Which nuts to avoid?

[HensMum]

DS (16 months) has eczema and there's a history of nut allergy in the family so we're avoiding nuts until he's 3.

But I'm confused about which nuts to avoid. Peanuts obviously, but what about other nuts like almonds? Pine nuts? What about seeds? I'd like to vary his diet a bit, especially as we're vegetarian so nuts and seeds could be an important source of fats and protein but I don't want to risk him developing an allergy.

Two things to consider:

First, if you have nut allergy, you can be allergic to tree-nuts OR peanuts OR both - and at any rate, they are often processed in the same factories, so there's a high risk of cross-contamination.

Secondly, the pita thing about allergies is that it is the reaction that is genetically linked, not the allergen, iyswim. Kid could easily become allergic to dairy or eggs or fish or latex or whatever - there's no way to predict.

I found Anaphylaxis UK very helpful to talk to.

hth

peanuts aren't a nut. They're legumes.

Treenuts are pine nuts, almonds, cashews etc.

Although they are not related it is very common to be allergic to both, so I would avoid all of them.

Sesame seed allergy is also very common if there is a nut/peanut allergy, so you would definitely want to avoid those.

I'm not sure about other seeds. I know it is possible to be allergic to sunflower seeds, poppy seeds etc, but not that common, so we don't tend to avoid those.

Thanks for those answers. I think we'll continue to avoid everything for now and I'll try and talk to Anaphylaxis UK.

DD can have linseeds but is highly allergic to Sesame. I let her try a tiny bit of walnut the other day and up came the lumps. I would advise none. She has eczema too.

Loads of baby lotions and nappy creams contain nut oils. Also in vitamin supplments and ear drops.
Look out for arachis oil (peanut oil) and prunus dulcis (almond oil). Although apparently almond oil is so refined most allergens are removed, but I've never risked it.

the latest suggestion is that its better to be exposed to nut through the mouth rather than through skin. So be very careful about creams and lotions.

I will be careful about lotions and potions. Currently, he only has prescribed lotion on his skin anyway due to his eczema.

Inthescrum, it's interesting what you say about vitamin supplements as I recently started giving him vitamin drops to try and stop the constant sniffles and the timing coincides with his recent episode of eczema. Do you think that it might have been caused by the vitamins?

Are you using abidec vitamins? They contain arachis oil.

unfortunately you can't always trust prescribed items to be free from nut. Doctors don't generally think about it. There's a bit on www.peanutallergyuk.co.uk about it and a link to an article in, I think, the British Medical Journal. I remember dermovate being mentioned as having nut oil iin.