Should I put child through blood test for WIC?

[robin4kids]

So my dh and I are not earning as much as we have in past years. I babysit and right now I am making less than half of what I made last year. My dh was working 3 jobs: Full time teacher, Tutor and p/t at local mall. Last March he quite the mall thing. He was never home and we was tired. Long story short, we are seriously broke.

If I did not babysit and we only had my dh's income, (which is possible, since babysitting is so unreliable) we only make around $3000 above the poverty level. We figured out that if dh earned $5000 less then we could get $12,000 a year in food stamps. Now I understand why so many people stay on them. Why work more? Unless you got an awesome paying job, then it is not worth it. It is so crazy!

Now we do qualify for one of our children to get WIC. I have done WIC before. I forgot that you had to have a blood test. My dd have already had TWO and hates both. Unfortunately the test has to be done within 2 months of getting WIC. Do I make her suffer, just so we can get some milk and cereal? It is not like we are desperate. We are eating fine. We are just choosing to eat rather than pay all the bills.

I feel so frustrated. We both work so hard, but for what? To live $5000 above poverty. So back to the original question: should we torture our dd for $20 or so of food a week?

[frugalmama]

as long as you know you qualify for another reason you can waive the blood test for "religious" reasons.

It's a PITA to do, but it can be done.

[SuzyLee]

Is it a finger prick, or are they taking a whole vial of blood?

Either way, it isn't sustainable long term to not pay your bills. So yes, I would do the blood test and get the WIC.

[deditus]

If I needed to (or if I could actually benefit from it - we're gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and egg free though), I would use WIC. However, I would have my ped's office do a blood draw because I think finger sticks are cruel - dd doesn't flinch when getting blood drawn but screamed like a banshee the one time she had a fingerstick. WIC will accept the results from your ped. We get dd's lead level tested anyway so they also check for anemia.

[kittywitty]

It's only a finger poke. Vaccination is unnecessary with WIC and not required. I would call the office about the finger poke. Last time we had WIC it was just to determine if they were iron deficient, though some places do lead tests which may need followed up with blood draws since they are so inaccurate (false positives on all 4 of my kids at some time or another!).

I would opt out of it if it's a big deal to you. My kids never minded the finger pokes-but I do myself. If you aren't paying your bills to eat, I don't know how much WIC can help. IS there other assistance out there you can get? Or (I know this wouldn't work for everyone) somewhere else you can move with a lower cost of living? Many rural areas pay well for teachers and there always seem to be rural jobs open.

[RoadWorkAhead]

If you are only 5k above the poverty level, then you qualify for F/S's. The FPL for a family of 6 is 29,530/yr. So you'd be at 116-117% of the FPL, and the food stamp cut off is 185%. Its worth applying.

[Daisie125]

The finger poke really isn't a huge deal. It's once every six months.

The food packages have changed, it's a lot more than milk and cheese now! You get fresh fruits and veggies, whole grain bread... it's worth it.

[lalaland42]

My DD hates finger pricks too. Like wailing for 20 minutes hate so I understand how you feel about making your child do that so you can receive WIC. That said, yeah, I would do it. There are a few times that I've had to tell DD that she needed to take one for the team (this involved photos) and that she needed to suck it up. I don't do that often but when it is important I will because she is part of the family and sometimes you need to do sucky things for family.

That said, I'd try anything to get out of it first.

[Leta]

It depends on your kid. Here, they test iron and lead with a finger stick. I always have them do me first, DD gets to hold a plush Blue Footed Boobie while they stick her, then pick out a cartoon band aid, a sticker, and a lollipop. She loves it! She has never cried, and sometimes even asks, "We get poke a-day?"
So not traumatic at all.

However, if your kid is really afraid, I'd try to get around it.

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

Our office just does a finger prick. I had it done when I was pregnant and I don't think it was that big of a deal. Plus it let me know that my kids' iron levels were low. So it turned out to be really helpful.

[robin4kids]

I guess i will call my doctor and see what they say. The bad thing is that my dd just had a well visit last week. She had a wart that had to be treated and well she will not be happy to go back. i think that we really need to sign up for anything we can get. Every little bit helps. Right?

I love the "take one for the team". It is true. We are a team and we need to work together to make things work.

[frugalmama]

one of the big things I did was right after the WIC appointment we went to get our items, and I explained after we got everything in the cart that because she got her finger poked we could get all of these foods from WIC. Since it included several things she really liked {fruits, juice, eggs} she understood a bit better.

[Smocked]

I would do the the blood test and I would also apply for food stamps.

[Chloe&Coop'sMom]

My kids (or I) have never had to have a finger prick for WIC. They just give me a form and tell me to take it to my kids' ped and have them check it at their next well child visit. My kids are old enough they only go once a year now and I forget about the form. I've never been hassled about it.

[ILuvMyBaby]

I would do it in a second...it sounds like you need the support and $20 a week is a lot of money

[goldfishkate]

I know how you feel. Both my kids hate the finger prick. My kids start screaming and crying as soon as we walk into the waiting room. Last time I asked the nurse if we could skip it. She took pity on us and let it slide. It never hurts to ask. She did insist that we would have to do it next time and we will. My kids don't like the finger prick, but they're also often low on iron so it's nice to know where they're at. Plus, the new food package is really helpful.

[amyamanda]

I haven't read the other responses, but I was able to refuse the blood tests (iron and lead) and still get WIC. They wanted to weigh and measure my kids each visit and I was okay with that. I would have done without WIC otherwise. Good luck.