Post by Faevantastic on Jun 23, 2013 19:40:22 GMT -5
So far everyone DH has talked to with kids have said they thought you were suppose to wait until 18-24 months before introducing peanut butter. Evan's dr never said to restrict any food other than ones that poses choking hazard. I thought I remember that we had a pb poll and a lot of us have already intro'd pb? I don't mean to be redundant but I want to show DH that I wasn't just being careless. I just wanted Ev to like something that's a good source of protein because he doesn't like eggs. DH isn't blaming me or anything, but goddamnit I feel inadequate as a mother right now.
I've never heard that they're supposed to wait that long, I think that's outdated advice. The recent AAP recommendations say to give stuff in the first year, except for honey and to be careful of choking risks
Btw, don't feel inadequate AT ALL. You're a great mom, there's no way you could have known. Chances are that if you had waited 18-24 months, he would still be allergic.
You are correct. There is no direct link between giving common allergens early and a higher rate of allergies. In fact, they think the oppisite is true. That if you delay giving any foods for too long that kids are more likely to have a reaction.
I have given B peanut butter. She doesn't care for it (I think it's a texture thing). I didn't give it a second thought. You were not neglectful in giving PB.
ETA: Also, how dare he make you feel like you were negligent. Shame on him. I'm sure he is scared and misplacing his anger but that is no excuse.
Post by robinsparkles430 on Jun 23, 2013 19:44:32 GMT -5
It is in no way your fault!! You are a wonderful mother and proved that today with the way you reacted in an emergency situation. My Pediatrician did not say anything about not giving peanut butter until 18-24 months. Jason actually eats peanut butter a few times a week and has done so since 12 months old.
Post by unclejesse on Jun 23, 2013 19:44:38 GMT -5
Please don't feel bad at all. Is there any history of peanut allergy in your families? I know that is why some choose to wait.
MH gave peanut butter to A at around 8 months, in a very small amount. We have no food allergies on either side and felt comfortable at least trying it.
You were not being careless! You were bound to give him peanut butter at some point, and seeing what happened today, I'm positive that he would have reacted regardless what age you introduced it at.
Post by sunshineluv on Jun 23, 2013 19:45:17 GMT -5
This is not your fault. I thought the rule was to wait till 12 months. I know it is natural to second guess our choices as moms, but it could have been anything he had an allergic reaction to. It is not your fault, you got him the medical attention he needed.
2 years is an outdated recommendation unless you have family history. My pediatrician said 12 months, lots are even saying earlier as they think waiting too long might actually make an allergy more likely.
The criteria recently changed. With Henry (so 5 years ago), it was wait until at least 2 with some pediatrician saying to wait until 4 (crazy). Now they are saying there is no reason to delay and that delaying may actually exacerbate reactions if there is an allergy. Now they say go ahead at 1 unless there is a history of allergies.
You absolutely did nothing wrong. You did everything RIGHT with how you handled a scary situation that needed to involve some quick thinking.
Post by imimahoney on Jun 23, 2013 19:48:44 GMT -5
Ugh, this is not your fault. You did nothing wrong. I hope you don't feel too guilty about this, it honestly could have happened to any one of our babies. You reacted quickly and wisely, the best any of us could have done.
Our dr just told us to wait until 12 months. I think they only say 18-24 months if you have a family history of peanut allergies. Actually I just read something that new research is showing that its better to introduce it earlier rather than to wait. You didn't do anything wrong, there's no way you could have known this would happen! Don't beat yourself up.
Btw, don't feel inadequate AT ALL. You're a great mom, there's no way you could have known. Chances are that if you had waited 18-24 months, he would still be allergic.
Exactly this. Please don't feel that way. It's been a long day. Hope you get some rest.
Post by Faevantastic on Jun 23, 2013 20:01:06 GMT -5
Neither of us have allergy to peanuts. I forgot to say that when I was in the ambulence on the way to the hospital, the paramedic also told me that some pedi's recommend 18-24 months but others say 12 months. Right then I doubted myself and DH wasn't even there in the ambulance with us. When he told me about what our neighbor and his friends said about waiting, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
You didn't do anything wrong and you are certainly not inadequate. I think many of us (maybe more than not??) have given some form of nuts to our LO's by now. I think a year is normal these days and I haven't heard the 18-24 month suggestion.
Post by spaghetticat on Jun 23, 2013 20:11:49 GMT -5
No no no, don't you dare beat yourself up about this. I have had several allergy concerns with her and I have given pb. I have never heard of waiting that long. It is not your fault AT ALL. Not to mention, I hate that it always falls on the mother. It is just as much YH's responsibility. But either way, nobody did anything wrong. I have actually heard that waiting longer to introduce the allergen can be worse, so as awful as today must've been for you, I'm glad everything turned out okay and at least you know now. I feel like everything happened the way it was supposed to in this case. God forbid he had it with someone else in a few months because they assumed he was okay with it. Please don't beat yourself up. You did everything right, including the way you handled today!
I don't think you did anything wrong. My pedi said 2 years for pb and shellfish, but sort of gave an eyeroll as she said it, iterating that they change their minds all the time. I haven't given it, but only because if she does have a reaction, I don't want my pedi to be like, "we TOLD you not to". I actually debate giving it to her all the time, and plan to talk about it at her appointment next month.
With no history and no pedi saying not to, you are just fine. If he's going to react, he's going to react. He seemed to have a pretty severe reaction for a first try, so I HIGHLY doubt that timing would have made a difference. And, now you know and can prevent further exposure.
You are correct. There is no direct link between giving common allergens early and a higher rate of allergies. In fact, they think the oppisite is true. That if you delay giving any foods for too long that kids are more likely to have a reaction.
I have given B peanut butter. She doesn't care for it (I think it's a texture thing). I didn't give it a second thought. You were not neglectful in giving PB.
ETA: Also, how dare he make you feel like you were negligent. Shame on him. I'm sure he is scared and misplacing his anger but that is no excuse.
Do you have a family history of allergies to PB?
He tends to listen to other people more than me... but honestly, he wasn't putting any blame on me. Today was just so terrifying, we are both doubting ourselves.
Don't be hard on yourself, at all. Our doc said that unless there was a history of allergies, nothing (with the exception of honey) was off limits once he started solids.
Owen's been having PB probably 5 times a week since he was 9 months or so.
Post by musiclover on Jun 23, 2013 20:21:12 GMT -5
I've been told unless there is a family history that you can give it around 12 months, both boys had it around 11 months I think. You did nothing wrong, it's just very unfortunate that he happens to have a reaction to it. Do NOT doubt your mothering skills and instincts, you are awesome!! He would have the same reaction in just a few more months.
Wy has peanut butter everyday. My Dr said we could introduce it around 9 months. I waited till a year.
It is definitely not your fault that he had a reaction. It was going to happen now or at 18 months.
Big hugs lady. He is Ok! You now know! Better for you to know about the allergy now opposed to this happening in a daycare or under someone elses watch.
Don't be hard on yourself, at all. Our doc said that unless there was a history of allergies, nothing (with the exception of honey) was off limits once he started solids.
This for us too. We started PB at 8 or 9 months. You did nothing wrong, mama.
Post by dothrakiqueen on Jun 23, 2013 20:50:24 GMT -5
Total Lurker coming out---
We have seen two different pediatric allergists (because we moved cities), plus, I discuss this topic every time I go see my allergist. There is no good science here. Some think you should avoid, some think you shouldn't. I have seen one dr of each. THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU COULD DO TO AVOID THIS!!! And, if there was, there is no doctor today who knows what that is. So, don't let the doubt get to you.
I have 2 allergic DD's. DD1 is allergic (we think has outgrown) to dairy (IgE mediated, so real allergy, not just intolerance like MSPI). She is also allergic to penicillin (that's what sent us to the ER- and if the dr's didn't warn you, the prednisone (a steriod), will wire him up/ make him super cranky, so don't that worry you).
Because DD1 was food allergic (siblings of a food allergy kid are 70% more likely to have food allergies), I avoided all nuts (Peanut and tree nut) during pregnancy (I had a special appt with my DD1's pediatric allergist to talk about what to do when I became pregnant with DD2 (everyone in the dr office thought I was insane). I avoided all nuts during 10 mos of breastfeeding. DD2 NEVER had exposure to any nut. Then, one day, DD2 picks up DD1's water cup and drinks out of it. DD2 gets a rash around her face. DD1 had been eating peanut butter (which I always made her eat in a different room from DD2). So, allergist wanted to test her. She tested positive for certain tree nuts, but negative for peanuts. BUT, he wanted her to come back and take the test again (skin) with real peanut butter. She failed that one like crazy. So, my DD2, NEVER had nut exposure, EVER. And, here she is allergic. So, nothing you did. You really could not have impacted it. Any allergist will tell you, they really just don't know.
Go find a pediatric allergist who specializes in food allergies and get a plan. Sadly, there is a lot of cross reactive allergies (see the list of the big 8-- DD2 is also egg allergic, so we have 3 of the top 8). It is not as bad as you think. I will tell you that DD2 by age 2 was hyper aware of potential dairy exposure. We never had a life threatening scare. I will also say that DD2 is almost 100% outgrown from her dairy allergy.
So sorry for what you went through today. I've been there. It's terrifying. And, as much as the ladies here don't like TB, I will say that the TB Allergy Board ladies are super helpful!
Post by rileym2010 on Jun 23, 2013 21:04:45 GMT -5
This is definitely not your fault. Like others have said, since you had no history of allergy, there is no set date on when to introduce it. We gave Evan peanut butter for the first time around 6-7 months. Giving it later, your Evan still would have had a reaction.
Madison reacted very mildly with peanut butter and my pedi made me feel like a moron and said I should have waited until 2 years. First of all, he never told me that so am I supposed to read minds? And secondly, I thought that was only with a family history and we don't have one.
Just on Tuesday we had our appointment with the pedi allergist. Madison reacted to peanut butter but none of the tree nuts but she still sent us for bloodwork to confirm that. She told me that it was fine that I gave her PB at a year and that she would have reacted either way and made me feel better.
I'm dreading leaving her with the ILs once a week because they about the allergy and the epipen but I just worry they aren't going to read labels. Just tonight my ILs REALLY wanted Madison to have some cheesecake and kept saying, "Madison, do you want some cheesecake?" and I was ignoring them because she doesn't need cheesecake and well, I'm not Madison. She was on my lap and FIL gave her some off his fork. No big deal but I made a point to say, "don't you think we should read the label to make sure it wasn't made with any peanut oils?" My MIL felt like shit and ran off to get the box.
I'm so sorry you're dealing with this but you did nothing wrong and did a kick ass job in an emergency.
Do you have an epipen now and follow up with an allergist?
Post by creamsiclechica on Jun 23, 2013 21:25:17 GMT -5
Honey, I'm just going to tell you, my nephew has a life threatening peanut (and tree nut) allergy. Before him, there was absolutely no family history. My sister waited until he was past two and he still had a reaction that was just as severe. There is NOTHING you did wrong. If his allergy is as severe as it looks, waiting a few more months wouldn't make a difference because I very much doubt he'd have grown out of it by 18-24 months. You had absolutely no idea he'd react that way, and what you need to focus on is just how swift, immediate, and perfectly you handled such a troubling and stressful situation with your child, not the events leading up to it.
There's a million things we'll come across in parenting we'll blame ourselves for. This should not be one of those things, not at all. You are the best mom there is, everything you did today proves just that. Love you so much.
Post by angiekay84 on Jun 23, 2013 21:29:57 GMT -5
DD regularly eats PB in sandwiches, weekly. You did nothing wrong. I strongly believe that his reaction would have still happened even if you had waited till 18-24 months. I don't think four or five months would have changed his reaction at all.