[*Karen*]

Ok toddler mamas, help me out! DS is 12 months. We are veggie and nuts are a big part of our diet. How long should I wait on nuts? Peanuts I will wait for at least a year more, but we don't have any nut allergies. TIA.

 

[MamaMamaMama!]

A lot of people will tell you to keep waiting on all nuts for another year but we don't have any allergies in my family and we started at a year with no problems. I make a mixed nut butter of almond butter, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, and pumpkin seed butter and then mix in honey with the pollen in it and both my kids love it.

 

[tatermom]

We started nuts at a year, too. I know there are a lot of mixed feelings on the subject, but my DS loves peanut butter and has never (fortunately) had a problem with it. Now he loves munching on whole nuts-- cashews and peanuts especially (which was a whole other worry (choking hazard) but seems to be fine). Good luck!

 

[ThreeBeans]

The 12 year old in me giggles maniacally whenever I see the thread title <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/loveeyes.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Loveeyes">:

 

[devster4fun]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>ThreeBeans</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7986208"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">The 12 year old in me giggles maniacally whenever I see the thread title <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/loveeyes.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Loveeyes">:</div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/innocent.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="shy"> me too...."<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/innocent.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="shy"><br><br>
Hey Beavis....<br><br>
But, seriously-What about shrimp? Can a one year old eat shellfish?

 

[liberal_chick]

We let ds have nuts (including peanuts) when he was just a bit over 1. He loves macadamia nuts now. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> We don't have any allergies on either side.

 

[shelley4]

i understand where you're coming from... we're vegans, and nuts are a big part of our diets!<br><br>
however, i still waited on all nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, etc) until 2 yrs old, and peanuts until 3 yrs old. we also don't have a family history of nut allergies, but i just wanted to be super safe.<br><br>
we did start lots of different seeds and seed butters at a year though, and because my kids are big bean and whole grain eaters, i'm not concerned about the protein intake. things like avocados and coconut oil provided yummy healthy fats too.

 

[DQMama]

So what <i>is</i> the deal with nut allergies anyway?<br><br>
When I was little EVERYONE brought PBJ to lunch every day and no one ever went into anaphylactic (sp?) shock. But when I taught school it seemed like at least once a month they'd have to give an epi-pen injection to someone in the lunch room.<br><br>
What has caused the increase? Or did fatal reactions just occur and no one knew the cause? I really am completely uneducated on this. But I waited/am waiting until 2 w/ both kids.

 

[rmzbm]

My 13 month old has been eating them for a few months, loves them! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> We have no family history of allergies though.

 

[MissSJ]

I think we introduced almond and cashew butter around 10 months, tahini at about the same time and peanuts around 1 year. DS1's bday is in Dec and we were having a Christmas cookie party and he kept stealing the pb cookies I made, I was planning on waiting longer but he was fine. Now he eats all kinds of chopped nuts. He LOVES it when I buy them in the shell and we have to open them!<br><br>
SJ

 

[elmh23]

Honestly, I'd wait until age 3 for both tree nuts and peanuts. That way if your child does have an allergy, they'll be able to tell you if their throat "feels funny" or itches (signs of an anaphalactic reaction, anaphalactic isn't spelled right <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">)<br><br>
My daughter is allergic to peanuts and we're avoiding all tree nuts as well. She had peanuts at 16mo (thanks to a cousin) and reacted. From what we saw, she just had hives around her mouth, but I worry that maybe she wasn't able to say that her throat itched. It's rather scary to have to deal with and I'd perfer to give it to a child who could speak well so I know exactly what's going on.<br><br>
ETA: My daughter is the first case of food allergies in eother of our families, so thats no guarentee.

 

[elmh23]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>DQMama</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7988454"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">So what <i>is</i> the deal with nut allergies anyway?<br><br>
When I was little EVERYONE brought PBJ to lunch every day and no one ever went into anaphylactic (sp?) shock. But when I taught school it seemed like at least once a month they'd have to give an epi-pen injection to someone in the lunch room.<br><br>
What has caused the increase? Or did fatal reactions just occur and no one knew the cause? I really am completely uneducated on this. But I waited/am waiting until 2 w/ both kids.</div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
No one's really sure. There are several theories as to why, but they are just theories as of now. There are estimates that 1 in 125 school age children have food allergies and 1 in 17 under the age of 3.

 

[mamaloveseee]

We have three children and each of them started eating different kinds of nuts when they turned one. We have never had any problems, not even with choking.

 

[Qestia]

We're ovo-lacto veggie and nuts are important to us, we started at a year, no problem. I've also read that reactions can be more likely if you wait too long. who knows? I just wanted to introduce them sooner rather than later because I wanted more protein options for DS. Ditto on soy.

 

[alicia622]

We were told by the WIC people and the dr. that if there are no family alleries it's fine to start at one year- even peanuts. Maybe that's because WIC pushes peanut butter?! Anyway, no problems here and really G probably had peanut butter before the one year mark.

 

[lucyem]

I asked my doctor today "what is the point of delaying peanuts when everything under the sun says 'may contain traces of peanuts' on the package. seems to me if a child has an allergy they are going to run into a peanut long before age 3" He said I hit the nail on the head. He said realistically the delay in peanut butter is for choking. My children have eaten peanut butter under supervision since around age 1. Nuts get incorporated in the diet as we feel the child can handle the particular nut and its form (cooked, mashed, or chopped).

 

[elmh23]

Just so you know, my dd who is allergic to peanuts can handle "may contain" items. Some kids can't though. The may contain just means that they have peanuts in that facility.

 

[GuildJenn]

Peanut allergy rates are up but other allergies are too. I don't think people really know why yet. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"> In Montreal, unusually, peanut allergies are present in 1.5% of kids (!!!) which is a really weird cluster.<br><br>
Anyways, we have delayed peanuts but introduced sunflower seeds at about 16 months, and pumpkin seeds and almond butter (spread very thinly) around 18 months, because we do believe that nuts and seeds are an important part of our diet. (Sesame seeds and traces of a few other things had already been introduced; the almonds were the big one I think.) We just did it cautiously. We don't have a family history of nut allergies but as people have noted, that's not a guarantee.

 

[Canadianmommax3]

my dd is 3 and still has not had any nuts. My ds is allergic to peanuts and other things so i am so scared to try her on it.