Talking Allergies

My 4 year old son has a peanut allergy - it was 'mild' when he was first diagnosed but has since escalated to 'severe' (as of the most recent blood test he's had). We do not have any peanut products in our home -nothing that has any peanut warning whatsoever ('processed on equipment that also processes peanuts' or 'may contain traces of peanuts', etc). While it sucks that he has a peanut allergy, I guess we are lucky in that he only has 2 allergies - cats and peanuts. My son never had a reaction to peanuts that we knew of - the allergy was found during 'routine' allergy testing because of his asthma when he was about 2 1/2. He'd eaten peanut butter and other peanut products, but he never liked them, would eat a bite or two and spit it out. We didn't think too much of it until the allergy test revealed peanuts, and then it all made sense... After we found out about the allergy, my son told me "I don't like peanut butter because it makes my mouth tickle." So I guess he did have a reaction, but we just weren't aware at the time...

Anyway, I also have a 2 1/2 year old son. We know he is allergic to cats like his brother (and me and my husband) - we all have the same wheezy reaction to them. He has never had a reaction to any food that we are aware of. We do not give him peanut butter or peanut products simply because we do not keep them in the house. He has had some treats with the 'may contain' warnings at daycare. He had a peanut butter sandwich once when he was about 13 months before we knew of his brother's allergy. He seemed to love it.

I've met a lot of people whose kids have nut allergies and everyone seems to have a different theory when it comes to the (at least apparantly) non-allergenic child. I've read things that say that we should expose the non-allergenic child to a peanut product to possibly prevent an allergy. and I've read the opposite. I've read that we shouldn't expose him before age 3 because of the family history. I've talked to people who after their experience with their allergic child, they would only give their other child(ren) peanut butter in the ER or a doctor's office.

We live in an apartment building and there is another family with 2 girls ages 3 and 5 - the 3 year old has a peanut allergy. The mother keeps peanut butter in the house as her 5 year old loves it - she makes her older daughter peanut butter sandwiches but always uses a plastic knife and prepared on a paper plate (so she can throw them out when she's done). This seems to work for her, though I'm not comfortable doing the same.

What I want to know is, if you have one child with a peanut/nut allergy, how do you deal with your other children who do not have that allergy? Do you give your other children peanuts/nuts? Did you wait longer to introduce them? Did you introduce the food in a doctor's office? My 2 1/2 year old has been exposed to peanuts, and while I'd love to say I'm 'sure' he's not allergic - the allergy did come as a complete surprise to us when my 4 year old was tested (he was 2 1/2 at the time we found out), so it's quite possible that the same thing could happen with my youngest. I don't know if my doctor will send him for allergy tests just because his brother has the allergy (is he more likely to have the allergy because his brother does?) - I haven't asked her about it. But I'd really like to know that he is safe with nuts for sure so that I can rest easy when he's away from home...

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Mom to 2 boys:
Connor, 5, asthma, allergic to peanuts, cats, dogs, dust mites, and summer moulds
Eric, 3 1/2, no allergies

Check out this link: http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/vie ... ht=sibling
I have to run, but I'll post more when I can.

I started a discussion along this line a while ago.
www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=915
I hope this link will work.

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

Thank you both for that link

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Mom to 2 boys:
Connor, 5, asthma, allergic to peanuts, cats, dogs, dust mites, and summer moulds
Eric, 3 1/2, no allergies

Hi Tara,

Our older daughter is allergic to peanuts/nuts so we were told to wait until my son was 4 to introduce him to these products. So we took him to my parent's house to try it there. We gave him peanut butter and he was fine...thank goodness:D:D. We occasionally give him peanut/nut products but we always do it at my parents' or cousin's house. And then we make sure he washes his hands, mouth and face. I can't take the chance of him coming home and kissing our daughter.

So we will do the same when our youngest turns 4 and hope for the same result.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

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7 year old daughter-Allergic to Peanuts/Nuts
6 year old son-No allergies
4 year old daughter-No allergies

My 15 year old developed a peanut allergy by the time he was 10 months old. He had had it spread thin on toast. We have never kept peanut butter in our home since. I have a 10 year old who has only had 2 tsp. of peanut butter in his life. To try him I took him to 2 different friends homes, away from his older brother, and with epipens. He has not had it since. He had skin tests done on him on Monday for fruit and vegetable, and the doctor wanted to test him for peanut. He tested positive. The doctor then did blood work to send to Toronto to see if it comes back positve also. Our 8 year old has never had peanut butter. He will be tested at the doctor first.

Tara,

Our daughter tested positive for egg and dairy when she was 10 months old, she also has asthma.
Or allergist advised not to try peanuts or tree nuts until she was 5 years old as she seemed to be predisposed to developing allergies. When she turnd 5 he refused to test for foods she had not eaten as the % of false positives is too high and how can one develop the IGE's if they haven't ben introduced?
We have since tried nuts and she is allergic. I hope it goes better for you.
What does your allergist suggest?

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb