Poll - at what age did you introduce peanut products to your child?

[nellynaemates]

There's so much conflicting advice at the moment on peanut allergies etc.

I have to say I'm of the view that the increase in allergies probably has little to do with early exposure and more to do with over-use of antibiotics and antibacterial products in the home.

I could be wrong though.

With absolutely no history of food allergies in my family my son had his first taste of smooth peanut butter at about 8-9 months (small amounts the first 3 times) and now he loves peanut butter on toast and eats it like a champ. He's also had ground almonds in with sauces since about 8 months.

So what did you do? Is waiting til your child is over 12 months (or over 3 years depending on what you read) the right thing to do or overcautious?

No agenda here. Just got very few friends with kids in RL and wondered what people thought

12 months here for all nuts
DD had abs at 1 hour old and has no allergies .

Five. Because DH is allergic to nuts and that's what we were advised.

Without any family history I'd probably have waited till 12 months, but who knows. I'm a bit over-sensitised to the issue!

dd was about 1 year befoe she had peanut butter and ds was about 9 months. It is supposed to be ok to give peanut products from 6 months as long as there are no history of allergic diseases although there will be exceptions to that of course. It should be avoided till the age of 3 if there is a family history and whole nuts shouldnt be given till the age of 5 due to the choking risk.

6 mnths I think. No history.

18 months, but she was allergic

About 7 months, no history of allergies.

12 months, no peanut allergy either side of our family.

My daughter's two and I plan not to give her peanuts until she is three, as there is a strong history of allergies/asthma/eczema on both sides of the family. My sister also has a really severe nut allergy and I once had an anaphylactic reaction to another food.

About 9 months. No history of allergies.

He has just had his first taste of peanut butter at 3 yrs old. No history of nut allergies, but his dad has other allergies (hayfever, cat fur, dust).

not given peanuts so far, DS is 3.5 yrs
DH has nut allergy though

TRied a tiny bit of peanut butter on a spoon - 7 months. No family history and no problems!

4.5 & 2.5 with ds & dd - I'd read 5 somewhere so was being good until heard all the coverage of increases in peanut allergy despite food avoidance.

Both ate other nuts from about a year though (in fact dd sometimes seems to live on cashew nuts)

No history of nut allegies but dh is otherwise atopic (sp?) - hayfever, animal allergies, asthma etc (rubbish gene pool )

I waited until 12 months but only because I have eczema and asthma and so does he. I didn't give him a tiny smear though, I gave him a whole load

Luckily he loves it and is fine