Thoughts On Peanut Butter...

[randomkid]

DD is now over 2 years old and I've considered introducing peanut butter. I just wanted to get some thoughts here. I know current recs are 2-3 years old. My friend did not give her DD peanut butter until she was 3 because her SIL has a peanut allergy. Her DD hated it and she is guessing it's because she was so much older when she introduced it.

As far as we know the only allergy in our family is my seafood allergy (red shellfish). I had some ice cream today with peanut butter in it and DD wanted to try some. I let her taste it and she's fine so far. I know subsequent exposures are when the problems usually occur and this was her first exposure to anything peanut related.

So, would you continue to wait or go ahead and give it a try? I want DD to like peanut butter since it is a good source of protein and she is not a big meat eater.

ETA: I did not eat any nuts or peanut butter while pg or BFing.

Thanks,

[Momof3Labs]

My DS1 started eating it at 2yo with our ped's blessing. Until then, he ate soynut butter sandwiches. Have you talked to your ped about it?

[o_mom]

DS1 was around 3 when we introduced PB. I don't remember the exact age, but it was within a month or two. He loves the stuff and would eat PB&J for lunch everyday if given the choice.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We started at 2. No family history. Our ped actually OK'ed it at a year but I decided to wait per the other recs I had heard. Of course now they are rethinking the whole "when to introduce foods/ allergens" thing and saying that delaying could be causing trouble. Better to expose earlier. Who knows what the recommendations will be in 3-5 years. They change all the time.

Beth

[randomkid]

Yeah, I was taking that new rec into consideration when I was thinking about trying it. I guess we might as well give it a try. I'll just make sure it's on a day that the ped's office is open and that we have Benadryl on hand, JIC. I know her risk is small, but peanut allergies scare the heck out of me...for any kid.

My only other concern is choking. I know that bread with peanut butter can be kind of hard to handle. Anyone have any problems with this? I know I could use crackers, but I'd like to see if she'd eat a sandwich. It would make lunch on the go sooooo much easier!

[maestramommy]

I think DD had her first taste of peanut butter when she was 14 months? No allergy but she might have had some trouble digesting it as it is a very heavy oily food. We tried again at 16 months and she's fine with it. But we have no allergies on either side.

[jgriffin]

We introduced pb to E when he was 15mo. I've read mixed reviews on delaying introduction, but I wanted to wait until he was at least a year old. Sometime in the past I posted an article from New Scientist discussing that "microdoses" (like the tiny amount of peanut that might be in food processed on the same machinery) could be one reason why peanut allergies are rising, and that it might be better to just inundate the system with "regular dose" of peanut.

When we started I would just spread a thin layer of pb on a cracker, so it wouldn't be too sticky. We also have pbj sandwiches at home, and sometimes pb sandwich crackers from TJ. So far no troubles!

[Radosti]

I introduced PB about 2 weeks ago. I finally gave him a half of a peanut butter and strawberry preserves sandwich yesterday and he ate a half of that. He's not a huge fan of processed fruity sweets though, so it could be that he disliked the preserves. I will try again with just peanut butter.

[table4three]

I talked to my ped about this at our appointment last week. Her take on it was this: if it is something your family normally eats and keeps in the house and you want to introduce it, fine - somewhere between age 2-3 is fine for a family without allergy. But, if it isn't something your family normally eats, don't worry about till later when you end up making sandwiches for kindergarden, etc. She also seemed to think toddlers don't like it as much as older kids.

DH and I don't eat it much, so we aren't going to introduce it just yet. That said, DS has had some peanut ingredients here and there (including the resees pieces DH's left on the table that DS found last week). He's also had a couple potato chips made in peanut oil. We are just going to see how it goes.

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[o_mom]

The choking hazaard was the other reason we waited. Of course I still cut grapes and hotdogs for DS1 (3.5) while other parents look at me like I have two heads.