• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Receive Free Recipes by Email
Sign Up
  • About
    • Meet Sara
    • Work With Me
    • Shop My Favorites
    • Discount Codes
    • Contact
  • Resources
    • Business
    • Keto
    • RB Friends FB Group
    • Nut-Free Keto Recipes FB Group
  • Cookbooks

Real Balanced

A food blog dedicated to sharing easy and delicious low-carb, nut-free, and 30-minute recipes and resources.

  • 30-Minute
  • Main Dishes
  • Snacks
  • Low Carb
  • All Recipes
Home Blog Introducing Baby To Peanut Butter In Food Allergy Household

Introducing Baby To Peanut Butter In Food Allergy Household

Published:07/22/20Updated:07/12/22
Leave a Comment This post contains affiliate links.
Introducing Baby To Peanut Butter blue colored banner Pinterest pin image

Lucy is 6 months old now and was recently introduced to peanut butter. I won’t lie, as someone with life-threatening peanut and tree nut allergies, I was a ball of anxiety when we first did this. Thankfully, everything has gone well thus far, so I wanted to share our experience with this, especially if you, too, have nut allergies, are a parent, and are introducing baby to peanut butter.

introducing baby to peanut butter while baby sits in a high chair looking to the side and smiling in front of fire place

Many of you have followed along in my journey of living with food allergies. If you’re new, the short of it is that I was diagnosed with serious food allergies in adulthood. I was hospitalized many times due to allergic reactions, including an overnight stay in the ICU. Since then, I have re-taught myself how to cook using nut-free ingredients.

As a new mom, well, I don’t know what I’m doing. With anything. So, you can imagine how lost I was when it came to feeding my daughter food after 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding. But, it was time to start solid foods and I wanted a well-constructed plan of how this process was going to go. (I also wrote a separate post about how we introduced solid foods to Lucy.)

Before I begin, the disclaimer. I am not, in any way, a medical professional and this is not medical advice. At all. Allergies are SERIOUS and you need to talk to your allergist, your doctor, your child’s doctor, etc. about introducing allergenic foods like peanut butter. I am simply just someone trying to navigate parenthood and sharing what that looks like for our family.

Discussing a plan with doctors

Around the time that Lucy was 4 months old, I spoke with her pediatrician and explained my allergies to her. I then asked what the best course of action would be to introduce peanut butter safely. Her ped reached out to my allergist and they worked together to come up with a plan, which essentially amounted to this:

Introduce peanut butter early on when introducing puréed solid foods. Add a small amount every couple of days to her puréed food.

Her ped also provided me with 2 links (linked below) to learn more about starting solids. Both articles include information about introducing allergenic foods. I would highly suggest reading those.

  • Introducing Solid Foods
  • Starting Solid Foods

I also found this article on my own and it was really helpful:

  • Ask The Pediatrician: When can I start giving my baby peanut butter?

Again, this is what Lucy’s ped and my allergist recommended. Your baby, however, may not be advised to introduce peanut butter at this age. For example, if your baby has exhibited symptoms or has been diagnosed with an egg allergy, they may have a higher likelihood of having a peanut allergy. Additionally, if your baby has has eczema, they may also be more likely to have a peanut allergy. Read more about the group your child may fall into from the AAP. Be sure to talk to your child’s doctor if you have ANY concern about introducing them to peanut butter.

Incorporating peanut butter into baby food

It was important to me to find a brand of peanut butter that did not contain added sugar. If you’ve never looked before, most brands have 2+ ingredients in their peanut butter (typically ingredients like peanuts, some sort of oil, and sugar). Since we are not introducing Lucy to added sugar yet, I definitely didn’t want to use peanut butter that had any in it.

Before I was allergic to peanut butter, we always used to buy Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter, so that’s what we stuck with here. The only ingredient is peanuts.

Since peanut butter is thicker, especially when chilled in the refrigerator, we mixed it into her puréed food, which we purchase from My Serenity Kids.

Our personal plan of introducing baby to peanut butter

Once we felt confident that we knew exactly what we our plan was, this is what we did:

  1. A little more than 2 hours before her bedtime, I breastfed Lucy. I purposely breastfed her before she ate the peanut butter because I didn’t want to risk her having any extra peanut butter in her mouth and then getting it on me if she breastfed after eating.
  2. After she was done breastfeeding, while I stayed in a different room, Ryan mixed together ~1 tsp Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter with some My Serenity Kids puréed food and then he spoon fed her this mixture. She LOVED it.
  3. After she finished eating, Ryan wiped down her face and hands really well to ensure she didn’t have any residual peanut butter on her skin that could transfer to me.
  4. We kept a close eye on her for the next 2 hours to ensure she wasn’t having a reaction at all.

Allergic reactions we were told to look for after introducing peanut butter

The reactions we were told to look for included, but were not limited to, runny nose, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, diarrhea, vomiting, hives, rash, and/or face swelling.

She didn’t experience any issues at all! I cannot even describe my relief about that.

Plan going forward

Going forward, she will be fed about 1 tsp of peanut butter every couple of days. I will be chatting with her pediatrician in the near future to determine exactly how long we need to do this.

If you or someone in your family has a serious food allergy (or any allergy, for that matter), you likely understand why this has been stressful. Living with a food allergy has been really scary for me. I have been hospitalized many times because of allergic reactions and I just really, really, really don’t want Lucy to have to live with allergies like this too.

I hope this information on our experience with introducing baby to peanut butter was helpful! Thanks for following along with our family. And, if you want to read more about my experience as a mom, be sure to take a look at all of my maternity content.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
Previous Post
Nut-Free Keto Donuts
Next Post
Low Carb Keto Berry Recipes

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome, Friend!

My name is Sara Nelson, and I am the face behind Real Balanced. I am a Mom to two and a proud Wisconsinite. Here, you will find easy and delicious tried-and-true recipes that can often be made in minimal time. Read More
K Keto W Whole30 P Paleo DF Dairy-Free CF Coconut-Free VG Vegetarian V Vegan NF Nut-Free EF Egg-Free IP Instant Pot

Popular Recipes

overhead close-up image of creamy tuscan chicken on a castiron skillet atop a marble kitchen table
Net Carbs:4.2g

Creamy Tuscan Chicken

Golden Jicama Fries garnished with freshly chopped parsley on a parchment paper-lined plate atop a marble counter.
Net Carbs:3g

Golden Baked Jicama Fries

Creamy spinach chicken bake on a glass baking dish with a portion scooped up by a spoon.
Net Carbs:5.3g

Creamy Spinach Chicken Bake

Close-up of Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad Cucumber Boats on a plate atop a marble countertop.
Net Carbs:4.5g

Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad Cucumber Boats

A pan of chicken with creamy mushroom sauce.
Net Carbs:6.8g

Chicken With Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Cabbage and sausage on a pan with a wooden spoon.
Net Carbs:7.3g

Cabbage and Sausage

30-Minute Recipes

Cheesy beef casserole with cauliflower rice and spinach in a white ceramic baking dish.
Net Carbs:3.3g

Cheesy Beef Casserole with Cauliflower Rice and Spinach

A pan of creamy dijon chicken.
Net Carbs:3.7g

Creamy Dijon Chicken

A large sheet pan with the sausage and veggies sheet pan dinner.
Net Carbs:5.5g

Sausage And Veggies Sheet Pan Dinner

Overhead shot of the One-Pan Low-Carb Tuscan Garlic Shrimp, garnished with chopped fresh parsley and Italian seasoning, served in a cooking pot with a serving spoon.
Net Carbs:6.4g

Keto Tuscan Garlic Shrimp & Spinach Recipe (One-Pan!)

Loaded Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole on a baking dish with a portion on a fork atop a marble countertop.
Net Carbs:5.8g

Loaded Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole

Creamy Dill Cucumber Onion Salad (With Sour Cream And Mayo) in a ceramic bowl with serving spoons atop a marble counter.
Net Carbs:4.5g

Creamy Dill Cucumber Onion Salad (With Sour Cream And Mayo)

eBook cover for 30-minute low-carb recipe book.
Subscribe & receive my Free 30-Minute Low-Carb Recipes eBook!
Finding time to make quick, delicious, and low-carb meals, snacks, and desserts can feel like a challenge, but it doesn't have to be! This eBook contains 10 recipes that are low-carb that can be made and served in just 30 minutes! Sign Me Up!

Reader Favorites

A pan of creamy dijon chicken.
Net Carbs:3.7g

Creamy Dijon Chicken

Two bowls of Keto Zuppa Toscana on a marble counter. One of the bowls has a spoon in it.
Net Carbs:2.8g

Keto Zuppa Toscana

Creamy spinach chicken bake on a glass baking dish with a portion scooped up by a spoon.
Net Carbs:5.3g

Creamy Spinach Chicken Bake

Garnished Creamy Italian Sausage Soup in a white pot with a wooden spatula, resting on a white kitchen towel, beside two small bowls with shredded parmesan and chopped parsley on a marble countertop.
Net Carbs:7.4g

Creamy Italian Sausage Soup

Baked zucchini slices on a baking sheet.
Net Carbs:0.5g

Baked Sliced Zucchini

As Featured On
Back to Top

Follow Along

  • Join My Groups
  • Nut-Free Keto Recipes
  • Real Balanced Friends
  • 30-Minute Recipes
© Real Balanced 2023
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Disclaimers
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled Back to Top
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.