Does exposing small children to peanuts earlier in life make them more likely to develop allergies?

Probably not: There is no good evidence that withholding peanuts from a child's diet reduces their risk of developing peanut allergy. In fact, there is some evidence that introducing them early on may give a greater likelihood of tolerance.

Hard to study: Studies in this area are hampered by acquiring enough participants that will adhere to a study format (introduce foods by amount and timing). Some results suggest that there is no difference between early or late and maybe a benefit to early introduction.See Perkin MR et al,EAT Study Team;NEJM 2016;374(18):1733-1743