Peanutbutter?

Hi K.,

I cared for a little girl with a peanut allergy and we gave her "Sunbutter" - it's sunflower seed butter with NO nuts or peanuts, made in a safe facility. And it's delicious - I plan on giving it to my son as a safe alternative. We buy it at Shaws in the Wild Harvest section, or at Wholefoods.

I did it at one year for both my kids; sometimes I think keeping a child away from something may induce an allergy as opposed to preventing one. Sort of like constantly using antibacterial stuff on their hands will prevent them from being exposed to germs that their bodies need to fight off.

Both my kids have tolerance/allergies to food, and I still didn't hold back on trying new things. Just my humble opinion.. :)

This is funny, because I just took our 16 month old daughter to the doctors this past tuesday and asked that same exact question and he told us that it's ok to give her peanut butter. He said as long as we have no history in our family of an lergic reaction to peanut butter it should be safe. He actually said give it to her in small amounts and start in the morning, that way is she is alergic you would notice it thorough out the day.
I would give it a try, just put a little bit on her toast in the morning.

Good Luck.

I tell my patients: not until 2, even later if there is a family history of food allergies

Hello, I would definitely wait with the peanutbutter. I gave my one year a taste on toast and ended up in the ER. She has a peanut allergy. The nurses made me feel 10x worse because they said "oh alittle young for peanut butter." I was upset as it was. So yes I would wait until 3 years old. It is scary. Good luck.
L.

If there's a history of allergies in either family you should ask your doctor. I waited until my daughter was 2 because my husband had some food allergies but not to peanuts also I wanted to play it safe because it is hard to swallow and digest.

I gave my daughter peanut butter at 14 months and she had an anaphylactic reaction. It was awful. If there is not history of nut allergies in your family I believe the Dr's are saying age 3 but you can always double check with your pediatrician.

Hi K..

I have heard many suggestions. Our DR said it was fine at 1 year and that it is more the "nuts" that cause choking. My sister's DR said to wait until 2 unless there is a nut allergy in your family and then to wait until 3. We are waiting until 2. I have heard that if you put peanut butter on their belly and thigh and nothing happens, then they are likely not allergic. Maybe a wives tale. Who knows! Good luck.

P.

I started my son at 11 months. He had a little red on his face...but when we switched to teddy peanut butter (which is organic I think) he did not develop the red on his face. I plan on trying my daughter when she turns 11 months too. Its up to the parent to decide when it is best (I think). If something does happen you would need to go to the emergency room. This happened to a friend of mine's 2 year old. But they did not introduce it to him until he was 2. Hope this helps.

Hello, I started my son at the age of one......he didnt show any sign before hand to be allergic to anything, and im only allergic to pollen and such. If you are more allergic to foods, maybe you should hold off. Or there is always the option of soy nut butter. It could be located in the nutrition and health section of a supermarket. I was once a teacher at a daycare, and thats what they used intstead of peanut butter. Hope that helped you out.

Mu Cousin is Allergic to peanuts. The best way that she found out was to give him something that had peantbutter in it. That is what my Aunt did. My son is almost 2 and at 1 I gave him a piece of cansy corn because it had peanutbutter in it, than I tried peanutbutter cookies and he was fine. Then I let him have a peanutbutter sandwich and he is still fine.

My doctor told me not until 2 but that was after i had alrealy been giving her peanut butter once she turned one. So she eats it anyway. She also told me not to give her strawberries and chocolate until she is 2 also. But she eats them, she is 19 months and there has never been a problem. The strange thing is, we learned that she is alergic to peaches. I wouldnt worry too much.

I have always heard best to wait till they are two years old but I have to say I am sure they have had a bite here or there before then.Ask the Dr to know what he recommends.

Hi K.,
Your pediatrician would probably be able to tell you best. There is a list of food that you should avoid at certain ages, such as honey, tuna, etc., and because every kid is a different weight at a certain age, he/she may take that into consideration also.
(good luck on the peanut butter trial!)

yeah.. I gave my now 5 year old peanut butter when he was one and watched him for the rest of the day just in case he showed any signed of a reaction....mind you now he loves the stuff! I just gave myn 11 month old a piece of peanut butter a jelly sandwich and watched him all day as well.... he loved it as well. I even gave him straight peanut butter " just to test him" and he loved it...no reaction there! I guess you have to try it to see!

We have no allergies in my family either (to foods) - and my pediatrician said it's okay after one year. We gave her trace amounts on toast after age one. NO reaction. We thought we were in the clear.... so we gave it to her again, REACTION. She is allergic to peanuts apparently. We had her tested (blood) and she is allergic. Who knew. Now everyone barks at me saying "How could you give that to her before she was THREE?!" and I want to scream at them because my pediatrician said it was fine after age one. Whatever. How can we know. I thought like others - if I withhold it, it might induce the allergy. They said with every exposure, the reaction could be worse - hence the first time we saw no reaction, and the second time she had hives... the third time she could have trouble breathing or worse. SO... we have our Epi pens, and we are very careful to ask, ask, ask.... and avoid, avoid, avoid. Who knows when it's "safe" and not "safe' to give it to your child now. UGH!

Hi K., my pedi told us that we could start our boys on p.b. around 18 months since there is no family history of any food allergies. If there were to be a history of any food allergies we would have to wait unitl 3 years of age.

I started at 1 year with both my kids

With common food allergens, the longer you wait before giving your child the food item the better his/her chance is of not developing the food allergy. My pedi recommended that we wait at least 2 years before peanut butter, longer if possible.