Peanut allergies can be dangerous -- even deadly -- in children. Research shows the percentage of children with peanut allergies in the United States has doubled in the past decade. New research finds they're being discovered at younger ages.

When Zander Leckszas was just 3 months old, he got an awful rash.

"The back of his head opened up like a rotten pumpkin. We had to put towels in his crib and he'd soak through at night. It became this running sore,” said his mother, Kirsten Leckszas.

She found out months later that it was a peanut allergy triggered through breast milk. Now his mom is extremely careful about what she eats.

"I've avoided some of my favorite restaurants since we found out,” said Leckszas.

Peanut allergies affect about one in 100 children in the United States and can be severe. A 15-year-old girl died after kissing her boyfriend who had just eaten peanut butter.

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Duke University found, in the mid-‘90s, these allergies would first surface, on average, at 22 months old. Now it's as young as 14 months.

"What we hope people will recognize out of this is that, in the children that already have some type of allergic disease, peanut allergy is a possibility,” said Dr. Wesley Burks of Duke University Medical Center.

For instance, they found most kids who are allergic to peanuts are also allergic to eggs. But, unlike other foods, kids with a peanut allergy have only a one in five chance of outgrowing it.

"Once they have a peanut allergy, most of them are going to have it for the rest of their life,” said Burks.

The American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents not to let children younger than three eat peanuts -- in hopes of reducing their risk.
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There’s a new alternative for the treatment of a child's cough: honey.

In a study funded by the National Honey Board, researchers placed more than 100 children with an upper respiratory infection on one of three treatment plans: a dose of honey, a commonly used over-the-counter drug, or no treatment.

They found those given honey coughed less than children not given treatment. Parents rated honey as the best treatment for cough relief at night, and it allowed the best sleep quality.

Kids under the age of two should not eat honey, even is it has been pasteurized, because honey may contain botulism spores. When ingested by infants, the sports can cause infant botulism.