New Peanut Allergy Guidelines for Babies

My wife and I were watching NBC News this evening and saw this report, in which scientists concluded that eating peanuts early in life was safe.

We immediately gave our baby girl a spoonful of peanut butter. Have you ever watched a baby eat peanut butter? Hilarious!.. and apparently healthy.

Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, an allergy specialist at Children's Hospital Of Colorado told the Huffington Post, "It appears there is a window of time in which the body is more likely to tolerate a food than react to it, and if you can educate the body during that window, you’re at much lower likelihood of developing an allergy to that food.... You have the potential to stop something [an allergy] in its tracks before it develops.”

High-risk infants should be tested at a specialist's office when they're 4 to 6 months old. The Dr. can monitor to make sure nothing happens when the child gets a small dose.

Moderate-risk infants can be fed a little peanut-containing food at home without a doctor's supervision but should watch for any sort of reaction.

Low-risk children can get peanut-containing foods after they start solid foods.

You still shouldn't give your baby peanuts or pieces of peanuts because they can be a choking hazard.

To read the full report, click here.