Could someone explain to me abut peanuts and giving them to your children

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

I just dont
but surely that is not right

I know that dd1 has eaten them
someone gave her a snickers

dd2 may have (in chocolates) and dd3 just nicked a bit of my peanut butter sandwich

not sure what to do

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

shoudl I have wrestled it off her
should I be watching her

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

anyone?

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

pretty please

[psychomum5]

apparently new thought is not to worry about nuts in pregnancy so I would not panic about it

[edam]

how old is dd3? Do you have any history of food allergies in the family? If not, and if dd3 isn't older than, I dunno, one, I wouldn't worry. Can't remember how old they are when actual nuts stop being a choking risk, mind you.

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

BUT I@M NOT PG psycho
I'm a rhino that tries not to givew my kids peanuts but I dont know if I should be doing that and then panickin when they get hold of any nut thing
I try and hide trhe nut ones in quality street and tried not to let gecko have some of my sandwich

what should I be doing

[edam]

Psycho's right. The advice about avoiding nuts in pregnancy was based on 'better to be safe than sorry'. But it seems it hasn't done anything to reduce peanut allergies and possibly the reverse. So they now theorise that avoiding nuts mean the body isn't ready to deal with them and becomes sensitised the first time they come across them. Possibly.

I think the advice now is only to avoid nuts in pregnancy if close relatives have food allergies (especially nut allergies, obv.).

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

no history of nut allergies in the family

my dad is allergic to shellfish

dd's are 8, 3 and 23 months

and I dont mean about the choking risk, only about the allergy

[psychomum5]

oh, and I raised my older two on peanut butter sandwiches (as they are milk-free), and they are fiiiine with nuts.

and even DD3 who did have a reaction to peanuts is ok with them now (seriously confused about it still, but hey, not complaining!).

are there allergies in the family?? that is the main reason for worry. if not, then please don;t panic.

oh, and FWIW.......the first time with food doesn;t induce a reaction.....tis the second time as the first has sensitised you. so, in theory, tis the next time you need to watch......but only if allergies are a possibility.

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

but I'm not pregnant
are the kids allowed to eat nuts?

I know I sound crazybut I just dont understand
when do other people allow there kids a peanut based food and do you do it in the car park of a and e

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

thanks for the hug

I do sound crazy

so would you give a 7 month old a thinly spread with smooth peanut butter cracker???
or is there an age that below you shouldn't

[Lulumama]

if the children have eaten the nuts and are fine then you can stop panicking

don;t give whole nuts under 5 due to choking risk , but peanut butter fine

DS had reaction to peanut butter at 2, no history of allergy, so have kep DD away from nuts, although she ate some peanut butter at a friends ( random piece of toast behind the sofa) and was fine. but am not in a hurry to give her nuts.

[Lulumama]

i would not give an under 2 yaer old nuts in any form

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

ok lulumama, but whhhyyyy???

I want understand

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

and oh shit, cause I just have

[tankie]

This was quite an interesting article about how avoiding peanuts may be behind the increase in allergies: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/features/article5246192.ece

[psychomum5]

calm down.......calm down!!!

tis only in the past few years that all the nut hysteria has taken hold, and that is because of allergies, and seeing as we actually don;t know what triggered the massive rise in allergies it has fed the hysteria (you get me......vicious cycle and all that).

anyway..........

I gave mine peanut butter from tiny (DD1 and DD2 that is, they are 14 and 12), and at that time, it was not frowned upon. in fact, peanut butter was considered a good protien food without lump that they could have on toast as a hand-held weaning food.

it will not kill her........it cleary isn;t causing any probs as otherwise you would know it by now.

so stop fretting.

[ladyjuliafish]

there is no evidence to show conclusively that either introducing peanuts early or waiting until they are 5 has any bearing on developing an allergy. There is some evidence that introducing peanuts before 17 weeks may prevent allergies but its not conclusive. If they have all had them and not reacted then I would just carry on.

[thumbwitch]

peanuts are in the top 5 of allergens, along with wheat, dairy, eggs and soya.

IF and only IF your child has a peanut allergy, then the reaction the FIRST time they eat them is unlikely to be massive. The system usually needs to be sensitised before it will progress to anaphylactic levels. So, keep an eye on her now and if she seems fine, progress with caution.

Peanus do have a complicating issue, which is that they can grow a mould which contains neurotoxins called aflatoxins. however, in this day and age, no peanut-containing food should have any aflatoxins in because they should all be checked before use. Actual peanuts might be more of a risk.

If your DC don't have much in the way of allergies I really wouldn't worry about it. I bet you didn't worry this much when you gave them eggs the first time, did you?

[tankie]

I think it's no coincidence that the huge rise in the number of children with peanut allergies happened at the same as all the advice of peanut avoidance. When I was a child we ate peanut butter etc from when we were tiny and I didn't know (or even hear of) a child with peanut allergies. Now that peanuts are the devil's food every classroom has a couple of peanut allergic kids in it.

[psychomum5]

are you calmer now??

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

yes thankyou psycho and everyone who has posted
I think I understand more now

[psychomum5]

good. tis not nice to see a friend panicking and not be able to just actually shake you into calming down!

[IAmTheNewQueenOfMN]

roffle

[Seona1973]

my ds (2.3years) had peanut butter from 9 months and dd (5.2years) had it from 1 year (she was my PFB!). If there is no family history of allergic disease then peanut products are ok from 6 months, otherwise you should avoid them till the age of 3. No whole nuts before 5 due to the choking risk. Dh does actually have perrennial rhinitis (which I suppose is an allergy) but the kids havent had problems with anything so far e.g. eggs, dairy, fish, peanuts, sesame, etc