Giving Toddler Peanut Butter.??

I would wait a little longer on the peanut butter and I would not give any honey til age two.
I gave my son both honey and peanut butter at around 13 months and he is now 18 years old and fine but there has been so many studies on reactions to peanuts and honey, if I had a 1 year old now I would wait.

Just my opinion.

S.

If there is no family history, I say go for it with the PB. My son was eating PB at 1 year.

The honey you may want to wait on. I don't think that is an allergy issue as much as little bodies can't handle honey as well as adults can. My son eats Nutri Grain bars which has a small amount of honey in it, but I don't plan on giving him anything with lots of honey in it until he is older. My almost 5 year old hasn't really had much honey in her diet either.

Honey is fine once they are one year and peanut butter is fine too. As long as their isn't family history of food allergies and you monitor their first exposure it will be fine. I am a firm believer that NOT expsoing children to peanut butter earlier on is what is causing the rise in Peanut butter allergies. Having had to deal with allergies myself-I had allergy shots, etc. The purpose of the allergy shots is to put small doses of what you are allergic to into injections to build up your tolerance for the allergy. Also, I grew up with dogs my whole life and when I moved out (w/out dogs) I noticed I became allergic to them. So, exposing yourself to allergy inducing things actually can help you not be so allergic to them. My daughter has had PB since she was pretty little and has had no problems with allergies. Good Luck!

Ok I may be the odd one out... but I did Peanut Butter and honey both at 12 months. We're not big honey eaters here, but I *LIVE* on peanut butter, and so does my 3-year old son.

The latest medical research indicates that early exposure to peanuts may actually be protective for allergies.

Here's a quote from a recent journal article on the topic (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 123, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 417-423):

"High level environmental exposure in the absence of oral infant exposure leads to allergic sensitization, whereas high levels of oral exposure lead to tolerance irrespective of environmental exposure. This model may explain the varying prevalence of PA [peanut allergy] in different countries. Where infants do not eat peanut but environmental exposure is high because of high adult consumption (eg, UK, United States, Canada), the outcome is allergic sensitization. Where neither adults nor infants eat peanut, environmental exposure is low, and the outcome is tolerance. Where both environmental exposure and infant consumption are high, oral tolerance overrides cutaneous sensitization, and the outcome is a low prevalence of PA—for example, Israel"

Translation: If you are a peanut butter eater and there is PB in your house, go ahead and feed your kid PB after 12 months of age. They think it's skin exposure that creates the allergy.

I am a RN and we don't recommend peanut butter, nuts, or raw honey till after 3 yr old.

I just asked our pediatrician this last week. My son is 12 months old.

Our doctor explained that they used to tell people to hold off on eggs, honey, peanut butter, etc. but now that has changed. She said research did not show that holding off on these foods helped prevent food allergies. Our doctor suggested that we go ahead and give our son any food we want. She suggested that we stay close to home when we are giving a new food that may be connected to allergies just in case and to always keep Benedryl on hand.

I would suggest asking your doctors opinion and then decide based on what you are comfortable with.

Your son is old enough to be given both, but give them to him at least 4 days apart so that if he has a reaction you'll know the culprit. I know it's scary, but with his food history it's unlikely he'll be allergic. Good luck :O)

Hi L.! I do know some moms who have opted to give their toddlers peanut butter after age 1, but it is not recommended until after they are age 2. I would talk to your ped about it to see what he/she recommends.

As for honey, I believe that is fine after age 1. I think that after age 1, the only food restrictions are nuts, peanut butter, shellfish, and anything that might be a choking hazard. Again, check with your doc to be sure about their recommendations and then make your best decision from there : )

L.,
I didn't read all of your responces, but with my son, I waited till two years old. With my daughter, I couldn't keep peanut butter away from her, she is a picky eatter and saw my son eatting it, and LOVES peanut butter and has been eating it since she has been 13 months. She is now almost two and a half. She eats it on bananas, apples and PB&J. My Dr. said before giving it to her, eat some yourself and kiss her all over, and do it a few times. That way if she has any sort of major allergy to it you will know before she eats some herself.
As for honey, I gave both kids honey around 15 months, through cooking with it. They don't really eat it any other way.
K.

For your first, the doctors usually recommend later rather than earlier. My oldest didn't have PB until she was over 2, but my other kids were closer to 18 months. As far as honey goes, I think there isn't an allergy associated with it, but it's more about the potential for botulism. They recommend waiting until after a year so the baby's immune system is developed. I never really have honey at home, so it was never an issue, in fact, my 6 year old just tried honey yesterday, I think for the first time! If you use a lot of pure honey, then I think you can try it on your son now.

I agree with most of the moms. You should only wait if there is a history of an allergy to the food. My Ped said the same thing, 12 months is fine as long as no one in the family has an allergy. The research is accurate also, if you wait actually it can cause an allergy. The first mom stated what doctors were saying about three years ago, but medical research has knocked that theory out. They are saying if you wait too long then your child is more likely to develop an allergy. Just try a little bit at a time. Both my kids did not like PB at first but it grew on them as I kept feeding it to them.

My Dr.'s rule of thumb is 12 months. . he should be good to go. My 15 month old love her PB sandwiches

My daughter is almost 2yrs and she has not had either. My Pedi Dr says wait until 3+ years on both and I plan to follow that. I would say wait, there are plenty of other things to give them. Also keep in mind that they may not have an allergy now but the precaution is also to prevent an allergy later in life by not exposing them to early.

I say wait. My son is allergic to peanut butter. His first reaction was just touching it by accident and he broke out in hives at 9 months. 2nd was I gave him a little little bit of cashew butter at 2 years and he got hives.

Neither my husband or I have any allergies and both love peanut butter. Peanut butter allergies are on the rise and it is very common, however let me tell you what a hassle it is and a serious allergy. Being allergic to peanuts usually means other nuts too. Look at labels and see how many things peanuts are in or products that are made in a shared facility, it is maddening.

Found this on MyAllergyNetwork.com

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that peanut not be introduced into a child's diet until at least the age of 3 years. The reason is that the child's immune system may not be fully developed before 3 years, and giving the child peanut butter beforehand may lead to development of peanut allergy. However, this is just a theory -- and one may argue that giving peanut butter every day may cause the child to be "tolerant."

It is a short period of time to wait vs. a life time of serious allergy. Your child more than likely will not have a problem but what if early introduction triggered something, is it really worth it?

Just another side of the coin, go with your gut.

Take care!

The peanut butter caution died out a couple of years ago when research showed that 12 months was okay and risk did not decrease at 2 yrs of age. But Honey has a risk of botulism so it is a no until 2 or better 3 yrs. If you give peanut butter, like other foods, start small and watch for reactions. Honey was the only food my ped said no to and I really trust her.

I think I have given all my kids pb at about a year. It is always in the house and I ate peanuts/pb regularly when pregnant and while nursing. My youngest is 13 months and he got honey for the first time today (on his pb sandwich). He loved it. I think the odds for botulism from honey are pretty small even before a year old so I was comfortable with giving it to them soon after their first birthdays. We actually give a tsp of honey for coughs and it works great.

I think that peds are now telling you to wait until 3 to introduce peanutbutter or even peanuts because of the number of kids with peanut allergies out there. We didn't wait that long. My son accidentally ate a few peanuts at about 16 months, and when I found out what he was doing, I freaked out! But then I monitored him for any signs of allergic reaction and found none. I decided to try him with a little peanutbutter (about a tsp.) a few weeks after that and monitored him again. Still no problems. So we started giving him peanutbutter freely after that. Our family has no history of food allergies whatsoever, so I felt comfortable doing this. If you have any food allergy history in your family, I would definitely wait. As far as the honey is concerned, we gave it to our son at 13 months. He had a bad cough and his ped. suggested giving him honey instead of cough medicine. It worked, but he didn't like the taste of it. To this day we only give it to him when he has a cough because he still doesn't like it. Good luck!

It is my understanding that you should wait until the child is 3 ONLY if there is a history of peanut or other severe food allergies in the family. I started giving my son honey and peanut butter at 1 year. I think the main things to consider are your comfort level in introducing these foods and what your doctor recommends.

the latest research on allergies, published last year, and done in a certified study that was scientifically sound, found that there was NO advantage to keeping allergens from kids. In fact the later the introduction of high allergy foods, the more chance there will be an allergy to it. So, the current (as of summer of 08) recommendation is to not withhold the introduction of peanut butter.

That said, they still recommend holding off on milk and honey till 12 mos old because of other reasons - the body does not have the ability to digest milk before that age or fight the botulism spores that are in honey until that age.

You can introduce a tiny bit on a cracker for a few days in a row. If he shows no signs of a reaction, then don't worry about it.

Everything I've read lately says that you don't really need to worry about waiting until a child is a toddler to introduce foods....even the highly suspicious foods. You just have to introduce only one new food each day for a few days before moving on to the next. When they start eating solid food just a tiny bit for a few days. Only do one at a time so if there is a reaction you will know what caused it.

Honey has nothing to do with an allergy, but a bacteria that is sometimes found in honey. A child doesn't have the strength or immune system built up enough to fight that type of bacterial infection until after one year of age. That would be the only food I would worry about per se.

If your family has a strong history of food allergies taht cause severe harm, then all of that changes for your child.

I think the conventional wisdom these days says waiting to introduce children to so many foods until after they are toddlers is really running a high risk of raising a very picky child. At a certain point in their development they are not going to want to try new foods and you need to get a variety in them early to encourage healthy eating habits right off.

Hi L.,
Just to let you know I am a Licensed Daycare Provider in Illinois and per DCFS we are not allowed to give Peanut Butter to children until they are 3 years old due to it being a choking hazard. So if I were you I would not give your son peanut butter. As far as honey, I have no idea on that one??
good luck!

if you search the web you can find any answer you want! my dad is an allergist and says to wait till THREE before introducing peanut products. our pediatrician said that if there is no history of food allergies in your family you can introduce them at two. we have friends whose docs say anytime after one is fine. we're listening to my dad and waiting on peanut butter (and shellfish) till our daughter is three, though i'll be shocked if she reacts in any way. i'd ask your doctor what s/he recommends and go from there.

while it's hard to wait so long, my biggest issue is to make sure that she's fully verbal before introducing things that are so hyper-allergenic. i want her to be able to TELL me that she's having trouble breathing, etc., before i give her these foods, just in case! we do give her soynut butter, which she likes.

good luck; i know it's tricky!