A dad’s cautious approach to his baby’s first taste of peanut butter has divided opinion on the internet.
Taylor McGrath, 34, (@taylormcgrath143) posted a clip on TikTok in the emergency room parking lot with his then 7-month-old son.
A nervous McGrath took out the watered-down peanut butter and fed it to Kingston who, on first try, seemed to like it.
After 10 minutes, Taylor confirmed that Kingston was doing well. After 30 minutes, they left the parking lot after announcing that they’ll come back for “exposure number two.”
“I had been told by doctor—and through research online—that the sooner you introduce peanut butter to a child, the better the chances of them not developing a peanut allergy later in life are,” Taylor told Newsweek. “So the sooner the better, essentially.”
Early peanut exposure can reduce the risk of peanut allergy. The landmark LEAP study showed that introducing peanut-containing foods to infants between four to 11 months of age cut the risk of peanut allergy dramatically compared with avoidance.
Today, U.S. guidelines now generally recommend that infants—particularly those without existing food allergies or severe eczema—can be introduced to peanut containing foods as early as four to six months, assuming they are developmentally ready for solid foods.
Taylor first got the idea to test peanuts in a hospital parking lot after seeing another parent do it on TikTok.
“It made so much sense to me, and it just stuck in my brain from that moment on,” he explained. “So, when I finally worked up the courage to do this… there was no way I was not going to do it in the parking lot of an ER just in case he had a reaction of some sort.”
Despite the controlled setting, Taylor admitted he was anxious. “I was nervous, but I was still confident that if something happened, we would be OK,” he said. “But watching him the rest of the day, I would psychoanalyze everything. He had a few like red dots on his cheek and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, is this a reaction?’”
Fortunately, Kingston showed no signs of an allergic response. Even though Taylor and his husband Blake live a mile and a half from the hospital, it gave the parents peace of mind.
Taylor later filmed a second exposure, again from the same hospital lot where again, Kingston didn’t react.
Taylor’s first clip has clocked up 3.7 million views and garnered a mixed response in the comments.
Many parents and health professionals praised the father for taking action.
“You are such a sweet father! My husband just told me he was surprised I didn’t do this when our daughter was a baby,” one user wrote.
“Did the exact same thing with my girl 23 years ago with my girl!” added another.
A third commented, “Nurse here. Amazing idea! Def go back for second exposure because often THAT’S when an allergy will activate!”
Others questioned Taylor’s approach, labeling him a helicopter parent and said he was giving Kingston anxiety.
Many also asked why Taylor didn’t try an allergy test first. “[It’s] because infants can’t just get an allergy test and it be accurate; they haven’t been exposed to things,” Taylor explained. “So an allergy test isn’t going to be able to detect if they’re allergic to it. People just like not knowing that sort of thing was frustrating.”
Still, the majority of commenters have been supportive. “There were far more who saw the logic in it and who ended up either doing it themselves or reminding me that it was a good idea,” Taylor added.
Now, Kingston is 9 months old, he has successfully passed his peanut test twice.
Read the full article here
