[afentress]

My pediatrician said it's ok in small amounts in things (of course unless there is an allergy) but not in a large amount as in can be a choking hazard. I guess it's hard to swallow for the little ones.

As always I say do what works for your kid.

Angie

[azamboni]

Our ped. always said to wait until our son was 3 to give him peanuts, and that was fine (although it surprised a lot of our friends and family). We just felt it was better to be safe than sorry, especially not knowing if there was a history of food allergies in his birth family. Then we went for his 3-year well check-up, and the ped. said that the guidelines had been changed and we could just use our judgment! Of course, we made a big deal out our son's first peanut butter sandwich, and he told us he didn't like it and would rather have almond butter -- ha!

[nurse_reedle]

Isaac has been eating PB since about 1 year old. I have friend who started giving it to her daughter at around 8-9 months old. neither are allergic. I will probably give it to the next baby around 1 year old also. There are definitely conflicting reports and you have to do what you feel is best.

[dawnrenee58]

Originally Posted by pjb1967

It would be interesting to do a survey and see if any of our Guatemala kids do in-fact have a peanut allergy.

I might be wrong but I think this is more of an american problem, I mean have you ever heard of anyone in a 3rd world country having a peanut allergy or being lactose intolerant or any of the other weird food issues we here in America have developed over the years?

I did wait until my daughter was 2 and she was fine. So far I have not met any adopted parent with a child from a 3rd world country, nor has anyone on this tread mentioned their Guatemalan child having a peanut allergy.

Just a thought. Of course it's better to be save then sorry.

Pam

Just to touch on the lactose intolerance part....

My bio son is lactose intolerant, as is my DH and a lot of his family. They are Mexican. From my research, I learned that around 50% of the hispanic population, 70% of African Americans and 80% of Asians are lactose intolerant! That seems like so much, but then I thought about what all my Mexican relatives eat. Not a lot of dairy. It is not really even a part of their diet. Marco mostly has issues with straight milk, he can handle cheese and yogurt ok. So for them, the reason it is not a big deal is because they, as a group, don't drink much milk!

[2forus]

I think it is based on allergies. Our Ped is ok with it at 1 year. That said I was terrified to give it to my first two, not knowing family history, but they are fine with nuts. My bio turned out to be allergic and we have no family history. He did react the first time. I would think that if he didn't react the first time it should be ok.

[jpeel99]

I think you are fine. We did not wait until 2.

[joanr]

Originally Posted by pjb1967

It would be interesting to do a survey and see if any of our Guatemala kids do in-fact have a peanut allergy.

I might be wrong but I think this is more of an american problem, I mean have you ever heard of anyone in a 3rd world country having a peanut allergy or being lactose intolerant or any of the other weird food issues we here in America have developed over the years?

I did wait until my daughter was 2 and she was fine. So far I have not met any adopted parent with a child from a 3rd world country, nor has anyone on this tread mentioned their Guatemalan child having a peanut allergy.

Just a thought. Of course it's better to be save then sorry.

Pam

My son was tested for allergies to just about everything when we came home from Guatemala. This was due to the horrible eczema rash he got within a week. Peanuts were one of the tested items and all the tests came back negative. Our pediatrician said no eggs until 18 months and no peanut butter until 2. Well he already came home eating eggs (they started him on them before 6 months old). My day care gave him peanut butter after 1 year old. I did realize that the age was upped to 2 until my son's 18 month check up when the Pediatrician mentioned it. Since I know he is not allergic we are allowing peanut butter to which he loves.

-J

[JGarrick]

Originally Posted by pjb1967

The "hygiene hypothesis" holds that life in the Western world has become so clean and antiseptic that the immune systems of its children are not being challenged sufficiently and have become less resistant creating many new allergies..

I'm 41 and back when I was a child, you never heard of anyone having a peanut allergy or rules at school of not being able to bring peanut butter or any snacks with peanuts in.

I think they key words here are "you never heard of anyone" having peanut allergies or anything else, for that matter, because people didn't really talk much about these things. If someone had a peanut or some other food allergy, they just didn't pack that food in their lunches. What's changed more than the allergy rate, is the volume of discussion. When we were kids, our parents would never have had the discussion we're having because the internet didn't exist. Because of it, we're now learning about all sorts of things that have always existed on the fringes, but that we didn't hear about.

I've also looked into the hygiene hypothesis, and it seems the jury is still out. While there's certainly a correlation between the more antiseptic modern western world and allergy rates, I haven't yet seen any strong evidence for causation, and much of what I have seen is little more than natural selection at work (people with allergies marrying and having more children with allergies was specifically noted in one article). Beyond the correlation, there's an awful lot of speculation about how it all really works.

Given the striking disparity in life expectancy and infant mortality, I don't think the lack of hygiene in the third world is doing its population any favors.