When Can Babies eat Nuts?

Dear S

Under normal circumstances it is quite alright to give your daughter crushed nuts, as an ingredient in the food, in pastries and cookies etc. As indicated by you, you should always pay special attention that a baby can easily choke on the nut when it becomes lodged in their windpipe. Nuts, and especially peanuts, are dangerous for children up to 3-4 years of age.

Nuts may provoke allergic reactions just like a lot of other foodstuffs. Should other family members be allergic to nuts it is most likely that your daughter will be allergic to nuts too. However, in principle, you will not know whether your daughter is allergic until you have tried to offer her nuts.

Nuts belong to the socalled high allergen foodstuffs, e.g.: eggs, fish, shellfish, legumes, citrus fruits, strawberries and nuts. There is no scientific reason for avoiding the above food, on the contrary, it is recommended by the National Board of Health in Denmark to introduce them one by one in smaller quantities in order to discover whether the baby may have an allergic reaction.

I hope this is helpful, and I wish you and your daughter the best of luck:o)

Kind regards,

Helen Hansen