Peanut Allergic Infant

It may not even be an allergy. "They" recommended not to give peanuts or peanut butter to kids until they are 3 because they cannot process raw peanuts.

If it is an allergy, it is a very common one and you can find stuff pretty much everywhere without peanuts.

A lot of restauraunts (sp) are getting really sensitive to peanut allergies so I would just remember to always mention it and don't go to Logan's Steakhouse or Texas Roadhouse because they throw peanuts on the floor. As for shopping, Trader Joes is a really good place to go to find stuff for people who are sensitive or allergic to certain things. You can find lots of stuff to substitute for peanuts. Don't worry too much until you have solid proof that he is really allergic. If he is, there are therapies that they are using that introduce peanuts (as well as eggs and milk) to allergic kids at microscopic increments and increase them very slowly until they can handle some of the stuff that they are allergic too. Do some research on it online and see what you can find. Good Luck, T.

Please be assured that your son will still have a "full" and rewarding life even if he is allergic to peanuts. It will change how you look at food products and make shopping slightly more challenging. Begin looking at food labels as the government requires allergy information be listed. Restaurants normally are not a problem except for Asian (Chinese) food since they use peanuts and peanut oil in majority of their recipes.

Once the blood test confirms the allergy, begin letting day care providers, schools, family and friends know that you are a "peanut-free" house. Again, majority of people are understanding and of course, schools are required to accommodate peanut allergies. The one area in our society that is NOT accommodating is the airline industry. While flights say that will not serve peanuts, they do not clean airplanes like they used to and they have served peanuts with individuals with peanut allergies on board. If you and your family fly quite a bit, this will be a major issue for you.

We discovered my daughter had a severe peanut allergy at 2 1/2 years old which included the ambulance ride to the emergency room. We now have our epi-pen jr with us all the time and one at her preschool. We ask more questions about the processed food we buy and we just avoid cookies and candy (Hersey processed almost all their candy on the same machines so all candy comes in contact with peanuts. Same with Mars candy).

Hope this information help. Do some research on the internet about your favorite restaurants. For example, a lot of Arby's food comes in contact with peanuts in the processing. McDonalds does not.

Good luck. It will take some adjustment, but once you begin living in a peanut-free home, it is not a problem. You just have to be more aware.

Hi! I was just going to say the exact same thing that Beth said.
Good luck!

I have a son with multiple food allergies officially diagnosed at 17 months, but had his first reaction at 6 months. He is now 4.5 years old. He is contact sensitive to peanuts (can't be around others that have recently eaten peanut products, can't have food made in the same facility) even though his blood test indicates a milder reaction. For many, simply avoiding peanuts isn't enough. Great websites I use are www.foodallergy.org (tons of info), www.kidswithfoodallergies.org (info & you can ask/see questions/answers) and www.sffoodallergy.org (local support group that meets in Redwood City - next meeting is first Wednesday in February). If you weren't given one, make sure you carry 2 epi-pen Jr. (2 in case one doesn't work, you use it wrong or need another shot before getting medical help.) Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. T.

D., 10 kids in all, you are a super mom! my nephew is allergic to peanuts and has to have the epi pen at school, daycare and home, but it gets easier, you have to read everything you buy and inform the school. there are plenty of treats without peanuts, just read the label. good luck super mom!

Bless your heart for being Mommy to 10 children, I can barely handle my 2...Both who have 10-12 food allergies.
My suggestion if you are breast feeding, do not eat any nuts; and just to be safe, stay away from eating anything processed with nuts in the same facility. As far as his eating, you will have to read all labels my dear.
It will take a little getting used to, but it's not the end of the world. Further, you should ban nuts from the house. If your family is nut crazy, there are other alternatives, such as roasted soy nuts, sunflower seed butter, whole grain crackers and vegie/flaxseed chips. Trader Joes is a great place to shop, or any health food section/market. Good luck, and trust me, it could be way worse!

Hi D.! I don't have alot of advice for you but I DO know that The California Pizza Kitchen restaurant has a special area where they prepare peanut free pizzas. I don't know if their frozen pizzas have peanut warnings but you can definitely request peanut free at the restaurant.

Hi D.,

My 5 year old son is allergic to peanuts. My son has had three reactions to peanuts. The first was around 2 years old when he developed hives. In his next reaction, he had swollen eyes and on his third reaction, he had an anaphylactic reaction which required use of EpiPen and a trip to the hospital. After the second reaction, we assumed he had a peanut allergy and got an EpiPen. For the third reaction, he was with his father-in-law and a neighbor. Both knew he had a peanut allergy, but gave him some M&Ms. Both failed to look at the package. They were peanut M&Ms. My point in telling you this is to emphasize the importance of label reading not only for yourself, but for whoever cares for your child. If you enroll your child in daycare of preschool, make sure they are very aware. In one instance, I didn't feel that my son's preschool understood the severity of his allergy. So I wrote them a letter explaining his medical history and gave them specific steps to do if he was exposed to peanuts. They called me back to discuss and it made them think a little harder about it. For example, the school had a birdfeeder with birdfood which contained peanuts.

So after my son's last reaction, I began on an informational gathering journey to help my son. For me, the traditional medical advice of "avoid peanuts" was part of the solution but inadequate. An allergic reaction is an immune system response. If my son's immune system responded so violently to a substance that could not harm him, then I felt something was wrong with his immune system, and I wanted to change that.

I found an accupuncture method on the net at www.naet.com. My son has undergone this treatment. They use accupressure for kids - no needles. Further, we give my son probiotics every day. You may wonder - why? As I said the allergic reaction is an immune system response and this immune system response begins in his digestive tract. I want his immune system and digestive system to work optimally. Probiotics can help both his immune system and digestive system work better. (I even give probiotics to my twins who are 13 months old. They have received them since they were about 3 months old.) Lastly, I have taken my son to a nutritionist. Not only does he have a peanut allergy, but he also has had a subcultaneous (under the skin) cyst removed and the surgical wound had a very hard time healing (again another indication to me that his immune system was not properly working). The nutritionist looked at his urine and found he had a "leaky gut". That is, his digestive tract was not properly processing the food he was consuming and the food was "leaking" out of the gut. Thus, the nutrition he ate was not being absorbed. She recommended that we eliminate gluten and sugar from his diet. We have done both since October. I've also stopped vaccinating him. We did not do any flu shots this year. So far this school year, he's only had a little cold and hasn't missed any preschool. I think the changes to his diet have definitely helped him and his immune system. Also, in the event that he is inadvertently exposed to peanuts again, I'm hopeful that his reaction will not be as severe.

I'm not a doctor or a medical professional. Actually, I'm a CPA and attorney, but right now, I'm staying at home with my kids. I do however believe that the use/overuse of antibiotics has contributed to his allergy. My son had three ear infections in a row prior to his first allergic reaction. All three ear infections were treated with antibiotics. Now I try to avoid antibiotics if at all possible. The antibiotics destroy all (both good and bad) bacteria in the body. This is another reason I have my 5 year old and my twins on probiotics. I hope I haven't given you too much information. But like I said, the conventional response from the tradition medical community was not a sufficient response for me, so I have tried to gather as much information from different sources as possible. Hope this helps!

One more thing, when your child is older, you can get a medical ID bracelet at www.coolmedid.com.