Wednesday, October 13, 2010

To peanut butter...Or not to peanut butter!

I have a confession to make!  I have become mildly obsessed with whether or not to feed Aiden (13 months) peanut butter!  I juggle between being an easy going momma to a crazy lunatic worry wart of a mother who does only what the doctor says and nothing else!  Can someone please help me find a happy medium?  Our pediatrician insists that no child under the age of 2 should ingest peanut butter due to the increased risk of either developing an allergy or having an allergic reaction.  So when I see my friends feeding their young children (under 2 years of age) peanut butter with no warning from their pediatrician it makes me wonder, should I just go for it?  Then the fear sets in and here is why... After being rushed via ambulance from a local hospital to MUSC Children's Hospital, a 3 day stay in the pediatric unit, 3 visits to the ER, a terrifying visit to the oncologist, and tons of vomit we finally learned that Aiden was severely allergic to milk and eggs.  Since allergies are her specialty, I decided to ask our allergist her expert opinion.  She strongly encouraged us to slowly introduce peanut butter into his diet because according to her, research shows that the sooner a highly allergic child is exposed to highly allergic foods the less likely they will develop an allergy.  Sounds like a good enough reason to break open the Peter Pan right?  Wrong...enter our nutritionist...she strongly discourages feeding Aiden peanut butter due to a high risk of choking!  Really?  Choking!!!  I remember dipping my spoon into the peanut butter jar as a kid while my mom watched and now this lady is telling me my child will choke if I give him peanut butter!   I am a wishful thinking kind of girl, so my wish is that my pediatrician, my allergist, and my nutritionist would all have a pow wow and discuss this peanut butter issue and while they are together they can also determine whether or not Aiden should get the MMR vaccine because I am not completely satisfied with "he may or may not have a reaction because it is harvested in a chick egg therefore it might contain egg enzymes"...Who knew that something so simple could wreak so much havoc in the mind of this first time mom!
Can he be allergic to spaghetti sauce...I think not!

1 comment:

  1. I love it. Truer words were ever spoken and you say it so well!!

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