When M was around one year old, I decided it was time to offer her peanut butter. Around that time, the LEAP study had just come out, recommending the introduction of peanuts before one year of age. It made sense to me that early exposure to peanuts would lessen the likelihood of allergies to peanuts, so I felt confident that M would do just fine with it. And it was my pediatric duty! What could possibly go wrong?
As usual, my daughter did not go by the book. One afternoon before I headed to work for the evening, and before M’s nap, I spread thin smears of peanut on tiny soft pieces of bread and fed them to M, who gobbled it up, one bite after another. She tilted her head up and opened her mouth like a baby bird, waiting for its mama to feed her the worm. A few minutes before I was about to leave for work, I noticed a few red dots around M’s mouth. “Those bumps are new,” I told my husband. “Can you check on her during her nap to see if she gets a rash?” He was half paying attention and waved me off with an “okay”, and off I left for work.
2 hours later, while I was at work, I received a text message from my husband. A picture of M, covered in hives head to toe, smiling at the camera. “What should I do?” He texted. I panicked, and I could not believe I had been so nonchalant about it all, giving her peanut butter right before her nap! “Did you check on her during her nap?” I replied. “No,” he said. I groaned inwardly, but I told to give her diphenhydramine and the dose she needed, but, of course, we did not have any in the house. Luckily, she was acting completely fine otherwise. He went out and bought the antihistamine and gave it to M and the hives subsided.
I worried about her the rest of the evening at work. I felt terrible. How could I give my daughter a potential allergen and not think about the fact I was giving it to her right before her nap, and just let her sleep?! Why didn’t my husband check on her during her nap like I asked?! Why don’t I have diphenhydramine at home just in case?! I beat myself up over all this and more. That night, I slept next to M on the floor, occasionally waking up to check on her. Luckily she did fine through the night.
After that, we went to a wonderful allergist who confirmed the peanut allergy. We did peanut component testing also, which was new to me at the time, to see if M may eventually outgrow her peanut allergy. Fortunately, she tested positive for the component that made her more likely to outgrow her peanut allergy. About a year later we did a food challenge with her, and she passed! Which meant that she had outgrown her peanut allergy! We were advised to give peanut butter to her on a regular basis.
Even though she passed her peanut food challenge, I was always still hesitant to give her peanuts, even though I knew I needed to. It also worried me that M did not really like the flavor of peanuts – did she remember that she was allergic to it, so she didn’t like it? Did it make her stomach upset? Or was it that she simply did not like the flavor? Fortunately, peanut butter M&Ms exist, and that got M eating peanut butter occasionally. And now that she is older, she likes the flavor, and eats peanut butter with no problem!
When I had my second daughter, E, I was more prepared. I still gave her peanut butter before a year old, but this time earlier in the day (and no nap planned for a few hours) and diphenhydramine at the ready. But she had no problems with it! And she really loved the flavor, but I limited her to just a few bites in one sitting and fed it to her a few days in a row, like any other new food I would have introduced to her. I had a huge sense of relief that she had no issues with it, and I was able to relax.
Then, I gave her eggs. And she broke out in scattered hives. Really, eggs, of all the things? We ate eggs with everything! At least I was better prepared and had diphenhydramine on hand! Fortunately, E outgrew her egg allergy also.
Trying new things with the girls, especially as babies, always made me nervous (though apparently not nervous enough to think about the timing of a new food or to have diphenhydramine in the house!). When I had a second chance with E to be more cautious, I made sure for my own comfort level to introduce peanut butter early in the day and not close to nap time just in case she reacted, and I made sure I had diphenhydramine on hand just in case she reacted. I also made sure to do it on a day when I would be home to watch her, just in case she reacted later in the day. It made me feel more comfortable and secure when I had a plan and was prepared when introducing something new to the girls. These girls are always keeping me on my toes!
Medical Mommy Musings:
- Introduce those highly allergenic foods early!
- I like to be prepared with a plan. Especially after how M reacted to peanuts, it made me feel better having the medications I needed at home just in case and to be able to observe E for awhile after eating peanut butter to make sure there were no reactions.
- That being said, things will still happen. I cannot expect these girls to develop by the book, and as prepared as we try to be, kids will throw you for a loop.
