Peanut Butter

[*Amy*]

Hi, my lo is 1 year and 3 weeks old. I started to give him peanut butter on little pieces of toast when we are out and about as a snack. There is no history of allergies in my family or my husbands family. He loved the peanut butter and had no reaction to it.
Now I was at a birthday party the other day and one of the mothers was shocked that I was giving my son peanut butter. I just had a look on the net and although it is recommended to wait until they are 3, this is only for those who have a history of allergies in their family.
The American Academy of Paediatrics even includes peanut butter as a healthy snack food for one year olds.
I have just read though that by introducing peanuts so young that they can still develop an allergy around 14 months, has anyone any thoughts on this - I am sure this has been debated before on here but I couldn't find any threads!
I look forward to reading your thoughts
Amyx

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Amy,

I can't see why it would be a problem if you have no family history of allergies. I am waiting until my kids are 3 as they have 2 cousins and an aunt with severe nut, egg & seafood allergies and DH and myself both have less severe allergies...otherwise I would give it to them alot earlier!

Heidi

[swiper]

Both of mine had peanut butter at around 18months ( I think) and they were ok.

[aisling]

HUGS Amy,

I am also of the opinion to use your own judgment.  We gave almond and peanut butter at 9 months old as there are no allergies of any foods in our family.

The one thing that I did want to point out that the concern with doctors is not just with allergy potential but also peanut butter can be a choking hazard.  If LO's do not have troubles with their swallow reflex and the peanut butter is very creamy and thick like most commercial ones are, they could choke/suffocate on it.  It is best to use thin peanut butter.  We only use all natural peanut butter.  It is just pulverized peanuts and you can get it in any health food sections or bulk food places.  The nice thing about that is the health benefits are there and you know your child is only having "peanuts."  No extra sugar, salt, chemicals, preservatives and dyes. It is naturally thin and oily so better to slide down the throat. I just don't think that extra salt or sugar is needed in something so naturally delicious.

HTH,

Aisling x

[Spectra]

I wouldn't worry about it.  I gave PB to my daughter when she was 1 and she still eats it without a problem.  We don't really have a history of food allergies, just some milk intolerance when I was a baby.  However my son has lots of food allergies so we were advised by our allergist to keep him away from PB until he was 3 or 4.

I think if your son has no allergies and he seems fine I'd let it be. 

[nwmm]

For what it is worth, we had no allergies in our families - both sides etc.   So far the nieces and nephews (more than one familiy) are allergic to:
nuts
eggs
fish
some fruit

Of course, there is a lot of thought out there as to what causes food allergies so we could debate this forever.  Just wanted to mention, though, that it doesn't matter if there is a history or not.

I am not going to worry, myself, about my little ones and allergies, but please understand that allergies can start even without a history.

[X-LUV]

I agree completely. Peanut allergies can start even without a history. I myself have a severe peanut allergy and I'm not sure where it came from. Therefore I have to wait a long time before offering it to my lo. I'm actually thinking of getting an allergy test done on him first (when he's old enough) just to be sure. If your lo does not have a reaction then I think he might be ok but I also heard that they can still develop an allergy later on so I would be extra careful when they are that young. peanut allergies are the worst because so many different foods have them in it and you have to constantly read labels