Peanut Butter - Birmingham,AL

In 2008 the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that there was no evidence that delaying the introduction of certain foods would make a child/baby less likely to be allergic to it, with the exception of some specific foods until after the age of 1 (honey, whole milk). Family history is the most likely predictor.

My twenty two month old eats it and his siblings (now 3 & 4) ate it as soon as they were able to eat table food. They call it butter and absolutely love it

I would suggest to check with your pediatrician. My opinion the longer you wait the better. The way that allergies work is they develop after repeated expose to particular allergens. So the reason the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to wait between 2-3 years is to limit exposure to a potential allergen. Peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies.

Here is a great article I found with lots of helpful info. If you have a family history or if you child has other allergies, eczema or was a high risk infant you may want to wait to introduce peanut butter.

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/peanut_butter_co...

I think they're saying age 2 now for peanut butter, but I would check with your pediatrician to be sure. Also, just a side note, I find that the family history of allergies is pretty irrelevant. I have a severe peanut allergy and there is no history of severe food allergy in my family, and I have a friend with a son who has tons of food allergies, again with no family history of allergies. Just something to take into consideration when deciding when to give PB. If you want to provide extra snack options and proteins without risking the PB, sunflower or soy butter is a good alternative. You can find them at many natural food stores such as Whole Foods, etc.

I think you should check with your pediatrician. They usually say wait until after a certain age to see if they may have allergies, but peanut allergies are becoming so prevelant, the age may have changed. My 14 month old has already tried it and loved and didn't have any allergic reactions, thank goodness!

I think it is after one, but we hardly use PB around here. We give my son Sunflower Butter all the time, and he loves it. It tastes a bit different, but he's had it from the start and loves it. I feel better about giving it to him instead of PB.

Good luck!
T.
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I acCtually didn't know about the peanut butter waiting game until my daughter was two. I used to put peanut butter in her rice cereal when she was about 4 and 5 months old. I figured it was healthy and it made the rice not so plain. Apparently I was just lucky she had no reaction to it besides gobbling it up. Lol. I'm not really sure the answer to ur question but just wanted to share mine.

I have heard it's ok after 1 year if there are no food allergies in your or your hubby's families. If there are food allergies, wait till age 2. Another thing you have to watch for is choking, so be sure to use a thin layer.
This is all what I've read, but I would double check if I were you. Google it and see what you find out.

If you're going to give it, I would say for a youngster to try the all natural stuff. I know that places like Whole Foods have machines that just grind up peanuts into a smooth peanut butter with no extra additives, just the peanuts. Natural is always good eats for kids, and often pretty darn tasty for us Moms too.

WIC starts giving Peanut Butter when the kids turn 1, I found that to be strange so even though we were getting the Peanut Butter I didn't plan on introducing it until age 2. But my best friend was sneaking it to the kids before they were even 1. She was putting it on bread in a very thin layer. She thought I was just being silly.

The research I found to be most helpful said that the longer you wait to introduce any foods to a child the more likely they are to NOT have allergies. The research stated that the rapid changes in food allergies are possibly due to parents introducing foods to their children at younger and younger ages. As you know their are people feeding their babies baby/table food at 3 and 4 months now. It really doesn't do them any good because they get less nutrition and less formula or breast milk and it is showing that it is hurting their systems all over. There was also a possibility that there is a correlation to all allergy responses and introducing foods too early.

So, that is why I chose to wait. I had allergy testing a few years ago and I reacted to 74 out of 80 allergins they tested on me. I really had concerns that I would be setting up the kids for future problems. But I guess that choice was taken away from me. So far the kids don't have any allergies.

There is so much conflicting information about this one. I did a bunch of reading up when my son was starting foods, and determined that there is no right answer and no one really knows whether introducing later or earlier is better. I was going to say pretty much exactly what L.L said. My sister's pediatrician told her to wait, and mine said it didn't matter (our sons are both just over 2 now). We both love and trust our doctors, so we couldn't even chalk up the different advice to one of them being misinformed. I have even heard not to eat peanut butter in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, but also read the opposite that it is good to expose them to it. I ate it during both.

If you want to play it safe, you can find alternative Nut Butters very easily, at your regular grocery store even. I would avoid Nutella (although it's wonderful) because it has extra sugar, I believe, but I could be remembering wrong. I did sunflower seed butter for a while until he turned one. It's very similar. Now the choking issue is very real- peanut butter can stick in their throats and choke them. I spread it thin, and I sometime do a peanut butter dip that is thinned with milk for fruits, it is too thin to be sticky.

I decided to go ahead and give it to mine. I read some interesting articles about a new theory of why allergies to food are so prevalent, and it made sense to me. The thought is that food allergies are developing because of overuse of disinfectants. Short version- if our bodies are not having to fight off germs, they fight off other things and start attacking something that should be benign to most people. The study found that in homes that had pets (especially cats) food allergies were less likely. Same for homes/people that allowed their kids to play in dirt or are otherwise exposed to dirt. It not only made me feel better about the dirt my pets track in and not mopping all the time, but less stressed about germs in general and feel safer giving peanut butter. I still use tons of hand sanitizer for cold/flu season and I'm not quite over my phobia of public restrooms though. :) Good luck deciding! As always, double check with you pediatrician to get the most current info.

After one is the general rule of thumb for highly allergic foods. If you have a family history, however, I might wait longer to introduce.

I think it partly depends on your family history--do food allergies run in your (or hubby's) family? If not, I wouldn't wait too long. My girl is 14 months, no history of food allergies (or sensitivities), and she LOVES peanut butter. Besides, it's an excellent source of protein and good fats! I would just start out with a tiny bit at a time until you're sure.

I just wait until they turn 1, though I know if there is any family history of peanut allergies they advise to wait longer. Also, this is based on what the recommendation was when I started having kids 7 yeas ago, so it very possibly has changed now.
M.

I know, it's totally confusing. I think after one is now ok. I think the threat is more a choking one hazard than anything. Don't cake it on, spread it on thin so that he can more easily swallow. There is conflicting info regarding when to introduce peanuts and allergies. Many countries introduce peanuts early on and don't have the peanut allergy problems . I think even the AAP has changed its guidelines regarding introducing peanuts stating that delaying doesn't necessarily make a difference with regards to allergies. I think the fact is that they really don't know what causes peanut allergies.

I think if you don't have a family history of food allergies, then after 1 is fine. I might try 1 peanut or a very small amount of peanut butter to see if there's a problem. Ask your pediatrician if you're worried about a reaction.