When one parent has a serious food allergy, it’s understandable if you’re concerned that your baby will have one too. While there’s no evidence that a specific allergy — say, to peanuts, milk or shellfish — can pass directly from parent to child, it is true that the tendency to develop allergies has a pretty strong genetic component.
Studies have found that when one parent has allergies like hay fever or allergic asthma, his or her children also have allergies about 25 percent of the time (though again, not necessarily the same ones). If both parents suffer from allergies, that number rises to anywhere from 60 to 70 percent.
How this relates to food allergies is still not well understood. In fact, the biggest known risk factor for a peanut allergy is having eczema as a baby.
Can you eat peanuts and other nuts during pregnancy?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) used to recommend that pregnant and breastfeeding women avoid eating peanuts, peanut butter or foods containing peanut products if they, the baby’s father or other children in the nuclear family suffer from allergic conditions like allergic asthma, hay fever and eczema.
But recent research indicates that avoiding peanuts while you are pregnant or nursing will not protect your children from allergies. In fact, children of mothers who did eat peanuts during pregnancy have a lower incidence of peanut allergies.
That means your doctor will not advise you to avoid certain foods during pregnancy to prevent food allergies — though he or she will advocate a healthy pregnancy diet. There are also other foods you should avoid during pregnancy for reasons unrelated to causing allergies in children.
Can you eat peanuts and other nuts while breastfeeding?
If you plan on nursing, keep in mind that the AAP doesn’t recommend restricting your breastfeeding diet unless your child has already developed a milk allergy. (Always talk to a doctor first if you suspect your child may have one.)
Read This Next
When should you introduce nuts to your baby?
The AAP no longer recommends delaying introducing certain solid foods because of the potential for allergic reactions. You should be able to offer up anything that doesn’t require teeth and isn’t a choking hazard — including dairy, eggs, seafood and nut products — when your baby starts solids. (If your baby has eczema, ask the pediatrician about introducing potential allergens early on.)
In fact, the AAP now recommends introducing peanut products to babies earlier, between 4 and 6 months of age, to prevent allergies. One way to do it is by thinning a small amount of peanut butter and mixing into yogurt, cereal or applesauce.
Still, talk about what’s safe to serve your baby with the doctor before you dish it out. Of course, if you suspect that your child has eczema, a food sensitivity or allergy, you should have your little one evaluated by an allergist.
Yes 
No 
Trending On What to Expect
