Q&A: introducing nuts at a year, plus a question about post format for the readers

Sorry about skipping yesterday. I was off work to take everyone to the dentist, and thought I'd have time to write a post in the morning. Ha. No one had any cavities, but it was a loooong day for me.

Here's an admin question from Rachel:

"Adore your site, adore your advice, but is there anything I can to do convince you to split up the multi-part posts?  I mean the ones where you put out three or four unrelated topics in one post.  Instead, if you have a lot on your mind, could you put up multiple posts in one day?  That way people could comment on the different topics separately.

Part of what's great about AskMoxie is the sustained conversation that goes on in the comments, and if there are multiple topics, you lose that continuity.  Yesterday was particularly distressing to me on that front, because the very personal and worried-sounding post about sex dreams got swamped by everyone talking about T-Tapp.  Both interesting, but they really didn't belong on the same plate.

Thanks for considering it."

What do you guys think? I was putting them all together figuring people wouldn't want to have to click on multiple posts, plus the ones below the first one just wouldn't get viewed. What do you guys think? (And can I just say how much I love that my readers don't just write in saying "I luuuuv you" or "You suck," but instead give thoughtful comments with well-reasoned positions? It makes me feel special.) I'll go with what the crowd wants.

And now, especially to annoy Rachel and people who agree with her (ha! not really, just because it's a shortish question and I don't actually have a real answer) is a question from Kate about nuts:

"At our daughter's one-year well check today, we discovered that she hadn't grown much since her nine-month appointment.  She's not falling off the charts, but has slid down considerably.  The pediatrician wasn't too concerned but suggested making everything J. eats count, meaning that we should give her as much healthy high-fat, high-calorie food as she'll eat.  I was shocked when the pediatrician recommended nut butters.  We've all heard the no-nuts-until-age-three mantra repeated ad nauseum, but our doctor claims that the latest research shows that it really doesn't make any difference whether you introduce nut products to your child sooner rather than later, as long as the child's parents and siblings don't have nut allergies.  I'd be curious to know whether you or any commenters have heard this, and if following said wisdom has backfired on anyone."

Maybe my brain is just fried from too much time at the dentist's office, but I think my pediatrician said a year for holding off on nuts way back when my older son was a baby. And we never asked if there were any revised guidelines for my younger one, mostly because he grabbed a hunk of his brother's peanut butter and honey (yeah, I know) sandwich when he was 6 months old and shoved it into his mouth. Yeesh. But I've been laboring under the impression that it was one or two years for nuts, not three.

Anyway, my thought is that they're now finding out that the nut allergies are a gene, so that they're something you either have or don't, not something that you develop from too-early or repeated exposure. Who knows if that's what's going to shake out to be the recommendation in 10 years, but I'm guessing that's where your ped is going with this.

The bottom line is, though, that if you don't feel comfortable introducing nuts to your daughter, don't. I mean, there are tons of people who don't want to give their kids juice, or trans fats, or meat, or things that aren't kosher, or brussels sprouts, or whatever. And no one should feel forced to give their kids something they don't want to, as long as the child's nutritional needs are being covered and there's no food coercion going on.

So go with avocado (tons and tons of vitamins, plus good-for-you fats) until you feel fine with nuts (if ever) and be thankful that you have a pediatrician who sounds so a) sensible and b) up on the latest research. Perhaps we can clone her/him.

Comments?

Comments

[paola]

I have 'fatal nut allergy' to walnuts and severe reactions to most other nuts, including loads of other allergies to many foods ranging from soya to eggplant. Till now my 3 year old has not shown any insensitivities or allergies at all. I kept him away from all nuts until recently when my ped and allergist told me that I was contributing to a possible nut allergy by avoiding nuts. I think I started introducing nuts in chocolate, biscuits around 2.5. I breast fed him hard for 17 months, introduced major allergens much later than what was recommended in the hope he would avoid coming down with a serious allergy and although I don't want to jump the gun, he has been a very healthy allergy-free 3 year old.

[Andromeda]

My pediatrician said that, although one year is the recommendation generally given in this country, other countries have different customs vis-a-vis nuts, and really, we have no idea how nut allergies work yet and the recommendation is a stab in the dark, so there's no point in panicking about when to introduce them.

[Kelly]

I love you Moxie ;). And you really don't suck!

On to the topics. In France, where I live, nuts are intrduced quite early, around 9 months. Except for peanuts (I know, not a nut, but an allergen), which are not 'allowed' until much later. That seems to be a choking hazard issue however, as they don't have (or like) peanut butter. Avacado, a traditional first food in the US is off limits until age three, because it's considered an 'exotic' food. Honey, on the other hand, is allowed at six months, so go figure. None of my family, or dh's, has allergies, so I've pretty much just tossed the rules out the window.
As for multiple posts on the same day, as a blog reader, I'm used to scrolling down further to see if there are multiple new posts. Maybe you could autopost at different times of the day, to give time for lots of comments.

[heather]

I have a nut allergy myself, so my ped. recommended waiting until three years of age. However, to get the higher protein food in my son, I offered soy nut butter. Tastes just like peanut butter and has plenty of protein.

[cat19]

As a parent of a multi-allergic child (who is allergic to things my husband and I are NOT allergic to), I feel very invested in this issue.

Experts no longer seem to have clear answers on whether avoiding is useful or necessary in preventing any particular allergy--though our allergist still recommends delayed introduction of many of the most common foods. However, small infants and toddlers cannot tell you that their throat is itching, or their mouth hurts when they eat a particular food, or that they feel nauseous.

For that reason, I will, if I have another child, absolutely hold off on introducing nuts and seafood until the child is old enough to tell me if he or she is getting any signs of an allergic reaction. Even if my kid is "fated" to develop a nut allergy or a shrimp allergy, for example, it's far safer, to my mind, to wait to have them develop the allergy when they're old enough to tell me what's happening when it begins to happen, and when they're old enough not to be eating bits off the floor and mouthing toys that other children have mouthed.

Keeping my son safe from reactions for the allergies he developed as an infant has been hard; there is an enormous pragmatic advantage to not exposing a child to the most highly allergic foods until they are preschool age.

[G's momma]

We just went through this with peanut butter. My daughter is allergic to dairy and possibly eggs so we introduced peanut butter to get some extra protein and fat into her diet (it is amazing how much toddler recipe books rely on cheese). She was seemingly fine the first 2 or 3 times and she loved it. However, then a mysterious rash started showing up. It took me three more times with peanut butter before I actually realized that it could be the cause of the rash (I had thought it was fabric softener, my husband's after shave, and a variety of other things just because it was a delayed response). I felt awful. I didn't know that I was possibly causing her a lot of internal itching pain. We'll probably have to get her tested at some point to find out everything that she is allergic too but because of this experience I am going to hold off on any other common allergens until she is old enough to tell me that it hurts or feels funny.

As for multiple posts in a day - YAY! That would help out a lot when you are looking through old posts.

[sue]

As for food allergies, it has been my understanding that holding off on foods is more for emergency treatment purposes than for avoiding allergy development. That is, it's really difficult to entubate a teeny tiny baby in an emergency situation, and babies can't tell you if they're feeling a reaction to something. No one in my family seems to have any food allergies (except, potentially me - apparently I may have celiac. whee!) and both kids have gotten hold of pretty heavy duty allergens (peanuts, shellfish, etc) by around 9 months because Daddy can be a bit too free with sharing his dinner. He gave our older child chicken satay with peanut sauce when she was about 9 months old - and had no teeth. At least he feeds them, right?!

As for multiple topics, I think that's a great idea. A little line at the top of the lead post could tell us to scroll down to the others.

[Blythe]

Re: Nuts
The AAP apparently just came out with updated recommendations saying that avoiding common allergens (nuts, dairy, fish, etc) doesn't seem to prevent allergies:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080107/ap_on_he_me/diet_babies_allergies

Re: Multiple Topics
I agree with Rachel, one post per topic would be great and would make it especially nice when I am blearily searching your archives in the middle of the night as my baby screeches (not that I ever do that). I'm not sure how many of your readers use feed readers (I do - Google Reader - love it) but for those who do, it's always clear how many new posts you've made since we last tuned in.

[Chaya]

This topic is very much on my mind these days, my kids have terrible eczema, and I have been working with a pediatric immunologist to pin down their allergies, and I have a newborn. When I asked the immunologist about her recommendations for the baby, she basically said that the latest research is ...that they have no real clue. She also said the current thinking was that the only reason to wait to introduce foods was because being exposed to an allergic reaction and then the follow ups was more difficult for a baby, not that allergies could develop to do earlier exposure. She pointed out examples like Israel, where kids are fed Bamba, a peanut snack basically from birth, or almost, and they have a low incidence of peanut allergies. That being said, I am not giving my 2 year old treenuts or peanuts at all, and my older daughteer is starting peanuts only now, turning 5. Well, I haven't actually started her, because the house is peanut free b\c of the boy, school is peanut free too, so it hasn't really come up.
My point? I don't know, just that this stuff is confusing, and that there are no real answers!!! If you trust your ped, (and he sounds like he is quoting the same research as my immunologist), go for it. That being said, try sunflower seed butter (TJ's has it) lots and lots of healthy fat and protein, and tastes cgreat.

[hedra]

I'm okay parsing the long multi-parters, but then, y'all know how I write, too. That in itself might really be a vote for splitting them up, LOL!

I go back and check out later comments on earlier posts anyway, so that's not a big deal.

As for the nuts thing: The recommendation we got from the pediatric allergist was that since allergies (ANY KIND - not just to nuts, and not just to foods, either) do run in the family, hold off on nuts/peanuts until age 3. However, if they are introduced before that point even accidentally without a noticable reaction, continue to provide them as part of the diet on a regular (weekly moderate amounts) basis. Some of the worst reactions have been after an early single exposure was followed by a long span of really strict avoidance, followed by another exposure. And plenty of those instances have no reaction at all, so... oy. A predictive test would be sooo nice. Ah, well.

If your family has a history of allergies (any type, per our allergist), then extreme caution on proceeding is warranted. However, *if* there's no history of allergies, there's a lot of disagreement on various things, but the trend is toward 'no benefit to avoidance as a protective/preventive measure'. Moms of this group who do strict avoidance of top-8's while breastfeeding and/or pregnant, for example, have the same outcome profile in their kids (in allergy reactions) as moms who do not do strict avoidance. So, why avoid if it makes zip difference? No family history of allergies reduces the risk profile a LOT.

That said, I agree with cat19's point about communication - kids under the age of 2 cannot even localize pain in their bodies - even something like a broken leg is just 'hurt/owie' but identifying exactly where is nearly impossible for them to do (case in point, G, who broke his leg and was able to identify the correct leg most of the time, but kept saying it was his thigh or knee, when it was his shin). So if they indicate vague chest/torso pain, it could be throat pain, etc.

Amazing they survive the first couple of years, really.

Instead of nut butter, try sunflower butter, seeds, avocado (as noted), and if doing dairy, heavy cream, butter, and cheese. Also olive oil, and continue breastfeeding or formula. Avoid juices entirely (as it reduces absorption of foods for many kids, though froz. conc. OJ is doable in very small doses), and keep fruit consumption to 3 servings (with a serving being about the size of their fist of whole/raw fruit), no dried fruit, prunes/prune juice, limited applesauce, (and presumably no fruit snacks) unless there's a constipation issue. Basically, you want the foods to stay in their gut long enough to get the max out of it, and apples and other fructose and sorbitol-heavy fruits tend to speed things up.

Also definitely double-check the WHO charts, because that second half of first year growth lag seems to have a lot to do with what chart you use...

[laury]

Is the 'no nuts til 3' thing not just about whole nuts? In the UK, we mostly seem to go with whole nuts not til 2-3 because of choking, but nut butters etc earlier - and many people are now not trying to keep off them, given the ubiquity of nut products in everything. I'm quite cross I didn't eat peanut butter when I was pregnant, now!

[sidney]

For the allergies- My pediatrician for both my kids (5&2) to wait until 2 to eat nuts, whole nuts much older. He would have given the all clear at one if me eldest hadn't had a milk allergy, which she has outgrown. I have tons of allergies, but none to nuts, we even have celiacs disease in our family. My youngest ended up eating PB and Honey at 18 months, much the same way as Moxie's child. The same thing happened with Chocolate which she shouldn't have had until 2 either. Nut allergies are frightening, no matter when you introduce them if a child has them, they will have them. If you decide to try Peanut Butter, make sure you don't introduce anything new, so you can pinpoint the allergen quickly. Peanut Butter is a life saver at my house!

[Nutmeg]

I read the article cited. I am probably going to hold off on nuts because all my son's cousins have nut allergies and my husband and I both have atopies (allergies are an atopy, so is eczema and so is asthma and we have all of them). My decision to hold has only to do with wanting to be able to tell if they've caused a reaction, as cat19 said.

That said, we are struggling, as my son dropped >40 percentiles between 9 months and a year (on the WHO charts it was something like >30). Today we're going to the ped. for a weight check in.

RE #of subjects in one post: I could go eitherway. I wouldn't be confused by having multiple daily posts, though having a couple of topics doesn't bother me... it sort of reminds me more of sitting in a room with a bunch of women who are having several discussions. Sometimes someone from one discussion overhears something in another discussion and interjects her thoughts. We might loose some of this if post topics are separate as some of us might stop reading a post about a subject we feel we have little to offer. That's my $0.02

[Bobbi]

I agree with Rachel on the one topic per post thing...

As for nuts, I have no allergy experience so I cannot offer up anything on that. What I DO think, is that many babies slow down growth-wise at the end of the forst year. They have a bit more control on how much food goes in at this point. Also they are 100% more active, thereby expending much more energy than they did as tiny infants. Really, I would double check that what you are currently feeding/offerring seems appropriate, and then I'd let it go.

Good luck!

[Lisa]

I have nothing to add to the very smart nut comments, but as to multiple part posts, I do think that the comment conversation gets broken up in a multiple part post....what if you put the smaller topics as separate posts to autopost on the weekends? Even though I know not to expect new posts on your site on the weekend, I still obsessively check several times a day *just in case*

[JessA]

I came across the same research Blythe linked to, but because I have a family history of food allergies (brother fatally allergic to peanuts, both of us allergic to eggs and dairy as babies), I'm sticking with the paranoia-based method of introducing one food at a time and no nuts until age 3. If nothing else, it makes me feel like I'm doing something.

When my brother was too young for us to safely have peanut butter in the house, we had tahini butter (made from sesame seeds) instead, which is a reasonably tasty substitute. (And you can go the other way too - hummus made with peanut butter is almost as good as hummus made with tahini!)

[goosemom]

I have a lot of sympathy for families plagued by allergies, but as far as I understand, if those issues don't show up in your family, you can feel free to use peanut butter at 1. Honestly, as much as I appreciate the advice to use all sorts of other things, pb is a no-brainer for my kid- he loves it and it's easy to prepare AND it's good for him. SOLD!

[JessA]

Oh, and I would love to see multiple posts a day if you're up to it! But it's not so bad slogging through multi-topic comment threads either.

[Courtney]

My son had multiple intolerances as a baby but hasn't seemed to have developed any classic food allergies (thankfully), but I do have pretty strong feelings on this topic. Mostly due the fact that I would have a hard time letting him leave the house if he had a nut allergy. We waited until the last year or so (until he was three) to introduce nuts, and still haven't officially tried peanuts. I sort of fall on the opposite side of the coin from the argument that a lot of peds give you that "we don't know what causes it, so no point of avoiding it." I figure, there are plenty of healthy foods on this earth (sunbutter for one, we love it), why is it so hard to avoid nuts? I don't mean avoid accidental exposure to them, which I am sure is hard, but there is no need to dole them up if you aren't comfortable with it. I really believe that age of exposure contributes, and I think there is more to it than a gene. Why else would the incidence be sky-rocketing. I think a predisposition may combine with the way nuts are processed or some other environmental factor. If you do choose to introduce, I would buy organic to avoid genetically modified nuts as well as over-processing.

[Jess]

While visiting my in-laws at Thanksgiving, I walked into the kitchen one morning after sleeping in (families are good for something!) to find my Turkish MIL feeding my 8 month old pureed chestnuts. I was all, "Oh my gosh, he's not supposed to have nuts!" And she was all, "I used to give this to the kids all the time." I asked the ped at the nine month visit, and she said the same thing everyone else has been saying: early exposure doesn't cause allergies, they don't know what causes them, parents don't have allergies so the chestnuts are probably fine, you can even introduce almond butter if you want (she did say hold off 'til one year for peanut butter). So during our New Year's visit to the in-laws, the baby had lots of pureed chestnuts and just last night tried almond butter for the first time (he's 10 mos).

I totally, totally sympathize with those who have allergies and fear an allergy in their children-- nut allergies can be deadly after all, and it is absolutely right to be careful if you feel your family is at risk. But for the most part, I feel that the generalized nut hysteria is one more thing that contributes to making moms, well, nuts, if you'll pardon the pun. The vast, vast majority of kids are not going to have a nut allergy... but if you listen to the media, you'd think allowing your baby to be in the same room as peanut butter would kill them. Speaking as an obsessively over-read, over-careful mama, sometimes I get tired of obsessing. I'm glad I have a down to earth ped who talks me down from the ledge from time to time.

[cagey]

We started nuts at 12 months, but we have no family history of food allergies.

When my son hit 9 months, his weight began to hover around the same mark for months and months and MONTHS. It drove me insane, but my doctor kept saying that as long as my son was growing taller, she was not worried. The lack of weight gain was simply because he was so active.

[Lisa]

Just a quick note on the hummus thing: My friend's son has moderate nut allergies and a severe sesame allergy (first tried hummus at my house, with scary results - oy). Apparently a sensitivity to one of these two can predispose a sensitivity to the other, though certainly not always. So hummus might best be avoided if you have nut allergies in the family. Just to be safe.

I second the TJ's sunflower-butter recc above - tasty and even higher in iron than PB (though a bit more sugar...).

[Michelle]

On the topic split issue - I think this is a good idea. I also think you should start Ask Moxie Message Boards - where us commenters can "talk amongst themselves" so to speak. Of course that might be an unwelcome expansion of the Ask Moxie Empire...I just love the idea of all of us being able to converse directly I guess.

On the nuts - my son will be 2 in March and we have not really introduced nuts yet. He has had natural peanut butter a couple of times with no reaction, but since he is at the TOP of the growth charts (both in height and weight) there has been no reason to add more fats into his diet.

Going to check out this T-Tapp madness...missed yesterday and jeez! Apparently I missed a whole workout phenomenon as well!

[Summer]

I was very, very careful about introducing foods to my son -- I didn't let him have wheat until he was a year old, when every other baby at playgroup was scarfing down Cheerios -- but I gave him nuts for the first time at about 14 months. We were about to take him overseas, and I was concerned that he might get nuts slipped to him in some unusual dish, so I thought it better to try nuts at home, where I could watch him for a reaction. No reaction. No problem.

Peanut butter and honey is his favorite, too.

I agree about breaking up posts so they cover only one topic. I'll read as many posts per day as you can post, Moxie!

[Ashley]

For a long time, the official recommendation from the AAP was no nuts or nut butters until age 3, and no nuts for breastfeeding mothers. They JUST (as in, last week) changed this recommendation. See the link above from Blythe.

I would like to see every topic get it's own post, with a title containing key words relating to the topic. This would make it much, much, easier to search through the archives for advice.

[Jackie]

We started nuts at 15 months per our pediatrician's advice. My son hadn't been gaining much weight (though he was getting taller) so she suggested trying to fatten him up with peanut butter since he doesn't drink milk or eat many dairy products.

[Christiana]

I agree with Rachel on the one topic per post thing, at least if we're talking very unrelated topics. Ones that may go hand-in-hand (all on sleep issues for example, though there might be multiple situations, etc.) would be fine by me. You could even make mention of multiple daily posts in the top post if you felt people would miss earlier posts for the day. It's all about the archive searching mostly.

[Cecily T]

I don't have much to add on the nut discussion...we just started on solids here and are holding off on nuts and butters until a year old. (starting avocados next week though!)

As to the multi-part posts, YES, I'd love it it they were split into different posts. I too use Google Reader so I have no problem reading/seeing the new posts, and I think it would help with the comment continuity problem. :)

[Elizabeth]

I asked about peanuts at our one-year checkup on Tuesday. My pediatrician wanted me to hold off on all things peanut for at least another year--mostly I was interested in whether I could cook my Thai curries with peanut oil. She thought things like almond butter were fine, though.

[kelly]

I too would like each topic in its own post. As Ashley said, it would make the archives easier to use, and it would also make it easier to follow discussions in which I am interested.

As for allergies, my hubs is an immunologist and from what he has always told me, they really don't know why allergies occur. Exposure may not have much to do with it. (Example: I lived with a cat throughout my childhood but became allergic as a teenager.) There definitely seems to be a genetic component, though not necessarily. As others have noted, it is confusing and can be frustrating.

I think this is yet another case where parents need to use common sense -- I quite like the idea of delaying major allergens until children are old enough to communicate reactions, and obviously only introducing one potential allergen at a time -- and do what they're comfortable with. From the answers posted here, it sounds like that's what we're doing.

Avocados and alternative butters (sunflower, peabutter, tahini) seem like good suggestions for Kate. Tofu / edamame would also be helpful, as long as you're not worried about soy. And refried beans (saute canned beans of your choice in olive oil and mash up, quick and easy) with cheese on top, if you do dairy.

[Andrea]

Three things:

1. I totally agree, I would prefer to see topics sorted into separate posts so each topic in a post gets the attention it deserves. Like, for example, this one.

2. My daughter didn't gain any weight from 9 months to 18 months. She started out pretty chubby and wound up petite, but that was just how she needed to be. We didn't do much special about it besides trying to present her with food a few more times a day, and not minding if she got chicken nuggets and French fries a little more often than she should have. She's five now, and totally fine. Growing like a week. Don't let it make you crazy.

3. My daughter is allergic to peanuts, and we found out when she was one year old. Daycare gave her a peanut butter cracker, she touched it to her lips and broke out in hives. (I was SO MAD. They didn't even CALL me.) My take on the nuts-before-three thing isn't to do with developing the allergy or not, it's to do with TREATING the allergy if a reaction occurs. Ideally you want to wait until the kid has enough self-awareness to say "Mommy, my throat is itchy." And who will actually swallow the dose of Benadryl when you give it without an epic struggle. And as above posters have said, in the case of a very, very bad reaction, can be intubated in a hospital with a little less trouble, etc., etc.

[Charisse]

I'd love the separate topic posts as well--it shows up better in my reader :)

Never heard the "no nuts until 3" thing (they were saying 1 when Mouse was a baby) but the idea of making a potential reaction easier to handle makes sense, especially if you're concerned your child is at high risk.

[Amie]

I love Michelle's idea about the message boards...I personally wanted to talk to Rachel (the same Rachel who suggested the multiple posts?) about her Nov. 1st post about transitioning from the Amby bed to the crib. Rachel, are you out there? We're struggling with this now and wanted to see if you had any suggestions...sorry to semi-hijack this post.

[trope]

As the mother of a 7 month old and a reluctant feeder of solids, I really appreciate all the smart discussion around nuts. I have no data points to add, but thanks, y'all.

I vote for one post a day. I found this site when my son was 4 months, and it's my favorite blog of the moment. The possibility of more than one post in a day would mean my RSS feeder would always be open, and I would get a lot less work done.

From a practical point of view, putting up separate posts on separate subjects may end up being more work logistically for M, and I don't want to do anything that might reduce posting. I do see the point that it would "clean up" the comments section, and I'd appreciate that on back posts. So actually, I go either way.

[Jan]

My ped told us anything was fair game at a year (except hard candy, whole nuts and popcorn, for the choking hazard factor). There's no history of any kind of allergies in our families, so that may have played into that.

Funny, though, he told me to hold off on avocado (I'd used it as a first food) because it was 'exotic'. I thought that was hilarious. So who knows?

He recommended eggs and peanut butter for the Munchkin when she was going through a very picky not-eating-much stage. Not because he was trying to get her to gain weight, he just said that if she isn't going to each much, we should make sure she's eating stuff that counts.

I can see both sides of the breaking up posts thing. On a day to day basis, I enjoy the conversation that sometimes ensues (I like Nutmeg's characterization of it being like a room full of women having a couple of different conversations), but I can sure see how if you're looking for something in the archives having them broken up would be lots easier.

I know I'd visit MoxieChat, if it appeared!

[shirky]

allergies seem to fall under the rule of thumb: when there are a million different 'guidelines' all in contradiction to each other--it means no one really understands what's going on!

also, I can read about 20 comments before I go crossedye so I would like smaller chunks too.

[Barbara]

I agree with Rachel!

[Dawn]

I'm also on board with separate posts by topic. I think it would only improve the comments sections because we'd all be discussing one thing together.

[Marie]

Yes, yes, yes, please post a different entry for each topic!!!

As for nuts, my understanding is that they're okay at a year IF no one in the family has a nut allergy, in which case you should wait until 3 when the child will be able to tell you how they're reacting to it.

My twins starting eating PB&J at a year without a problem. One of the girls even snuck a peanut butter cup when they were 7 months old without a problem. (I was letting her play with leftover Halloween candy. Turned my back for a moment and she'd managed to bite through the wrapper and get at the chocolately-PB goodness! She was not pleased when I took it away.)

[Pamela]

I think a separate post for separate topics is a great idea and would help to weed through the comments.

Doritos are a nice fatty alternative to nuts.... :)

[Maureen]

Hi.. my boys are 2 1/2 years old. Their pediatrician is pretty conservative when it comes to foods. No berries before 1 (or maybe it was 1 1/2) years old. No shellfish until 3. No nuts until 3.

I asked about the nuts, and he said it was more a choking issue and not an allergy issue. He said he considers penut butter a choking item, same thing with whole nuts. He was completely fine with us using ground up nuts (fully ground) as then the choking issues weren't in play.

I know I am pretty much the only mom among my friends that still hasn't introduced peanut butter. Their pediatricians have different advice on that subject.

Same thing, actually with raisins. The boys' pediatrician feels those are not good for toddlers/preschoolers - too sticky, promotes teeth decay because of the stickiness, etc. Not necessary - he says there are so many other foods avaiable, what's the rush. So we've held off on those and seem to be the only family not using them as a snack.

On the separate posts, I'm on board for that if it worked for Moxie.

[Jill]

1. Yes, please split up posts about different subjects.

2. I was told no nuts for til 3 years old. I've heard conflicting stories about nuts other than peanuts though. I would go with better safe than sorry and not do nuts.

Many kids don't gain much between 9 and 12 months - it's b/c they're getting mobile, and exercise actually seems to work for weight loss! Imagine that. I guess I should try it. :)

[Shandra]

Topics: I prefer them broken up, but don't mind either way, so long as they are good, as always. :)

Nuts: We introduced almond butter at a bit over year and a bit and gradually worked our way to the dreaded peanut legume. My son has a serious allergy to penicillin but my doctor (Canadian) said that the likelihood of accidental exposure would go up as he was more independent and out with more kids, so she recommended introducing them ourselves. Kind of a unique approach, but there it is.

Weight: My son gained 4. ounces. between 9 mos and a year and I FREAKED OUT but he outdid himself at around 14 months to surpass all his previous percentiles.

[Rose]

I hadn't heard about nut allergies being a gene. It doesn't make much sense to me, though. I developed a nut allergy a year ago when I was pregnant with my second child. I had eaten hazelnuts many times in my life, but probably not for a few years, and I had one fresh from the shell last year and immediately had a tingly numb feeling in my mouth and ears. 4 months post partum I was tested and found to be allergic to hazelnuts, almonds (which I have always eaten a lot of!) and macadamia nuts. We avoided all nuts with my older son til he was over two, and will do the same with the younger one. Mostly to make sure they're of an age that they can communicate if they're feeling weird.

And I love the idea of separate posts too. Much easier to follow conversations.

[pnuts mama]

1. yes, i do think separate posts per topic would be great, i totally could check/recheck the comments based on the ones i connect with, etc. it wouldn't matter that there were multiple posts in one day.

2. we waited a while to introduce even cereal based on the recs showing early solids= increased possibility for allergies. i never stopped eating anything when i breastfed, did i miss the memo in that? sigh. i don't know. a part of me thinks eating really should be child-led, and i wonder what a different mama i'll be to this bean than i was to the pnut during infancy. i just think that you just approach things differently based on your experiences with #1.

i often wonder if allergies are more common now or are more commonly diagnosed now vs. when i was a kid. and then, of course, if the former, i wonder what our use of pesticides, environmental toxins, chemicals could be playing a role with regard to our intolerances to so many foods. and, i still can't find decent research to show that the increase in allergies is across the board with regard to socio-economic status and around the world.

my father in law has all sorts of allergies and intolerances that manifest in his intestine- and one of his sons and one of his grandsons does too (different brothers), so we were pretty vigilant about watching how pnut reacted to foods. but so far, so good. which is great since she loves eating a variety of foods from all sorts of ethnic origins- and eats them so well i'd be afraid to have to try and figure out ingredients.

***
we used a lot of full-fat organic dairy foods when she was 9 months+ to help her gain weight. also, i can't stress enough how important it was to be *constantly* feeding her solids (and bfing, then offering cuppie) ALL DAY LONG- they can only eat so much at once, and we had to be vigilant with constantly encouraging her to eat whatever "snack" or "meal" we were offering.

and, i know this is an unpopular idea, but tv was our lifesaver when it came to eating. if i had some baby einstein or sesame type thing on, it would distract her enough that i could get the spoon in the mouth or she would mindlessly self-feed. I KNOW!! REASON FOR CHILD AND ADULT OBESITY!! but in our case, it was a good thing, since she is so painfully small. now she can eat either way, but in the beginning, a good thing. sorry for the novel!

[pnuts mama]

hey, if peanuts are legumes, are we supposed to avoid beans and peas for that length of time as well? or is it the oil in the peanut we have to worry about?

just wondering if anyone knew?

[Julie]

I love this site, and it is my secret guilty pleasure while at work....would love to see multiple posts in one day....but also know that Moxie already works 2 full-time jobs so I don't want this to take over her life.

One of my favorite things this community has done lately was that open post over the holidays...so many interesting thoughts, questions, and suggestions. I loved how the conversation just sort of evolved over that period of time.

I agree that multi-posts would help when searching for help on one specific topic.

Re: nuts.....I'd give my husband's left one if Alex would eat peanut butter.

[Anna]

Wow. I thought I was pretty on top of the allergens, and yesterday dd had hummus (almost 10 mo.) without me even realizing that sesame seeds can be a potential allergen. No reaction, just arm flapping and grunts to give her more! I'm also wondering about the breastfeeding thing...I eat PB occasionally, and also honey. Am I exposing her to these? I have no allergies, and neither does my husband, so I'm not too worried. But the PB does still scare me. I'm a first grade teacher and it seems like there are more and more allergies in my classroom than ever before. (kids needing epi-pens on hand etc.)

[Ewokmama]

I doubt we'll wait until age 3 on the nut butters but will wait until he can tell us if something isn't right. We're cautious like that.

I also like the idea of separate posts by topic, although it's not a big problem either way.

[Julie]

It is my completely non-scientific opinion (and I mean utterly 0%) that the amount of preservatives and chemeically produced foods in our diets are major contributors to mysteries such as the increase of autism, ADD, ADHD, and possibly allergies in kids.

Of course, that does not mean I have stopped feeding chicken nuggets for dinner at least 3x per week....but I feel very guilty about doing it.