If you want to prevent your child from contracting a peanut allergy, it would be a good idea to introduce the child to peanut butter in the first year of life. The best thing for this is to give the child soft peanut butter. This way the body can get used to the substances, and the chance of a peanut allergy is reduced. This reports Metro.
The chance of preventing an allergy is greatest if you let your child eat some peanut butter or peanuts between the indicated age of four to six months. These peanuts must have a smooth or baby-friendly structure. If you’re considering giving your child peanut butter, make sure it doesn’t contain whole nuts or peanuts because of the potential choking hazard. If the peanuts are crushed, ground, or in the form of smooth butter, official guidelines allow them to be given to babies around six months old. Allowing your child to eat them occasionally could increase the risk of developing peanut allergy by up to 77 percent. If the child only eats peanuts after a year, that chance is reduced by only 33 percent.
Previously, another study recommended avoiding peanuts altogether. This understandably led to fear among parents about introducing peanuts early. However, it is better to start with it. The NHS recommends that foods that can cause allergic reactions be given to the child one at a time and in very small amounts. This means that possible allergic reactions can be detected quickly without harming the child.
If an allergic reaction does not occur to these foods, it is important to keep them in your child’s diet. This way you minimize the risk of allergies.
By: National Care Guide
