Allergy or contact irritation to peanut butter?

[Whatbit]

Hi, DS is 11 months old and we just gave peanut butter (natural) for the first time.  We gave it to him spread thinly on a craker the first time, on a piece of bagel the second time and on a cracker again the third time (the bagel and cracker were not new foods).  We gave him a small amount for 3 days in a row.  Each time there was a small red rash aroudn his mouth.  I didn't really think much of it as there is no history of food allergy in my family or in DH's and he got a small rash the first time he had tomatoes as well as strawberries.  After he had these food for a few days, it didn't happen again.  ALl that to say, I waited about 2 weeks and tried peanut butter again.  This time, he also had a rash just under his jawbone on both sides as well as around his mouth.  It went away within about 15 minutes.  DS does feed himself (BLW) and is fairly messy with some foods, escpecially spreads.  Should I be worried that this is an allergy?  Should I wait a month or so before trying again?  Any adivce would be most appreciated! 

Thanks!

[~ Vik ~]

TBH, I might be concerned about an allergy.

You don't have to have a history of food allergies in your family - ANY allergies (or asthma or eczema) in your family increases the chances of your lo having allergies/asthma/eczema.  So for example, I have environmental allergies (pollens, animal dander, etc.) and my DH gets hayfever.  Dylan has multiple food allergies (dairy, egg, peanut, mustard), allergies to dog saliva, and eczema.  Kids don't inherit specific allergies to specific things, but they do inherit the tendency to be allergic to *something*, kwim?

The problem with allergies is that they can be minimal, but with more exposure they can actually get worse.  So even though there's nothing serious happening now, it only takes *one more* exposure to get a more serious reaction.  Also, at 11mo, your ds can't tell you if anything else is going on - so you just saw a red irritation, but was his throat itchy?  Or did his tongue feel odd?  With other foods I may not be as concerned, but with peanut allergy becoming so prevalent and being so life threatening I definitely think that it would be worth waiting for a while before another exposure.  Maybe even speak to your family doctor and see what he thinks.  It could very well be just a contact irritation, but allergies can be so serious that it's definitely worth ruling that out just in case.

Just MHO though, and it's definitely coloured by our experience with multiple food allergies   Hoping that it's nothing serious!

[Whatbit]

Thanks.  There is some environmental allergies to grass and pollen with my brother and dad... guess I'll wait a bit longer for another try and talk to the Dr. at DS's 12 month apt.

[scarlettsmom]

Vikki basically summed up what I was going to say! 

With tomato it's acidic and some kids will get a little irritation, but not have any other issues.  Peanuts, that's entirely different.  The fact that it got worse is something to take note of.  I would not try peanuts for a LONG time, and only under the direction of a dr.  Peanut allergies tend to be much more severe.

Good idea planning to talk to your dr at the 12 checkup, may even want to put a call in now just to see if there is anything he/she wants you to do in the interim (have benadryl on hand, make sure no contact with anything with peanuts in them, etc).

 

[Whatbit]

Funny thing is I eat peanut butter all the time and kiss DS and he's never gotten a rash from that.  Sigh.  What do you guys think about trying other nuts?  He had pine nuts in pesto and that was fine but I know they're an entirely different family of nuts.  Maybe I should steer clear of them all for now too?

[~ Vik ~]

Funny thing is I eat peanut butter all the time and kiss DS and he's never gotten a rash from that.

I know exactly what you mean - I said the same thing to Dylan's allergist after we got his scratch tests done.  We knew that he was allergic to dairy, but had to test for several things (egg, citrus, mustard, dust mites) that we were unsure of.  With peanut allergy being so prevalent, and with us going through the test anyway, I asked them to test for peanut at the same time.  I was shocked when it came up positive, because I ate a TON of peanut butter while breastfeeding, and though I never gave it to him to eat, I wasn't *so* careful with washing my hands, kissing him, etc. after I did.  Never had a problem (Now in retrospect, it's possible that his eczema flared, but his skin was so bad when he was young that I would never have connected it.  And he never got hives or swelling like he does with his other allergies)
I was so surprised that the allergist then suggested running blood tests to confirm.  He mentioned that children with eczema have such sensitive skin that they can get false positive results on a scratch test.  The threshold they place for an allergy is anything greater than 0.35 - Dylan gets hives and swelling on contact with dairy, and his dairy result was 0.8.  His peanut result was over 12   I was stunned, to say the least.

Re: the other nuts, you're right that they are different families - peanuts are a legume, where pine nuts, cashews, pistachios, almonds, etc. all fall under the category of tree nuts.  I've done some research as I was concerned about the same thing.  I've seen estimates that range from 30-60% of children with a peanut allergy will also develop a tree nut allergy.  I've decided to keep all nuts out of Dylan's diet for the time being, but he's never ingested any - given that your lo has already had pine nuts without problem, he may be less at risk.  But while some people are allergic to the entire tree nut family, others may only be allergic to one, like hazelnuts for example.  At the very least, I would keep nuts out of his diet until you get the chance to speak to his doctor about it.  Nuts are really quite easy to avoid since they are so clearly labeled, and then you can get his take on it.

hth

[Whatbit]

THanks, Vikki.  I appreciate the info and the advice!