as there is no history of allergies you should be fine.