nuts - would you give them to a toddler?

[lewislewis]

Hello, need some quick advice. There is asthma and eczema in my family, am I right about not giving any nuts to my 2.6 months ds even though he personally does not have eczema or asthma?

hold off til 5.

No. Not so much b/c she doesn't have asthma or eczema, but b/c of choking risks.

No risk of allergies then, only choking?

if there is eczema and asthma in the immediate family (your or dh) or other allergies then proceed with caution.

TBH, I'd never heard of the whole nut risk thing till I moved here. Americans eat peanut butter like it grows on trees, even whilst pregnant.

So I only think of hte choking thing.

Then again, our family doesn't have any history of allergies or eczema on either side.

If you do, then procede w/caution.

All my kids have eaten peanut butter despite there being a (mild) history of asthma/eczema in the family. In fact dd2 had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch every day when she was a toddler. All are fine & none have developed either asthma/eczema - maybe we were just lucky.
In my defence I didn't know about the potential problems from peanuts when the oldest ones were young and since they were fine I have just assumed that the younger ones would be the same.
Your son will probably be okay but for your own sanity you may wish to wait till he's older just in case.

My dd eats them, there is nuts in so many things.I think if you have a history of eczema and asthma in the family you have to be carful when introducing any new foods that could be a risk. DD and i both have ecxema but are fine with nuts (and all other foods)

whilst there is a risk of allergy, it isnt as high as the scare is. probly higher risk of choking. but on the whole, nuts are actually very good for you.
stay clear of monkey nuts perhaps. but things like almonds, cashew,, pictachios,pine nuts, are all very good.

Both my kids have nuts, don't have a problem with it. My friend went into mass panic the other day because her child ate a nut, he doesn't have an allergy, she just doesn't like him eating them in case he chokes!!! I just make sure I watch them when they eat them but don't stop them as like Stitch says they are good for kids who don't have allergies to them!!!

thankyou, this is very helpful.

Dd had peanuts at six. Dt's are 4 and do not have them and know they must wait (big sister's privilegde!).

Older dd knows she must chew them well, but doesn't have too many. It's a choking concern really. Don't think any of mine have a nut allergy; thankfully, because from what I have heard it's a terrible worry. Peanut oil is hidden in things and they have peanut butter sometimes with no side effects.

I don't allow dd to take any nuts to school in her lunch though, in case someone there is a sufferer.

my son's school is a nut free zone! so we are not allowed to let them have peanut butter sandwiches.
the reason for this is one child has a slight allergy to peanuts. it may seem a bit over the top that i am angry about this, but my ds doesnt eat anything. peanut butter was one of the few thngs he would eat. now he thinks its bad for him, and wont eat this either.
ds is so skinny, that he could model for a skeleton. said boy is overweight to say the least. ok, so im being a selfish mother, but i want my son to eat something. and now the school wont let him eat his sandwiches.

I avoid nuts in our house but only because they are a prime choking hazard and mine are all under 5.

My and my dh's family have no asthma, eczema or allergies at all. My THIRD child has severe nut allergy picked up by skin testing. He has not yet had anything with nuts but I ate peanut butter and tree nuts when pregnant and breastfeeding. I had no idea this could happen and wouldn't wish it on anybody!! Hold off until at least 5.

stitch I can't believe you are angry over the banning of peanut products in school. I am sure your ds can survive eating it for breakfast and after school. It is attitudes like this that make my blood boil. This child might have a mild allergy now but you can guarantee it will get worse if they have contact with pb repeatedly. Unless you have a child in this situation you have absolutely no idea what it is like to live with this. Is one peanut butter sandwich worth a child's life???

Stitch, the allergic child's life could be at risk from contact with peanuts. I have yet to hear of a fussy child starving to death.

My ds is both severely allergic to peanuts and alsso a very skinny fussy eater so I sympathise with your problems but they are not in the same league as having a severe allergy. (Also what has HIS weight got to do with it?!)

I gave cashews to my children under 2yo but with molar teeth, because they are very soft, & relatively low choking risk. I think almonds is one of those nuts I gave relatively late (nearly 4yo) because they are especially hard. Peanuts somewhere in the middle (I don't know anyone with peanut allergy).

I have sympathies with Stitch. I would also like to send peanuts and peanut butter sandwiches in with DS because they are more calorie dense foods than anything else I can think of (that he will eat), and we have all kinds of practical problems getting him to eat enough before tea-time; this is a real problem in him having afternoon tantrums, being able to do after-school activities, being willing to do homework or go to bed on-time.

I don't give dd whole nuts (she's only 18mo) but I do give her hazlenut butter as it's yummy, she gets her healthy oils and no choking risk. I don't think there's an allergy risk with it.

i think the only obvious allergy risk is with peanuts, i think you are meant to wait untill 5 if there is a history of allergys in the family, other nuts are fine just watch for choking.

There is a high risk with all nuts as most nuts are stored together and the cross-contamination risk is high. lewislewis it is personally your choice. If you are still concerned speak to somebody who has actual knowledge about allergies, asthma, eczema.

I grew up in a place where children eat peanut butter from an early age and women are strongly advised to eat nuts during pregnancy and... NOTHING HAPPENS! However, DS had a single peanut when he was just over 2 yrs old and he developed nut allergy, even when DH and me are not allergic at all.

DS had eczema as a baby and for that reason we weaned late and followed the guidelines, he only ate organic food and all was prepared at home until he was 2 yrs old, no matter how hard we tried, he has gone from eczema, to asthma, to nut allergy and after the testing done after the incident of the peanut, we have realised he has also developed allergies to egg, fish and milk and is intolerant to so many things that you won't believe it.

So, after all these bable my advice is... to wait at least another six monts.

Good luck

P.s. In case nobody has mentioned, the guidelines suggest the introduction of nuts until the child is 3 yrs old, or even 5 depending in the severity of the allergies in the family. It is NOT because of risk of choking but because the diggestive and immunological system of a toddler has NOT developed enough to breakdown nut proteins efficiently. Obviously, there is a good chance that nothing will happen but IME it's not worth the risk.

Stitch - it is not the other woman's fault that your son won't eat anything else, or that he is thin.

If he is this fussy he may have turned away from peanut butter even if the school hadn't banned it.

Can't see how you could be angry at school TBH - what on earth do you expect them to do?

DS (1) has nut cutlets and loves them. And sometimes I'll chew up some mixed nuts and feed him them. Sounds horrible, I know but that gets round the choking thing. We're veggies so I wanted to introduce him to as many diverse foods as possible.