I've recently heard from a friend of mine that toddlers shouldn't eat peanut butter until 2 years old. I don't think I've ever heard this and now I'm concerned because I'm giving my 16 month pb&j sandwiches and he loves them. He's never had an adverse reaction. Any info?
Thanks for all the great responses. I think that we will just use pb&j's sparingly. Better to be safe than sorry :)
I wasn't a by the book kind of mom. Yes they do say you should wait till around 2 years of age and I guess it's now 3.
I had planned on waiting to give my son peanut butter only because my father has an allergy. I had forgot to mention this to one of my friends who was watching him and she had given my son a PB&J sandwich at the age of 14 months.
Thankfully he wasn't allergic and he's now 5 years old and still no problems.
The last I heard was 12 months, the same with honey. If there has been no reactions I think he'll be fine...
L.:
The AP guidelines are 3 years old!!
A.
I always thought it was 12 months but I'm not sure on that. Don't panic though. My daughter has been eating peanut butter since she was probably 14 or 15 months and she's never had any problems with it either.
Just like all the other smart Mommies here I agree, except one small issue....Watch those little sweeties while they are eating it. Peanut butter is an easy choking hazzard. Think about how it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Little ones cant tell the difference between a big bite and small ones until it is in their mouths. Please use caution all of you!
The biggest thing is that he hasn't had any reaction to it. My daughter's ped said that the decision for when to try new foods such as peanut butter and eggs, etc, is more dependent on whether the parents/families have any history of allergy to food. The one exception is honey. The fear with honey isn't that babies will have an allergic reaction, but instead the concern deals with botulism. There are trace amounts of botulism in honey, and adults and children over 2 (I believe) have stronger immune systems to deal with it. My daughter is 3 and she's been eating PB sandwiches since she turned 1. However, she's only had honey maybe twice, and that's been fairly recently.
Allergies can develop at any time. It is very common for people to be or become allergic to peanut butter. My oldest son is and we have an epi pen just in case. Its really up to you. Chances are your child will be fine but if he were to become allergic to it so young are you willing to take an ambulance ride or have him go limp in your arms before you can get help for him. These things have happened to me and I knew he was allergic but the Doctor said he was too young for Epi Pen. We only reciently got EpiPen Jr. The wouldn't even do an allergy test on him until he was 4years old. By the way I was only the one who gave him peanut butter once the other times were care takers who didn't pay attention when I told them. We do not have any family history of food allergies and our son is allergic to Peanut butter, Eggs, Soy, Dairy, and Cats. He also has Eczema and Asthma due to these and other outdoor allergies that he has not been tested for. He takes Zyrtec, SingulAir to keep it under control and Albuterol for attacks. Having my son go limp in my arms was the most helpless I've ever felt.
The only concern I've ever heard of with little ones eating PB, is the choking hazard. WIC won't give toddlers under 2 PB --you just get beans.
Of course, I've give my little ones PB all the time. I just spread it on the bread really, really thin and watch them closely.
Girl, these kids now-a-days eat whatever they like. Mine had PB&J when they startede walking which was early, like 10 months, 9 months. Just make sure and spread it very thin
