So Wanting Some Peanut Butter Right Now!!!

Updated on November 22, 2010
K.H. asks from Tempe, AZ
25 answers

Hi Moms,

I'm a big peanut butter fan but I've stayed away from it ever since I became pregnant. My daughter is 7 months old now and I'm nursing, so I'm still not having any. I know peanuts are highly allergenic and I'd like to protect her from a potential food allergy if I can help it. However, I'm really craving some pb right now!!! Is almond butter as allergenic? I'm perfectly fine using that as a substitute but I want to make sure it's still safe.

Thanks!

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T.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

I have never heard of not eating pb while pregnant/breastfeeding. Do you have peanut allergies in the family? I keep mini reece's in my freezer for my cravings :)

1 mom found this helpful

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K.U.

answers from Detroit on

From the March of Dimes website: "There is no evidence that avoiding peanuts during breastfeeding helps prevent peanut allergies in the child."

Also: "In fact, a 2008 study found a 10-fold greater risk of peanut allergy in children who did not eat peanuts in infancy and early childhood compared to those who ate high quantities of peanuts. Additional studies are needed to determine whether eating peanuts in early childhood can help prevent peanut allergy in high-risk children."

Unless there is a family history of peanut allergies, I would not be worried about it. There isn't in mine, I ate peanut products all throughout my whole pregnancy and beyond, my daughter is now 3, and she is fine. I seriously doubt giving into your craving this one time is going to cause any issues with your daughter.

Now go enjoy some peanut butter.

11 moms found this helpful
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B.

answers from Augusta on

I've never heard of not eating peanut butter while pregnant or bfeeding keeping kids from being allergic from peanuts.
you just don't want to give it directly to her.
It's fine for you to eat. your body processes everything before it goes to her.

7 moms found this helpful
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B.P.

answers from Cleveland on

I think almond butter and sun butter are less allergenic if you want to try them. There are actually recent studies that doesn't affect future allergies when pregnant moms eat P.B. One such study came out when I got pregnant with my daughter and I was really relieved. I love P.B. too! LOL! Here is the article from the March of Dimes. I trust them.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/nutrition_peanut.html

7 moms found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

Seriously? Eat some peanut butter! You know what I think is interesting -the fact that when I was a kid no one ever waited to feed their kids peanut butter or stopped eating it when pregnant or nursing. No one had nut allergies either! I guess a few folks did, but it was rare enough that I never heard of that or encountered it until I was in college. So go ahead -eat up! I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and I've NEVER heard that pregnant or nursing women shouldn't eat peanut butter -and believe me, I read and researched every pregnancy book and site out there. Are you off of eggs, dairy and gluten as well?

7 moms found this helpful
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P.M.

answers from Portland on

Some recent studies show that kids who are kept away from peanuts in their earliest months are far MORE likely to become allergic. Some exposure seems to reduce the likelihood of allergies in kids through desensitization, even in families with a history of problems.

You might want to talk to your pedi about this, but many doctors simply don't have time to keep up with all the new information that pours in from every direction, so you could still have a doctor who hasn't heard about this. If you're interested, google key phrases like "early exposure, avoiding peanut allergy" to do some quick research.

Here are two recent articles:
http://hivelogic.com/articles/avoid-peanut-allergies-by-e...
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,###-###-##...

7 moms found this helpful
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L.S.

answers from Spokane on

I ate peanut butter while pregnant and nursing and neither of my kids are allergic to anything. I think allergies are more a hereditary thing and if they're going to be allergic to something, then that's the way it's gonna be.

6 moms found this helpful
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A.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

Ok Im pretty sure the whole peanut butter thing is a myth. My craving when I was pregnant with my first was peanut butter. I also nursed him for a year and ate peanut butter the whole time and he is not allergic to peanutbutter and he eats it all the time as well. Im 36 weeks pregnant with number 2 right now and last night I made 2 lbs of peanut butter fudge and it is delicious. If food allergies run in the family I might avoid it but they dont in mine so I dont worry to much about it. I would just eat some, it probably wont hurt your daughter at all.

6 moms found this helpful
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M.S.

answers from Washington DC on

Your body is trying to tell you something. Go enjoy some peanut butter! You must need some of the nutrients it contains. Your little girl will be fine.

5 moms found this helpful

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

wow, who told you not to eat peanut butter? I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich EVERY single day when I was pregnant with my first son. I love peanut butter toast, cookies, bars....you name it!
I have never NOT had peanut butter and both of my boys are fine (I also nursed for 1 year and 18 months) and am pregnant with my third and my OB has not said a thing to me about eating peanut butter.
I say, ask your doctor, cuz I have never heard of that before. You could be denying yourself and you don't need to!
L.

5 moms found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Your theory is news to me...have you asked your doctor about it?

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J.M.

answers from Boston on

Unless you plan on peanut-buttering your daughter and licking it off, you really have nothing to worry about. (Assuming you don't have a family history of majorly severe peanut allergies - then you should stay away).

There are lots and lots of things that you can control, and lots of things you can only have the illusion of control over. This falls into the latter category. Why deprive yourself when it won't make a difference?

Go have a sandwich.

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R.K.

answers from Boston on

I must be horrible because I ate a lot of peanut butter while pregnant and nursing but neither of my boys is allergic to peanuts. Unless your daughter has other allergies or there is a family history of peanut allergy you should be fine. My nephew has a severe wheat allergy (yes allergy not celiacs as some moms on here like to insist wheat allergies don't exist) and the ped and allergist told my sister to limit (not avoid) wheat while nursing his baby sister.

4 moms found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from Dallas on

Allergies, are not necessarily hereditary. I am deathly allergic to peanuts and no one in my family is, as far back as we can trace. I only point that out, because a lot of folks are saying, that if there is no history, your child won't be allergic. That is just an opinion and not scientific, at all. Food allergies can be random and not passed down.
I don't think having peanut butter (I just read this recently) will give your child the allergy. However, doctors suggest not giving peanuts to a baby, because if they are allergic, the reaction will be more severe.

Here is some info. on peanuts and nursing. Scroll down the page a little, to get to the peanuts part:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/mom-foods.html#peanuts

3 moms found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from Portland on

I doubt that there is any correlation between what a mother eats while breastfeeding and the baby becoming allergic. When the baby is allergic the mother usually has to stop eating what the baby is allergic too. I suggest the baby is allergic and mother should not eat certain things instead of not eating certain things so the baby will not become allergic.

My granddaughter tested allergic to peanuts when she was a few months old. Her mother was not breast feeding and had eaten none or very little peanut/peanut butter when pregnant. Medical science still does not know why some people have allergies and others don't.

There is some thought that allergies and illnesses occur more often when the baby/child is kept from the allergen/virus/bacteria. We need exposure to build up immunity.

Enjoy your peanut butter. You won't cause your baby to be allergic. She may already be allergic, in which case she may have a mild reaction. Serious reactions to peanuts rarely occur with the first exposure. I've not ready or heard of a baby having a serious reaction to any foods the mother ate while breast feeding. For my granddaughter, she regurgitated her milk, had eczema, and asthma. Eliminating foods to which she was allergic lessened her symptoms but did not eliminate the eczema or asthma.

She was part of a study with her allergist in which she consumed peanuts in gradually increasing amounts. She can now eat peanuts in small amounts without ill effects. At the beginning of the study her skin itched when she consumed an infinitesimally small amount.

3 moms found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from Missoula on

Do peanut allergies run in your family, or your husbands? If not, eat the peanut butter. You may actually be doing your child more harm than good by avoiding it. The current research indicates that children are actually less likely to develop allergies if they are exposed to foods that had previously been off-limits due to allergy concerns. My son, who is now 3, was eating peanut butter by 8 months or so, upon the advice of my awesome pediatrician, and I ate it all though pregnancy and nursing.
I'm curious if a doctor told you to avoid it or where you got the idea you couldn't have it.

3 moms found this helpful

T.M.

answers from Modesto on

Wow, I ate pnut butter all during my pregnancies and while I nursed. Both of my boys love pnut butter and it's definitely a staple in our homes. Almond butter is a tree nut, peanuts arent. They are totally different. I'd throw caution to the wind and indulge in some peanut butter.
I know from a reliable source that there are a lot of misdiagnosed peanut allergies out there..... poor people too afraid to even try a peanut again just because of an unfortunate coincedental accident.
I actually bought my second jar of almond butter the other day, its good but definitely not the same as peanut butter. if you do get some dont get the blue diamond kind, it has a very powerful taste as opposed to another brand I've used but cant remember the name of right now.

3 moms found this helpful
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S.C.

answers from Fort Wayne on

Oh my goodness girl! Eat some peanut butter! As long as you don't eat the whole jar, you'll be fine! I ate peanut butter through out my entire pregnancy (both of them) and while I was nursing. Peanut butter is good for you! As long as nobody in your immediate family is deathly allergic to peanuts, you'll be fine!

2 moms found this helpful
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L.F.

answers from Phoenix on

My mom is deathly allergic to peanut butter and all tree nuts. I don't remember eating much at all if any peanut butter while I was pregnant or nursing and my son is deathly allergic to tree nuts and peanuts not to mention a host of other things.
As long as you aren't eating a jar of peanut butter a week I would think you would be okay...just my opinion. My girlfriend eats quite a bit of peanut butter while she is pregnant and neither of her two kids have a peanut allergy. Good Luck with what ever your choose to do. :)

1 mom found this helpful
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N.B.

answers from Phoenix on

I'm not sure about the connection between what you eat while nursing and your baby's food allergies, but if you would like to keep avoiding peanut butter, there are PB alternatives for peanut allergic individuals--soy butter (roasted soybeans) and sun butter (sunflower seeds). They are pretty good alternatives, I've heard that some people who eat "soy butter" or "sun butter" cookies don't even know the difference. I have a severe peanut allergy myself, and I can't even bring myself to eat either of these butters because they look and smell so similar to the real thing.

Also, a lot of posters are saying if there aren't any severe food allergies in your family then there is no need to worry. This isn't always true! No one else in my family has severe food allergies, not one single person! There are a few sensitivities here and there, but no true food allergies.

Good luck with whatever your decision :)

1 mom found this helpful
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L.S.

answers from New London on

I ate peanuts and peanut butter throughout my pregnancy and nursing and my son and daughter are fine with it. My daughter is one so we haven't given her peanut butter yet, but she's been around it a lot because her brother eats it all the time. The only thing that bothered my daughter while nursing was eggs. She would get a rash but I kept eating them every now and then and she can tolerate them now and doesn't get a rash. Do you know wether or not she is allergic?

1 mom found this helpful
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R.M.

answers from Phoenix on

i've read, on several health sites from experts on health and food, that eating a certain food will not make your baby allergic to it. and yes, my midwife encouraged me to eat peanut butter while pregnant, because it IS good for you, as long as you're eating the natural stuff, and not the stuff with a bunch of sugar in it. it's very high in protein!

1 mom found this helpful
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W.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Enjoy some! In moderation please!

I personally strongly believe that allergies are caused/triggered by overwhelming your body with a certain allergen. When I was a small girl, our family had one cat. We were all fine. My only memory of this cat we had was of letting it out one day which was the last day we ever saw it :( Years later, when I was a teen, we went to visit some relatives - they had 4 cats in a small & not so well kept apt. By the end of the visit, my dad and I were having a lot of problems. It was a LONG trip home. My dad ended up being sick enough to miss work for several days. Ever since then, my dad and I are allergic to cats. After having not been around and accustomed to cats anymore, being in a small space with 4 cats and all their hair/dander overwhelmed us.

My sister as a 6yo on a family vacation at the beach got too much sun & while we all (family of fair skinned people) got burned, my baby sister got the worst of it and got sun poisoning. Ever since then, she has had an intense sensitivity to sunlight & UV lights (like people with Lupus do) and to this day (she's expecting her 2nd child now) she is still sickened by being in too much sunlight/fluorescent lighting.

Children who never have a single taste of peanut butter or cows milk or whatnot until they are one year old then get switched to drinking cows milk everyday, or eating peanut butter sandwiches and treats everyday - Well, of course many have problems! Ease into it! One year old is not really a magic age, it's just a point at which a little bit of occasional tasting of what you're eating turns into being part of the baby's menu.

So, now that you've abstained from PB for so long, I would make yourself a nice yummy sandwich and enjoy it! But then wait a few days before you have another nice PB sandwich (although I really am not sure it matters while you're pregnant. Ask your doctor though.) Ease back into it, then by the end of your pregnancy, you should be enjoying peanut butter as you used to.

Another thing- I think that people have natural aversions to certain foods for a reason. My husband hates fish/sea food. He isn't allergic per se, but one day we were served a really lovely salmon dinner by some dear friends, and so he politely ate the dinner (it really was delicious!) and all that night long he was visiting the toilet.
When my son was small, he did NOT like PB, much to my dismay (he's a skinny little kid who NEEDED the fat & protein). When he started kindergarten I was really sad he still didnt like peanut butter because I don't trust ham sandwiches to last as well in his lunchbox from 8am to 1:30 or whenever his lunch was (our K'ers had snack break in the morning and the last lunch shift) So, I got Nutella, which he liked and the whole year of school, I gradually mixed a little bit more creamy PB into it. 1st grade he was ok with either but still preferred Nutella, if/when I had it. Now he's in 3rd grade and prefers PB & jam sandwiches. :-) Ease the kid into new foods, don't force anything on them when they don't like it.

K.N.

answers from Austin on

I was also told to avoid peanut butter while pregnant and while nursing.

One of the biggest concerns is, if your child does have a reaction, an infants airways are very tiny. So an adverse food reaction that closes the throat could be significantly worse in an infant.

Yes, you can have almond butter.

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M.R.

answers from Phoenix on

Are you or husband or someone in your immediate family deathly allergic to peanut butter, that is why you have chosen to abstain for so long?

I have never heard of pregnant or nursing moms avoiding PB b/c they fear their child might have an allergy to it. Is this another new food rule being taught?

If you answer yes, then by all means, avoid Tree nuts. But I have been told by a nutritionist one can substitute SEED butters. Almond butter is a tree nut, so no to that. There is Sesame (Tahini), Roasted Pea, Soy available now at most stores.

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