Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Yesterday was Robby's 18 month birthday (or as I like to call it Half Birthday). It started with a couple of renditions of "Happy Half Birthday to You" when he woke up and then progressed to a fun dinner with tah at On the Border (love restaurants that give him balloons!) and was supposed to end with a cupcake, though the birthday boy was just a bit too tuckered out so we will save that treat for today.

But, I wanted to make him a special, "big boy" lunch for his birthday, and after careful thought, here is what I ended up with: peanut butter jelly sandwich, sun chips, string cheese, and yogurt. Now, when I was growing up, this meal was the all American childhood sack lunch. There was nothing exciting or interesting about it. But that was then.

We now live in the days of peanut butter terror. I am convinced that no other single product out there is the cause for as much debate or concern as peanut butter for a child. Peanut allergies are on the rise across the nation, and doctors just aren't sure why. The prevailing theory is that the earlier you expose your child to peanut butter, the more likely they are to develop the allergy. When we were pregnant with Robby, the general advice was no peanut butter for a year. So, that was our plan. On Robby's first birthday, he got one mini Ritz peanut butter cracker, just as an experiment. But then, people started telling us, "No, wait until he is at least three to give it to him. The longer the wait, the better."

This advice runs counter intuitive to everything I have been told about allergies, however. Books and doctors tell me that the earlier children are exposed to dust, grass, animals, etc. the better that their body will be able to build up a tolerance and the less likely the child is to develop asthma or other allergies. So why would this not be true of peanut butter? So, I have been a closet peanut butter giving mom. My intuition says that now that he is over a year old, peanut butter is fine for him, but I didn't want people necessarily knowing this fact...

Then, this week I read in one of my magazines (Parents, Parenting? how to keep these two separate?) that studies are now showing the same thing I have felt. The longer a child is kept from peanut butter, the study says, the more likely they are to develop an allergy. The bottom line, I think, is that they don't know what is causing the increase in peanut allergies, and as parents we have to do what we think is best for our children. I have now openly crossed the line to stand in the camp of those who feed their children peanut butter. I sent a PBJ to daycare.

And to think that this diatribe did not even touch on the salmonella scare (we stayed away from peanut butter products, but actual jars of peanut butter were never listed). Of course my favorite brand went off the shelves for about a year due to its own issues several years ago. As I said, peanut butter is no easy product to contemplate for parents of young ones today...