To introduce baby to peanuts before starting solids proper?

[Wholeboxoftissues]

My baby is 4.5 months, I want to do BLW and not start solids till 6 months. But I've seen that there's research that the earlier you introduce peanuts, the less chance of allergies, ideally at 4 months. Yesterday I was eating peanut butter on toast while playing with him, and there was a teeny smidge of peanut butter on my thumb, so I thought I'll wipe this on his lip. So I did and he really liked it and I've now introduced peanut. But I really don't want to start solids properly yet. Is this a reasonable thing to do semi regularly until we start solids, to give him regular exposure? Or is it weird?

The advice to start weaning at 6 months is mainly to encourage breastfeeding until 6 months. It was wrongly believed to prevent allergies for a while but it's been known for years now that it doesn't, quite the opposite, but the nhs is slow to catch up.

The change in weaning age from 4m to 6m wasn't about reducing allergies, it was about reducing the number of babies weaned before 4m which can lead to gut problems, under nutrition and infections.

When first exposure is through the skin the immune system sees it as an 'enemy' so reacts, but through the mouth it is less likely to see it as an 'enemy'

Lots of European countries still wean at 4 months and it's not an issue at all. We started around 5-6 and the very first thing was also peanut butter diluted with a lot of water mixed into baby porridge. I did that for weeks before really starting anything else. Both DH and I love nuts so we were dreading a potential nut allergy! Thankfully everything was fine.

Wow that's so clever!

This is exactly what I did with my daughter, just give her a lick of peanut butter every so often before she was 6mo.

I think a smear on his lip for him to suck is probably the best way forward. It's an ideal texture to put on a spoon and let him play with except then skin is going to be in contact with it which isn't good. (skin hair clothes you anything nearby🤣🤣- stick to a smear on his lips!!

We did it a bit before 6m. DH has anaphylactic allergies so DDs were at increased risk. I found the NHS to be not very helpful. The HV and GP had no information on weaning when there are severe allergies in the family. We did the best research we could as non-experts.
DDs are 6 & 3 now and I still give them a bit of peanut butter on a spoon every couple of weeks, alternated with Nutella - nursery and school are totally nut free, and we don't eat nuts at home generally so they'd have no exposure at all if I didn't. DH is obviously nowhere near when I do this, and I am careful about getting them to drink water to rinse their mouths after.

It's advised in other Western European countries to introduce the major allergens from 4 months. The process is one allergen at a time and something like a tiny speck of peanut butter mixed with a known low allergy risk item like apple puree or sweet potato or something, and then to increase the amount until it's 50/50 allergen. I think it's peanuts, eggs and sesame it's advised for. Maybe there are some other things too.

It's not feeding for weaning it's a 'training' exercise for the body against allergens.

The NHS advice for 6 months is probably to minimise ignorant parents giving their babies totally unsuitable food at a tiny age. I'm not convinced some banana / baby rice / taste of potato a few weeks earlier is that bad. (Disclaimer; 15yrs since I had to wean and eldest has allergies so I'm pro slightly earlier weaning / tasting).

We stood outside A&E and feed our child peanut butter sandwich at about 18 months.
My friend was a nurse. Who we had gone to visit. She got a doctor to do a once a month mother and baby group, with medicine in case any child reacted to things...

Yes - if it comes through the skin (especially if the baby has eczema so the skin is broken) then the immune system may develop a response to it which can turn into a dangerous allergic reaction. If it goes through the mouth into the stomach, the body is more likely to recognise it as food and not mount a defence against it.

OP is your baby breastfed? Caveat - I’m not a doctor but BIL is - he said it’s more important to ensure ff babies are exposed to allergens before 6 months than bf, I assume because bf babies somehow get them through breastmilk.

In any event we did baby led weaning with both kids and both were able to pick up food and feed themselves from about 5 months (they are 4 and 6 now so relatively recently). They had all the allergens including nuts from
then as they started sharing our meals immediately.

I think it should ideally be led by the baby but I think if my baby was getting towards 6 months and totally uninterested I’d probably do what you have done. 4.5 months perhaps a bit on the early side.

Child 1 - I ate peanuts during pregnancy, peanuts during breastfeeding - no allergies,

Child 2 - I ate peanuts thoughout my pregnancy and breastfed him while eating peanuts, eggs, milk, etc. He ended up with allergies to peanuts, egg, cmp to name but a few.

Child 3 - no peanuts during pregnancy or breastfeeding and no allergies

Go figure!!

I find this so odd because I was advised not even to eat peanuts if breastfeeding or in final 3 months of pregnancy! No nuts before 3 years was the guidelines. I wasn't rigid but they didn't have any before 2 or so unless ground almonds in cake, neither have allergies

But nothing can guarantee anything. The evidence is all about reducing risk.

My first child has a peanut allergy so i gave my second jam peanut sandwiches for breakfast at 6 months. My second has no allergies so i think waiting is fine

My second was bottle fed but my third is breast so this time i am eating lots of peanuts while breastfeeding to see if that helps

Nothing weird about it. The only weird thing is to comment when you actually haven't understood the reason for doing this. It is not about weaning. It is about minimising the risk of allergy and is now being recommended by specialists.

Our allergy specialist (eggs, dairy, sesame, peanuts, cashews) disagreed. You can introduce allergens in other ways to directly eating them before they reach weaning age, which is important if there is a history of allergy.

So perhaps I should have said "weird, if there's no family history of allergy."

Which you can do prior to weaning age, without solids.

Just make sure you can get to a hospital quickly just in case

Yup, I think you absolutely did the right thing. Peanut allergies kill!!
The earlier the introduction the better.
Well done.

As pp have said, as I understand it the recommended age for weaning was increased from 4 to 6 months to account for the lowest common denominator who see “4 months” and think 2 or 3 months is ok. But as proven, it has not reduced the incidence rate of allergies.

And biologically it makes sense that the gut is the best place for the body to acclimatize to new food - it’s why babies shove everything in their mouths. (Appreciate they have to touch it with their hand to get it in there tho)

Agree with PP about reading up about the LEAP study (and the follow-up studies like LEAP-on) by Gideon Lack. DS and our family were part of the study for 14 years. Truly fascinating to have been part of!