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

I avoided it during my first pregnancy until right before the very end when I couldn't take it any more and ate a whole jar in about 10 minutes! Since then I've read an article in New Scientist which (cautiously) advanced the theory that as peanuts are present in trace amounts in so many foods now it's impossible to avoid them, and that by trying to avoid them you are actually exposing yourself to a sensitising dose, i.e. a minute amount. So this pregnancy I'm back to eating it. Both dh and I are a little atopic but no history of nut allergies specifically in our families.

Interestingly the article also cited a study that's going on to try and 'cure' nut allergies by feeding children increasing doses of peanuts but I don't think there are any results from it yet.

I ate it. There are so many things that you're meant to avoid that it's unrealistic!

yes - agree with last post

I'm allergic to tree nuts (hazelnuts etc) to the extent of anaphalaxis. I find eating whole peanuts painful to my mouth although peanut butter is ok. However I've chosen to avoid all nuts, including peanut products throughout pregnancy and now that I'm breastfeeding. At some point I will feed nut products to DS but a bit later than is generally advised so that if he does have a reaction hopefully his body is older and stronger and a bit better able to cope. I have other allergies too that are less serious but result in blistering in my mouth e.g. stone fruits like cherries. In the past I've taken the risk just to have a taste of something yummy but these days I don't in case my histamine levels impact DS.

I love peanut butter but avoided it with dd1 ,she has various allergies and was born without a food pipe,how ever she loves peanut butter now she can eat and is fine with it.With dd2 i ate it and she is fine although doesn't like peanuts.
The jurys out on dd3 as she's only a few weeks old!

I never ate when pg or bf ds1 (gave me severe indigestion) but did with ds2. Ds1 has eczema ds2 dooesn't!!??

My craving was peanut butter and marmite sandwiches, i'd have it 2 or 3 times a day at one point! My DH has asthma and allergies so i tried not to have it but couldn't help it! DD does have eczema now but not sure it's related as lots of kids have it when tiny.

I agree with the rule of if you're worred what harm can it do avoid it for a while.

I avoided it with DS as I have mild asthma and that was the current advice. He has no (known) allergies and no signs of any, fingers crossed.

Anyway I then read some research saying peanut allergies had spiked during the period that women were told to avoid it. So am now eating it (in moderation) with PG number 2 - no baby yet so we'll see what happens I guess.

i avoided peanuts etc when pg but remember near the end of being pg talking to a friend from Cameroon who was also pg and asking her if she had been eating peanuts..
she had never heard the advice not to and thought it was the funniest thing ever as in Cameroon peanut sauce is pretty THE staple food along with rice.. and she never heard of a child having a nut allergy.
so since then i have thought that when next pg i will be more relaxed and peanut-y things, if i can stomach anything at all

Love peanut butter, but unfortunately get anaphylactic shock if I eat them. Epipen in tow.

Don't understand though how someone with no allergies prior to pregnancy would suddenly develop them?

As far as I could tell from the peer-reviewed literature last year, the only hard evidence re children developing peanut allergy later in life is from babies with eczema who regularly had peanut oil-based creams applied to large areas broken skin.

I ate it every single day day since I found out I was pregnant, and my now 6 month old is fine. It is also relatively healthy - should anyone have problems going to sleep tonight, here is some support from peanut-butter.org

I ate it (and marmite of course) in abundance (possibly why I still have 2 1/2 stone to lose 8 weeks after giving birth)!

I only have mild hayfever and no other allergies.

I ate it, not knowing about any potential problems..DD is allergic to peanuts. Could be a coincidence though!

Avoided it in my first pregnancy and my son now has severe nut allergy.
Did eat some during my second pregnancy and my little one has no allergy whatsoever...
Make of it what you like but in my mind exposure to it will help with antibodies etc...

I was really really paranoid about everything for the first 3 months and then got peed off with all the contradictory and unscientific scare stories and started eating salami, peanuts etc and just avoiding things like rare meat, undercooked eggs etc.

My favourite advice, which unfortunately I cannot remember the source of but strongly suspect it was tinternet, was "don't eat peanut butter when pregnant if you already have a nut allergy". Really? Gosh.

Apparently large quantities of creme de menthe are also a bad idea. Why is broccoli never associated with food scares?

with 1st 3 pregnancies i avoided peanuts. all 3 dd's have allergies (not peanuts), eczema and two have asthma.

this pregnancy i have been having peanut butter on toast regularly. as read new research that its better to eat peanut products than avoid them to reduce allergies. but now i cant find the research. typical!

So true, Rutho. It has to be things like Feta and Pate doesn't it? Never Brussel Sprouts or tinned carrots .

i live abroad and all the child minders give the kids peanut butter snack food after 6 months, i freaked when i first caught mine giving it to my son, i'd been so careful during pregnancy and bfeeding, as my husband has hayfever and i have asthma. my ds is now nearly two, no allergies in sight, and peanut ones are unheard of in this country. makes me think the british research is all bollocks

I craved it in the first few weeks. Mmmm, peanut kit kats :0)

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Apparently in countries where they eat a lot of peanuts, nut allergies are rare. (which kind of makes sense to me) - early exposure etc
Although I don't actually like peanut butter and don't eat it, I do eat other nuts and would eat a snickers bar if it were put in front of me ! (am pg, not just greedy).

Well, see this is interesting, I never understood, when I was first pregnant with DD1 (8 years ago), being told not to eat peanut butter or peanuts - I couldn't understand that with the vast majority of things, the way to avoid allergies is gradual exposure and no one seemed to be able to give me an answer as to why it was different with peanuts. So, first time round, I did as I was told. She's fine and so far has no allergies (but she doesn't like peanut butter ). With DD2 - born last year - I think I maybe had the odd sandwich, and so far she seems fine. but I havent actually given her peanut butter yet. I am now 21 wks pregnant and I bought a jar of peanut butter today as I was missing it. I have no family history of a peanut allergy and I am about the only one in my family who still gets bad hayfever. I don't understand why my body would crave peanuts/butter every single pregnancy if it were bad for me and the bambino, when I have naturally gone off most things that are not favourable (alcohol etc etc). The evidence seems to be pretty iffy and it's interesting that 'they' reckon that peanut allergies have peaked since they told us to stop eating the bloody stuff!! I never knew anyone with any such allergies as a kid (am nearly 36). Surely this is something we are creating? In the cases where the mum's did eat it regularly whilst pregnant and subsequently HAD a child with a nut allergy, how does this compare to the figures where mum's ate it and their child was fine....?

frazzle - There is evidence to suggest that it is the method of cooking which is the critical factor though, not the amount of nuts consumed.

In the west where there is a high rate of allergy, nuts are often roasted. The east prefer theres boiled.

Studies suggest that the roasting at high temp increases chance of allergic reaction.

Oh, didn't know that about roasting - how strange.
Maybe I'm just lucky then but I did eat quite a lot of peanuts with one of my DD's (can't remember which pg it was?) but both girls (so far) are absolutely fine.
Fascinating subject.