If you are concerned about your little one developing a food allergy, the right time to offer something like peanut butter may be earlier than you think.
Until very recently doctors recommended that parents hold off on offering problem foods, such as peanut butter, milk, fish and eggs. But recent recommendations from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology suggest that these foods can be safely given to babies who are as young as 4- to 6 months — and that offering them early might actually prevent food allergies from developing.
The new recommendations are a big departure from earlier guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which in 2000 suggested waiting till a child was 12 months old before introducing milk, 2 years before introducing eggs, and age 3 before introducing peanuts and fish. While the AAP revised its rules in 2008 and 2011, noting there was no data to support delaying problem foods, many parents and pediatricians still adhere to the early guidelines.
“The key point is that there is no reason why you can’t introduce them early for most children,” said lead author of the new report, Dr. David Fleischer, an associate professor of pediatrics at National Jewish Health at the University of Colorado. Children with moderate to severe eczema that is difficult to treat or ones who have already been diagnosed with a [different type of] food allergy are at higher risk, “so you may want to wait until they are tested before introducing peanuts or eggs,” he said.
The recommendations, directed to primary care physicians and specialists, advise parents to introduce easy foods like cereal, fruits and vegetables before offering a potentially high-allergenic choice. Milk, eggs or peanuts and fish shouldn’t be the first solid foods a baby gets, Fleischer said. Potential allergens should be tried at home and increased if the child does not have an allergic reaction.
