when can I give peanut products to a 2.5 year old when I have asthma?

[MoaningMirtle]

confused by advice

thanks all xxx

I have excema and was told not to give ds any peanuts until he was five. I am not hugely convinced by this approach especially as the hospital prescribed him vitamins suspended in peanut oil! So whether I stick to it or not I don't know.

wait until 5, that is what we were told

I am asthamatic and a hayfever sufferer. Also had quite bad eczema as a child. I ate lots and lots of peanut butter whilst pregnant
I also gave it to both my dc as babies and they both seem asthma and allergy free. Dc1 has a small patch of eczema in the winter months dc2 is only 18 months but we see no signs of anything yet. It's up to you-Use your own judgement or stick by what your own care professionals say. Nobody advised me not to eat nuts whilst pregnant though.

I suddenly feel very irresponsible! A nurse friend of mine says no nuts until five! Now I am confused-as you probably are too! I hope I didn't make you run for the peanut butter...

I find it very hard to beleive that nut allergies are less common in North America - I haven't any statistics but my own experience. In the primary school where my dds go- I'm in Canada - dd2 is one of 10 children who carry Epi-pens almost all for nut allergies.

Have things changed in the 18 months since I left the UK? How many Epi-pens users do your dc's have in their school?

only study I know of offhand is the one below with self reported American peanut allergy rates of 0.8%. It's a few years old and I thought our rate was reckoned to be 1% then.

Prevalence of peanut and tree nut allergy in the United States determined by means of a random digit dial telephone survey: a 5-year follow-up study.Sicherer SH, Muñoz-Furlong A, Sampson HA.
Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.

Current government advice is avoid nuts if you're atopic - but its not evidence based and various people are trying to get it changed.