> I've checked, and there is medical literature to back up my doctor's claims.
> So I hope this is of interest, and I'd be eager to hear what other parents
> have been told to do with respect to their infants' feeding.  (A lot of
> doctors aren't up on food allergies, so I expect to hear some lively
> discussion ...)
>

Beth - I think this is excellent advice, although I'd add avoidance of all common
food allergens, not just the ones already present in the family.  However, it
is also possible (and maybe even common) for food allergies to come from nowhere!
My doctor didn't tell me anything about food allergies/infant feeding, because
we had no reason to suspect that Alyssa would have any at all!

The hardest part about all the advice & information, is that it's difficult to
predict who will develop the allergies, and it's very difficult to maintain
a diet avoiding allergens - who should, who doesn't need to... being a new mother
is stressful anyway, and adding severe dietary restrictions when there's no
"risk factors"...

And my still unanswered question - will it really matter?  If the first exposure
is delayed until age 3 instead of 9 months, does that really help?  Has anyone
seen a study of kids who got peanut butter at age 3 vs. kids who got peanut
butter at age 9 months?  Are there more allergies in one group vs the other?

Laurie