nuts in diet breastfeeding

[emwi]

Has anyone eaten nuts (not peanuts) while breastfeeding and gone on to have a nut-sensitive child? I'm trying to assess the risk as I love my muesli and some books advise eating nuts for the nutrition others advise avoiding for the risk of allergy. I don't have any allergies, dh has hayfever and psoriasis. DD has been breastfed for six months with nuts in my diet but not peanuts so it may be too late anyway.

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Thanks sb34, I'd really like to find out some statistics e.g. any studies about incidence of nut allergy in children whose mothers ate nuts vs those who didn't. Anyone got any info?

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My sister has 4 girls. She herself has hayfever badly. She adores nuts and ate them throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding (no warnings then).
Her youngest dd is extrememly allergic ( to almonds, don't know about peanuts).
However, as a baby, she screamed a lot and had terrible eczema within the first 6 weeks. She has gone on to have severe asthma. It wasn't until she was 2 yrs that her allergy became apparent.
Assessing the risk is extremely difficult. As you say, there is probably no point now as your dd is 6 months old. Remember, peanuts are not the only problem. I think the fact that you yourself do not have allergies may lower the risk.
I have to say that, having seen the problems my niece has had, if I was ever to have another pregnancy, I would avoid nuts in great quantities.

I never breastfed but I ate peanuts throughout my pregnancy. I have astham and hayfever but no allergies.

DD does have asthma but she is ok with peanuts (too young for the nuts themselves but has eaten things with them in it.)

I've avoided peanuts but love hazelnuts, almonds, etc and have eaten those through pregnancy and breastfeeding. Reading websites on allergies is a bit scary as it suggests that if you drink milk or eat fish that can also pass on an allergy but its felt the nutrition gained from these offset the chance of allergy. It looks like there are a lot of theories but not many comprehensive studies. Hmm, I'm still eating muesli at the moment.

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emwi, you may be interested that in eastern tradition, ie predating bottle feeding, some of the special foods that were given to nursing mothers to promote milk production and good nutrition are almonds (blanched, peeled, ground and mixed with hot milk, given every evening, supposed to be rich in iron) and walnuts. I have never heard of any traditions about nut allergies at all though so maybe it just depends on your own family's allergic disposition. I ate various nuts throughout breastfeeding, but did not give ds nuts till over 2, when he had almonds and hazelnuts. By accident he had pistachio or cashew nuts and had an allergic response. I excluded cashews and pistachios for over a year, and now he seems to have no reaction to them. He had peanuts uneventfully at 3 and peanut butter now plays a useful role in his diet. If you are lucky enough not to have any nut allergies, don't forget that nuts are valuable for nutrition.

yes, out of practice, you just reminded me that I was given a mix similar to the one you described and scoffed ti down for the first few weeks - it was mostly flour, sugar and almonds - I was told it was traditional to boost milk supply.

oh wow - that means I should eat marzipan to boost my milk! almost better than chocolate!