Seeking tips for surviving SPT/skin testing with a 16 month old

[violinear1]

Getting this done Wednesday. When we had to do a blood draw for the RAST I nursed the whole time and DS was only just a little upset. But this will take significantly longer, at 3 hours of not so fun.  

Should I just be prepared for him to lose it (he's generally pretty mellow) or does anyone have any suggestions to make it go smoother? Or anything else that you wish you'd known beforehand?

[changingseasons]

3 hours?!?! The testing itself shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to apply, and then you have 5-10 minutes of waiting until they read the results. It really wasn't bad at all for DD- the hardest part was keeping her from scratching the ones that reacted. But the pokes/scratches themselves are really quick. Some places even use special needle tray things that can do like 8 pokes at the same time.

[scsigrl]

My DS did really well at 18 months, okay at 2 and not so great at 3.75. DD just has it done last week at 28 months and could have cared less!  She seriously didn't even flinch! 

As CG said, it shouldn't take 3 hours.  It takes 2 minutes to clean off the back and do the pricks and then 15 minutes to come back and read them. 

You'll have to have the baby straddle (facing you) you and get the back at as little an incline as possible so that the test drops don't run together(not sure you can picture that but that seemed to work best for us).  Do you have an iPhone/smart phone with any games?  That's what we did with DD.  Like I said, she was playing her game and seriously didn't even seem to notice anything going on.

[violinear1]

The office said I should expect to be there for 3 hours. Maybe they require you to stay and be monitored afterward. Or look for reactions that take longer to appear?

I have used my iPhone in doctor's offices with long waits before. Last week I just looked up some songs on youtube and we danced in the room, while the doctor took her time getting to us.

It's a relief to know that I won't have to straddle him for that whole time! I think my imagination feared it far worse than it will be... Thanks for taming them : )

[violinear1]

Thanks for the tips. I'm exhausted, he wasn't very happy during the testing-- but the painful having to hold him down part only lasted about 20 minutes. We were there right at 4 hours! Whew.

Milk & eggs were super reactions....garlic, peanuts, wheat, corn, soy, tomatoes, coconut, cantaloupe, apricot, sesame.... and mold, cats, & dust like his mama.

Going to go get the epi pens tonight.Thank goodness they are already trained in using them at daycare. Wish me luck training DS's dad and his family.

[scsigrl]

Glad it wasn't *too* painful. 

Were you advised to take all those foods out of his diet?  Those tests are only 50/50 on accuracy.  Have you see reactions to those?

I just hate to see limited diets without a real concrete reason is why I ask.

Yeah for a trained school!  That's great news!

[violinear1]

Eggs I have suspected since he was 1 week old! And milk. So I went dairy free until he was 6 months but didn't notice a change when I started eating it again. The few times I have given him yougurt I can't really tell... it seems to cause stomach pain and looser stools but it's so hard to be sure. I've never given him straight milk or cheese. He seems to tolerate things cooked in ghee with no problems.

I'm not sure about wheat. I questioned it and pulled it months ago. Tried it again last week with no reaction... I'm going to give it a chance again in a few weeks.

Ped. Allergist said to avoid eggs, milk for sure. Avoid peanuts until he is 3. Shellfish til 4/5. But for everything else stay off for for 3-4 weeks and then try to add 1 back once a week. We are on 3 weeks of a rotating diet which has eliminated all of those things anyways based on RAST results. He said that they don't ever use the RAST in his office, that skin testing was the "gold standard" but the elimination diet was the only surefire thing.

Coconut I have never seen a reaction to, and I gave it to him for months. He has licked coconut oil off of a spoon without as much as getting red around the skin. He has had some weight issues, but I don't know if that is why. So. Many. Factors.

Doc said he was bestowing me with an Honorary G.I. certificate. He should check out some of these other moms on here!

[scsigrl]

I like his thinking on the introduction of the lesser offending foods though some other thinks sounds kind of outdated (ie the waiting till 3 for peanuts).  I am glad you have some answers!  It's a great place to start!!

I did 2 dairy and dairy and egg elimination diets with DS when he was a little bitty.  He had such a long list of allergies I didn't notice any difference till we went to the allergist and pulled way more than those 2 so I get that totally!  We had to hold on for some other strange things to happen to figure out he has Celiac as well and NOW I think we are finally on the right track!  It only took us 4 years!  So glad it hasn't taken you guys that long!

Good luck and there are tons of people here with cooking with allergy experience if you need ideas!