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I just recently (last week actually) gave my LO a tiny bit of natural peanut butter on a spoon. He LOVED it. I waited a few days and he didn't have any adverse reactions so now I'll give him peanut butter on a spoon when I need to distract him.

Oh, forgot to mention that watching a toddler eat peanut butter is hilarious. He kept smacking his lips and tongue and moving his mouth around (like how a dog would eat peanut butter). So hilarious. We taped it for the family to watch. hehehe. We're so mean.

@andrea: At first I gave him a little bit at a time (to rule out allergies) and once we were SURE,, we gave him a huge spoonful. And that's when the fun began. LOL.

I've actually been agonising about this- DH's niece is nearly four and had a violent reaction to peanuts last autumn- full on anaphylactic shock, swollen tongue, throat, inside of mouth, the lot. Scared the bejesus out of everyone. Doc told SIL the guidelines here are to avoid until they're over four... Any of you of Asian descent are probably fine, as far as I know it's virtually unheard of for ye. My kids will get their first taste of peanuts in a doctors waiting room, if I've my way!

I think he was around 2 years old. He had just started day care/preschool and I was having trouble figuring out what to pack for lunch.

I've done a lot of reading on it since that fright, and it turns out in China, for example, where peanuts are such a large part of diet, it's virtually unheard of. Ditto in Israel, where peanuts are used in babyfood. UK and Ireland standard advice from 90's was for pregnant women to avoid nuts just in case: uk rescinded that policy a year or two ago as they found with fewer women eating nuts regularly during pregnancy the rates of allergy in children were actually climbing. Their advice now is that pregnant women should actually eat nuts regularly to accustom baby's system to them. They still advise keeping kids nut-free until four, though, and I can't help but think that might be part of the problem. We grew up only really eating peanuts at Halloween, but I never heard of anyone being allergic until the last ten/fifteen years or so, I know nobody thought anything of us eating them v young. It's scary, and frustrating too. Poor SIL is driven mad now studying every single label on every single packet of groceries she buys, but it's a case of having to. Her LO seems to have inherited it from her dad's side, there's one kid with it and there is no sign of it in DH's close or extended family so we're ok on one side, but I'm adopted so we don't know what I'm bringing to the party:( fingers crossed not that anyway!

@Andrea: it does seem that way, because they found that as more and more pregnant women followed the info campaign in the 90's/00's and avoided nuts, the rate of child allergy just kept climbing. So fingers crossed! It does make sense, though- we always had cats and dogs when I was growing up and I never had any reaction to either. Then when I was away at college and going home once every three/four weeks, I found each time that my first night home was horrible- puffy eyes, runny nose, constant sneezing and wheezing, the lot. Now that I have cats and dogs full time, they don't bother me at all.

I'll probably do what my doctor says and go a year.

I've given LO muesli that had ground hazelnuts at 13 months, the proportion was so tiny that it didn't seem to have an effect.

I went searching for almond nut butter today, in fact, to try it in a sammie for him. I have to go to a healthfood store on the other side of town, so that will have to wait until next week.

@tina: with a bit of luck the cousin's kids have it from the other side of the family and you won't have any problem:)

@Andrea: oh! yes he has! he's eaten the fried rice and the lo mein at the chinese food place we had his birthday party at... I don't think he got any sort of noticeable reaction... YAY! Maybe we will try peanut butter this weekend.

@Andrea: ooh, I JUST discovered love for dim sum, but we haven't taken RJ yet... what does your LO eat there? RJ is just coming out of his picky phase so all his food is really simple. What would you suggest for RJ? (he's 26 months)

@Andrea: sounds perfect... because so do I! Haha. Our friend just introduced us to turnip cake... SO GOOD!

A friend inadvertently gave LO some food with peanut oil in it at around 9 months, and he was fine, so now we don't really worry about it. Our pediatrician said that she was comfortable with it starting at 9 months, as long as we had no reason to suspect that LO would be more susceptible to food allergies than normal.
LO is almost 11 months and I think the only things we actively don't feed him are cow's milk, honey, and raw animal (like sushi or steak tartare).

I gave LO peanut butter at 5 months. The thinking here is now to expose them to known allergens early and that restricting exposure may actually add to the incidence of allergies. LO was fine. I gave it in the morning and watched closely for any reactions.