is peanut butter ok for under ones?

[HeadFairy]

DS is 9 months and I was thinking that peanut butter would be nice for him, it's very nutritious and it might encourage him to eat toast and chew a bit more. Is there anything that says he shouldn't have it? Should I stick to smooth varieties?

Yes, this one had an expensive obs too. I have my suspicions it was the obs who told her about the beetroot.... Sorry, I didn't want to imply your friend was paranoid, it just reminded me of this girl I knew.

My obs was cheap (as in free), which probably explains why I was allowed the odd glass of wine.

lol. what do they care for the children of plebeians? it's just the patricians they're interested in. oh GOD i love italy but i don't think i could live there unless i was a zillionaire. we got humped on the euro and everything had jumped in price anyway...

my 1-year old has had the sugar free crunchy stuff for a few months now. nigella lawson said she gave her kids peanut butter in the waiting room of A&E, the daft woman.

why is that daft, exactly?

ok daft is the wrong word, neurotic maybe?

nope... not neurotic either imo. perfectly sensible as i see it. although i thought she'd said she did it at the GP when she was there anyway. they're going to ahve an epipen handy, she's there anyway, why's that not clever?

i suppose so - but how many people do you know with a peanut allergy? seems a bit of an overreaction. but you're right, it was the GP surgery.....

i suppose it's not how many people you know, though, is it? it's how devastating the consequences. i can't imagine what it must be like to have a child with a fatal allergy, it must be terrifying.

well i cant argue with that but I think you can tie yourself in knots with all these worries. I'm all for being sensible but my mum's generation think we're a bit mad with all the things we worry about these days and i have to agree. If there's decent research to back it up I'll do it but I think most of the advice esp what we get told to avoid in pregnancy is based on very little fact. zoe williams did a great article in the Guardian on this after doing a proper investigation into it

with the absolute best will in the world, i've never seen zoe williams do a great investigation in my lifetime. she does a ringaround of scientists and transcribes the opinions she gets hold of. if she phoned different people, she'd have a different opinion.

the reasons for the upsurge in peanut allergies are unknown at the moment, although there are various theories (which do include inclusion rather than exclusion). what can't be disputed is that if you have a child with a peanut allergy they are in mortal danger... i don't think it's neurotic to care about that. our mums' generation didn't have this to contend with, nor did they live in a time when pollution was so rife, food production was so distant and food so contaminated. so the opinion of that generation, tbh, isn't terribly relevant. they also let us arse around in the back seats of cars, smoked all the time, and drunk drove as a matter of course... we live and learn, things change.

dammit, hungry now.
i really shouldn't eat peanut butter at 1am should i?

oh yes you should

Beav123-I think it is extremely sensible to try peanuts in the proximity of medical care. My Ds required an ambulance with his first taste. My dd who may or may not be nut allergic will be trying her first nuts at the immunology clinic at the hospital. Not neurotic-just sensible.

Aitch speaketh much sense here.

Beav - peanut allergy is FAR more prevalent than a decade or two ago.

And like chipkid, I have one child with peanut allergy and other allergies, another child with no peanut allergy but various other allergies, and there is no obvious history of it on either side of the family.

Is peanut allergy always lethtal, is there ever such a thing as mere mild sensitivity to peanuts like you could have with any other food?

No it is not always fatal. My ds has not had a life threatening reaction (although we feared he had) BUT he could have. allergies are differnet to food intolerances-which may cause bloating and discomfort. An allergy is the immune system recating to something perceived to be a threat. The reaction is not always the same every time. With nut allergies recations do not tend to worsen with repeated exposure (unlike bee sting allergies for instance) but the reactions are unpredictable and so I have an epipen for DS in case he has a more serious recation next time. They cannot rule it out

Here in the US the recommandation is not until they are two and I hear they're thinking of changing it to 4.

Re the blessed Nigella, a Dr friend of mine told me you have to be careful with the first and SECOND exposures as you may build antibodies after the first which are triggered after the second.... or something like that.

peanut butter is considered ok from 6 months unless there is a family history of allergic diseases. DD had it from about 1 year and ds had it from 9 months. From Babycentre website:

Nuts

It's true that you shouldn't give whole nuts to children who are under five years old, because of the risk of choking. But nut butters and ground nuts are fine for babies over six months old and children who do not have a family history of allergies.

Serious allergies to nuts and nut products and some seeds affect less than one per cent of the population. Your baby may be at higher risk if you, your baby's father, brothers or sisters have certain allergic conditions such as hayfever, asthma and/or eczema.

If your baby is in this higher-risk group, avoid eating peanuts and peanut products while pregnant, during breastfeeding and during the introduction of solid foods. Until your child is at least three years old, peanuts and peanut products should be avoided.

If you think your child might be allergic to peanuts, contact your GP who can arrange for your baby to see an allergy specialist.

If you do not have a history of allergy in the family, you can give your baby ground nuts and nut spreads, including peanut butter, from six months.

Just be careful on this advice as there was no history of any allergic conditions in near or extended family yet my ds has a nut allergy

ithought peanut butter was banned because of allergies and avoided it all pregnancy even tho i had huge cravings for it.
then when ds was about seven months old the hv recommended it as excellent source of protein. i was a bit but she said advice had changed recently and it was considered a good idea unless family history of allergy. ds loves it and eats vast amounts so am hoping she was right.....i have vague memories while i was pg of someone announcing a clinical trial to give babies peanut butter (which i assume wouldn't have got permission if it was dangerous?) to check the theory that early exposure was actually protective.

they have, they just haven't actually pronounced anything on the matter yet afaia. this really hasn't stopped people acting as if they have, though.

DD2 was part of that trial, which is how we discovered her peanut allergy. It's the LEAP study, and it is ongoing. I don't think that any results are due for a few years.

LEAP study details here

i might offer current unborn dc4 up for the leap study, as all three dd's have eczema so the chances of this one having it as well is very high.

adad what do they do?