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Peanut butter for babies: when and how?
From the start of solids at around 6 months you can offer peanut butter. The way you prepare it decides. Stirred thinly into the purée, early and then regularly.
Everything here comes from the food catalogue inside the HeyFini app: the traffic light, how to prepare it at 6, 9 and 12 months, and the source behind every safety statement.
With limitsallowed, but preparation decides
What you need to know
Sources: the German BfR, the AAP and the German S3 guideline on allergy prevention.
How to prepare it, by age
All three stages stand side by side. We don't know how old your child is, so read the stage that fits you.
At 6 months
Stirred thinly into the purée, early and then regularly. That is what the LEAP study recommends.
From 9 months
Spread paper-thin on strips of bread. Never as a thick blob.
From 12 months
Keep spreading it thinly. WHOLE peanuts stay off limits until about age 4, say the BfR and AAP.
Sources: WHO and UNICEF on texture stages, ESPGHAN 2017 on the lumpy-food window in months 8 to 10, the German BfR, the AAP and the German S3 guideline on allergy prevention.
This page gives general information and does not replace medical or dietetic advice. Every child develops differently. When in doubt, talk to your paediatrician or a registered dietitian.
The ages are rough guides. What counts is not the calendar but what your child can already do with mouth and hands.
A tip from everyday life
Early and then regularly in small amounts. The LEAP study shows far fewer peanut allergies when peanut is introduced early. Always spread thinly, never whole peanuts.
Allergens
Main allergen under EU law: Peanut. EAACI and the German S3 guideline on allergy prevention speak for introducing common allergens early and then offering them regularly. Avoiding them does not protect against an allergy.
Sources: EAACI and the German S3 guideline on allergy prevention. How to introduce allergens
The five safety rules
- Quarter round food lengthwise. Grapes, cherries and cherry tomatoes never go on the plate whole.
- Cook hard food soft or grate it finely. Raw carrot and raw apple break into hard pieces otherwise.
- Nuts are never whole, only as a butter or finely ground.
- Eating happens sitting upright, never lying down and never on the move.
- Stay with your baby while they eat. Choking happens silently.
Sources: AAP, the German BfR and Netzwerk Gesund ins Leben. All dangerous foods at a glance
All 234 foods in the app
HeyFini shows the preparation that fits your own child's age, plus the food passport and the allergen companion for all 14 main allergens.
Common questions
When can my baby eat peanut butter?
As soon as solids are under way, so at around 6 months. Stirred thinly into the purée, early and then regularly. That is what the LEAP study recommends.
What do I need to watch out for with peanut butter?
Only spread thinly or stirred into purée, thick blobs stick to the palate, warns the AAP. With eczema, check with a doctor first, advises the S3 guideline.
What changes with peanut butter from 12 months?
Keep spreading it thinly. WHOLE peanuts stay off limits until about age 4, say the BfR and AAP.
Is there an allergen in peanut butter?
Yes. Main allergen under EU law: Peanut. EAACI and the German S3 guideline on allergy prevention speak for introducing common allergens early and then offering them regularly. Avoiding them does not protect against an allergy.
Read on
General guidance, not medical advice. For questions about your child, talk to your paediatrician or midwife. In an emergency call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US).