“The nuts and bolts of getting everyone to buy in to this...”
January 6, 2017 9:18 AM Subscribe
Feed Your Kids Peanuts, Early and Often, New Guidelines Urge [The New York Times] “Peanuts are back on the menu. In a significant reversal from past advice, new national health guidelines call for parents to give their children foods containing peanuts early and often, starting when they’re infants, as a way to help avoid life-threatening peanut allergies. The new guidelines, issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [Full Text] on Thursday, recommend giving babies puréed food or finger food containing peanut powder or extract before they are 6 months old, and even earlier if a child is prone to allergies and doctors say it is safe to do so. One should never give a baby whole peanuts or peanut bits, experts say, because they can be a choking hazard. If broadly implemented, the new guidelines have the potential to dramatically lower the number of children who develop one of the most common and lethal food allergies, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the institute’s director, who called the new approach “game changing.””
Game changing = common sense.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:28 AM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:28 AM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
Yay! I did something correctly when my children were infants! And it totally, absolutely wasn't due to me doing so because it was easy and cheap. No, no, I definitely knew I was setting them up for a lifetime of being able to eat spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar (yes, my college student is home for break and we're on jar #3 in so many weeks, why do you ask?).
posted by cooker girl at 9:29 AM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 9:29 AM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
Maybe after the cancer moonshot is successful we can move on to histamines. The discourse around early foods and allergies is out of control.
posted by rhizome at 9:29 AM on January 6, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 9:29 AM on January 6, 2017 [16 favorites]
When we were at hospital for a follow-up with the paediatrician when my son was on the six month mark (so recommended weaning time in the UK) she pushed peanuts ASAP, as well as recommending that babies eat "family meals" . So one of my son's first ever meals was chicken satay.
He was fine, but I don't think we've ever been so ready to get to hospital quickly as we were that night!
posted by threetwentytwo at 9:32 AM on January 6, 2017 [6 favorites]
He was fine, but I don't think we've ever been so ready to get to hospital quickly as we were that night!
posted by threetwentytwo at 9:32 AM on January 6, 2017 [6 favorites]
Study from US Pork Council scheduled for release next Tuesday finds 'Early Exposure to Peanuts Leading Cause of Leukemia, Urges Early Exposure to Applebees© Down-Home Style Riblets Starting At Eighteen Months As Effective Countermeasure'
posted by mrdaneri at 9:33 AM on January 6, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by mrdaneri at 9:33 AM on January 6, 2017 [24 favorites]
Seriously, though, this is pretty darned amazing:
By the time they turned 5, only 1.9 percent of 530 allergy-prone children who had been fed peanuts had developed an allergy, compared with 13.7 percent of the children who were denied peanuts.
posted by cooker girl at 9:35 AM on January 6, 2017 [22 favorites]
By the time they turned 5, only 1.9 percent of 530 allergy-prone children who had been fed peanuts had developed an allergy, compared with 13.7 percent of the children who were denied peanuts.
posted by cooker girl at 9:35 AM on January 6, 2017 [22 favorites]
Game changing = common sense.
When it comes to infant care, there is very little "common" sense about what is best and what is safe. Different cultures and different generations have sometimes wildly different ideas, and if even the experts are swinging wildly, there's a lot to process. Hindsight is 20/20, so I look forward to hearing from my children what sort of generally accepted parenting practices have been outlawed by the time my grandchildren come around.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:37 AM on January 6, 2017 [61 favorites]
When it comes to infant care, there is very little "common" sense about what is best and what is safe. Different cultures and different generations have sometimes wildly different ideas, and if even the experts are swinging wildly, there's a lot to process. Hindsight is 20/20, so I look forward to hearing from my children what sort of generally accepted parenting practices have been outlawed by the time my grandchildren come around.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:37 AM on January 6, 2017 [61 favorites]
Wow, my kids are both part of the 1.9% then - they both had reactions to peanuts via breastmilk before they were old enough to eat them. Both highly allergic. I ate peanut butter while pregnant and in the first six weeks of nursing specifically to introduce it to them but no luck.
posted by annathea at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by annathea at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2017 [6 favorites]
So, one of those creeps from the Peanut Council got to you too!
I'll be honest, I posted this mostly because the one doctor from the NYT article made that pun in the title...
posted by Fizz at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'll be honest, I posted this mostly because the one doctor from the NYT article made that pun in the title...
posted by Fizz at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Game changing = common sense.
That would be the same "common sense" that allows people to say "vaccinations cause Autism". Believing medical things without proof is just as bad even if you happen to believe the correct thing.
posted by sideshow at 9:41 AM on January 6, 2017 [15 favorites]
That would be the same "common sense" that allows people to say "vaccinations cause Autism". Believing medical things without proof is just as bad even if you happen to believe the correct thing.
posted by sideshow at 9:41 AM on January 6, 2017 [15 favorites]
Game changing = common sense.
Is this the more smug and condescending version of 'This is my surprised face' or, "science confirms the obvious"?
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 9:43 AM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
Is this the more smug and condescending version of 'This is my surprised face' or, "science confirms the obvious"?
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 9:43 AM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
This is bizarre for people like me. I was born in the early '80s, my parents fed me peanuts a LOT, and then suddenly at age four it became a life-threatening allergy that's stuck with me to this day -- and the doctors then specifically told my parents that it was because they had, in fact, fed me peanuts early.
posted by knownassociate at 9:44 AM on January 6, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by knownassociate at 9:44 AM on January 6, 2017 [9 favorites]
So now there's going to be this narrow age band of deathly allergic people progressing through life, which will be kinda weird.
It'll be like all those folks with weird attachment issues because in the early 1900's doctors told folks not to cuddle their babies.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:44 AM on January 6, 2017 [12 favorites]
It'll be like all those folks with weird attachment issues because in the early 1900's doctors told folks not to cuddle their babies.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:44 AM on January 6, 2017 [12 favorites]
So now there's going to be this narrow age band of deathly allergic people progressing through life, with folks older and younger happily rejoicing in peanut glory.
This was my first thought on reading the article. We're finally in a good place with allergy awareness and labelling, though some people go waaaay overboard e.g. With no nuts on planes, and I worry this might start backsliding if 'no one is allergic anymore'. I'm allergic to tree nuts, it sucks, and I'd rather have a cure but that seems a long way off.
posted by wingless_angel at 9:49 AM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
This was my first thought on reading the article. We're finally in a good place with allergy awareness and labelling, though some people go waaaay overboard e.g. With no nuts on planes, and I worry this might start backsliding if 'no one is allergic anymore'. I'm allergic to tree nuts, it sucks, and I'd rather have a cure but that seems a long way off.
posted by wingless_angel at 9:49 AM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Our family doctor at the time recommended we feed the little tadpole bits of whatever we were having at a pretty young age. First time I gave him a taste of peanut butter he got a mild reddish reaction that faded pretty quickly; concerned, we asked about it, and were told "give it a few days then try it again." We did. No reaction. From there out, we fed him what we were having, and he is now 7 years old and (as far as we know) allergy free.
Funny thing though, he won't eat peanut butter. His day care didn't allow it, so he ate sunflower butter at day care. Now in elementary school, he has friends who have allergies, so he consciously chooses to eat sunflower butter - so that his friends don't have to worry. Plus, he likes it. It made at least one friend with allergies feel more normal to have a buddy that ate sunflower butter by choice. That's a good thing.
One poor kid in his day care was allergic to dairy, soy, nuts, wheat, and I think fish. I don't even know how his parents made it through a single day. I can't imagine how horrifying it would be to go through life worrying about anaphylactic shock every single time my kid put something in his mouth.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2017 [14 favorites]
Funny thing though, he won't eat peanut butter. His day care didn't allow it, so he ate sunflower butter at day care. Now in elementary school, he has friends who have allergies, so he consciously chooses to eat sunflower butter - so that his friends don't have to worry. Plus, he likes it. It made at least one friend with allergies feel more normal to have a buddy that ate sunflower butter by choice. That's a good thing.
One poor kid in his day care was allergic to dairy, soy, nuts, wheat, and I think fish. I don't even know how his parents made it through a single day. I can't imagine how horrifying it would be to go through life worrying about anaphylactic shock every single time my kid put something in his mouth.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2017 [14 favorites]
I always had severe doubts about those recommendations, because cultures where peanuts are a basic food group don't have any significant spike in peanut allergies. There was an interesting detail in one of the stories, where apparently the current thinking is that inhalation or skin contact with peanuts before you have incorporated them into your diet may be the real issue.
posted by tavella at 9:51 AM on January 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by tavella at 9:51 AM on January 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
Game changing = common sense.
Sorry to be grumpy, but I really hate it when people respond to scientific findings with "well, duh - everyone knows that".
Because, no - until a hypothesis is tested empirically, we don't know. We might suspect - but even if our suspicion turns out to correct, that could very well be dumb luck. For any given claim, you can probably find other cultures and other eras whose "common sense" says the exact opposite.
Biology and nutrition are really, really complicated. Even actual biologists are still in the dark about how a lot of it works. A layman can't just consider a question, say "I bet the answer is X; that seems to make sense", and then act like those silly scientists are wasting their time by actually, you know, testing the hypothesis.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:53 AM on January 6, 2017 [63 favorites]
Sorry to be grumpy, but I really hate it when people respond to scientific findings with "well, duh - everyone knows that".
Because, no - until a hypothesis is tested empirically, we don't know. We might suspect - but even if our suspicion turns out to correct, that could very well be dumb luck. For any given claim, you can probably find other cultures and other eras whose "common sense" says the exact opposite.
Biology and nutrition are really, really complicated. Even actual biologists are still in the dark about how a lot of it works. A layman can't just consider a question, say "I bet the answer is X; that seems to make sense", and then act like those silly scientists are wasting their time by actually, you know, testing the hypothesis.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:53 AM on January 6, 2017 [63 favorites]
My wife and I were just discussing whether to have our infant (almost six months) to start on peanuts stuff soon. Any advice on the best way to implement this guidance? Do we thin (the non-super sweet) peanut butter out with breast milk and just feed it to her? That seems at odds with the "one thing at a time" advice you get everywhere else.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:53 AM on January 6, 2017
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:53 AM on January 6, 2017
One thing I don't get is why the body reacts specifically to a protein in peanuts, and not to the myriad of other proteins that we're introduced to later in life. I know the hypotheses - helminth parasites and all that - but I've read this and this, and I haven't seen discussion of any mechanisms in the adaptive immune system that would allow the body to remember "bad" proteins across generations. Do we have a reverse-tolerance mechanism that somehow stores an approximate memory of parasite proteins across generations?
And if you tolerate yourself to peanuts, does that mean you'll be more susceptible to some parasites?
posted by clawsoon at 9:54 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
And if you tolerate yourself to peanuts, does that mean you'll be more susceptible to some parasites?
posted by clawsoon at 9:54 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Peanuts are a new world food. How is it that in modern times if you're not exposed to peanuts early, you get a deadly allergy. But in 1500 it was apparently safe enough to become a relatively common foodstuff upon import to other continents? I know there's a half-assed theory here about how our modern environments are just generally much cleaner and that's changed how our immune system works. I wonder if it's really true.
posted by Nelson at 9:55 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Nelson at 9:55 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I could go on and on about all the weird stuff about baby care. Did you know you're not supposed to put a baby to sleep with loose blankets? The blankets could suffocate the baby. They sell these special blanket outfits now, that keep the blanket from suffocating the baby. Previous generations or people who haven't seen the fancy blanket outfits don't understand that. All they see is a baby without any blankets and think, THAT BABY IS COLD. That's not a crazy reaction.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:57 AM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:57 AM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Next up: Let your kid eat dirt, early and often, experts suggest. Actually some experts already suggest that. As early as possible, ie., the first year. Hyper germ phobia is what's keeping kids from exposure to normal, natural germs, pollens, animal dander, and such that they NEED in order to build immunities and prevent allergies.
posted by beagle at 9:57 AM on January 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by beagle at 9:57 AM on January 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
tavella: "I always had severe doubts about those recommendations, because cultures where peanuts are a basic food group don't have any significant spike in peanut allergies. "
On the other hand lactose tolerance.
posted by Mitheral at 9:58 AM on January 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
On the other hand lactose tolerance.
posted by Mitheral at 9:58 AM on January 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
I suppose I got lucky? I never did "baby food;" kids were breastfed & at about 5-7 months started getting small, mashed-up bits of the food we were having. (Pretty much when they started to grab for it themselves.) They got little tastes before that, which they mostly spat out.
I neither promoted nor avoided peanuts, but since I like peanut butter in my oatmeal, I expect they both got some of that, plus peanut butter sandwiches as soon as they were old enough, but that's well past the 6-month mark.
I'm not allergy prone, so I figured, feed the kid what we eat and watch for rashes or other problems. We had no food problems in young childhood. (Older daughter is now allergic to shrimp and some other seafoods, which annoys her greatly because she used to love shrimp.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:59 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I neither promoted nor avoided peanuts, but since I like peanut butter in my oatmeal, I expect they both got some of that, plus peanut butter sandwiches as soon as they were old enough, but that's well past the 6-month mark.
I'm not allergy prone, so I figured, feed the kid what we eat and watch for rashes or other problems. We had no food problems in young childhood. (Older daughter is now allergic to shrimp and some other seafoods, which annoys her greatly because she used to love shrimp.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:59 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
But in 1500 it was apparently safe enough to become a relatively common foodstuff upon import to other continents?
People died an awful lot more frequently of unknown causes in 1500.
posted by tocts at 9:59 AM on January 6, 2017 [30 favorites]
People died an awful lot more frequently of unknown causes in 1500.
posted by tocts at 9:59 AM on January 6, 2017 [30 favorites]
Bulgaroktonos, from the article:
One way to introduce your baby to peanuts safely is to mix a couple of teaspoons of smooth peanut butter with a couple of teaspoons of warm water and stir until it has a smooth soupy or purée-like consistency, suggested Dr. J. Andrew Bird, pediatric allergist with UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, who wrote a paper on the subject.
Foods containing peanuts should not be the first solid a baby eats, Dr. Greenhawt said. It’s also important to continue feeding the peanut-containing food regularly, aiming for three times a week, through childhood.
posted by cooker girl at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
One way to introduce your baby to peanuts safely is to mix a couple of teaspoons of smooth peanut butter with a couple of teaspoons of warm water and stir until it has a smooth soupy or purée-like consistency, suggested Dr. J. Andrew Bird, pediatric allergist with UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, who wrote a paper on the subject.
Foods containing peanuts should not be the first solid a baby eats, Dr. Greenhawt said. It’s also important to continue feeding the peanut-containing food regularly, aiming for three times a week, through childhood.
posted by cooker girl at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Next up: Let your kid eat dirt, early and often, experts suggest.
Oh, I unlocked this parenting achievement just this weekend.
posted by skewed at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [21 favorites]
Oh, I unlocked this parenting achievement just this weekend.
posted by skewed at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [21 favorites]
Previous generations or people who haven't seen the fancy blanket outfits don't understand that. All they see is a baby without any blankets and think, THAT BABY IS COLD. That's not a crazy reaction.
Under our crib we have probably a dozen baby blankets given by well meaning relatives that we have nothing to do with.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:08 AM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Under our crib we have probably a dozen baby blankets given by well meaning relatives that we have nothing to do with.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:08 AM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Under our crib we have probably a dozen baby blankets given by well meaning relatives that we have nothing to do with.
Think of them as a future showroom of woobies.
posted by Etrigan at 10:15 AM on January 6, 2017
Think of them as a future showroom of woobies.
posted by Etrigan at 10:15 AM on January 6, 2017
I've got a 6-year old with a peanut allergy (not too severe, thankfully). Our pediatrician suggested peanut butter around 6 months as a good way to add fat to his diet. Unfortunately, he threw up three times in 4 hours after eating and so we held off on trying more until we got blood work done. Not sure if this guidance would have helped him, and we've already missed the boat for his sister (who's never had peanut anything).
Anyway, personal stories aside, I'm hopeful that we'll actually start learning more soon about just what he hell is going on with food allergies. Because it's real confusing.
posted by that's candlepin at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Anyway, personal stories aside, I'm hopeful that we'll actually start learning more soon about just what he hell is going on with food allergies. Because it's real confusing.
posted by that's candlepin at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Next up: Hit them with BEEEEEEEES!!!!
posted by rtimmel at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by rtimmel at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2017 [18 favorites]
The stuff goes through breastmilk though right?
posted by corb at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by corb at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
bees should absolutely not be in breastmilk
posted by beerperson at 11:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [71 favorites]
posted by beerperson at 11:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [71 favorites]
I'm not getting rid of my chesthive without medical evidence that it's unsafe.
posted by kyrademon at 11:17 AM on January 6, 2017 [32 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 11:17 AM on January 6, 2017 [32 favorites]
Now I'm envisioning breast bee cannons, and the heroines who use them to fight assholery. This is how my mind works now. Thank you.
posted by corb at 11:23 AM on January 6, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by corb at 11:23 AM on January 6, 2017 [22 favorites]
I have friends who, when their kid was about six months, drove her to the parking lot at the local children's hospital and fed her strawberries and peanuts in the car. All was well, so they just drove home and resumed normalcy.
posted by gurple at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by gurple at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2017 [25 favorites]
Now I'm envisioning breast bee cannons, and the heroines who use them to fight assholery.
Oh, no, I'm allergic to bees!
posted by Room 641-A at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2017
Oh, no, I'm allergic to bees!
posted by Room 641-A at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2017
Or the dogs with bees in their mouths, and when they bark they shoot bees at you.
posted by Ragged Richard at 11:45 AM on January 6, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Ragged Richard at 11:45 AM on January 6, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'm not getting rid of my chesthive without medical evidence that it's unsafe.
If Milk and Honey is good enough for Moses...
posted by leotrotsky at 11:46 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
If Milk and Honey is good enough for Moses...
posted by leotrotsky at 11:46 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Any advice on the best way to implement this guidance?
I have seen pieces from other doctors where they suggest that PB powder stuff-- apparently some people consider it a little less likely to cause a reaction.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2017
I have seen pieces from other doctors where they suggest that PB powder stuff-- apparently some people consider it a little less likely to cause a reaction.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2017
You could slather your breasts in peanut butter, stick bees to them, and then nurse your kiddos.
posted by ChuraChura at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
We learned our daughter had a host of allergies because my wife would eat something and later on our daughter would get eczema. We got referred to an allergist who determined she was allergic to eggs, milk, bananas, ground and tree nuts and mustard, but the allergist did say that things are in flux for the first couple of years so they could go away. The allergist also said we should test eating peanut butter and could do that at her office if we wanted. We never did end up doing the test but for whatever reasons the allergies ended up going away with the exception of mustard. First the eggs, milk and tree nuts and then the rest.
I'm glad that these new recommendations are out but I feel really bad for the many parents of kids with allergies who are now second guessing their previous actions.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2017
I'm glad that these new recommendations are out but I feel really bad for the many parents of kids with allergies who are now second guessing their previous actions.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2017
the allergist did say that things are in flux for the first couple of years so they could go away.
Apparently when I was a toddler I broke out in a rash after eating some carrot baby food. My parents were like "well... I mean... it COULD be a coincidence, but... I guess there's only one way to find out!" Then they fed me carrots again and it happened again. Scientific method! Anyways, just a couple of years later I had no allergy to carrots at all, so there's hope!
(The only thing I seem to have an allergy to is fresh passion fruit, which I never had until age 25. Not too difficult to avoid, but damn that one and only passion fruit experience was delicious up until it started being hard to swallow)
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:03 PM on January 6, 2017
Apparently when I was a toddler I broke out in a rash after eating some carrot baby food. My parents were like "well... I mean... it COULD be a coincidence, but... I guess there's only one way to find out!" Then they fed me carrots again and it happened again. Scientific method! Anyways, just a couple of years later I had no allergy to carrots at all, so there's hope!
(The only thing I seem to have an allergy to is fresh passion fruit, which I never had until age 25. Not too difficult to avoid, but damn that one and only passion fruit experience was delicious up until it started being hard to swallow)
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:03 PM on January 6, 2017
Our pediatrician recommended Bamba snacks as a good way to introduce peanuts to infants. Just mash them up and put them in formula/breastmilk while they're not ready for solids just yet.
He's been telling us this since at least 2014, btw, but allergies are one of his specialties.
posted by lydhre at 12:07 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
He's been telling us this since at least 2014, btw, but allergies are one of his specialties.
posted by lydhre at 12:07 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Under our crib we have probably a dozen baby blankets given by well meaning relatives that we have nothing to do with.
you put them on the floor and let the kid roll around on it
or use it in the stroller, or to cover them when nursing, or to wrap in when hanging out with the family.
just because babies shouldn't sleep with blankets doesn't mean they aren't useful.
the floor thing is especially handy - out of the house and no where to lie the baby down to play? throw a blanket on the ground.
posted by jb at 12:10 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
you put them on the floor and let the kid roll around on it
or use it in the stroller, or to cover them when nursing, or to wrap in when hanging out with the family.
just because babies shouldn't sleep with blankets doesn't mean they aren't useful.
the floor thing is especially handy - out of the house and no where to lie the baby down to play? throw a blanket on the ground.
posted by jb at 12:10 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Let your kid eat dirt, early and often, experts suggest.
I attribute my own robust immune system to my voracious childhood appetite for nose goblins.
posted by flabdablet at 12:15 PM on January 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
I attribute my own robust immune system to my voracious childhood appetite for nose goblins.
posted by flabdablet at 12:15 PM on January 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
jb: the floor thing is especially handy - out of the house and no where to lie the baby down to play? throw a blanket on the ground.
But wait, aren't you supposed to throw them directly on the filthy, filthy ground now?
posted by clawsoon at 12:15 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
But wait, aren't you supposed to throw them directly on the filthy, filthy ground now?
posted by clawsoon at 12:15 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
that too, but sometimes the ground is cold or hard.
also, if they spit up, you keep the baby dirt off your nice clean carpet.
posted by jb at 12:27 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
also, if they spit up, you keep the baby dirt off your nice clean carpet.
posted by jb at 12:27 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is bizarre for people like me. I was born in the early '80s, my parents fed me peanuts a LOT, and then suddenly at age four it became a life-threatening allergy that's stuck with me to this day -- and the doctors then specifically told my parents that it was because they had, in fact, fed me peanuts early.
Out of all the systems in the body, even now the immune system remains one of the least understood. It extremely complex with a variety of different actors. I can't imagine what we knew 30 years ago.
posted by Anonymous at 12:27 PM on January 6, 2017
Out of all the systems in the body, even now the immune system remains one of the least understood. It extremely complex with a variety of different actors. I can't imagine what we knew 30 years ago.
posted by Anonymous at 12:27 PM on January 6, 2017
just because babies shouldn't sleep with blankets doesn't mean they aren't useful.
Yes I am aware of things you can do with blankets. We use a couple blankets for those things, and have a dozen extras because everyone wants to give the baby a blanket. Thanks for the condescension though, that was a nice way to end the day.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:28 PM on January 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yes I am aware of things you can do with blankets. We use a couple blankets for those things, and have a dozen extras because everyone wants to give the baby a blanket. Thanks for the condescension though, that was a nice way to end the day.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:28 PM on January 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Sorry that was ruder than I meant to be, feeling kind of crummy today.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:34 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:34 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
I had a lot of sensitivities (rash, tummy troubles, general discomfort) but outgrew most of them.
The only downside I see to this research is that people with genuine allergies might have more trouble being taken seriously.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:42 PM on January 6, 2017
The only downside I see to this research is that people with genuine allergies might have more trouble being taken seriously.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:42 PM on January 6, 2017
Bamba is one of the first foods they give babies in Israel, and peanut allergies there are really rare. People have been saying there may be a connection for years now.
posted by Mchelly at 12:50 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 12:50 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Here in the U.K., baby blankets are considered fine, but keeping your baby in an infant car seat for more than a couple of hours is dangerous. Maybe we could swap you those unused blankets for one car seats in some sort of mass trans-Atlantic cargo-ship exchange?
That's the other thing about "it's just common sense!" - baby advice even to the point of official recommendations are so culture- and country- dependent. Whatever common sense thing you're doing and wherever you're doing it, there's probably someone else who'd think you're being totally neurotic and also someone who'd think you're being dangerously lax, and both of them think that's just totally obvious common sense and who on earth wouldn't know that, tsch people these days!
(Obviously that doesn't mean that recommendations like this one aren't evidence-based and sensible. But I too am looking forward to seeing how much changes in the future as we all learn new things, and our adult kids look on us with horror as they have their own babies. "You didn't feed peanuts? You swaddled? You dressed babies in green? Were you mad?")
posted by Catseye at 12:52 PM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
That's the other thing about "it's just common sense!" - baby advice even to the point of official recommendations are so culture- and country- dependent. Whatever common sense thing you're doing and wherever you're doing it, there's probably someone else who'd think you're being totally neurotic and also someone who'd think you're being dangerously lax, and both of them think that's just totally obvious common sense and who on earth wouldn't know that, tsch people these days!
(Obviously that doesn't mean that recommendations like this one aren't evidence-based and sensible. But I too am looking forward to seeing how much changes in the future as we all learn new things, and our adult kids look on us with horror as they have their own babies. "You didn't feed peanuts? You swaddled? You dressed babies in green? Were you mad?")
posted by Catseye at 12:52 PM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
I had never heard of Bamba before this story; I am ordering some off Amazon to see what all the fuss is about.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:55 PM on January 6, 2017
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:55 PM on January 6, 2017
ThePinkSuperhero: I had never heard of Bamba before this story; I am ordering some off Amazon to see what all the fuss is about.
In ten years there'll be one of those "How rich would you be if you had bought one share of Bamba stock instead of a case of Bamba?" stories.
posted by clawsoon at 1:03 PM on January 6, 2017
In ten years there'll be one of those "How rich would you be if you had bought one share of Bamba stock instead of a case of Bamba?" stories.
posted by clawsoon at 1:03 PM on January 6, 2017
also, if they spit up, you keep the baby dirt off your nice clean carpet.
If small children are around, the carpet probably isn't nice and clean.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:04 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
If small children are around, the carpet probably isn't nice and clean.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:04 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ours is still an infant, so the carpet is usually fine. The wall by the changing table, on the other hand, has seem some things.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:10 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:10 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
As though 'nice and clean' can ever accurately describe a carpet
posted by beerperson at 1:15 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by beerperson at 1:15 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
flabdablet: "Let your kid eat dirt, early and often, experts suggest.
I attribute my own robust immune system to my voracious childhood appetite for nose goblins."
Science wants to have a word.
posted by chavenet at 1:25 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I attribute my own robust immune system to my voracious childhood appetite for nose goblins."
Science wants to have a word.
posted by chavenet at 1:25 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
We stopped keeping peanut products in the house because a kid at my son's school has an allergy and I'm not confident I can wipe him down enough to be safe. But I forgot that we do need to feed the baby peanuts so I'm putting peanut butter back on my grocery list and only using it on the weekends.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 1:33 PM on January 6, 2017
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 1:33 PM on January 6, 2017
Science wants to have a word.
Apparently it's not fussed about talking to Australians though.
popsci geolocation grar
posted by flabdablet at 1:34 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Apparently it's not fussed about talking to Australians though.
popsci geolocation grar
posted by flabdablet at 1:34 PM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
My wife and I were just discussing whether to have our infant (almost six months) to start on peanuts stuff soon. Any advice on the best way to implement this guidance? Do we thin (the non-super sweet) peanut butter out with breast milk and just feed it to her? That seems at odds with the "one thing at a time" advice you get everywhere else.
What I had always heard was to put a bit of the food (peanut butter, strawberries, what-have-you) on the child's shoulder. If the child has an allergy to the food it's likely that the skin will react with a rash. If the skin looks okay, try offering the food to the child. (On the back of the shoulder because it's an area that the child can't reach easily, so you won't be confusing a rash with an area that the child scratched).
Don't bother mixing food with breastmilk; let the child experience the actual taste of the food as it is, so that they can develop their taste buds. Same goes with those ridiculous pouches and weird babyfood mixes; just give them one vegetable at a time so they can figure out what real vegetables taste like.
posted by vignettist at 1:57 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
What I had always heard was to put a bit of the food (peanut butter, strawberries, what-have-you) on the child's shoulder. If the child has an allergy to the food it's likely that the skin will react with a rash. If the skin looks okay, try offering the food to the child. (On the back of the shoulder because it's an area that the child can't reach easily, so you won't be confusing a rash with an area that the child scratched).
Don't bother mixing food with breastmilk; let the child experience the actual taste of the food as it is, so that they can develop their taste buds. Same goes with those ridiculous pouches and weird babyfood mixes; just give them one vegetable at a time so they can figure out what real vegetables taste like.
posted by vignettist at 1:57 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
And people wonder why climate change deniers have such success in the face of scientific consensus.
A: "Science says man-made climate change is real!"
B: "The same science that said to keep peanuts away from our kids to prevent peanut allergies, then decades later said to give our kids peanuts to prevent peanut allergies? That science? And wait, what was that about eggs? Hmmmmm?"
It's stupid, but if you don't pay attention beyond headlines it's compelling.
Food science stories are the best friends the fossil fuel industry ever had. Gah.
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 1:57 PM on January 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
A: "Science says man-made climate change is real!"
B: "The same science that said to keep peanuts away from our kids to prevent peanut allergies, then decades later said to give our kids peanuts to prevent peanut allergies? That science? And wait, what was that about eggs? Hmmmmm?"
It's stupid, but if you don't pay attention beyond headlines it's compelling.
Food science stories are the best friends the fossil fuel industry ever had. Gah.
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 1:57 PM on January 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
There's nothing quite so frightening as watching your baby struggle to take a breath. So yeah, as far as I'm concerned the "science" brought to us by the bought media can go pound sand.
posted by vignettist at 2:00 PM on January 6, 2017
posted by vignettist at 2:00 PM on January 6, 2017
There were especially a lot of unexplained deaths of babies and young children prior to 1500. The infant and child mortality rate was a lot higher then than now.
posted by Anne Neville at 2:06 PM on January 6, 2017
posted by Anne Neville at 2:06 PM on January 6, 2017
Why, vignettist? If this reduces peanut allergies, it will mean fewer babies struggling to breathe because of food allergies. I find it hard to see that as anything other than a good thing.
posted by Anne Neville at 2:09 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Anne Neville at 2:09 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
vignettist: What I had always heard was to put a bit of the food (peanut butter, strawberries, what-have-you) on the child's shoulder. If the child has an allergy to the food it's likely that the skin will react with a rash.
Umm, not to contradict, but I'm pretty sure that the correct approach is to coat a parasitic worm in peanut butter and tape it to your child's skin.
posted by clawsoon at 2:10 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
Umm, not to contradict, but I'm pretty sure that the correct approach is to coat a parasitic worm in peanut butter and tape it to your child's skin.
posted by clawsoon at 2:10 PM on January 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
So, one of those creeps from the Peanut Council Illuminutty got to you too!
Fixed that for you fnord.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:20 PM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
Fixed that for you fnord.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:20 PM on January 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
Harvey Jerkwater: "And people wonder why climate change deniers have such success in the face of scientific consensus."
Because they don't understand how science works either willfully or ignorantly (or both possibly). And if they were serious about this instead of just using it to be contrary they wouldn't be using fire. "Last week Oog said fire bad now he saying it make food taste better; how the heck can he be trusted?"
posted by Mitheral at 2:32 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Because they don't understand how science works either willfully or ignorantly (or both possibly). And if they were serious about this instead of just using it to be contrary they wouldn't be using fire. "Last week Oog said fire bad now he saying it make food taste better; how the heck can he be trusted?"
posted by Mitheral at 2:32 PM on January 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
Holy shit, I had no idea my wife felt so strongly about this!
posted by Naberius at 4:30 PM on January 6, 2017
posted by Naberius at 4:30 PM on January 6, 2017
>Bamba is one of the first foods they give babies in Israel, and peanut allergies there are really rare. People have been saying there may be a connection for years now.
That's a fascinating link, Mchelly:
Before I undertook to stave off development of peanut allergy by early exposure, I'd want a better sense of what might be causing the rapid rise of such allergies in the first place:
posted by jamjam at 8:26 PM on January 6, 2017
That's a fascinating link, Mchelly:
Israeli children suffer from peanut allergies at only one-tenth the rate of their Western counterparts with similar genetic backgrounds, and medical researchers think they know the reason: Eating Bamba, an iconic peanut-flavored snack considered a staple of Israeli childhood.Is it called "Bamba" because it's made from the Bambarra groundnut? That's a West African variety and a different species than the typical American peanut, which is native to South America.
Before I undertook to stave off development of peanut allergy by early exposure, I'd want a better sense of what might be causing the rapid rise of such allergies in the first place:
Peanut allergies have doubled over the last decade and now affect more than 2 percent of kids in the United States and growing numbers of them in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Peanuts are the leading cause of food allergy-related severe reactions and deaths. Unlike many other allergies, it is not outgrown with age.Allergies are an autoimmune disease, and lots of legumes contain a very potent immune modulator, l-canavanine, which is known to exacerbate lupus -- it may even trigger it -- and I just looked at a few lupus-oriented websites which suggest avoiding peanuts and alfalfa in the same breath because of canavanine, but I can't find any confirmation that peanuts contain it from a source I'd consider authoritative.
posted by jamjam at 8:26 PM on January 6, 2017
I grew up pretty much refusing to eat anything except fruit and peanut butter. It was a sad dark day when at 40 I suddenly developed a peanut allergy.
(The allergist who tested it said one theory with late onset allergies like mine was that all the early exposure gave me an immunity similar to having allergy shots, but that it wears off when the hormones start to shift. I'm sure I'm getting some of that wrong, since I am not an allergist, but it's the general drift of what he said.)
posted by frumiousb at 10:06 PM on January 6, 2017
(The allergist who tested it said one theory with late onset allergies like mine was that all the early exposure gave me an immunity similar to having allergy shots, but that it wears off when the hormones start to shift. I'm sure I'm getting some of that wrong, since I am not an allergist, but it's the general drift of what he said.)
posted by frumiousb at 10:06 PM on January 6, 2017
Having seen the first studies a while back of early exposure to peanuts reducing rates of anaphylaxis in kids in Israel vs their kin in nut-averse UK, I started our first one at 4 months adding small but increasing amounts of peanut to breast milk, progressing to pure spoonfuls over 8 weeks or so. It worked out okay, along with adding some other allergens on a similar cycle. The peds doc at that time was sceptical, but he came around.
posted by meehawl at 11:41 PM on January 6, 2017
posted by meehawl at 11:41 PM on January 6, 2017
Is it called "Bamba" because it's made from the Bambarra groundnut? That's a West African variety and a different species than the typical American peanut, which is native to South America.
No, it's made with peanuts imported from Argentina. (I mean, that may still be the etymology, but it's not the source of the nuts.)
posted by the latin mouse at 3:10 AM on January 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
No, it's made with peanuts imported from Argentina. (I mean, that may still be the etymology, but it's not the source of the nuts.)
posted by the latin mouse at 3:10 AM on January 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
According to Bambas website, it was originally a cheese snack, so I think the name is a coincidence.
posted by ambulocetus at 4:29 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ambulocetus at 4:29 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
So when can I bring a peanut butter sandwich to childcare? Soon, I hope?
posted by Toddles at 5:48 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Toddles at 5:48 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Allergies are so weird. Late one night I was working late with my boss, who was in his late 50s at the time, and his lips swelled up to comical proportions after eating some hot nuts he had brought as a snack. I was so exhausted I barely took notice. I didn't want to say anything because I couldn't tell that it wasn't a hallucination until he said that he had called his doctor wife who told him to take a bunch of Benadryl and not worry about it unless it got worse, so I went back to working. He took the Benadryl, and an hour later everything was back to normal.
Never before and never again did he have that kind of reaction to peanuts or the spicy seasoning. I'm still not entirely sure I didn't hallucinate the whole thing. I had been up for a couple days straight at that point, after all. I guess my point is that bodies are weird.
posted by wierdo at 10:01 PM on January 21, 2017
Never before and never again did he have that kind of reaction to peanuts or the spicy seasoning. I'm still not entirely sure I didn't hallucinate the whole thing. I had been up for a couple days straight at that point, after all. I guess my point is that bodies are weird.
posted by wierdo at 10:01 PM on January 21, 2017
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