Peanut butter in pregnancy - do you or don't you?

[mrsbabookaloo]

So I gave up peanut butter when pg and bfing dd. The research is a bit contradictory and my instinct says that it should be better to actually expose them to potential allergens, but I thought I'd better be on the safe side.

When I asked the doctor, she clearly hadn't a clue, but said, "well, it's not that big a sacrifice is it?" and made me feel like I was being greedy and selfish wanting to eat peanut butter during pgy.

In fact, it was a massive sacrifice. I love peanut butter and eat it everyday. I get massive energy dips and get grumpy, so I need proteiny snacks. During pregnancy last time I was horribly sick and needed to be able to eat anything I could face that would give me energy.

I know other people who happily ate peanut butter throughout because they didn't know. I read too much!

Pg again now and not sick yet, but want to be prepared and don't want to give up my precious peanut butter for another 18 months!

I don't have any allergies but dh has hayfever and cat allergy. DD doesn't seem to have any so far (she is 2). We're not a very allergy prone household, I don't think.

Any experts out there? Sorry for long post TIA

You can buy Cashew Nut Butter in Tesco too and thats supposed to be very nice its in the health food bit i believe.

I've been eating peanut butter and other nuts all the way through my pregnancy so far because I didn't know that you're supposed to avoid them!!

I think there's a lot of stuff published about what you should and shouldn't eat while pregnant, and even in the original scientific literature you should often take what they say with a huge pinch of salt (I'm a scientist, so maybe shouldn't mention that!! ).

My opinion is that you should eat whatever you like in moderation as long as it makes you feel good, though avoiding unpasteurized cheeses, raw meats and liver is probably a good idea...

That's my 2p worth!

Oh god! I really want peanut butter on toast now!!! I've avoided it all along as DH has hayfever and cat allergies, although I did have a couple of snickers and crunchy nut cornflakes before I twigged...

ate it all the way through ds's pregnancy but had to resolve to stop buying it because i got so fat... i eat it on toast with regular butter too

I did, but I have a nut allergy (brazil nut) so therefore felt bound to take the advice very seriously, and avoided all nuts, and even anything that could contain traces of nuts (I was advised to by mw, but suspect in hindsight that was overkill). TBH I probably wouldn't bother giving it up without a history of nut or food allergy in your family.

Too much scaremongering, out there and not enough hard evidence in my opinion. I eat absolutely everything whilst pregnant as long as it's been bought in a reputable supermarket and refrigerated well. This includes peanut butter, pate, cured meats, unpasteurised cheese and some beer and wine now and then. A little bit of what you fancy definitely does you good. My kids are about as healthy as it gets.

fearlessfreak - no finer food!

dh has hayfever, but i never managed to give up the pb with either baby. No ill effects so far and ds1 also an addict...

Another fan! I did not eat it with PFB but have eaten it this time (not every day but maybe 3-4 per week). It's high in protein and recommended in an American twins book I have, written by a dietician, so they obviously don't have the same issues over there! Also I have an African friend who makes the most delicious peanut soup, so have eaten that quite a few times too. I will wait amd see what happens. Ds had eczema as a baby and still has it a little, despite no peanut butter, so just decided to risk it this time, but not to go overboard.

Ate it throughout pregnancy, and DS (13 months) now enjoys peanut butter on toast on a regular basis. No problems here. Agree that unless there's really clear evidence to support not having something (e.g. not drinking heavily in pregnancy), then eat what you like. All these arbitrary rules erode our ability to judge and manage risk. It's like the listeria thing - everyone religiously avoids soft unpasteurised cheese, but the only listeria outbreak I can remember in the news recently came from pre-packed sandwiches...

Hiya! I love peanut Butter......do you know the only reason you are NOT allowed to eat it is because its not a nut?....well it is partly but its actually a pea...a legume!....thats why its safe to eat all other nuts during pregnancy and they thought you should avoid this one.....I watch to much QI and Stephen Fry said this so I went on wiki and found out...and its true...heres the link

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut

random fact to impress your frineds with lol!

Ps I ate peanut butter during first preg and am with this one too.....no harm. I think the general advice is to not eat it if there is an established allergy in the family to them already

Ate it through both pregnancies.

I practically lived on peanut butter and chocolate spread sarnies through both pregnancies.

I have asthma, eczema and hayfever, though no food allergies and they run in my husbands family, though he doesn't suffer

I used to never eat peanuts but since I've been preggy (now 19 weeks) I occassionally get cravings. I think I've eaten 2 jars in the last 4 months which doesn't seem like too much. I strongly believe that each woman instinctively knows what their baby/ body needs, and thats why we have such strong cravings ( and such a good excuse for sending dp to 24 hour garage for wotsits at 3 in the morning!). I wouldn't eat it every day, but once or twice I week seems moderate.

yes - with both of my pregnancies - i am addicted to jif peanut butter!

I am eating peanut butter.

In fact today I ran out of the house and jumped in the car with a delicious piece of granary bread with crunchy peanut butter slathered on it and promptly dropped it on the floor of my car.

Picked it up and it was covered in hair and dirt and small stones.

Gutted.

I have hayfever and cat allergies, but nevertheless I ate PNB during both my pregnancies and while breastfeeding. No allergies showing in the DCs - they are 3.6 and 18months.
When I mentioned maybe not eating PNB to my German midwife she was surprised it was even an issue.
That's the good thing about having kids abroad, you can pick and choose which country's advice suits you best!

Could not stop eating peanut butter. Peanut butter and jam on toast. Peanut butter and honey on toast. Peanut butter and Nutella on toast. DS was 9lbs 9ozs. I blame the peanut butter.

I like pbutter but wouldn't typically miss having it. However, the first 15 weeks of pregnancy I was v. sick AND had food poisoning. For much of that time I couldn't keep much more than toast down so my attempt at making it a little more balanced was to add peanut butter.

There's no way you can follow every piece of advice and I figure a little protein in the form of pbutter is better than none at all!

When I was pg with ds,I ate peanut butter, & he is fine.

However, I also ate it (from the jar with a spoon, and many snickers ice creams) when pg with dd,and she has allergy to peanuts and severe eczema at times.

Don't know if there is a connection.