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According to my pediatrician, research shows that exposing children to peanuts earlier decreases the likelihood of a child developing a peanut allergy.

JonDav 9y ago
Ask an allergist/pediatrcian what they would do with their children. The answer most likely would be to "challenge" nut allergies with low doses if symptoms occur and introduce a variety of foods early on as appropriate.
marktangotango 9y ago
I gave my son a bite of the peanut butter cookie I was eating, when he was six months old, nearly killed him. So this "expose them early and it's not a problem" maybe true part of the time for some allergens, but certainly not all the time for all allergens. Edit: Down voters care to comment?
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  Peanuts are one of the specific allergens for what was actually said upthread (early exposure is the best way of reducing the likelihood of developing an allergy) has been shown to be true; the explosion in peanut allergies in the US is a direct result of bad recommendation to generally avoid early exposure which has now been lifted and replaced with different guidance. That doesn't mean, however, that there is no risk of developing an allergy even with early exposure.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  I didn't downvote, but "expose them early and it's not a problem" isn't the advice, the advice is that early exposure reduces the chances of allergies. In any case, it is a statistical assertion, not a guarantee.
- zzleeper 9y ago
  Do you think peanut butter might be the problem? As in most Americans don't eat raw peanuts but processed versions which might be more concentrated and exacerbate the allergies?
  - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
    Peanut butter though is just peanuts, same concentration of everything as a peeled peanut. Large companies put lots of salt and sugar in too, I can't stand the sweet ones. Maybe there's greater availability of some protein, or something, because of the processing?
ccleve 9y ago
Maybe, maybe not. It's just unclear. My wife ate a ton of peanut butter during her pregnancy. One would think it would have protected our son, but it didn't. He's now eight and the peanut allergy is getting worse.
- delecti 9y ago
  The evidence is pretty convincing. You saying "it's just unclear" is just you misinterpreting "decreases the likelihood" to include "to zero".
soperj 9y ago
If you read the research on that one. It seems pretty badly done in my opinion.

JonDav 9y ago

Ask an allergist/pediatrcian what they would do with their children. The answer most likely would be to "challenge" nut allergies with low doses if symptoms occur and introduce a variety of foods early on as appropriate.

marktangotango 9y ago

I gave my son a bite of the peanut butter cookie I was eating, when he was six months old, nearly killed him. So this "expose them early and it's not a problem" maybe true part of the time for some allergens, but certainly not all the time for all allergens. Edit: Down voters care to comment?

dragonwriter 9y ago
Peanuts are one of the specific allergens for what was actually said upthread (early exposure is the best way of reducing the likelihood of developing an allergy) has been shown to be true; the explosion in peanut allergies in the US is a direct result of bad recommendation to generally avoid early exposure which has now been lifted and replaced with different guidance. That doesn't mean, however, that there is no risk of developing an allergy even with early exposure.
maxerickson 9y ago
I didn't downvote, but "expose them early and it's not a problem" isn't the advice, the advice is that early exposure reduces the chances of allergies. In any case, it is a statistical assertion, not a guarantee.
zzleeper 9y ago
Do you think peanut butter might be the problem? As in most Americans don't eat raw peanuts but processed versions which might be more concentrated and exacerbate the allergies?
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  Peanut butter though is just peanuts, same concentration of everything as a peeled peanut. Large companies put lots of salt and sugar in too, I can't stand the sweet ones. Maybe there's greater availability of some protein, or something, because of the processing?

ccleve 9y ago

Maybe, maybe not. It's just unclear. My wife ate a ton of peanut butter during her pregnancy. One would think it would have protected our son, but it didn't. He's now eight and the peanut allergy is getting worse.

delecti 9y ago
The evidence is pretty convincing. You saying "it's just unclear" is just you misinterpreting "decreases the likelihood" to include "to zero".

soperj 9y ago

If you read the research on that one. It seems pretty badly done in my opinion.