As with all medical issues, you should discuss any questions or concerns you have about your child and food allergies with your doctor.
I was never super worried about introducing most potential allergens, and for the most part, the boys haven’t had any reaction but utter love for almost everything they’ve tried. Elliot, however, did develop an immediate rash on his face and body when he tried lentils and chickpeas. I can live without lentils and chickpeas in our daily diet, so this wasn’t a huge issue except they’re legumes . . . just like peanuts. Wah wah wah.
No food allergies for me!
While he reacted poorly to these two foods, he had no problems with other legumes such as peas, beans, and edamame. At their 9-month appointment, we spoke with our pediatrician about what he had reacted to and if that would increase his likelihood of having a reaction to peanuts. He said there is some increased chance, but that it was still more than likely that he would not have a reaction at all. He asked us to hold off introducing any kind of peanut products and said we would discuss when and how to introduce them at their 12-month appointment.
Last week, we took the boys in for their one-year appointment, and as planned, we had a discussion on the peanut issue. We’ve carefully avoided exposing either boy to peanuts, which has been no easy task since we both have a deep and abiding affection for peanut butter. Our pediatrician suggested waiting until 18 months to introduce them, an idea that I’m sure has merit, but it really wasn’t the answer I wanted. Peanuts are everywhere, and I hate having to worry and wonder about whether a restaurant uses peanut oil, whether someone at daycare will have something peanuty that the boys will accidentally get into, etc. After some more discussion, our doctor suggested that we bring them into the office with some peanut butter and introduce it for the first time there. They have epi pens on hand and the children’s hospital is literally the next building over, so if Elliot had a serious reaction he would be able to get treatment immediately.
Today was the day for the Great Peanut Butter Introduction of 2014. I made some oatmeal with two spoonfuls of peanut butter in it as an easy way for us to get some peanuts in their system. We were shown to an empty exam room, and they said just to go ahead and feed them some and they would check in on us or we could call out for help if we needed it. The boys took to peanut butter oatmeal right away (like parent like child!), and I told Mr. Blue, “This is a good sign. Surely God wouldn’t be so cruel to let them fall in love with peanut butter if they could never have it again!”
The nurse came in after a few minutes and was chatting with us about food allergies. She said that with nuts, they will typically show a reaction within minutes. We weren’t seeing anything at that point, so all signs were pointing up! As we chatted, Mr. Blue noticed Elliot had some redness on his cheeks near his mouth. The nurse couldn’t tell if it was a reaction to the peanut butter or from him rubbing his face after we had wiped it off, so she asked us to hold tight and stay a few more minutes. We asked a few more questions and she told us that often allergies build in your system over time and you have increasingly severe reactions to something after you’ve eaten it several times. She said if the redness did end up being a rash with no other symptoms, we would still need to avoid introducing peanuts again because it could be a worse reaction the next time.
She also gave us some general signs to watch for with a food allergy:
- rash/redness usually starting near the mouth, but can spread over the whole body;
- smacking lips or tongue/mouth together (this is in response to a swelling tongue; it feels funny so they start moving their lips and tongue as a reaction to the swelling);
- Swelling in the face, hands, & feet;
- Any kind of breathing problem (wheezing, gasping, etc.).
If he gets a rash in the future, she said to give him a dose of Benadryl (the amount is based on weight, so she told us how much we would need to give), and if that isn’t helping or the symptoms get worse to go to the ER. Of course, if severe symptoms (breathing, swelling tongue, etc.) occurred, we should immediately seek medical attention.
After a few minutes, his cheeks cleared up, and we all felt confident that the redness was just from him rubbing his face. Finn also had no issues. She did remind us that they could still have a reaction the next time, so we should just watch carefully when we give them any peanut products in the near future.
I know a couple of kiddos with severe peanut allergies, and it is such a scary thing. I’m thankful that the boys didn’t show any signs today of a peanut allergy, but this experience has made me more cognizant and sympathetic to kids and parents living with the realities of a severe allergy. I’ll definitely be vigilant about sending peanut products to school or having them in items we serve at home when our boys are old enough to have friends over.
Do you or your LO have any severe allergies? How did you learn about the allergy?
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
I too was nervous about peanuts. We intentionally introduced very early in the morning so we would be able to go to Children’s during off-peak hours that wouldn’t disrupt his sleep much, but thankfully had no issue.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
As you know, Xander’s allergic to milk! We discovered it at 7 months when we attempted to feed him yogurt for the first time. He really seemed to LOVE the yogurt, but after only four bites, he developed a rash on his face and neck and he started scratching at himself. Soon he began coughing and sneezing, followed by wheezing! Off to the ER we went! And a couple weeks later, we met with an allergist who confirmed the allergy.
We haven’t introduced Xander to peanuts yet at all, but at least we already have an epi-pen on hand for when we do!
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
So far R has been fine with everything she has eaten. We gave her a little peanut butter on a puff for the first time to try it.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
I was so nervous about peanuts!! I didn’t feed any peanuts to Wagon Jr. until he was almost 3 years old because everyone said to avoid as long as possible… then the research switched and people started saying to introduce as early as possible. Whaaa??? I immediately fed him some peanut butter and phew, no reaction. Our pediatrician said that if he had never had a reaction in almost 3 years, most likely he didn’t have any food allergies since lots of things he probably consumed (or I consumed while breastfeeding) probably contained peanut. We got lucky with him.
I haven’t really given LMW anything peanut specifically, but while she hasn’t had any severe reactions, she does have very sensitive skin and eczema, so we’re erring on the side of caution with her. She does have a reaction to soy (she gets all red) so we stay away from tofu and try to stay away from soy sauce… which is tough when you eat a lot of asian food!!
pomelo / 5298 posts
No food allergies here, but peanuts scare me! We took peanut butter on ritz crackers along to her 12 month appointment and once we were in the exam room I let her have it as a snack. It was the only way I was comfortable making the introduction.
Now at 2.5, she loves peanut butter sandwiches. And since she’s not much of a meat fan, it’s a source of protein.
grapefruit / 4187 posts
My daycare is peanut-free, there are signs everywhere! I think it’s better that way since reactions can be so severe
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
Glad he did well! We just did peanuts yesterday! So far so good.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
Thank goodness Liam hasn’t had any allergic reactions to food, yet. When I was filling out preschool paperwork, I thought about how hard it must be to send a highly allergic child to school. There’s so many people and kids to worry about.
kiwi / 511 posts
Our littlest is allergic to eggs, he had breathing issues (which we thought were a cold and gave him an albuterol treatment) and then he went down for a nap, he woke up and had hives on his face and neck and then I flashed back to the breathing issues. It scared the **** out of me, but the albuterol cleared up the breathing issues, and a call to the pedi gave us the dose for benedryl and it cleared up.
We then went for allergy testing (blood and skin test) and he is allergic to eggs, walnuts and pecans. We are unsure about peanuts because the walnut and pecan reaction was so strong it bled over so we have to retest that this month. The two tree nuts are tricky because he may be fine with peanuts but really because there is so much chance for cross contamination in nut/peanut processing they are likely out regardless. I am hoping (but not counting) on him being one of the 9% that outgrows a nut allergy, but if he doesn’t we can adjust.
He also has a gluten sensitivity so we are pretty sure he will outgrow that in addition to the egg allergy. We don’t really know how he will react to the nuts since he hasn’t had them directly but was exposed because my DH and used to eat them in the house, but he carries an epi pen and benedryl with him to daycare.
Our daycare is great they are no nuts at all. It was a bit of a bummer with our oldest but I went with it since I knew how hard it is for parents with allergic kids (my niece is allergic to peanuts) so I didn’t gripe. Now that we have an allergy kid I am so thankful the staff is super strict about it. I do have more concerns for when he goes to public school, shudder.
We think he may also be allergic to maple syrup he had some on pancakes and his mouth turned all red, we haven’t tried again but he is fine with fake maple syrup so one day we will try again. And the same with butternut squash he was fine with it as puree and times I made it roasted in the oven and then one day bam his mouth turned all red, just like I rubbed it to hard while cleaning it, needless to say we haven’t had that again but will try again later. Apparently my sister had the same thing happen with tomatoes and she is fine it was just a fluke thing.
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
A lot of foods seem to give winter a little rash around the mouth, especially always on one side
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
N has a peanut allergy.
It was so shocking to us because it doesn’t run in the family at all on either side. I don’t even want to try to introduce peanuts to J. We don’t have anything peanuts in our house at all, and N knows not to eat anything with peanuts.
pear / 1696 posts
@mrs. wagon: We just started to cook more with coconut aminos and avoiding soy in general, it may be a good alternative to soy sauce for you guys? They stock it at our local co-op grocery store.
http://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Secret-Organic-Vegan-Aminos/dp/B003XB5LMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396974767&sr=8-1&keywords=coconut+aminos
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
That was a good idea to try it in the office! Little P has egg “intolerance” as in every time he had it he violently threw up the contents of his stomach.
But, at his 18 month apt he got tested for egg allergy and it was negative. Then my dad accidentally gave him a bit of eggs a couple of months back and there was no adverse reaction. So, I think that when he turns 2 (based on advice of the pedi) that we will try to introduce eggs again (likely in a muffin or something to start) and see what happens. I’m so nervous!
persimmon / 1367 posts
Thanks for writing about this – as a soon to be mom with serious peanut and tree nut allergies (as well as a million other allergies and intolerances) I am so nervous about introducing any food to my child. I love the doctor’s office idea and will definitely be on the lookout for a doc that will let me do that!
And to all with food allergic children: I’ve had severe allergies all my life and survived, long before such a thing as peanut-free daycare or classrooms existed!
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
CB used to break out into hives randomly and for a while, we thought it was mushrooms, but then they stopped. we had him tested by an allergist for some common allergies, but nothing came up. we’re hoping whatever it was is something he grew out of!
blogger / pomelo / 5361 posts
@mrs. wagon: I second to try coconut aminos as a soy sauce sub if you haven’t tried it yet! Our regular grocery store carries it; I think it’s getting more well known because it’s used in a lot of paleo recipes. The boys have eczema, too, which added to our allergy worries.
@mrs. tictactoe: Agreed. One of my friends has talked about how hard it is to send your kid to school, church, a friend’s house, when you can’t personally verify what they will be exposed to. Scary stuff!
@Mrs. High Heels: I remember your post about when N was exposed to peanut something at daycare! I just can’t imagine how scary that must have been.
@Rocker2014: I know a few people have just driven to the hospital parking lot to intro peanuts so they’d be right there if there was an issue. I imagine with your personal history, most peds would let you or have some other plan in place for a careful introduction. Or you could do like @MamaG: said and just give it to your LO while you wait for the doctor at one of his or her well visit checks. As for other foods, the good thing is you can start with the lowest risk foods and work your way up, so you don’t have to worry quite as much initially.
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
We introduce peanuts around 2 for Drake because thats what they recommended but now Drs are saying to try things sooner so Im not sure if Ill wait as long with Juliet
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
M had a wheat or gluten sensitivity that showed up the sixth time it was introduced. So when it was time to try PB around 11 months I did so during the week, during the day and had my cell phone close just in case we needed to get to the ER. I kept this up for the first six introductions. Now PB, nuts and peanuts are a total staple in his diet.