Are any of you adults with PA who have children?

andreandanne-I can see this is of great concern for you.

I do not have peanut allergy-my oldest son does-but we went through exactly what you are going through recently with his younger brother.

We had been avoiding the foods son1 is allergic to and so son2 had never had peanut products.

We then learned that by avoiding for son2-we could in fact potentially cause an allergy for him later in life.

We also saw the potential for trouble down the road if he was at a friend's house or accidentally had peanuts somewhere or in Kindergarten like your daughter.

Son2 has never shown any allergy tendencies. But we did a skin prick test anyways. It came up very mildly positive. We did a rast which was completely negative. We gave him peanuts-and he was fine.

Honestly-before all of this, I just couldn't wait and gave him a small amount of peanuts just to see. He didn't have a reaction. I went through with the testing just to be sure. And yes, I was nervous with son1's epi pen on hand.

Keep in mind that your daughter "may" have had peanut exposure depending on how safe you've been with her food. It could be as simple as the ice cream store using the same scoop and not washing it before scooping her ice cream-or eating items that are manufactured in the same facility as peanut products.

You could always ask your allergist for a food challenge for your daughter-where they will give her small doses of peanut in a hospital setting.

Trust your gut and do what feels right. Moms and dads always know what's best!

Good luck-any other questions feel free to ask.

Ruth

I am the only one in my family with food allergies.
My children have never had any sort of reaction, but then, I never had a food allergy until I was almost 50 years old!

Hello, I have been allergic to peanuts my whole life...I got tested when I was 2 because I had asthma. I have a 18 month old girl, who we just got tested for peanuts, which came back negetive! thank godness. I still worry though, I think as a parent you will always worry. We have a peanut and nut free house as I would never give my girl peanut or nuts because of my own allergy. You should get you kid tested if you are scared and will worry when they are in school. Good luck!

I do worry about that, as well as every other thing my mind can possibly dream up. I didn't develop food allergies (shellfish and peanut) until I was in my 30s. Only one of my older kids liked peanut butter anyway and she is happy with soy nut butter. My youngest already showed signs of lactose intolerance and cillin allergy as an infant so I'm terrified of giving him anything and especially, new foods.