# How do you serve your 1 year old baby peanut butter?



## Jessica1501 (Feb 11, 2009)

My baby is 13 months and I'm thinking of giving her some peanut butter. She still has no teeth but chews pretty well. But peanut butter is too hard for her to chew by her gum (I guess).
Do you have any idea how to serve her? How did you give your baby?
(Please don't recommend me not to give her peanut butter).
Thanks.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

about the only way my ds ate it at that age was on a sandwich. actually thats still about it, and hes 16 months old, lol. sometimes on crackers too. hes getting his molars in, so im going to try with apples soon. he doesnt like raw apples, and i assume its because he cant chew them well, lol. he doesnt get it very often though.

someone at church gave him a peanut butter cookie when he was about 9 months old, and he was fine, so we just went from there


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## PassionateWriter (Feb 27, 2008)

if she is not ready for it (as in she cant eat it when you give it to her) then wait. peanuts are a huge allergin and many ppl wait for a long time before introducing peanuts.

however, i would think with a 1 yo, you would have to put it on crackers or bread.

at 1, we only gave finger foods to our sons that they coudl feed themselves.


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## Danielle13 (Oct 31, 2007)

we started peanut butter early. I wasn't really worried about any allergies so I offered lots of stuff early 

BUT she didn't really like it. I offered it on crackers, rice cakes, pb and honey sandwiches. she still isn't a fan really. But now I offer it for dipping. Apples, carrots, celery ect. still not a fan









So, I guess I'd say if she's having a hard time eating it I would take that as a sign not to give it to her for a while. But I'd think that with any food not just pb yk? try rice cakes though. like a really thin layer of pb on a rice cake.


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## LeighB (Jan 17, 2008)

Without teeth, I'm not sure. Dd has lots of them. we give it to her on a rolled up tortilla, on bread, and sometimes spread on apple bits.


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## BellaClaudia (Aug 1, 2008)

my 3.5 year old never had is having nor will have any peanut butter 
it is enough to read on how cancerogenic they are by the fact
where they are grown .. aka in areas that are humid ..
that causes a little moulds to grow on them..
even organic ones might not be free of them..

so we are free of them. I grew up never hearing about the peanut butter.
so it is totally doable 

as an alternative.. I hear that people in usa are giving kids a
sunflower seed butter.. I bought it yesterday just based on
curiousity as sunflower seeds tends to be high in iron..

I tasted it and it tastes million times better then peanut butter
looks almost the same, feels almost the same..
so if my dd will ever come to me feeling depraved by me..
I will know what I would serve her if comes to that 

that sunflower thingy. got it locally at the whole foods store
but people recommend them just as well from any other place.
there are few brands .. some organic.

btw.. when it comes to feeding thins like peanutbutter to little infants
one has to be super careful as this is potential chocking hazard..
anything that is gooye (how do you spell it?.. you know.. chewy...)
can clog the throat and cause total disaster as this won't come up nor down.

be super very careful!!!


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## amma_mama (May 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jessica1501* 
(Please don't recommend me not to give her peanut butter).
Thanks.

OP specifically asked for no "no peanut butter" responses









When we started giving our DD peanut butter at 1 yo we gave it to her a few different ways...you can "thin" it out a bit, with milk or some extra oil, and serve it in a cup with a spoon, or spread thinly on small pieces of bread that she could mash with her gums. It would take awhile for DD to consume at that age due to the stickiness, but we never gave her more in her mouth than was physlcally safe...just give a little at a time and no worries about blocking airways, etc.

That said, as it is a potential allergen, I would give only a little the first few times, just to be on the safe side


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## Mrsboyko (Nov 13, 2007)

on a spoon? That is the only way DD liked (ok, LOVES) it.

FYI we do do sunflower butter more often than PB just because it is easier to use out of the fridge (organic stuff)


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

At a year peanut butter is not merely an allergy risk, it's considered a serious choking risk. The only way I would be comfy with a 1yr old eating peanut butter would be spread VERY thin on a cracker or toast (something that will not ball up and get gummy in the mouth/throat)

-Angela


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## kirstenb (Oct 4, 2007)

DS doesn't really care for PB- we've tried offering it on sandwiches, etc. The only time he's really eaten it is if he can dip something in it (preztels or veggies). He was closer to 18 months when we tried it.


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## Fiestabeth (Aug 4, 2006)

I have to say I agree with alegna. The OP may have asked for a particular response, but if I would have given my dd even a tiny lick of peanut butter at 1yo she likely would have died. We were very, very lucky to discover her extremely severe allergy through skin testing and not just giving her pb.

Why do you want to give your baby pb, especially considering she has no teeth?


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## LadyCatherine185 (Aug 12, 2008)

I am also wondering why you want to give your LO peanut butter?







:


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## MoonWillow (May 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Danielle13* 
we started peanut butter early. I wasn't really worried about any allergies so I offered lots of stuff early 

This was me too, no history of allergies in the family...until the realization that my 10 month old had multiple and severe food allergies.

I wouldn't risk PB, not w/o an epipen on hand.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

we do peanut butter like i said above, but i wanted to second the sunflower seed butter a PP mentioned. it is great. i actually prefer it to peanut butter now


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## Code Name Mama (Oct 5, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LadyCatherine185* 
I am also wondering why you want to give your LO peanut butter?







:


I'm not an expert on the topic, but there is a school of thought that the longer you wait to give your LO potentially allergenic foods, the higher their risk of being sensitive to it. It's not a foreign concept here on MDC (as I think this is where I learned about it), and I respect the OP's right to make an educated decision to let her LO have a lick of PB.








I agree with alegna about the potential for choking, so I wouldn't advocate giving the baby a spoonful of PB.







: Our ds likes toast, and we've let him try a teensy tiny bit of both PB and almond butter on toast. Barely enough to taste it. He doesn't like either







(btw, we don't have allergies in our families, so that factored into our decision to let ds try nut butters a little after age 1.)


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## Fiestabeth (Aug 4, 2006)

No history of allergies in mine or dh's families either. Dd is so allergic that she's reacted (severely) to the smell of peanuts. She's never actually ingested them and was only exposed in utero and through my breastmilk.


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## mommajb (Mar 4, 2005)

For my toddlers and preschoolers I mix it with organic powdered milk until it can be rolled into balls about the size of a chickpea. They love them. We call it pb play dough and it is about the consistency of cooky dough. My big kids like it too but they can mix their own.


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## tbone_kneegrabber (Oct 16, 2007)

we don't do peanut butter, but we do cashew butter, so I would think that is pretty similar as far a method.

we give it on apple slices (I have to peel the apples that is one thing ds doesn't seem to handle, apple peel)

thin on crackers

in a smoothie

on his finger tips


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

Yeah, I do believe the latest research supports the idea that DELAYING exposure to nuts and other allergens actually INCREASES the risk of incidence of allergies.

Of course there will always be kids who are allergic to peanuts, and you have to find out sooner or later, whether they're 6mo or 6yo. Personally -- and this is me -- I'd rather find out when they were very young and I'm watching them carefully, and thus be prepared for the rest of their childhood, than find out quite by accident when they're 2 or 3 and over at grampy's house who all well-meaning gave her peanut butter not knowing that she hadn't had any yet and being taken by surprise by a severe reaction.

So DD had nuts well before a year old. Ground or in butter, until we were confident with her ability to chew, and she now gets occasional nut pieces... usually cashews. We're not overzealous in terms of choking hazards.

For the OP... I don't think teeth are an issue for peanut butter. I certainly don't "chew" peanut butter, unless it's crunchy, I guess. I only use smooth, myself. It's mostly done with the tongue. I probably wouldn't give a 1yo a big ole spoonful of it... just on a cracker or on some bread.


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## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

I think my DS had pb via lil bites of my sandwhich around that age, and/or on apples and/or on the spoon. Theres no good reason to delay *ANY* food, IMO, from what I'VE read, past the time you start solids. Delaying has been shown, as others have pointed out to cause more allergies. Cause' the amount of pb a 9 or 12 or 15 month olds going to eat compared to a 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 yr old is huge. Same with strawberries. little amounts early are better for the body to adjust to than massive amounts later on.


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## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

I am soon going to introduce peanut products to my 2 yo. We aren't a peanut butter family (the rest of us just aren't big fans), so I'm not going to put peanut butter on bread or toast. I'm going to make rice noodles with veggies and peanut sauce







: My eating babies have always eaten what we are eating for dinner, in a form they can pick up independently....so I'd serve that.


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## AkRotts (Sep 2, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tankgirl73* 
Yeah, I do believe the latest research supports the idea that DELAYING exposure to nuts and other allergens actually INCREASES the risk of incidence of allergies.

It depends on who you talk to. Some research supports delaying exposure and other research supports giving it early.







I am starting to think that it doesnt make a difference either way. If a child is going to be allergic, they are going to be allergic









Btw, I have to say Sunbutter is a very tasty alternative to peanut butter. We LOVE it at our house. We used to be a very "nutty" family until we discovered my 22 mo has a severe allergy to nuts (she was tested at 18 months due to a hx of family allergies). Now we are big fans of Sunbutter


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## PassionateWriter (Feb 27, 2008)

those of you suggesting introducing peanuts early, can you post some links to this research pls?


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## wholebreath (Nov 8, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sunnmama* 
I am soon going to introduce peanut products to my 2 yo. We aren't a peanut butter family (the rest of us just aren't big fans), so I'm not going to put peanut butter on bread or toast. I'm going to make rice noodles with veggies and peanut sauce








: My eating babies have always eaten what we are eating for dinner, in a form they can pick up independently....so I'd serve that.


Yes, peanut sauce! It will reduce the risk of choking while also giving you an idea if they like it or not. My DS likes to use it as dipping sauce for barely steamed veggies. Yummy!


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## Panthira (Jun 13, 2005)

It's my understanding that delaying known allergens that are not consumed (hopefully







) can increase allergic reactions to those allergens, such as cat dander, dust, etc...

I have never heard of this applying to food, only the opposite. In fact, I've been hearing that it's better to wait even long than recommended by doctors to start feeding your baby solids, assuming those solids are whole foods and not known allergens.


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## valkyrina (Dec 18, 2007)

We haven't done peanut butter yet because I'm nervous about it, although it's probably fine. But we do sunflower seed butter, which has a similar texture. And that's actually the part you have to worry about. I've read that this is dangerous, and my mom is an ER nurse, and said that she has seen a couple of kids come in choking on nut butters. I guess they get big mouthfuls and can't get them down, and can't cough them up. And if your kid chokes on it, it's not like you can reach in and sweep it out, either, like you can with a piece of steamed carrot or something.

That being said, you can do nut butters (or not, as you choose) at this age, but thin them with water (we use a whisk, and it works great) or oil, or spread them thinly on crackers, bread, etc. My guys love the stuff spread thinly on banana slices, or they like to dip pretzel sticks or crackers into it (I thin it beforehand).

HTH!


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## MissMommyNiceNice (May 1, 2007)

I'm in the waiting can make the allergy there/worse school of thought. The research is unclear because of the ethics of testing on small children. DS eats it sometimes, usually on celery or something.


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## lesliesara63 (Dec 18, 2004)

My 15 mth old grabbed big sisters pb&j sandwich and took a bite. That's how she had it, no problems.


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## bobandjess99 (Aug 1, 2005)

lol...sorry OP, your post made me laugh, because my 13 month old..has 15 teeth!!







:


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## henny penny (Mar 26, 2008)

About the choking texture of pb; we give ds almond butter which separates a lot in the jar and I spoon a bit of the almond butter in a little dish with a spoonful of the almond oil from on top of the jar and stir it all together. It makes a really thin, easy to eat spread; not chokey at all. He dips pieces of toast in it! You could do this with natural pb which tends to separate as well. Or stir a bit of olive oil into your pb to make it more dippable.


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## Code Name Mama (Oct 5, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PassionateWriter* 
those of you suggesting introducing peanuts early, can you post some links to this research pls?


This is lifted from a thread on MDC (sorry I don't have time to find anything online right now):

from a book by janice vickerstaff joneja called dealing with food allergies in babies and children
Quote:
delaying exposure to foods until after the first year or later may bypass the stage at which oral tolerance may be achieved. Furthermore, advising avoidance of any foods by the bf mother (apart from her own and her baby's known allergens) may preclude the infant's development of tolerance to those foods. it is well known that continuous exposure to small quantities of antigen is an effective means of informing the immune system that the material is safe...by excluding these foods, the mother may in fact by denying her baby the opportunity to develop tolerance of the foods he/she will eat later.
..excess of allergen can cause on immunological response...avoid binging on any one food during pregnancy/lactation and eat all foods (except mother's and baby's known allergens) in moderation.


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## littlemizflava (Oct 8, 2006)

with my son it was on a spoon even now at 2 he will still take a spoon and the jar and out of it. he loved it straight or on bread toast is best less chewie folded in half equals less mess







:


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## 4Blessings (Feb 27, 2008)

No PB around here due to severe food allergies.

Aren't PB products being recalled right now? I wouldn't touch it (if we could)


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## 95191 (Nov 8, 2007)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/he...r=1&ref=health

there are plenty of SAFE pb products, you can also use organic PB ground in most health food stores, simply peanuts, noting else

it should be noted peanuts are NOT nuts and are not related to nuts, they are legumes

we use tons of peanuts/pb in all types of food (have been since 8 months)- peanuts are a good source of protein too

we make PB baked pudding, peanut satay, PB/banana bread, just to name a few


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

We did do some PB and no, consumer peanut butter is not being recalled. Just the commercial peanut products. I thought the OP asked NOT to recommend her not to eat peanuts? Frankly not a single person I know who has a child with allergies, introduced anything early or even "on time" and they still got allergies. So I am in the "we have no idea what causes allergies" camp.

HOWEVER- though we did give our baby peanut butter at around that age, when she could not eat it, we just kind of waited. No point asking her to eat something she couldn't swallow, and she really couldn't. She just didn't enjoy it. She had already fed herself nuts (especially sunflower seeds) before then and now she eats nuts every day, and peanut butter on occasion. They worked themselves into her diet gradually, dare I say "naturally"?

Now she eats it on toast occasionally, though usually we don't eat it because it's too expensive organic.


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## PassionateWriter (Feb 27, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MahnaMahna* 
This is lifted from a thread on MDC (sorry I don't have time to find anything online right now):

from a book by janice vickerstaff joneja called dealing with food allergies in babies and children
Quote:
delaying exposure to foods until after the first year or later may bypass the stage at which oral tolerance may be achieved. Furthermore, advising avoidance of any foods by the bf mother (apart from her own and her baby's known allergens) may preclude the infant's development of tolerance to those foods. it is well known that continuous exposure to small quantities of antigen is an effective means of informing the immune system that the material is safe...by excluding these foods, the mother may in fact by denying her baby the opportunity to develop tolerance of the foods he/she will eat later.
..excess of allergen can cause on immunological response...avoid binging on any one food during pregnancy/lactation and eat all foods (except mother's and baby's known allergens) in moderation.

wow..this is really surprising to me. i will go see if i can find the actual research on that...it is almost opposite of what i have ever read about feeding young children. i have to admit that i am more than a bit skeptical but off to read...


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

I just read today in Parents magazine (it was free, don't shoot me







) that a new study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology states that children who don't ear foods containing peanuts in early childhood were 10 times more likely to develop allergies than kids who did eat peanuts before 12 months. Researchers were hypothesizing that early peanut exposure helps kids develop a tolerance to them.

I'm pretty sure this is the abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19000582


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

Shoot, I just found a couple articles talking about this but lost the links before I got back to the thread...

The AAP itself revised their recommendations on infant feeding about a year ago. They found that there was no evidence to support that delaying solid foods past 6 months had any reduction at all in reduction of allergies, and that was INCLUDING highly allergenic foods.

There were similar findings for moms eating allergenic foods during pregnancy and lactation.

The exception is for babies with a family history of strong allergies and babies already known to be allergic. But for "normal" babies from "normal" families, allergy-wise, there was no observable advantage, from the standpoint of allergic incidence, with delaying introduction of foods.

I'll see if I can dig up the links...


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## treetop (Jul 9, 2008)

Jeez! All she wants to do if give her baby a little bit of pb!







I first gave my DD a tiny bit off of my finger. Now I spread it thin on a piece of bread. Just make sure it is the creamy kind. I am sure your LO will enjoy it!


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

Okay, found them:

*AAP Amends Its Stance on the Role of Diet in Preventing Allergies in Kids*

*AAP retracts previous diet recommendations for mothers and children

*The long and the short of it is that babies who are likely to be allergic shouldn't be exposed to their potential allergens, but outside of those babies -- in other words, the evidence for MOST babies -- is that delaying introduction of allergens does NOT PREVENT allergies.

So again, the only reason to avoid the allergens is to protect allergic kids, not to prevent allergies in probably-normal kids.


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## onyxravnos (Dec 30, 2006)

i introduced ds to peanuts just by the sauce / peanuts on pad thai

but just wanted to mention that at 2 DS will not eat pb... will get some, sniff it, lick it but just wont eat it. so if she doesn't respond well I might hold off it r a while could just be a preference thing.


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## St. Margaret (May 19, 2006)

Is anyone else nervous about the infected peanut butter scare going on? I appreciate the research shared here, and I think I might share some things with DD we'd been waiting on (we're not big into PB b/c a friend is deathly allergic-- from birth, and that was w/o family history or anything!), but for PB anyone know if it's just a certain brand or brands to avoid right now? Is the organic stuff safe?









I personally would wait until my kid could easily eat whatever food was being discussed, so for PB I'd just mix it up in something else. Like, my DD couldn't EAT eggs like scrambled at 1yo b/c she didn't like the texture, but she ate plenty of stuff I baked with eggs in them. I'd just treat it like any other ingredient I was using to feed my family.


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## jenjenl18 (Jul 6, 2007)

we don't do pb for DS yet but we do use sunbutter, almond butter and cashew butter. Almond butter can be very dry but sun and cashew are great for young ones. I mix them in DS' hot oatmeal, make sandwiches with strawberry preserves. You could make a chocolate/pb dipping sauce for fruit(think I read this in Deceptively Delicious). Anyways I just wouldn't do a lot of it by alone or open sandwiches. Its the worst when the butter sticks to the roof of your mouth. Kids tend to freak out when that happens. (I know I hate that and have gotten too much and been a little panicked. HTH


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## tamagotchi (Oct 16, 2005)

I just roll it into little balls for DD (15 months). Or make the old standby, celery with peanut butter. We get organic peanut butter or almond butter fresh out of the machine at our local store and it's a little dry, but good. The kids really like watching it come out of the machine!


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *annettemarie* 
I just read today in Parents magazine (it was free, don't shoot me







) that a new study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology states that children who don't ear foods containing peanuts in early childhood were 10 times more likely to develop allergies than kids who did eat peanuts before 12 months. Researchers were hypothesizing that early peanut exposure helps kids develop a tolerance to them.

I'm pretty sure this is the abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19000582

Holy cow! Well that sure did NOT make the evening news, did it! Shouldn't they be pushing that? Though, it could be correlation and not causation- maybe people with allergies in their families were much more likely to delay foods.

St. Margaret- (1) It is not a peanut butter scare, per se, it was salmonella from processed foods made with peanut paste or peanut butter, so if you know where your peanut butter is coming from (e.g. if it is organic, ground at your co-op, or whatever) you do not have to worry and (2) No because we do not eat industrial peanut-butter. We eat peanut butter made by local companies from peanuts that generally totally bypassed Texas.

Salmonella can be in any food, but causes outbreaks when it starts in one place and is spread thin throughout many processed food products. The way to avoid it is to eat fresh, local foods- not to avoid a certain type of food.


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## PPK (Feb 15, 2007)

Spread thinly on sprouted grain toast, smothered in ghee (makes the pb moister and easier to eat..and just plain yummy














. I don't worry about allergenic foods though..no family problems, no problems with little one.


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## angelcat (Feb 23, 2006)

Rachel first had peanut butter whne she could eat bread. I don't remember when that was. Sometime after 9 months, and she did have teeth, altho I do't think she had molars yet. I think she was under a year. I jsut spread a little peanut butter, VERY thinly on a bite of bread.

But she'd had peanuts by then. Sometime around I think 9 months, my mom gave her peanut butter loaf wihtout even thinking about what was in it. I kept a very close eye on her for a little while afterwards, and watched for any problms for a couple of days as I would after any new food I thought might be a problem. No issues, so I gave her penut butter once she was able to eat bread. Mostly at my mom's house, I don't eat much pb. I buy it now, as it is one of Rachel's fave foods, but she is 3 1/2 now.

No history of food allergies here, so I didn't worry much. I did the waiting between new foods thing, so by 8-9 months, she had a wide variety of things I knew she was't allergic to, and she'd never any problem with anything other than formula with iron, and lemon, and neither of those are allergies. And she's fine with lemon now, of course.


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## Thalia (Apr 9, 2003)

DD likes the organic peanut butter crackers from Trader Joe's as a treat. They have a very thin layer of PB, and they are pretty small, so even if she takes one of the crackers off and eats the PB by itself I don't worry about choking.


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

Holy moly, I typed up a big post with links about the recall stuff and forgot to click "Post" and clicked "back" to check something else and lost everything. Now that I've had an hour to stew about and recover, I'm going to try again.

Quote:

Is anyone else nervous about the infected peanut butter scare going on? ... but for PB anyone know if it's just a certain brand or brands to avoid right now? Is the organic stuff safe?
Basically, the recall only affects PROCESSED foods that used peanut butter paste from PCA. That is the source of the contamination. Peanut butter in jars on your store shelves is NOT involved. The paste was only sold to food companies as ingredients for processed foods.

Organic and natural foods are NOT excluded, and there's a bit of controversy about that since PCA doesn't seem to have any organic product... so what was it doing in organic foods? But to emphasize again -- this isn't about organic peanut butter in a jar that you buy, it's about organic processed foods with peanut butter in them, like Clif bars.

Peanut Butter Recall Hits More Natural Foods
Feds Find Roaches and Mold in Peanut Butter Recall Plant
Peanut Butter Recall Includes Organic, Natural Clif and Luna Bars
Little Debbie adds Snack Food to Salmonella Peanut Butter Recall
Peanut Butter Worth Praising: MaraNatha

The official FDA recall list


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## Polliwog (Oct 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommajb* 
For my toddlers and preschoolers I mix it with organic powdered milk until it can be rolled into balls about the size of a chickpea. They love them. We call it pb play dough and it is about the consistency of cooky dough. My big kids like it too but they can mix their own.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *tamagotchi* 
I just roll it into little balls for DD (15 months). Or make the old standby, celery with peanut butter. We get organic peanut butter or almond butter fresh out of the machine at our local store and it's a little dry, but good. The kids really like watching it come out of the machine!

The OP's baby is 13 months with no teeth.

Try thinning it out with a little applesauce (or other fruit sauce.) But there really is no hurry to try it. If she's not able to eat it, there are tons of other foods.


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## mommy2maya (Jun 7, 2003)

nothing to add except that this thread prmpted me to make myself a pb&j sandwich for lunch, lol.

Ok, I'll add my kids experiences- we started young with all of them, under a year, and they all loved pb on bread sandwich, lol.

As far as choking, I think the biggest choke hazard would be a spoonful, since it is so thick.


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## mommajb (Mar 4, 2005)

I can't believe this thread had gotten so many responses.

As to being 13 months w/o teeth, babies can eat many things without teeth. If it is bite size and you can smush it with your fingers they can eat it in most instances. Gums are good and can actaully apply quite a bit of pressure. IME, what might be difficult to do without teeth is tear things it might take a knife to cut. I guess at this point I am pretty relaxed about it all having had pretty easy experiences introducing my five children to table food.


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## mommajb (Mar 4, 2005)

I wanted to add that we will mix pb into applesauce adding protein and fat to a snack that otherwise lasts about 5 seconds in my kids' stomachs. Maybe 2T pb to 1/2 c applesauce


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

I know some of the links were a bit off-topic from OP's request but thanks to everyone who posted. I've been thinking about the issue because DS is almost 21 months and it is good to see the new research.


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## eepster (Sep 20, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LadyCatherine185* 
I am also wondering why you want to give your LO peanut butter?







:

Because it's yummy and full of protien.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EdnaMarie* 
Though, it could be correlation and not causation- maybe people with allergies in their families were much more likely to delay foods.

Little bits and pieces of research have been pointing to this for a long time, but indeed it may be correlation. However, if you simply consider, the number of preschoolers out there with peanut and/or nut allergies, and compare it to a few generations ago when these allergies were considered rare, it's obvious something changed.

OK back to the original question. Since there is the choking issue, I started DS with it spread very thinly between two WW organic saltines. Saltines are very gummable.


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## *Erin* (Mar 18, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommajb* 
For my toddlers and preschoolers I mix it with organic powdered milk until it can be rolled into balls about the size of a chickpea. They love them. We call it pb play dough and it is about the consistency of cooky dough. My big kids like it too but they can mix their own.

what a fun idea! my dd would love making those, and i'm always looking for creative ways to sneak actual protein into her!

i can't wait to try sunflower seed butter, too.

my 13 month old eats organic smooth pb and j sandwiches (light on the pb and j), and he likes it on soft crackers, like late july organics (like a ritz) or a saltless saltines.

fwiw, he has been self-feeding since 5.5 months, has 11.5 teeth, and is cutting molars, too. he chews easily


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## NJ*Doula (Apr 14, 2006)

Why not mix it up with some breastmilk to thin it out? Or just give a pea-sized amount at a time, which should go down fine even if she swallows it whole. I like the cracker idea, but I'll bet it makes a mess.









Oh, and my 11-month-old has had PB, wheat, soy, fish, and strawberries.







: Either he'll have an allergy or he won't, and I don't believe that delaying foods will help. Plus, you can never guess what a baby might react to. I'm allergic to peppers...who'd think to delay/avoid peppers?


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## lnitti (Jun 14, 2004)

you can also make a PB and butter sandwich if you want to avoid the sugars from the jelly. the butter just makes it creamier, and less of a choking risk..


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## nikkiethridge (May 6, 2008)

I serve a really thin layer of PB on organic mini waffles and sprinkle some ground flax seeds on top, he seems to really like that. Just don't serve big gobs of it...and make sure your LO has plenty of water at hand.


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amma_mama* 
OP specifically asked for no "no peanut butter" responses









While it is important to be respectful of people in responding to their posts, a member can't really dictate to other members how to respond. People who feel strongly about avoiding peanuts due to aflatoxin, allergies, choking hazard or because of the recent peanut scare are going to have a hard time not sharing that opinion, and that might come across as a warning not to do it. I think its always good to share information in a respectful way, and people can take it or leave it.


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Viola* 
While it is important to be respectful of people in responding to their posts, a member can't really dictate to other members how to respond. People who feel strongly about avoiding peanuts due to aflatoxin, allergies, choking hazard or because of the recent peanut scare are going to have a hard time not sharing that opinion, and that might come across as a warning not to do it. I think its always good to share information in a respectful way, and people can take it or leave it.









: Absolutely!


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## Snuzzmom (Feb 6, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommy2maya* 
nothing to add except that this thread prmpted me to make myself a pb&j sandwich for lunch, lol.

BAH!! That was my reaction, too.









Also I now want to make sunflower butter.

In any case, I think OP has a lot of good suggestions now!


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## Alison's Mom (May 3, 2007)

Both my children are anaphylactic (severely allergic) to peanuts, and one is also allergic to tree nuts. FWIW, both children were exposed to peanuts and tree nuts via placenta and through breastmilk but were not actually given either of the nuts orally until age 2.5 (dd) and age 1.5 (DS).

I have done a lot of reading on this topic and just wanted to say the following: Regarding the studies that show you _should_ give it early or that you _shouldn't_ give it early to avoid having an allergy, there is a lot of conflicting information out there, and the studies have not been able to show causation, just correlation in some cases. As I'm sure you know, many studies have very small sample sizes or are flawed in some way, but make it onto the news because they are interesting to people.

The latest line of advice from the scientists who are studying food allergies say there *might* be an optimal amount of allergen a pregnant woman or nursing mother should eat to avoid the child being allergic, but at this time, they don't know what that is, so it's better to avoid than risk having too much.

There are a multitude of other reasons, which I won't go into in this post, that scientists now think are causing a huge rise in food allergies in western countries. I just want to say that it's more complicated than giving it early or not giving it early.

So, at the end of the day, give your child peanut butter if you want. I would just advise to give a very very small amount to begin with and watch carefully for any sort of reaction (hives, upset tummy, vomiting, swelling, wheezing, etc) before giving the child a larger amount. Given that it's also a choking risk, like other PPs have said, I would heed their advice and make sure it's spread thinly on something.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

Alison's Mom said:


> There are a multitude of other reasons, which I won't go into in this post, that scientists now think are causing a huge rise in food allergies in western countries. I just want to say that it's more complicated than giving it early or not giving it early.
> 
> 
> > I would be very interested in knowing what your research suggests, either here or in another post.


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## PassionateWriter (Feb 27, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tankgirl73* 

Peanut Butter Recall Includes Organic, Natural Clif and Luna Bars


omg i have a HUGE box of Luna bars in my car that i keep for emergencies (for me...im tandem nursing and often times need a quick snack between trips for the kids). i cant believe i didnt realize this.

at least BJ's is taking these back and refunding the full amount. i am just happy that i didnt get (apparently) sick. i am thinking that i may have actually had a mild case of poisoning last week b/c i had some pretty severe and unexplained stomach cramps. DP was laughing at me and saying "well, i hope they arent implantation cramps". just wow!


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## Alison's Mom (May 3, 2007)

JudiAU said:


> Alison's Mom said:
> 
> 
> > There are a multitude of other reasons, which I won't go into in this post, that scientists now think are causing a huge rise in food allergies in western countries. I just want to say that it's more complicated than giving it early or not giving it early.
> ...


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## Alison's Mom (May 3, 2007)

Here are three articles that provide an overview of some popular reasons why allergies are on the rise:
http://www.healthandgoodness.com/hea...ncreasing.html
http://www.allergyclinic.co.uk/epidemic.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Increa...ities&id=73718

Here are some additional articles that talk about some of those reasons at greater length:

Farm Effect: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0520090438.htm
Hygiene Hypothesis: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0905174501.htm
Cooking Methods of peanuts in China vs West: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11398088
GMOs: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...7/ai_n27087562


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