When Can They Have Peanut Butter and Milk?

I recently read that although you can start giving kids peanuts at 1 year, in previous generations they weren't introduced to peanuts until closer to 2 years. Does it have any bearing on the allergy situation we have now? Nothing's conclusive, but it makes me think.

Peanut butter is one of the top ten choking hazards for toddlers. It is not wise to give peanut butter until age 2, but then only a very thin layer.

My daughter had serious dairy-sensitivity until about 9 months, even though we have no food allergy history on either side. Now she can tolerate it better, but I still have to be careful not to give her too much in a day. As far as PB, she's not had a problem. I would say that since she's a year you can try introducing them both separately, a little at a time. I think it's just a matter of not overdoing it, b/c that could potentially create a problem.

Milk is one year- I don't remember peanut butter however both of my kids had peanut butter at one year. A small bit of peanut butter will usually create a reaction so when you introduce it to your child make it a small amount and generally peanut butter is an obvious reaction and quick.
Milk reaction is not always as obvious, but I wouldn't fret to much. If your formula isn't lactose free and she is doing okay then I wouldn't stress to much about the switch other then doing half and half for the switch if she doesn't take to it right away, the flavor is different. It took me 6 months to ween my youngest of formula because he didn't like the flavor of milk.
Don't stress...

What I can say about this is you never know when an allergy will stike. Neither me nor my husband have any food allergies, so imagine our surprise when we found out our little boy is allergic to peanuts and eggs. My advice is to not rush foods that have high allergy tendencies. And as always consult your pediatrician on what they recommend.

Most children can have cows milk at 12 months. Our pediatrician suggested waiting until 18-months to introduce peanut butter, and, if there is a history of any food allergies (not just nuts) in either you or your husband's immediate family then you should wait until your child is three for peanut butter. But check with your doctor to see what he/she suggests as for introducting common allergen foods.

When you gie her pnut butter and milk may not be as important as what kind you give her. Jif and other regular pnut butters are full of sugar and even worse, partially hydrogenated oils. Maranatha is an organic pnut butter that tastes a lot like Jif and doesn't have the partially hydrogenated oils or pesticides. Peanuts are notorious for being loaded with pesticides. Organic pnut butter won't have any. (could the pesticides be where the allergies are coming from?) Try hormone free milk.

From K. Loidolt author of "Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living" available on Amazon.com

You should have a 12 month check up with your doctor, your doctor is the best one to determine that, but I gave my kids all milk before they were a year old, and peanut butter closer to about a year and a half

J.,

My pediatrician has typically said that peanut butter should't be given until about age 3, due to the consistency and possible allergic reaction ( even if you and your husband don't have one.)
With regular milk, we were switched at 12 months to whole milk (from formula) and then at almost 2, my daughter started 2%. Slowly, as the child gets older, you can incorporate lower fat milks. :) Hope this helps!

They can have milk at a year. They can have yogurt and cheese before that because the protein is already broken down. They aren't able to break it down until they are 12 monthes. My Pediatrician told me that peanut butter should not be given until at least 18 monthes because it can be a choking hazard because of the thick sticky texture. It can also cause a deadly allergic reaction when given too early.

You can start her on whole milk at 12 months. I think you can start peanut butter at 12 months also, just be sure to spread it thin so she doesn't choke on it. Hope this helps!

Hi J.,

First, the yogurt you are giving your child is made from milk. If it is baby yogurt then it is made from whole milk. This is good. The standard recommendation is whole milk at one year and then switch to reduced fat at 2 years and beyond. As far as peanuts go, the standard recommendation is 2 years before introducing nut products and 3 years before whole nuts.

However, my child ate both whole nuts and nut products before these recommended guidelines. So it is really up to you.

BTW - the term is Lactose Intolerance - just FYI

Good Luck. :)

J.
I would say you could try milk now but wait on the peanut butter. My husband and I neither have allergies but we have a son that has a severe allergy to peanuts and tree nuts. It is not common in our family either he is 6 years old now but I would wait on peanut butter untill al least 2 and when you do decide to give it watch very carefully after to make sure nothing happens.

I had my son in for his well visit yesterday and our Dr. said he could have both at 12 months. I am sure the responses will vary. I would call your Dr. to be sure.

You know I followed all the rules when I had my daughter, no milk until 1 and no peanut butter until 2 (3 if there is an allergy in the family), HOWEVER with my second, my son, he had sips of milk at 10 mos (to get him used to it) and he had peanut butter at one, he used to steal bites of his sisters sandwich. I really is if there is a lot of food allergy in the family, the milk thing is not a biggie as they can try milk at any time, it is just they cannot just depend on that for nutrition before 1, while still on formula.

My son's doctor (who happens to be my former boss) always told new mom's when they asked the same question is after they turn one. I have also read the samething in many text books and articles (I'm a nurse). The same goes for eggs and honey. On my son's first birthday we got up and he had eggs for breakfast with his first sippy cup of milk and for lunch he had peanut butter and honey sandwich with a sippy cup of milk....to this day (and he just turned 5 in december) those are two of the things he likes to eat most. I have caught him in the pantry with the jar of peanut butter and a spoon more times than I can count. One more thing to keep in mind is that milk is very filling for kids so you should limit it at meal times or make them finish their food before they get their milk.

She can have milk now. I always started my kids earlier than that on whole milk. Gave them a little bit at a time so they would get used to the taste. Are you nursing or bottle feeding? If bottle feeding, start getting right of the bottles now and replacing them with a small snack or a sippy cup of juice or milk. If you're nursing, don't worry about it. Quit whenever you want to with that. Just make sure you introduce some whole milk, maybe at meal times. That way when you're ready to be done nursing, she'll be familiar with milk. But she'll need whole milk until she's two. As far as peanutbutter goes, it's recommended to wait until she's two. But I have given my daughter a little peanutbutter at a year. She's never shown any signs of allergy, and no one in my family or my husband's family have allergies. So you can try if you like, just keep a close watch for any signs of allergy.

milk at a year and any nut after 2 years in case of allergies.

My doctor told me 12 months on both along with eggs. My suggestion is to have benadryl on hand just in case. My daughter had eggs on her first birthday and her whole face swelled up instantly. If we had not had benadryl on hand it would have been really bad. Turns out she is allergic to eggs, nuts, fish, oranges, pineapple and coconut!! Just watch her when introducing a new food and have Benadryl on hand. I don't have food allergies so all of hers came as a surprise to me!

Whole milk: 12 months
Peanut butter: 2 years

With both of my kids, I was told at 1 year to start giving them whole milk. I am not really sure about the peanut butter. I have a 5 year old and 17 month old and the did great going to the milk and love it.

Hi J.!
If you want to introduce peanut butter and milk now you can. You should be weaning your daughter off breast milk/formula now and give them whole milk. If you or your husband don't have any peanut allergies then try some peanut butter. Just start slow and work up. She should be fine. Have fun!
C.

Ask your baby's doctor! He/she is the only one that knows family history and your baby's medical history, etc. The doctor will have a general guideline for you to follow and it should be discussed during the 12 month check. My dr advised absolutely no milk/yogurt/cheese (all dairy products) until 12 months and no nuts until at least age 2-3. You will hear lots of different things, so the absolute best person to ask is your childs ped.

J.,

Your daughter is old enough to have both peanut butter and milk. However, a few suggestions when trying it out to make sure that she does not have an allergy to both. Try it in small doses and if she does not have a bad reaction then I would say it's safe to give it to her on a regular basis. I would also suggest 2% milk because whole milk tends to have a lot of fat in it, sometimes it more then what they actually need.

Best wishes to you.

Our son has severe food allergies even though there is no family history. Allergist said allergies are allergies and my hayfever and my husband's asthma is where the food allergies came from. Peanut butter is better to check with your doctor first. Our son has what the dr. considers a life threatening allergy to peanuts, but peanut butter never gave him a reaction until he had had a lot! I don't want to scare you, but I wish I knew at a year what I know now. We're much more careful with our second even though he has tested okay on everything common.

Our peditrician had us wait until our kids were 1 and then we transitioned to Milk. Yogurt is great, too!

As for peanut butter, they told us that unless you have food allergies in your family, your child can have anything appropriate to their ability to eat it. In otherwords, not eating berries, peanut butter, etc. before age 3 has been shown to have no effect on whether a person more or less suseptible to food allergies. We thin out the peanut butter we serve, so that it easier to swallow. Our son wasn't up for it much until he was closer to 16-18 months.

A little about me, I am a full-time working mom of two. Our daughter just turned 5, and our son is 22 months.

At one year they can start with whole milk - although we never did milk because both kids loved yogurt and cheese and too much calcium prevents absorbtion of iron. I didn't want them filling up on milk instead of veggies, fruit and whole grains. Several kids we know with chronic ear infections, when taken off milk had the infections stop.

Wait until at least 2 for peanut butter. Neither DH or I has any kind of food allergy and I was shocked when, at about 22 months, our daughter broke out in hives around her mouth in an obvious food reaction (ended up being the pine nuts in some pesto, which we had eaten several times before). It happened several times with different foods and when we took her in for testing, she came back positive for egg, peanuts and several tree nuts. She grew out of the egg allergy by age 3 (80% of kids do), but still has the nut/peanut allergy (20% grow out of it by age 6).

Hope this helps. J.

Milk you can start at 12 mos since usually by then their digestive systems have matured enough to handle the milk proteins which despite common thinking is the common reason babies have a hard time with milk. Lactose intolerance doesn't usually set in until they are a bit older. Peanut Butter is a different story. There is a major increase of allergies to peanuts over the past several years. It is due to a fungus that was introduced into the crop to make it more hardy. Because of that it is important to wait until they are at least 2 years old to introduce it. My son ended up with an allergy to peanuts(which he outgrew by 3, thank goodness) simply from getting it through my breastmilk (I ate PBJ's everyday for extra protein-who knew?). Best of luck!

A.

They can start having milk at 1. I started with whole milk cause it has all the fat that they still need. As far as peanut butter my 1 year old loves peanut butter sandwiches. At first I gave him just a little just to make sure that he wasn't allergic. hope that helps

I know our Dr recommended holding off on peanut butter until 2 or 3 years because the risk for a serious allergic reaction. I have found "Sunbutter" (sunflower seed butter) is a nice alternative - found at health food stores

I would give her one until you know that she isn't allergic to it. Gradually give it to her. Like the milk wean her off the formula or breastmilk and slowly add the milk.

J.,
They start drinking whole milk at 1 year and the peanut butter thing has changed with the pediatricians. They used to say 1 year was good for that, now they don't recommend it until 3-5 (though most will "quietly" tell you - if they are older parents - that they started their kids at 1 and they turned out just fine). My kids are 4, 2, and 1 and they all started p-nut butter at 1. Just watch for any changes and/or allergies to be sure if you do start them at 1.

You can give her milk now. She may resist the new taste and texture, but most kids take right to it. As for peanut butter, try small doses at first. If she has an allergy to it that will show right away. Watch for choking since it can be sticky.

Milk at 12 months (now). The peanut butter is trickier, because different people/studies say different things. My doctor suggested 18 months, but other sources say not until 2, and still others say 3. I guess you can use your best judgement, if she doesn't have other allergies...however, take care with this-- if she is going to have a reaction, she probably won't have a reaction the first time she tries it. Usually, the body builds the antibodies against the protein after it is first introduced, so the second time it is ingested, the body reacts. My friend had this happen with her daughter--at around 18 months she gave her peanut butter, and she did fine; but when she was given it a second time, she had a horrible reaction. They took her to the ER. She now has an Epipen that she has to carry around with her. It is very scary for my friend.
A recent article suggested that maybe we in the U.S. wait too long to give these allergy-causing foods, because there are much lower rates of allergies to peanuts,etc. in cultures that cook with peanut oil and feed it to children from the start.

It use to be wait til 2 yrs of age for peanuts but now I hear docs would like us to wait til 3 yrs. If your child does well with yoghurt then I would think regular milk would be fine. I'd just keep my eyes open for reactions....

My peditrician and our allergist say you are not to let them have peanut butter until at least 3 years of age. Coming from a mom who also has no allergy to peanut butter, but my 3 year old has a epi pen and is allergic to peanut butter and all other nuts. With regards to milk I started giving my boys whole milk about this time and put some in their cereal. Please be careful with the peanut butter it is a scary thing to see them swell up and not have a epi pen. I hope I helped some. Good Luck!

V. C.

You can give her milk, or peanut butter after 12 months. Sometimes it does not matter if you have the allergy or not. Neither my husband or I have a peanut allergy, but my son does. If you are going to give her milk or peanut butter, have some benadryl on hand, give a little bit and watch if there are no hives or rashes that appear you are probably safe I would recommend only giving one at a time until you figure out if she is allergic. So say start with the milk then if she does not have any signs within a day then you can give her peanut butter. The hives or rashes may be small at first, I noticed the most in the diaper after he ate the peanut butter. The only other way is to take her in and have an allergy test done.
Good Luck