Did you do the 1 yr iron/lead blood test? Why/why not? Are you glad about your decision? - Page 3

[ShadowMoon]

I do them each year. DS is not keen on it but let's them do it anyway. He's vegan so I like to know his iron levels are where they should be, (they always are).

[mckittre]

It was never even brought up to me as an option at the 1yr visit (the test). So my 17 month old has never been tested. I don't have any specific reason to worry about him, so I probably won't do anything about it. I would have gotten the test if it had been offered, though.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

Originally Posted by CassnBeth

Oh! and I always make sure to ask for a "butterfly" when they have to draw blood. They are smaller than the usual gauge needles but I guess some nurses/phlebotomists find them harder to use because of the size. I get flak for the request sometimes but I am willing to sit there until they find someone who is good with butterflies. I don't want any larger holes in my kid than necessary.

They used this at our peds office and the whole thing was pretty non-traumatic. I don't even think there were tears.

I am so grateful that we did the test, even though I didn't really think it was necessary. I had been overlooking the fact that our kitchen table was an antique (he was playing underneath it often), and it turned out to have lead paint! We bought a new table, and the levels went right back down.

[greenemami]

wow, I've never even heard of this-nobody I know has had this done (or at least they haven't mentioned it). I now go to a more natural homeopathic doctor since dd was about 18 months, and the very mainstream doc I previously went to never mentioned this. I guess I will wait to see if they say anything about ds, but the "new" doctor never asked us about this when we transferred there, so I doubt it.

I probably would decline unless I had some reason to believe there was a lead risk. I would never test just for iron because I feel confident that we get plenty via our diet and I tested fine during pregnancy. I remember getting a fingerstick for iron while pregnant, I wonder why they can't just do that for kids?

Dd had a vein blood draw for a Lyme titer when she was 2ish and it was very scary for her (and me!) and I would not be in a hurry to do that again. Although the technician took several tries to get a vein, and I think dd would have been okay if she got it the first time instead of jabbing her three times