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By Daniella Gray
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A new mom is regretting not trusting her instincts when introducing her baby to peanuts.
Jordan Muhl (@jo.ftm) posted a clip on TikTok of her holding her 7-month-old son, Thomas, in the emergency room—after he had an allergic reaction to peanuts.
Earlier, during a quiet evening at their home in Dallas, Texas, Muhl and her husband Andrew decided to mix peanut butter with some banana as part of their routine of introducing new foods one by one. But within minutes, everything changed.
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“He broke out in a cherry-colored rash from head to toe,” Jordan told Newsweek. “From ear to ear, it looked like we painted him with a red lipstick.”
They cleaned him off but soon realized how quickly the rash had spread. Without hesitation, they rushed to urgent care.
But in the days that followed, Jordan couldn’t stop thinking about a plan she’d abandoned. The mom, a nurse who works night shifts at a Dallas hospital, had originally decided she’d introduce major allergens—like peanuts and eggs—near an ER, just in case.
But that evening, she talked herself out of it. “I [thought] I was overacting [or] it’s just first-time mom anxiety, I’m being ‘too much’,” she said. “I also thought, since there aren't any food allergies on either side of our family, what are the chances of him having one?”
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In the U.S., peanut allergies affect roughly two percent of children, making them one of the most common—and fastest rising—allergies among babies and young kids, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Because Thomas was not struggling to breathe, the Muhls chose urgent care over the ER, just ten minutes away. “We kept him talking or making noise the whole way there,” Jordan added. “We wouldn’t let him sleep just in case.”
At the clinic, doctors administered Zyrtec and monitored him closely for four hours. They warned the parents that the speed and severity of Thomas’s rash meant the next reaction could be far worse, such as an anaphylactic reaction.
They were prescribed two EpiPens and referred to a pediatric allergist. A week later, Thomas was seen by the specialist, who instructed the family to avoid all nuts until further testing.
For now, Thomas is doing well. His cheerful demeanor has returned, and the family is adjusting to life with EpiPens tucked in every bag.
Jordan hopes sharing their story helps other parents avoid the same regret. “As a mom it’s always best to trust your instincts; your gut is usually always right,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter how silly or ‘overreacting’ it is,” Jordan continued. “Going and trying allergens in the parking lot and not having a reaction is better than being at home and having a severe reaction. Also, just because there isn’t a food allergy in the family doesn’t mean the little one won’t have one.”
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