First Peanut Butter

This week's Friday Frustrations is about something that happened last Thursday when I picked Logan up from his babysitter's where he has been going 8 hrs a week for over seven months. Until now I've had absolutely no complaints or problems with his sitter - she has been a Godsend. The closest I came was when he was 11 months old she fed him oranges (pediatricians and all of the parenting books out there do not recommended citrus until a year old). He was only one month away but Logan still ended up having diarrhea and a diaper rash, so I told her not to give him anymore in the future. A couple of months later he had orange juice for the first time at home and has done fine with oranges since. I figured I was bound to have at least one other issue at some point, as no daycare or sitter are perfect, but I didn't expect it to be this because I thought this news was already EVERYWHERE (but if not, then I'm glad my post can be educational to other moms)!

When I picked Logan up last Thursday, October 29th he was still eating lunch. I noticed he was eating a sandwich and at first I didn't think anything of it (he's had sandwiches at home before). Babysitter had a Halloween party for them that day and so we talked about that and she gave me a cupcake Logan had made for me (put the sprinkles on) as well as a goodie sack and another cup full of treats from one of the other boy's moms. I can't wait to see the pics of their party.

Anyway, as Logan was finishing his sandwich I noticed some purple on it. I felt a little uneasy as I asked, "What kind of sandwich is that?" She said, "Peanut butter and jelly."

I didn't say anything but I left feeling really upset. The Academy Of Pediatrics says to wait until children are THREE before giving them peanut butter or anything with nuts. Peanut allergies are one of the worst out there! Sometimes just one taste can be fatal! Do you all remember that story a few years ago about the teen girl who died because she kissed her boyfriend who'd eaten a pb sandwich 9 hrs earlier? (Article is here.) I have a friend who works at a daycare center in Iowa and she said they aren't allowed to give it to any of their kids, no matter what the age, because it's like my Friday Frustrations last week about my dogs: if you don't let kids come up and pet the dogs then you'll know for sure nothing bad will happen.

Back when I was growing up, parents gave peanut butter as soon as their babies could eat food. Joe's baby book has him eating it regularly at a year and I'm sure I ate it as a toddler. But there has been such an increase in allergies over the past few decades, experts are saying some of this has to do with foods being introduced too soon. Studies have shown that the longer you wait to introduce certain foods the less chance of developing allergies. Pregnant women should also refrain from nuts and peanut butter in their third trimester of pregnancy, as well as when nursing (I did not know this at the time, so I did eat some peanut butter, however it wasn't often. For other "don'ts," I wrote a post when I was pregnant titled The Do's (and a couple don'ts) of Pregnancy.)

Chances are, Logan is fine with peanut butter. Nobody in either my family or Joe's has peanut allergies. And, he didn't show any reaction last Thursday (the symptoms are: hives, difficulty breathing or asthma symptoms, swelling of the mouth or throat, vomiting or diarrhea, loss of consciousness). He also hasn't shown any other signs of allergies these past 18 months (typically kids who are allergic to peanut butter are also allergic to other things, especially if they have asthma). But Logan had his 18 month check up this past Monday, November 2nd and his doctor was upset when I told him - he said to still not give it again for another year-and-a-half because often times the first eating of peanut butter has no reactions because the body doesn't have the allergen yet. Now, after eating it, Logan's body has the allergen and so if he is allergic then the next time could be extremely serious. So, I called his babysitter that evening and informed her about the situation (she said "no problem").


Logan came in at 25 lbs, 1.25 oz, and was 34.5 inches tall (that's the 40% for weight and 90% for height - both percentiles shocked me, I expected the opposite, haha. I'm 5'2.5", Joe's 5'8.5", and Logan eats non stop). His head was 18 3/4 (70%). He received his third DTaP and first polio vaccine and as always did excellent (both getting the shots and afterwards acting happy and no side effects).

Typically children don't have another check up until they're two years old, but we're going back the end of January so Logan can get his final DTaP and second polio vaccine. Then at his two year appt. he'll get his final polio and first Hep B. We'll go again that summer/fall for his final Hep B and MMR. We'll go again that winter to get the first Hep A and then his final Hep A will be at his three year appt - which means he will be caught up to the standard schedule a year-and-a-half from now (except for the flu vaccine and chicken pox - we don't plan to ever give the seasonal flu shot and aren't sure if we'll ever give the chicken pox vaccine. We also have the option of a much safer and mercury-free H1N1 shot this Thanksgiving (since we didn't give the regular one) so we might do that (not because of the flu itself, but because some toddlers are developing additional problems with their organs if they get it).

Logan was given our pediatrician's top health, even though his skin looked jaundice (yes, seriously). Doc said it's because Logan likes carrots (he eats them every day!) and so the beta carotene is showing up through his skin! He said it's not harmful, but too much vitamin A can be, so limiting carrots to every other day will guarantee he won't have high vitamin A but will allow him to continue to get the benefits of carrots. Ironically, Logan refused carrots the rest of the week! I don't want him to not eat them at all as they are healthy. . .geesh, could he have actually understood what we were talking about behind his back and that's why he suddenly wouldn't eat them?!

As for the peanut butter again, the symptoms listed above can occur within a few minutes or a few hours, so keep your eye on your child after they eat peanut butter and if he/she develops these, call 911 immediately - like I said before: peanut butter can be fatal.