Peanut butter?

bumpuser3155624

I know the recommendation to hold off on giving toddlers peanut butter has changed but I am still a little hesitant to give it to LO. We don't have food allergies in our family. Have you given your LO peanut butter yet?

fancefpp

Yes, but he doesn't like it very much. I only give it once in awhile and in small amounts

smg2302

We have.  I have a tree nut allergy so I was hesitant, but the pediatrician told us that what is genetically passed is a predisposition to be allergic to things, not the specific allergies themselves.  So it is likely that DD will have allergies, but so far peanut butter is okay.  She likes it, but we haven't given it to her too much.  We may start increasing how much she gets eventually, but we don't pack lunch for her, daycare provides it, so it is rare that she would have it at home.

surpriseaddition

My DS has a severe peanut allergy, and we never had food allergies in either of our families prior to that. I agree with PP about smearing it on the skin first if you're nervous. I was so nervous about giving PB to this LO that I talked about having her tested by my son's allergist before introducing. Given the family history he was willing to do it, but mentioned that food allergies are not actually food specific.....so just because my son was allergic to PB wouldn't mean my LO would be too...but she was more likely to have a food allergy. Well in the time between my DS appt. and the testing for my daughter, she ended up having an allergic reaction to eggs. At the food testing appt. they did test her for the eggs (+) but the peanuts was negative so we've been occasionally giving it to her. The doctor did mention that since LO is not allergic we should make an effort to give it to her every once in awhile so she doesn't develop an allergy to it.

CNJ4EVA

No family history of nut allergies here. I can't remember when we introduced it, but she likes it and hasn't had any adverse reaction.

kelseyhh

Emmett had it a month or two before he turned 1 I think. He's always done fine with it. In fact, his favorite food is peanut butter on bananas!

If you're nervous, you could use sunbutter instead, which is made out of sunflower seeds. I've given that to Emmett also and he loves it just as much. I tried it myself and it's pretty tasty!

tee18

We gave it before the first birthday. I think around 9 or 10 months even. I can't remember! He doesn't really like it, but no allergies.

huzzahuzza

We've been giving him peanut butter for awhile now.  He loves the stuff... but usually likes it plain.  He'll lick it off his toast or take his PB&J apart and lick it off the one side of bread. He's a silly kid. 

ETA: We don't have any family allergies so we've been cleared for all foods.  

flyliceandcoffee

We had no history of a nut allergy (although we do have food allergies/sensitivities) so after S turned a year old, we let her have some noodles that had crushed peanuts on it. Turns out she has a peanut allergy which was verified by the allergist. In the place of peanut butter we have used wowbutter which is made from soybeans instead of peanuts. If you love peanut butter you might find it a little off, but it tastes fairly similar and S LOVES it.

As far as if you think there might be an allergy, our allergist said that the general guidelines are to not actually do a skin test for allergies unless there is a reason for it (i.e. already had a reaction). He said that this is because oftentimes you can get a false positive (histamine reaction when they aren't necessarily allergic) and because if you do get a positive that won't give you any history as to what type of reaction they may have if any (skin reaction vs anaphalaxis type of reaction). He said that we CAN do a skin test for tree nuts (if you have a peanut allergy you have a 25-50% chance of being allergic to other nuts) if that would make us feel better, but he suggested we do the following: rub the nut (or whatever the food is) on her lips and wait 20 minutes. If she has no reaction, let her lick it and wait another 20 minutes. if still no reaction, let her ingest a small bit and watch for a reaction. If still no reaction, you should be good to go. That doesn't mean they won't develop a reaction over time, but it's generally a fairly good indication that they should be fine.

jesselayne8

I gave both my kids PB at 9 months.

MAdams728

I finally gave her some a couple of months ago. I was nervous, even with no history of allergies. She likes it on toast in the mornings, but isn't a big fan of pbj's.

PumpkinAndThePeanut

We introduced it around 9 months and had no issues.

bumpuser3155624

Thanks ladies! I figured I was just being a paranoid FTM.

HZ2012

I gave it to DS at a year old. I was super nervous (even though we have no allergies in our family). My pedi said to give him a little bit, make sure to have Benadryl in the house, and do it well before a nap or after one so he's up for 3 hours. He also said in *most* cases of allergic reaction, it would just be a rash and not anaphylactic.

LO loves it, has a pb & j sandwich a few times a week. And loves peanut butter ritz bitz

MamaMD

allydncr said:

I keep meaning to, but still haven't. Trying to fit it in on the weekend, at a time where I could watch her for a reaction, is just tough for us not to mention that it just slips my mind. She may have actually had it in something else already, I just haven't given her straight pb or a pbj sandwich yet. 

This exactly. I love PB and think it would be great if LO did too but I'm nervous about it and haven't found the right time when I can watch her AND remember to do it.

c-elizabethf

Yes, and dd loves her some peanut butter crackers and a pb&j sandwich

pnutg

Yes, C has been eating it for quite a while. He loves pb&js.

emmy236

Yes. R had allergy testing done and came back negative for all nuts so we went ahead and gave him some around 1. Our peds said the biggest thing is to do only a little bit, not for allergies, but because it's sticky and LOs are still getting the hang of eating and using their tongue/throat muscles. Too much and they could choke (I still get it suck on the roof of my mouth) We usually do a very thin layer for a PB&J sandwich or on toast.

bumpuser3155624

We tried it and she loved her pb&j!