Category: Allergies

The research is out and studies have shown that introducing peanut products to infants as early as four-months-old can help prevent peanut allergies. Peanut butter and peanut powder are easy ways to incorporate peanuts into your infant’s diet. In honor of #NationalPeanutMonth, here are some quick and easy recipes to save you some time in the kitchen. (Click on recipe titles for links to delicious treats)

1. Strawberry, Banana, Peanut Powder Smoothie

Five ingredients and a blender are all you need for this sharable treat! Peanut powder is a light and easy to use in smoothies such as this one from Meatloaf and Melodrama.

2. Peanut Butter and Butternut Squash

Check out this easy recipe from National Peanut Board that you can easily add into your infant’s diet with no fuss! Simply add 1/4 of a cup of peanut butter into butternut squash puree and you’ll have this lunch ready to go.

3. Peanut Butter Breakfast Bites

Six Sister’s Stuff shows how to make these breakfast bites that are an easy treat to make for your little one as a quick breakfast or mid-day snack.

4. Peanut Butter Teething Biscuits

These biscuits are great for teething infants. Whip up these treats and place them in the freezer overnight for extra soothing on those irritated gums. Check out this recipe from the National Peanut Board.

5. Peanut Butter Banana Nibblers

This recipe for frozen banana bites are easy to make with ingredients you probably already have around the kitchen. All you need is greek yogurt, peanut butter and a few ripe bananas.  

For an infant who is not to solid foods yet, incorporating peanut products is as simple as adding a teaspoon of peanut butter into some formula before feeding. This video from the National Peanut Board has some other great ideas on how to use peanut products in your infant’s diet. Share your favorite #earlyintroduction recipes with us on social media!

There is nothing scarier to a mother or father than their child being in danger. A common concern today is life-threatening food allergies, many of which are from peanuts and peanut products. According to The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunity, the rate of peanut allergies in children, as reported in a telephone survey, more than tripled between 1997 and 2008. This is about the time period mothers were encouraged to avoid any and every peanut product while pregnant, and told to wait several years into the child’s life before introducing peanuts into their diets.

However, the word is out and the science has proven that introducing peanut products to infants starting at about 4 months of age is the best way to prevent a peanut allergy from developing. In order to understand why this is, it is important to understand what a peanut allergy is, the level of risk the infant has for developing a peanut allergy, and ways to safely and effectively introduce the peanut product into their diets.

The National Peanut Board has provided more information about clinical guidelines and safe ways to begin early introduction of peanut butter to infants such as recipes for baby teething biscuits and peanut butter and butternut squash.

National Peanut Board

For more information, visit the links below:

http://nationalpeanutboard.org/wellness/allergies/npb-cosponsorship-of-leap-study-is-impetus-for-new-national-institutes-of-health-guidelines.htm

https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/guidelines-clinicians-and-patients-food-allergy

https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/nih-sponsored-expert-panel-issues-clinical-guidelines-prevent-peanut-allergy

http://nationalpeanutboard.org/news/5-easy-ideas-to-introduce-peanut-to-infants.htm

http://peanutallergyfacts.org/blog/behind-the-headlines-a-pediatrician-talks-about-leap-on