Allergy testing for babies

[jackie011]

I called to follow up with the pedi after DS' reaction. (Inadvertently gave him eggs the other night and he had a bad reaction). They referred me to an allergy specialist. We're going there next week. Any idea what to expect? Not sure if they'll do a scratch test or a blood test. I'm so concerned for the little guy!

[cece]

We had to see an allergist for suspected dairy allergy. She had an anaphylactic type reaction to cheese. They did a scratch test. It really didn't seem to hurt her more just like it was itchy. They did a histamine scratch first to make sure the scratch test would work. Then the dairy test b the worst part was waiting around.
Hope it all goes smoothly!

[Wonderwall]

Jan 14, 2015 19:02:12 GMT -5 jackie011 said:

I called to follow up with the pedi after DS' reaction. (Inadvertently gave him eggs the other night and he had a bad reaction). They referred me to an allergy specialist. We're going there next week. Any idea what to expect? Not sure if they'll do a scratch test or a blood test. I'm so concerned for the little guy!

What kind of reaction did e have?

[indifferentstars]

Expect it to take a long time if they do scratch testing. Seriously, the waiting in the small exam room was the worst part of it. Bring entertainment for him! We had my son's first allergist visit when he was 10 months and it took probably 3 hours start to finish with all the testing and waiting. At his more recent visit, the visit was quick, we just discussed some things and then went to the lab for the blood test (traumatic for a toddler but quick).

For the scratch testing, they had me hold him on my lap facing me while they did all the pricks (we did multiple foods and then there was some snafu and they had to repeat something which led to it taking even longer than it should have, uggh). Then we were supposed to keep him from scratching at all, that sucked. He didn't like being restrained on my lap but he didn't seem to be in pain from the pricks at least, just really itchy.

Good luck!

[Marmee]

My DD2 & 4 had allergy (food & enviro) testing as infants. They did 20+ pricks on their backs. They cried but it wasn't horrible. Then if they had a positive they did a blood test. A blood draw on an infant/toddler is pretty freaking awful in my experience. My girls have had several & I always dread. Hope you have zero reactions! Fingers crossed.

[ilikedonuts]

DD1 had a scratch test followed by a blood test for the ones that came up positive on the scratch (egg and dairy).

ETA: This was at 10.5 months

[cinco]

Dd2 was tested shortly before turning 1. They did a scratch test for 4 things plus the control, and she tested positive for eggs, dairy, and peanuts, negative for soy. The testing wasn't too bad. Our office has tv and toys in the exam rooms, so my kids were entertained while we waited (I had DS b/c he wasn't in school yet). My older DD is allergic to peanuts, but we didn't find out until closer to 3. She had a scratch test the first visit, and gets blood draws yearly to see if her levels have gone down.

[countthestars]

I think CloudBee's son had allergy testing?

[ringstrue]

Yeah it will take a while- 1 hour or more? When they do the skin test your kid can't touch their back (or you) but they are gonna wanna itch it if it's reacting so that's a bit -acrobatic for you and the kid for a while. The more they scream the faster the doc will come back and check the spots tho.

[Deleted]

All 3 of mine have had allergy testing. J first did at 11 mos and twice since then. The girls had it first done at 5 mos.

With j we did a blood test first with the pedi and then went to allergist after it was positive. The girls we went straight to allergist after we couldn't eliminate the blood in their stool despite me following a very restrictive diet.

The allergist did a scratch test for numerous foods. J has severe egg and dairy allergies and moderate ones to peanut and chickpeas. The scratch test they put the stuff on their back and then you wait 10 mins and they will come in and read it ie look at the size of the welt if any. It was ok with j but hard with the girls because nothing can touch their back during the waiting period. The girls were so young and couldn't sit up and we were having to try and hold them on the stomachs without touching their backs.

They were all long appointments so be prepared for that. Hopefully you will have answers though. Food allergies are daunting at first but you learn to navigate them. Good luck!

[meij]

Ours was blood first then scratch. Blood was harder for us because it sucked to hold her down.

Scratch tests have been tolerable because she was old enough (I think she was 2.5 for the first one?) to watch ipad and be distracted. It's very important they don't scratch or touch their back during the time frame between the prick and results. That would be hard with a baby since you'd have to avoid touching their back too.

The one thing I regretted was them sending us to a quest place for blood draw. They were not use to little kids and they didn't do a good job taking her blood. The first failed, got flustered and had someone else do it. Any blood draws since we've insisted on going to the children's hospital. They are so much better at it since it's what they are used to.

[litasail]

We did allergy testing at 9 months and it was a blood test. Our allergist said that their skin is too sensitive for scratch tests to be reliable at that age.

[jackie011]

Jan 14, 2015 19:23:00 GMT -5 Wonderwall said:

Jan 14, 2015 19:02:12 GMT -5 jackie011 said:

I called to follow up with the pedi after DS' reaction. (Inadvertently gave him eggs the other night and he had a bad reaction). They referred me to an allergy specialist. We're going there next week. Any idea what to expect? Not sure if they'll do a scratch test or a blood test. I'm so concerned for the little guy!

What kind of reaction did e have?

Red splotches all over his face and very swollen eyes. He scratched himself so hard his cheek was bleeding. It was pretty scary! But, the good thing is that the Benedryl cleared it up almost immediately. Never leaving home without Benedryl again!

[luckyno7]

We had a reaction to peanut butter. I've seen 2 allergist. The first time around 1 year they drew blood. He told me it was because they wanted to see the numbers and would take a blood test a year later to see if the numbers went down. I wasn't crazy about that dr because I felt he didn't listen to me.

I wanted to have him retested to see if he had outgrown and they did the scratch test. He did pretty good. He was about 4 when we did the scratch test and I brought our iPad and books to keep him busy.

Both took about 3 hours.

We carry and epi pen and benedryl with us every where.