When we were kids - PB&J was a must-have staple. Now its some sort of lunchbox "no-no" due to rampent peanut butter allergies. Before becoming a mom, I thought allergies like dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, gluten, etc. etc. etc. were all hyper-sensitive, media-driven yuppie crap (Ok, let's be frank, I do think some of it still is). For some reason, bee-sting and shellfish allergies seemed a bit more legitimate to me than, say, peanut butter allergies.
I mean, c'mon.
Peanut butter?
You ever read labels on products these days?
They nearly ALL have warnings that say "this product was made on machines that also process nuts."
Yikes!
So, you not only need to avoid the nuts themselves but possibly even products made at or around nuts! That's... nuts!
I was so worried that Evie would be an allergy kid. After 9 months of age, it loomed over me like a dark cloud.
Evie broke out in a rash after strawberry waffles and I immediately avoided all strawberries.
We recently tried strawberries again... and, I am thrilled to report, all is well. It must have been the chicken pox vaccine she had after all.
But back to PB & J.
When Evie was born we were told to avoid honey until 1, eggs until 1 and peanut butter until 2.
When Evie hit 9 months, many of those rules become more lax.
So, I fed Evie a reeses pieces a few days ago. I figured it wasn't "truly" peanuts what with the candy coating and all. Plus, if she swelled up like a puffer-fish, it was a measurable amount to report to the ER doctor. Am I a smart parent or sick? I can't tell anymore.
Next day, all was fine. We tried 3-4 reeses pieces.
Next day, all was fine again.
I gave Rob the go ahead on one small serving: 1/4 of a PB&J sandwich with V-E-R-Y thinly spread peanut butter.
She ate it.
She loved it.
Later that afternoon, she's still alive (and not swollen). Hooray!
Bonus: she loved the sandwich (although she apparently like the J more than the PB which is completely opposite of me) so we gained another meal to feed her in her ever-expanding diet. Sweet.
4 comments:
Whoa! That is some efficient SPAM!
Miles loves PB&J sandwiches! Yes, an easy snack and always on hand. I thought it was ok to eat after 1...oh well. He seems fine.
Yeah, what's up with spam cooments on blogs?
SPAM, hmmm, I wonder if Evie would like it...
The girls Playschool is a no peanut zone. No one can pack any peaut related products in the lunch bag. If you volunteer to bring a class snack it must not have "packed in a facility that also processes peanuts" label on the box. I was also worried about our girls and allergies since Casey is allegic to nuts but he can at least be around them. So far so good on the nuts but seasonal allergies is a whole different game at our house! I'm sad I can't have the windows open in the spring and fall for fear that 2 people in my house will be sneezing and snorting all night.
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