My older dd has severe IgE allergies to milk, egg, and peanut (she's turning 3 in September). Her allergist said they don't routinely test younger siblings, only if there's some indication of an allergy (and they lean pretty strongly toward skin prick testing over RAST), and her pediatrician said she thought it was a good idea to run a RAST before starting solids. We plan to hold off on introducing solids anyway until more like 7 or 8 months, and we certainly wouldn't be introducing any of dd1's allergens anyway.
Dd2 is coming up on 5 months old. I don't keep any milk/eggs/nuts in the house anyway, but I've had little bits of dairy (mostly cheese, a couple times ice cream, and once milk in coffee) and egg (mayo on sandwiches) to trial since she was born with no apparent reaction. But...dd1's reactions via breastmilk weren't hugely obvious (except in retrospect) and I was ingesting quite a bit more of each of her allergens. It's kind of hard to tell if dd2 isn't reacting because I'm not having as much, or because she's not allergic, you know? She has totally normal poops (not green, not mucusy, not vinegar-smelling), no bleeding diaper rashes, no eczema. Sometimes when she goes a few days without pooping, her bum gets kind of red when she finally does go, but that's the only possible symptom I've seen and it really doesn't seem to be related to what I'm eating based on timing. I'm cutting dairy/egg completely now (mostly for diet reasons--keeps me from wanting to eat out) and haven't had any nuts at all.
So now I need to decide what to do about testing. Is the red bum after pooping enough of a possible reaction to go to the allergist for skin testing (at under 6 months, no idea how reliable that even would be)? Or should we go with the RAST first, and if so, should I do it sooner rather than later to make sure I'm not eating any of her allergens, or should I wait until 6 months in case that's more accurate? I think the ped would just send us a script for the bloodwork, whereas I don't know how long it'd take to get into the allergist or if it's worth going that route without REALLY suspecting an allergy. What would you (or your allergist?) do?
Dd2 is coming up on 5 months old. I don't keep any milk/eggs/nuts in the house anyway, but I've had little bits of dairy (mostly cheese, a couple times ice cream, and once milk in coffee) and egg (mayo on sandwiches) to trial since she was born with no apparent reaction. But...dd1's reactions via breastmilk weren't hugely obvious (except in retrospect) and I was ingesting quite a bit more of each of her allergens. It's kind of hard to tell if dd2 isn't reacting because I'm not having as much, or because she's not allergic, you know? She has totally normal poops (not green, not mucusy, not vinegar-smelling), no bleeding diaper rashes, no eczema. Sometimes when she goes a few days without pooping, her bum gets kind of red when she finally does go, but that's the only possible symptom I've seen and it really doesn't seem to be related to what I'm eating based on timing. I'm cutting dairy/egg completely now (mostly for diet reasons--keeps me from wanting to eat out) and haven't had any nuts at all.
So now I need to decide what to do about testing. Is the red bum after pooping enough of a possible reaction to go to the allergist for skin testing (at under 6 months, no idea how reliable that even would be)? Or should we go with the RAST first, and if so, should I do it sooner rather than later to make sure I'm not eating any of her allergens, or should I wait until 6 months in case that's more accurate? I think the ped would just send us a script for the bloodwork, whereas I don't know how long it'd take to get into the allergist or if it's worth going that route without REALLY suspecting an allergy. What would you (or your allergist?) do?
