Breast Feeding and PA Poll

My first son, now 7 and PA, would not breastfeed (he is also Asperger's). My step-son was born with aortic valve stenosis and had open heart surgery at 6 days old. Needless to say, he was not breast fed either. So, when my daughter was born 2.5 years ago, I opted not to breast feed. I didn't think it was fair to the two older brothers who couldn't be breast fed. She is also PA.

One of the only things I could eat without becoming nauseous during both my pregnancies was peanuts or peanut butter. I consumed more peanuts during my pregnancies than you can imagine.

Since there is no history of food allergies in my family and neither I nor my children were breast fed, I tend to believe that it was all the peanuts I ate during pregnancy which led to the allergy...

Just my thought.
~Melanie

I breastfed my dd for 13 months and ds for 10 months (in hopes to reduce allergies). I also craved pb during my pregnancies. DD allergic, DS not yet tested.

My 18 month old PA daughter is still breastfeeding. I did not really eat that much peanut butter while pregnant or during early breastfeeding. Maybe once or twice a month.

Paula

[This message has been edited by pjpowell (edited May 22, 2003).]

DD was breast fed exclusively for the first five months of her life- *no* supplementation other than the four ounces of soy formula the hospital gave her (that we had previously requested in writing that they NOT do). I wonder about that dose of soy now.
She was not "weaned" until she was 14 months old. This was done entirely with expressed milk, since dd would not breast feed after she was three months old. This was hellish, to put it mildly, since I worked very long and erratic days as a professor at the time and could not do some of my own laboratory work because I was breast feeding my daughter. Finding forty minutes to pump in the middle of each day was awful- I added up once how much time I spent with a breast pump that year... yowza. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/eek.gif[/img] If dd had NO allergies, this all would have been worth it to me- no question...
(bitterly) We did this to "protect" her from food allergies. I even asked about avoiding certain foods and was told not to be silly. I have sometimes wondered if this didn't make the problem worse than it would otherwise have been.

(Sorry, but this is one subject that just breaks my heart. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img] )

[This message has been edited by Corvallis Mom (edited May 22, 2003).]

Corvallis' Mom, I also tried to bf exclusively for health and allergy reasons, but was not educated on peanut allergy being passed in breastmilk and during gestation. I stayed at home, and *still* had to pump a couple of times a day simply to boost my milk and to continue breastfeeding. We actually finally got into a groove at 11 months and then dd kept breastfeeding until 21 months!

I was very diappointed when she had egg and peanut allergies. I did eat PB alot while pg and during breastfeeding. However, she only had 2 colds in her life prior to weaning totally off the breast. Not sure if it is coincidence or not. becca

My son, Cody, will be 1 year in June and is still breastfeeding. Peanut butter and peanut products have always been my fav foods. Up until his allergy was discovered I would eat at least 1 pb&j a day (I was addicted!), and then I gave it up to continue to breastfeed him. I was told be a nurse at his new allergists office that the proteins are not passed through breastmilk and that he wasn't even allergic to peanuts at all (she had phoned to give me blood test results), so I added peanut butter back into my diet. The next day Cody started having (sorry to be so descriptive) mucosy bm and hives, so I don't beleive that it's not passed through breastmilk. Considering he has reacted this way whenever I have eaten p-nut products is just too much of a coincidence.

~Steph

Yes, I breastfed my DD and I'm pretty certain that her exposure to peanut protein in my breastmilk sensitized her and led to the allergy. I was a pretty heavy peanut eater both during pregnancy and lactation. There was no family history of food allergies, so I wasn't worried about it (stupid me: there WAS a family history of other allergies and I didn't realize that that tendency could lead to food allergies).

Covallis Mom--interestingly, my experience was somewhat like yours. My DD abruptly weaned at seven months old, so for health reasons, I pumped exclusively until she was just over a year old. That got really old, really fast. I didn't count *time*that I pumped, but at the end of the year, I figured out how many *ounces* I had pumped. I forget what it was now, but I know it was enough to make any cow proud!

When pregnant with my DS and while nursing him (he weaned just last month at 25 months old!) I avoided peanuts entirely. He appears to have no food allergies, but we still keep him away from peanuts (just in case, and also because when is he going to eat them? He and his sister move as a unit through life at this point, so he's rarely away from her and out of the house to eat separately from her).

Even knowing what I do now, I still am glad that I breastfed my DD. Who knows?--she may have had the allergy anyway! But I do know that the breastfeeding had many other benefits (i.e. she also had reflux and breastfeeding is better for dealing with that). I'm just glad that I was more educated when baby #2 came along and that doctors are educating first-time moms better.

Sarah

I threw up for 9 months both times I was prego and one of the only things I could keep down was pb so I ate a lot of it and nuts. I also ate a lot of it when I was breastfeeding my first child because I didn't know better. Now I have a 5 1/2 month old and I don't eat nuts or shell fish. I am hoping that she is not allergic but I did eat pb and nuts while I was prego with her and the first 3 months of breastfeeding until I found out about her sisters allergy. We do have a lot of allergies on both sides of our family so I don't know if there is a correlation but in my gut I feel that there is.

One hot topic here. I also breastfed my DD until she was a year. I wasn't big into PB during nursing but I had almost daily PB&J sandwiches when pregnant.

I had read warnings when pregnant about food allergies but since there is no family history of them I wasn't worried about it. Only I didn't realize at the time the correlation between a family history of asthma and other environmental allergies and the tendency to have food allergies.

SO many studies out there about this. One that I read recently mentioned that Peanuts during the 1st and 2nd trimester was okay but not during the 3rd... Can't remember why though.

I breastfed my PA son until he was 12 months. I too craved PB when PG and while breastfeeding. :-( I also breastfed my 5 year old daughter but rarely ate Peanut Butter and she has no allergies. I am currently breastfeeding my 4 week old and I am making sure to stay away from any nut products and eating a variety in the rest of my diet.

I just thought I'd throw this in: I didn't breastfeed my youngest (DD), but she didn't get a single cold until she was nearly two and she got strep. I didn't know she was sick, she just grew this weird red lump on her neck, which turned out to be a strep infection. Other than that, the choice not to breast feed didn't reflect on her overall health in any way.

My son, on the other hand, who wouldn't breast feed, had asthma, eczema, and croup constantly from about 6 months on.

Wow, I feel like an outcast having not breast fed! Oh well. Point being, I guess, is that mine were not breast fed, therefore were PA from something entirely different.. like my eating tons of peanuts throughout the pregnancy.

~Melanie

Wow....glad I asked the question. My feelings on the whole thing are that these foods should be avoided if there is a family history of allergy. Like many of you I didn't have the info at the time, and even if I did I still would have probably eaten it becasue I wasn't aware of a family history....I didn't know that seasonal allergies, asthma, eczema etc...were all related (we do have history of that, but not PA) We were in the position that we didn't know my dh's history because he was adopted.... Uhm, I dont know...I just didn't have all the info at the time, to make a choice to eat it or not. I think our child already had the allergy and that we probably "helped" it along (for lack of better word) If I had my time back, I would have avoided these foods completely....maybe they would have had a better chance at outgrowing the allergy (another , I question if possible)....all just speculation. It is very interesting to see how many were breastfed though. Logan nursed exclusively for the first 6 months, night weaned at 16 months, and now is down to one feeding before bed. I really believe in my heart that I contributed to his PA by eating PB and peanut products.... One more comment, my friend who is preg, was told by her Dr. to eat all those "iffy" things to help her baby bulid immmunities to them....I was floored, and unfortunatley she took his advice over mine.... it will be interesting to see. Well, thanks everyone for replying, I've been curious about this since the day he was diagnosed....3 mths ago.
Thanks
Lisa

I breastfeed both of my children well over 12 months of age. My PA child is the oldest. I rarely ate peanut butter during pregnancy, and with no family history, didn't worry about it. I do believe it was due to my few peanut butter sandwiches that caused the allergy. My daughter was diagnosed at 9 mo with this and other food allergies. I just eliminated peanut butter, eggs and dairy from my diet while breastfeeding. Staying off these foods four years later I don't miss anything - and my cholesterol level is great!

While pregnant, I ate PB by the spoonfuls! I sometimes would get soooooooooo hungry and it was the quickest thing to eat. I continued to eat PB while nursing until my son had an anaphylatic reaction at 22 months. I stopped all PB then and my son did not wean until just past 4 years old.

Throughout those first 22 months, there were "signs" of PA but none of the docs picked up on it. Dr. Wood (Hopkins) believes that, based on Zak's history, he was PA from birth. Dr. Wood also said not to beat myself up re the PB I ate as there is no conclusive evidence. (I'm not totally convinced.)

No one in my family has food allergies. However, in my DH's family, there are "slight" allergies (hey, that's what I was told after discovering of Zak's PA!) to seafood at times and also some are allergic to cats. (We have a cat--so far, no problem there that I can see!)

------------------
Donni

[son 4 1/2 years--anaphylatic reaction without ingestion to peanut @ 22 months; contact allergic to peanut, sesame seed, & chickpea; possible airborn reaction to peanut if in closed environment; CAP RAST also shows allergy to almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts (avoiding all tree nuts) but no known reaction to tree nuts]

Hi, I have two sons, I breastfed both until about 13 months old. I did eat pb while pregnant and nursing. We have a family history of food allergies, I just didnt know it would be a problem. Was told breastfeeding lessened the chances of food allergies.

Well my 7 yr old eats pb just about every day. And my 5 yr old is pa.

So I guess either I blew that theory or my 7 year old beat the odds!

I think that no one should beat themselves up for eating pb while preg. or nursing. We dont know for sure what causes it and even if we knew now, we didnt do it intentionally.

I breastfed my PA son for 10 or 11 months and my non PA daughter I breastfed for 11 or 12 months. I had the same diet basically for both pregnancys and while breastfeeding both.

I have triplet boys, all were breastfed for the first two-three weeks, after that it was formula. I did not crave/eat a lot of peanut products during pregnancy. 1 son has PA, the other 2 do not.

In our case, the breastfeeding was probably not a factor.

Take care,

Kelly

I never bf any of my children. My youngest son is PA. I never ate peanuts or peanut butter or even nuts (I don't particularly like them!) FA run in my husband's family though neither one of us has any food allergies. I guess in his case,it's in the genes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img]

I am concerned that this could become an argument for not breastfeeding, but that should NEVER be an option. As Chele Marmet, a lactation consultant so rightly put it: "People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi...They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available."

I ate a lot of peanuts while pregnant and breastfeeding my son. We thought he was just a "spit-uppy" baby, who also had environmental allergies and eczema, but on later reflection, he was probably drooling constantly and had the other symptoms because of my eating peanuts.
We didn't get his PA diagnosis until my daughter was three days old, so although I had been more careful during my pregnancy with her (we suspected all nuts until his diagnosis), I still occasionally ate peanuts.
I could get myself all worked up about it, but there's really no point. It's like schizophrenia - there are a lot of things that can contribute to it, but no one of them actually "causes" it; it's the culmination of genetics, environment, and chance. I believe I did the best thing in breastfeeding my son (until 15 months), despite eating peanuts all the way through. Who knows how much worse off he would have been if I hadn't breastfed?

Hi Ms. Belinda,
Before i continue, I first want to say that I totally think that BF'ing is a personal choice, I do believve it is the best for the baby...but I realize it isn't for everyone. On that note, the reason I asked this question was related to what you said "that hopefully people wont use this as a reason not to breastfeed". I have already had comments from some of my non- BF'ing friends, blaming his PA on BF'ing......but I tell them that I believe Logan would have had to have the allergy present, and eating PB while Pregnant and nursing probably sensitized him. I agree that some people will use this as an excuse not to breastfeed, but if that's the case then they probably were looking for a reason not to anyway....if anything, this should not discourage them , but encourage them, along with giving the info. many of us didn't have, but wish we did. I know it certainly wouldn't have influenced my decision and I also have to point out that although PA, Logan has never had a major cold, ear infection or anything that required antibiotics....I believe in Bf'ing 100%. I dont blame his PA on my Bf'ing him, I blame eating PB and Bf'ing helping it show up so soon.... If a person argues that one shouldn't breastfeed because of this, then it would be equally fitting to argue that a person shouldn't get pregnant for this reason (wouldn't that be a silly argument)....because the proteins from peanut are passed on in both situations.......the argument should be about eating or not eating foods that are highly allergenic while pregnant and breastfeeding. I'm glad you raised the issue, I also hope people dont use it to knock breastfeeding. Once again I want to say that I dont have any negative opinion about women who chose not to BF, it's a personal choice and I know some women really want to and it doesn't work out....I, like Ms. Belinda, just hope people dont use the PA issue to cast a negative attitude towards BF'ing. Take Care everyone!

Hi,

I was put on diabetic diet while I was pregnant with my pa ds, even though I was not diabetic. The baby was too big and she felt that this would help me to not gain as much weight as I was gaining. Needless to say this meant eating pb almost every day.

Shortly after my ds was born, I breastfed for about a month. Although, I wanted to continue for a longer period it was not in my ds best interest. Even though I did not eat any pb while he was breastfed, I did eat other foods which he was allergic to. (We found out almost 3 years later) He had developped bad exzema on his face and was very collicky. I always felt something was wrong with him but I couldn't figure it out. My ped didn't feel there was anything wrong with him. I followed my instincts and I decided to bottle feed after a month. Everything changed soon after. Exzema started to clear up and he was starting to calm down. Until that is we started solid foods. My ds never had the typical allergic reaction of hives. He would vomit and cry. I just figured he "didn't like" the food so I didn't give it to him anymore. (If only I knew then what I know now!)

I am convinced that because I breastfed and ate pn while pregnant, that I contributed to my ds allergies. I have environmental allergies, my husband had childhood asthma as well as food allergies which he has since outgrown. I was never told that all these factors can contribute to having an allergic child and to take certain precautions such as avoiding certain foods. If ever we decide on another baby, based on my experience and beliefs regarding allergies, I would not breastfeed.

Tina

My dd was also breastfed for 12 months. She has PA. I used to eat handfuls of peanuts for a snack while she was bf. My dh's aunt and uncle are from Georgia and when she was about 2 months old they brought us a huge can of Georgia peanuts. This became my daily afternoon snack. Food allergies do not run in my or my dh's families.
kcmom

Hi
I have a 5 yr old pa son. I ate jarfuls of peanutbutter while pregnant with him.I could not bf.
While pregnant with my secon and third children I did not eat pb at all or any nut products.We already knew our son was pa at this point.I dontknow if they are pa yet.The baby is only 7 months and my other son is 3. I will not have them tested until 4yrs of age as per the recommendation of our allergist.We all eat as if we have a pa. I will not put my son at risk who has pa.
I bf my youngest for 8 weeks , but like I stated before I dont eat peanut products. I also avoided milk.
I do believe my eating pb during my pregnancy had something to do with it. I ate alot of it.
As far as bf, well, I wont get into a debate with that. It is a personal choice. I do believe that a bf mom should avoid the major allergens just as a precaution until it is proven not to be a cause. I bf my daughter even after I knew but I avoided pb. I dont think its a reason not to bf.

I breastfed my first son for 13 months and he is pa, I didn't crave peanutbutter or nuts of any kind in pregnancy. I am still breastfeeding my 10 month old son he is getting tested next month for allergies, I did crave reeses peanut butter cups with him and ate them sometimes until we found out about my other sons pa.

Breastfed for 8 months and did eat peanut butter a few times a week.

I bf my dd for 19 months and ate losts of PB until she was diagnosed with PA at 13 months. I didn't know any better.
Here's what bothers me: I am one week from my due date for our 2nd child. Between the 2 pregnancies/childhoods in the past 3 years, we have seen 2 pediatricians, 3 ob's, 4 certified nurse midwives, 2 allergists, 1 GP, and 2 lactation consultants. Not one person has told me of the risk of eating pb while pregnant or nursing. This website and one 30 second local news clip are the only places I have learned of this. Are the doctors not aware of the risk or do they just not understand the importance of sharing it with their patients? Makes me wonder what else I should know that they aren't telling me.

Ms. Belinda...Thanks for your post!! I have breastfed all 3 of my children and at times I've felt guilty thinking that I may have caused my sons allergies. However, I do believe that I have made the better choice for him by choosing to breastfeed. Your post brought me back to reality that I am doing what is best for my children and regardless if bfeeding caused his allergy or not it is still better for him and may help protect him against oodles of other things in his future.

IMHO, Breast feeding does NOT cause PA. I also don't think eating PN during pregnancy CAUSES PA. I think it is a SLEW of factors and no one knows, and some people who never touched a peanut still have PA children.

I second, or third, the point that PA should NOT be used as a deterent to breast feeding. I couldn't BF my DS, and chose not to with my DD.

Again.. breast feeding is a personal choice whose benefits are WELL known and blatantly obvious. Hello. It's natural! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

Let's not place blame.. [i]thought that needed to be reiterated.[/i]
~Melanie

I have twins, both of whom were breastfeed exclusively for the first three months of life. I ate tons of peanut butter and peanuts during pregnancy and while nursing. My son is PA and my daughter is not.

------------------
Susan
Andre's Mom

hi, i bf all 4 of my kids....didn't know about the connection to peanut butter and pa until after. only one has pa (although my 5 year old has never had any because of older brother) i'm assuming i ate peanut butter during all pregnancies and while breast feeding because i liked it....i think my son was, for some reason, more sensitive from the beginning and would maybe have developed the allergy anyways. guess i'll never know for sure, but he is the only one with allergies, eczema, asthma and psoriasis.

I breastfed both boys (8 y/o ds - no food allergies and 6 y/o ds - multiple food allergies). With both boys I ate pn both while pregnant and bfing (didn't know better at the time).

While I would certainly adhere to the recommendation to avoid pn and tn during preg. and bf. (which would be just as I normally do, anyway), this recommendation stems only from a theory. It is not, yet, known why some people have pa and allergies and some do not. Yes, most of us ate at least some pn when we were pregnant and breastfeeding, but as we can see now by avoiding it, it is in so many things that it is difficult to avoid (unless one is really trying). So all of those other non-pa people also ate pn while preg. and bfing. Additionally, there are more and more people who with subsequent children have completely avoided pn, and still the child is pa. Only time and more research and the following of these trends will tell. There seems to be a definite genetic link, but it would be very difficult to find any person who can look into their family medical history and not find somebody who is allergic to something. I really hope that research will soon answer these questions. It is awful for parents to not know for sure what is best to do for their baby, and that some may even blame themselves for eating pn (when that may not even be a factor).
Take care,
Andrea

Quote:Originally posted by Nicole1401:
[b]I bf my dd for 19 months and ate losts of PB until she was diagnosed with PA at 13 months. I didn't know any better.
Here's what bothers me: I am one week from my due date for our 2nd child. Between the 2 pregnancies/childhoods in the past 3 years, we have seen 2 pediatricians, 3 ob's, 4 certified nurse midwives, 2 allergists, 1 GP, and 2 lactation consultants. Not one person has told me of the risk of eating pb while pregnant or nursing. This website and one 30 second local news clip are the only places I have learned of this. Are the doctors not aware of the risk or do they just not understand the importance of sharing it with their patients? Makes me wonder what else I should know that they aren't telling me. [/b]

Nicole, only one person told me not to eat pb while pregnant.I was goingto a wacky chiropractor for my migraines.I was on a yeast free diet.I got pregnant while seeing her and mentioned one day that I ate pb. Which is a no no on a yeast free diet, but anyway, She gasped and said that stuff is posion especially for a pregnant woman.I stopped going to her soon after for other reasons. I still ate the pb though.I thought she was a wack . Little did I know that 2 1/2 years later I wold think pb was posion too!

.

[This message has been edited by dmbb (edited September 30, 2004).]

I too ate lots of peanut butter while pregnant - I had either peanuts or peanut butter almost every day. My son had breastmilk for 6 weeks and I don't recall what I was eating during that time, but I'm sure I ate some peanuts then too.

Now that the American Pediatric Association (I think that is the name of the group) has officially recommended exclusive breastfeeding (with the mother eliminating all peanut products from her diet) for high risk babies, I think that info will start showing up in the pregnancy books. The first time I had heard it was two weeks before my due date (May 2001) from a doctor in my childbirth class. But, this is the same hospital that gave out peanut butter as a snack to kids in a "get ready for the new baby class."

I breastfed my five year old dd exclusively until six months and nightly until ten months. I ate pb often while pregnant and nursing. In fact, someone told me pb was good for my breastmilk! My dd had a severe reaction and was tested for peanut allergy at 10 months and scored off the chart. However, at that time I had not heard of peanut allergies.
By the time I had my son, there were front page newspaper articles warning pregnant and nursing women to stay away from peanuts! Mothers in my area are finally getting the benefits of increased awareness.

SkyMom

My ds is now three and has no allergies. I did not eat any peanut/tree nuts when I was pregnant or nursing. I would encourage breastfeeding as I believe there are many benefits.

Quote:Originally posted by Andre's Mom:
[b]I have twins, both of whom were breastfeed exclusively for the first three months of life. I ate tons of peanut butter and peanuts during pregnancy and while nursing. My son is PA and my daughter is not.

[/b]

Now, THAT is interesting!

I breastfed DS for 11 months & ate 2 PBJs per day as well as tons of tree nut products. Baby was colicky for months & had horrible spit-ups as well as excema and unusual BMs. Pediatricians (*6* of them) ALL missed what should have been obvious signs of his PA. Nobody ever said squat to me about peanut consumption & PA. I feel certain my peanut intake greatly contributed to DS's PA.

Currently breastfeeding now-21-month-old DD. I've eaten NO peanut during this whole time. Her allergy status is unknown. She was happy baby, rarely cried, no spit ups ever, no excema.

The *breastfeeding* didn't result in DS's PA -- but I'm damned sure that my blissfully ignorant peanut consumption & the pediatricians' stupidity did.
EB

OK, I have to post again [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
I'm VERY PASSIONATE about the importance of breastfeeding, because I think it is undervalued and undersupported in our society, despite its being (or perhaps because it's) one of those simple, free, perfect things we can do as mothers that has a permanent effect on the lives and health of our children. Here's a quote from Maya Angelou: "I did then what I knew how. When you know better, you do better." None of us knew beforehand that our children would be born with a peanut allergy - we couldn't have known! But no matter what, breastfeeding shouldn't be seen as a risky activity! Dr. Jack Newman, probably the foremost authority on breastfeeding, says it's ALWAYS better to breastfeed - even if you're a malnourished, street-living crack addict! No matter what's going on in your life, your baby will always be safer with your breastmilk than with any man-made, engineered chemical soup we call "formula". It's not something we should see as a personal choice - mother nature has already made it for us! Parents who unwittingly choose "formula" over breastmilk need to understand that they are risking their babies' health by doing so; it's not "the benefits of breasfeeding" we should be debating; it's "the risks of formula-feeding"! Just for an example, there is growing evidence that children who are given soy-based formulas are at a higher risk for developing infertility problems and even some forms of cancer. That's not surprising when you discover that a baby on soy formula is exposed to phytoestrogens the equivalent to 20 birth control pills every day!
The World Health Organization has recommended that babies be 1) breastfed at least until 2 years of age, and if that is not possible, then 2) receive pumped breastmilk from their mothers, and if that is not possible, then 3) receive donated breastmilk, and 4) if none of these options are available, then they can be given manufactured infant formula. THAT'S THE LAST OPTION!
There are millions of enzymes, chemicals, hormones, and cells in human milk that cannot be manufactured or copied or even analyzed, but that are there, in a perfect balance, custom-made for YOUR baby.
Did you know that the milk that is produced by a mother with a premature infant is completely different than the milk of a mother with a full-term infant? Or a baby with Down's Syndrome? Or one with jaundice? Or one with a cold? Or twins? There are protective properties in the breastmilk of AIDS mothers that protect their babies from becoming infected with the disease!
There is a wisdom in nature that we cannot begin to understand. There are so few things that we, as parents, can look back on and say, "I did the 100% right thing" - it just doesn't happen. Breastfeeding your children is something you can do perfectly. So please, please, don't ever feel that somehow, you've done something wrong in breastfeeding your children! Blame the poor soil, the overuse of fertilizers, the overuse of antibiotics, hell, even blame it on the boogie - just don't blame your child's PA on your breastmilk!

Hi,
I had to post again also, Ms. Belinda I think what you are saying is very important and I wanted to just say that even though I asked this question, even knowing that it would suggest a link between the two, that I am totally in support of breatsfeeding also. The one thing I would hope a person would take away from this is that people should really consider what the eat when they are pregnant and breatfeeding. I do not think BF'ing causes PA either, but I do think if the genectic disposition is already there then we are giving our children an exposure to an already exsisting allergen, therefore; it is causing PA to show up alot sooner than we would have otherwise seen. My son was also colic and I read every book on the market, I really believe he already had the allergy and I was putting something irritating to him in his system via my breastmilk. I have totally cut out Pn from my diet and my house....and we at 22mths are still bf'ing before bed. It is by far the most precious gift next to him in my life, the closeness makes my heart absolutely melt.I would recommend to anyone to Bf, but I would certainly caution them about what they eat while doing so. Thanks for your posts everyone....it is very interesting. PS, my friend who is preg mentioned the PA thing at prenatal and avoiding it while Bf'ing and the nurese said..."No, thats a false tale, PB is a good source of food for you and your baby" Can you believe how uninformed health care workers are....
Thanks,
Lisa

I ate PB when I was pregnant to our first daughter. She does not have any allergies. I did not eat any more PB after her birth. And both younger children, without eating any peanut-products during my pregnany and nursing them, have PA...

What do doctors say now?

Irene

Ms.Belinda:

Whereas I appreciate your vehement support of BF, I kind of feel that your post was unfair and negatively condemning of people who do choose NOT to BF. I don't think PA should be an excuse NOT to BF, but those of us who haven't shouldn't be made to feel guilty or like we're bad people to have made that choice.

I don't think anyone has a right to condemn another persons personal choices or tell them that to BF or not to BF is a 'bad' thing. I was not BF as a child, nor were either of my siblings, nor was my own mother and her siblings. I am not an unhealthy person, did not have an unusual amount of illnesses as a child, nor have my children.

I believe that part of the reason my son would NOT BF (he would have nothing whatsoever to do with it and was getting sicker, more irritable and not gaining weight no matter what I did) had to do with my unusually high consumption of peanut products during pregnancy and afterward. I was told to 'go ahead and supplement with formula' and he gobbled down that first bottle almost instantly. He was a HUNGRY boy and would not touch a bottle of breast milk. I still, to this day, don't understand. In my case, it wasn't my choice, but his.

It WAS my choice with my daughter NOT to BF, because the last thing I need to hear when they are teeners is, "Well, she was breastfed, you must love her more." Especially with such reactions and vehemence from people who support BF, reactions I know my children will also debate as they grow older.

A former very good friend laid into me one night about my not BF my DD in much the same manner as your post and made me feel like she was a self-righteous, insensitive fool. The feelings are again illicited here.

It's one thing to promote BF, but another thing altogether to say that someone who chooses NOT to BF is being a bad parent or somehow neglecting their child. I know you didn't SAY that, but that's how your post makes me FEEL.

Anyway.. I'm not really upset, I just thought you'd like to know how your post felt to someone who did NOT BF. I shouldn't be made to feel guilty or inadequate.

Thanks..
~Melanie

Well,
this morning I read the post from belindasmom and I felt the same way as
Melinda. People make there own choices. Being a mother is hard enough without someone judging your every move. Formula is fine and an acceptable way to feed a baby. No one should be made to feel as if they are being a bad or lazy mother by formula feeding. I can bet more of us were formula fed then breastfed.

Hi again,

I totally agree that breast milk is the most natural choice for feeding baby. This is definitely a very personal choice moms make and whatever decision is made, I'm sure it is the right one for mom and baby.

However, if baby is allergic, it can make breastfeeding very difficult. Proteins DO pass from moms milk. In my situation, my ds was allergic to other foods as well as pn (eggs,nuts and ?) which was passing through the breast milk and caused many problems. There are other allergens besides pn that are transmitted through the breastmilk and can make it very difficult to nurse a child who happens to be allergic. How can all of the allergens be eliminated from mom's diet? My ds was not thriving with my breastmilk. When he was started on formula, he became healthier, stronger and happier.

Breastmilk does not cause allergies, but I believe may contribute to developping them at a younger age, esepcially if there is a genetic predisposition for allergies. Not everyone goes on to develop allergies though, such as the case with the twins.

I do not feel guilty at all about switching to formula for my pa ds. It was the best choice for us. Moms should follow their instincts about their babies. Only moms know what is best for thier own babies. Formula was created for babies who for whatever reason cannot be nursed. Of course you cannot duplicate moms milk but it is perfectly fine to bottlefeed also! My boys are perfectly healthy!

Tina

My pa son was not bf at all. I ate tons of pbj's while pregnant with him. My pa daughter I was still eating pbj's till I was 8 months pregnant with her (when we found out her brother was pa). So by the time she was born we were pn free but I did not see any may contains till she was a few months old. Nobody ever told me to read labels for pn... I just assumed if it obviously didn't have nuts then it was ok. The allergist that dx'd ds's pa just said avoid peanuts and carry a shot with him at all times. Did not even tell me what to look for in a reaction. I did bf dd for about 6 weeks.

I also feel bad when people put me down for not breastfeeding my children. I have a muscle disease that has chronic fatigue syndrome as one of its components. I could not bf and have the energy I needed to take care of my children.

Valerie

Hi all, I'm just getting around to answering this thread, and I don't want to wade into the above debate. I think that breastfeeding is a very personal choice and that women get judged enough without attacking one another on this topic. That being said up front, I can weigh in on what I chose to do....

My twin sons were exclusively breastfed until they were 6 months old, then I slowly started adding solids. I didn't eat much peanut product while pg, I didn't eat much of anything while pg - sick the whole 9 months. But boy did I ever eat lots of PB&J sandwiches while nursing the boys - I was told it was a great source of protein and I felt I needed it to provide nurishment for two growing boys.

I had to quit nursing them at 8 months because I needed to have a surgery to get my gall bladder removed, and my supply dried up - I cried for days, the boys didn't seem to mind - they switched to formula for the few bottles they drank every day at that point with no problems at all.

Nursing twins - I wish I had that figure back! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

------------------
Sherlyn
Mom to 3 year old twins Ben & Mike - one PA & the other not.
Stay Informed And Peanut Free!

Its that guilt thing that really gets to me, damned if you do , damned if you dont, when it comes to infant feeding.
I am not agreat fan of peanuts, tree nuts ok , now and then. As a child I did eat peanut butter, and peanuts.
i breastfed all my four children, for increasing lengths of time.
Only one child has food allergies, just one.
There have been no studies to show that peanuts eaten while breastfeeding cause peanut allergy. All they have found out is that peanut traces have been found in breastmilk. If they looked for other foods, I am sure they would find them too.
Breastmilk is still a mystery, formula is still more or less the same as it has been since it was invented. Less salt(mid 1970's) , as that was found to cause kidney problems with infants, killing the odd over fed one .
That said, infant formula was invented to save babies lives, and it still does.
We have so many factors to consider when we look at the causes of food allergy, breastfeeding alone should not be looked at as a main cause.
sarah

Quote:Originally posted by Ms.Belinda:
[b]I am concerned that this could become an argument for not breastfeeding, but that should NEVER be an option.

[/b]

Ms. Belinda, sorry, but there are some children for whom breast feeding is medically NOT an option. My daughter who I breast fed for 8 months, had breast milk colitis. We went through about five months (beginning at age 3 months until age 8 months), of diarrhea, blood in stools, and failure to thrive. Eventually she underwent endoscopy which showed that she had breast milk colitis which was CAUSED by breast feeding. Granted this is rare, but NEVER SAY NEVER. All of the above symptoms went away when I stopped breast feeding and put her exclusively on Neocate. She also cried 24/7 when I was breast feeding. That also stopped within less than 24 hours when she went on Neocate. She was a different child. I had no idea how much pain I was causing her by breast feeding until I stopped. It was sad to give up breast feeding, but for some babies it is medically necessary not to breast feed.

Hi
I hope by asking this question that I'm not stirring up any bad feelings ..... I really didn't intend to start a debate on whether to breastfeed or not. I was just curious if any other moms ate Peanuts while preg or nursing (doing my own little investigation on the possibilty of a link between PA and Breastfeeding.) I just hear more talk of a link these days....In the Peanut allergy answer book, it says a woman should avoid it , if there is a history of allergies. It doesn't say it causes it. I think because the protein passes through the milk it gives the baby with an already existing allergy....an exposure to it. That's "possibly" why we are seeing alot of reactions (no matter what degree) on our childs first contact with PB or whatever because the reactions get more evident over time and even though we think it's their first exposure, it actually isn't. I dont think anyone has ever said bf'ing causes PA. As far as the debate about to bf or not, it really has to be a personal choice. Some women dont want to or cant, some babies dont do well with it... It has to work for the people involved. Yes, I agree it's best, but I would also tell someone not to feel bad if it wasn't for them....I think if a person did it to please others, they would resent it and the baby would pick up on that...and that wouldn't be good.....so moms, follow your instincts and do what feels right for you and your baby. Ms. Belinda.....although everyone may not agree, I respect your opinion and your courage to defend something you feel so strongly about....I can see how it would offend some people, but I dont think that was your intention, sometimes it's difficult to articulate things we so strongly believe in without stepping on toes. The bottom line is we are all in this together and although we might not always agree, we all found one another for a reason....I personally would be lost without you guys....Thanks

logansmom,

I don't get involved much with this bf stuff anymore but at first was kind of interested in correlations of any nature regarding allergies.

I realized early on before having kids women are &^%$ing wierd when it comes to bf their babies.

Who the heck cares how you feed your children, as long as their loved, and fed!

For the record
I won't tell you how I fed my twins [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

but logansmom...bf really stirs up a lot of guilt feelings with pa and even though I ate it during pregnancy, I have not a single quilt feeling that I contributed to my son's pa because of my eating toast with pb on it every morning.
I have more to friggin deal with than worrying about that shit.

Have a great night everyone [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

I dont have any guilt either....well said . I was a little disappointed when this turned into a BF'ing issue, that's why I clarified in my last post that this was not why I asked the question.....but People are free to voice their opinions....I can respect different views on things. I think it's important to get the info out about eating things while preg and nursing that can make your baby feel uncomfortable or potentially cause harm....thats why I asked. No, I dont have guilt, but I certainly wouldn't have eaten PB if I had my time back....I dont think it's made him PA, but I'll certainly attribute the colic to it. Anyhow, if the word gets out to health care people to caution people against eating any highly allergenic foods while preg. and nursing (to people with family histories) then this thread served a purpose. Thanks again for responding everyone...and bringing your individual views to the board.