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Introducing peanuts to Jojo.

This post was sponsored by the National Peanut Board.

At Jo’s 4 month check-up our pediatrician mentioned that if Jojo showed interest she could start having some food other than breastmilk.  I wasn’t in any hurry to start giving her anything other than breastmilk, but right around 5 months Jojo started doing things that I interpreted as her being interested in what we were eating.  For example, when I was holding her and eating meals one-handed (as mom’s do) she would grab my hand and try to bring the fork to her mouth or she’d reach towards the food on my plate.  So I began mashing up some of the mash-able food on my plate and giving her little tastes of things.  Even though introducing Jojo to all foods comes with more mess and smells (lol), I’ve really liked getting to see her start practicing eating.

And that brings me to talking about giving Jojo peanut foods for the first time.  When it comes to peanuts, I feel like I hear a lot about peanut allergies in elementary schools these days and how kids can’t pack peanut-containing foods in their lunch boxes.  I had no idea what the recommendation was for introducing peanuts to Jojo, so I was happy when the National Peanut Board reached out to let me know about new research and guidelines for how to prevent peanut allergies in young children.  By combining this research with guidance from your child’s pediatrician, parents can now have a path to help prevent their infant from developing a peanut allergy.

It’s my hope that this post will make you 1) aware of the current guidelines that are recommended for feeding your infant peanut foods and 2) make you feel comfortable and empowered to implement these guidelines. 

In 2015, a major advancement was made in peanut allergy detection by The Learning Early About Peanut study.  As a result of this study, the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Disease (NIAID) created guidelines which I’ll introduce to you below. Led by Dr. Gideon Lack, the study revealed that parents of children at risk for peanut allergy could reduce their baby’s chance of developing a peanut allergy by up to 86 percent by feeding them small amounts of peanut foods as early as 4-6 months of age.  That said, the National Peanut Board does encourage those of you with infants to speak with your pediatrician before trying the new guidelines that are listed below:

For Jojo’s first taste of peanut butter deliciousness I gave her peanut butter that I thinned with breastmilk.  If you go check out my Stories today you’ll see some videos of Jojo eating thinned peanut butter for the first time.

In addition to thinned peanut butter, here are some other ideas for introducing peanut foods to infants…

Parents who are anxious about introducing peanut foods early should consult their pediatrician for support and guidance.  Every child’s risk is different. To learn more, visit PreventPeanutAllergies.org.

Through July I’ll be popping in occasionally to let you know how Jojo is doing with peanuts.  

Do you have a favorite way to eat peanuts? Later on I can’t wait to introduce Jojo to the tastiness that is a peanut butter cookie!

18 comments

  1. I really appreciate you sharing these guidelines!! If/when I become a mom, my hope is that our child can enjoy peanuts in all their glory. I would be devastated if he/she had an allergy. These guidelines are really helpful in clearing the air on peanut introduction and allergy development!

  2. One thing I wish I had known when I gave my daughter peanut (before the new guidelines) is that kids frequently do fine on the first exposure, but react later. Our daughter was fine the first time, but reacted on her second exposure. It’s not uncommon to react after many exposures. I think this is super important for parents to know so they can watch for symptoms. 

    • Hey Molly! Yep! I have a nurse friend who was just telling me the other day it’s more common for the allergy to present during the second exposure of the food. Sounds like this was true for you guys. I agree it’s good for parents to be watchful when they give peanuts to their child the first couple of times and talk with their pediatrician if they are anxious about peanut introduction. Thanks for commenting!

  3. As someone with food allergies I’m super grateful that this is something research is working on and hopefully these guidelines are helpful for preventing allergies in the future! And even though I do have allergies I’m super thankful I can have peanuts. Can’t imagine life without peanut butter!

  4. This is so interesting!! I’ll definilty be trying this because I want baby girl to love peanut butter and be able to eat it! Haha

  5. I’m a fellow mama/RD & was familiar with the updated guidelines & followed them w/my younger son (now 19 months old). What’s interesting to me is the recommendation not to give whole nuts until age 5 or PB on a spoon until age 4- both my boys regularly eat these things (and have for some time!) and my eldest is only 4. I understand the choking risk/swallowing difficulty but didn’t know that an actual recommendation existed. Thanks for sharing and educating us – and as always, Jojo is precious ?

  6. So interesting! PB is my fave food so I always am super scared that in the future, my kid would be allergic hehe. Feels good to know there are steps you can take to significantly lower the risk! Plus, it just takes away so much stress if you know your child isn’t allergic to something so common.

  7. Thank you so much for sharing this, and for making it evidence-based and linked to the guidelines. As a health care researcher and provider, I think it’s so valuable to have parents who are following these guidelines (and other health-related evidence-based guidelines) share their experiences. It really seems to help demystify the process for parents who may be on the fence. Keep it up! :)

  8. Pingback: Update on Jojo eating peanut foods + a baby recipe. – Yeah…Immaeatthat

  9. Pingback: peanut butter french toast for baby Jojo. – Yeah…Immaeatthat

  10. I hope this works for you. Neither I nor my husband have any food allergies, but my daughter has the fatal allergy to both peanuts and tree nuts. I’ll never forget those two ER visits. They were terrifying. My daughter is now 19, and as you can imagine I’ve been keeping an eye on proposed therapies. However, I would be very leery of anything promoted by the peanut industry.

  11. Pingback: Update on Jojo eating peanut foods + a baby recipe. – immaEATthat

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