Our pediatrician has ordered a blood allergy test for our 1 year old to try to sort out her allergies and while I am thrilled to get more information on what she is allergic to I'm so sad for her to get blood drawn. She sobs with vaccines and I'm assuming getting blood drawn is worse?? She's also sooo strong I worry I can't hold her still enough long enough.
Looking for advice for those whose Los have had blood taken around this age. Is it awful? Anything I can do to make it less awful?
squash / 13764 posts
It is awful, but I presume they will have it done by someone that specializes in pediatrics. They will have her sit on your lap, with her facing out, and show you how to hold her to restrain her with one arm out if hey need it from a vein. If it's a finger prick I imagine that will be a lot easier! I'm surprised you didn't have to do this already at 1 year for lead? It's pretty bad, but the lab people are very fast and good at their job!
ETA a video or lollipop or something might help--wouldn't for my LO, but maybe yours would be more easily distracted!
grapefruit / 4079 posts
My LO is awesome with it. He watches them like a hawk and never cries. He's more interested in the process.
blogger / pomegranate / 3044 posts
It sucks. I hold him like a car seat (across the chest and under the crotch) to keep him as still as possible. Good luck!
grapefruit / 4681 posts
For us it is better if they let LO sit on my lap. My local lab insists on laying her and holding her down which she does not like. I would also suggest going to a children's hospital or a lab that specializes in children if you can. They are so much more slick and do such a better job!
She sits on my lap and I put one arm around her stomach (from side being drawn) and the other goes across her chest and ends on her shoulder. She does pretty good with it now, but she gets labs often, has IV's a lot and also injections twice a week, so sadly I think she is used to it 
papaya / 10343 posts
@hilsy85: she had a finger prick but this is a whole vial of blood. 
We are going to a pediatric care center so they should be experts at this. I'm nervous!
pomegranate / 3350 posts
Lo1 had 2 blood draws - one at 9 months and another around 15 months. I was so nervous but he did great both times. I held him in my lap and the phlebotomist was great distracting him. I'm sure she'll do fine and it's quick so try not to stress to much!
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
It was just as bad as I expected it to be. It took DH and I to hold him down. He sat in DH's lap and securely held while I had to hold his legs down because he kept kicking the lab table and thereby making it hard for the lab tech to jab him. Finally when they got a vein I couldn't stand hearing him cry and started crying myself. DS and I were a hot mess after the whole ordeal. Luckily, once the needle was removed he immediately stopped crying. I think no amount of distraction could have made that situation better for him.
pomelo / 5628 posts
A few tips: hydrate as much as possible before hand. When you get there, you can ask for a heating pad, makes blood draw easier, but my lo didn't like the heat. I hold him on my lap car seat style like mrs Tiger said, but the lab techs told me what to do. I ask for the best tech for little kids, difficult veins. One time I left because the ladies were kinda mean. I have had the best luck at the lab at the actual hospital because they see so many patients. Have a bottle ready right after. It sucked during and lo cries for a by after, but no lingering effects.
nectarine / 2272 posts
We had to get blood drawn from J when he had only been home a couple weeks. DH couldn't (and still can't really) stand to see him cry so I did it. He is very strong. I sat him in my lap and held him down with an iron grip. If they move it will be worse. If they sit still, it's over quickly. He screamed and cried and thrashed. The tech said, "it's my fault, not mommy's" and although he didn't understand English, that was a nice gesture 
grapefruit / 4712 posts
@Mae: are you going to the city to for the children's hospital? If not I would recommend it! The blood draw is going to be rough. They generally have me hold LO in my lap with the legs in between my legs and then I bear hug the top. Best of luck momma. 
cherry / 157 posts
I agree with holding her in your lap and physically (and emotionally!) being as strong as you can to hold her arm still. The less she moves, the quicker and easier it'll be for the phlebotomist. For us, it wasn't any worse than a shot.
papaya / 10343 posts
@MrsRcCar: going to a nationwide children's close to home center. That's where they do these. Big hospital wasnt an option
honeydew / 7586 posts
We've had two blood draws for lead (we live in the city) and they've been relatively quick and painless. My LO didn't even cry during the first one.
grapefruit / 4712 posts
@Mae: We have always had great draws at Nationwide and their child lab. Their staff is amazing. My kids still cried but they try to distract them and make it as painless as possible.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
My LO had one at around 12 months and it was actually fine. She sat on my lap and they put the tourniquet around her arm and took it from her vein. She didn't even cry, it was over so fast. I was a proud mommy.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
We had to do it twice when they checked her iron and lead levels- at 9 and 12 months. It sucks, especially since they do it at the end of her check up so she's already kind of upset usually. But it's over relatively quickly and she calmed down pretty quick after we left the office. They have her sit in my lap, and showed me how best to pin her arms and legs so she didn't move. Honestly I do not think they are great at it at our office. I bet a specialized pediatric hospital will be much better.
papaya / 10343 posts
Thank you all so much for your honesty and input. I guess we just hope we get a fast tech and I do my best to hold her tight and put up a strong front for her.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
@Mae: make an appointment and tell the lab it's a Ped draw. I was freaked out for it too but it wasn't too bad. Definitely bring someone with you. You will sit her in your lap. They had a tech hold her arm and another do the draw. DH stood behind her to distrct. She screamed like crazy the second they put the elastic band on, but it was quick. Next time I would try to distract her with a show on the
iPad.
apricot / 443 posts
Besides what everyone else has said I would see who is waiting in the waiting room and if there are other children, try to leave the waiting room in case the other kids start screaming and your LO can hear it. I've been to a few labs where once one kid screams, the rest get more and more worked up. Or maybe bring some headphones to drown out any other screaming?
pomegranate / 3791 posts
We had to have this done at that age. I made DH handle it. Typically I handle all the doctor appointments since I'm a SAHM, but I'm a total needlephobe who is trying my hardest not to pass it along to LO...but I just couldn't do it. He said he cried pretty much the whole time, but they gave him a sucker right after and he was over it quickly.
kiwi / 506 posts
We had to get ds1 blood drawn at 12 and 14 months because he is very small so we were checking this thyroid. The first time the vein was either rolling or they missed because I remember he was poked twice and I left pissed. The second time the tech did awesome. It sucks but it will be over quick. I hope you get the answers you need.
apricot / 274 posts
For us, blood draws are WAY easier than vaccines. My son has had several. He's almost a year old and he sits in my lap and watches them draw the blood. I don't have to hold him down or anything. He also doesn't cry. He screams bloody murder during vaccines though.
eggplant / 11408 posts
We haven't had to, so no advice. But. I'm glad that you are getting some more answers for Fia. What do they think the allergies might be? More than just MSPI and avocado?
cantaloupe / 6869 posts
LO had a blood draw around a year. He hated it and they had to try twice to get a good draw. It pissed him off and hurt but honestly it wasn't traumatizing or anything. He forgot about it like 20 minutes later.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Xander's had it done a couple times. It sucks, but they get over it pretty quickly! Both times we've had it done, Xander sat in our lap and you have to hold him pretty tight, especially the arm/hand not getting the blood drawn. Then another lab tech usually holds the arm getting the blood draw while another tech does the actual draw. It's usually pretty quick, but Xander screams and cries through the whole process. But once it's over, he gets over it within a couple minutes.
Good luck!
grapefruit / 4321 posts
I'm really just curious because we had allergy testing as well. Why are they opting for a blood draw as opposed to the skin tests?
cantaloupe / 6171 posts
LO had blood drawn at 1 year for a lead test (standard in NYC). I held her, but they also had 2 people there--one tech held her arm out straight while the other took the actual sample. It was so helpful, I don't think I could hold her still enough on her own! She hated it, but then was fine after.
papaya / 10343 posts
Thank you all again for your advice! We had it done this morning. And it sucked. Our tech was very nice and as fast as she could be but poor Fia's little arms just didn't have enough blood or something? I had to hold her very tight. She started crying as soon as she tied the tourniquet, before she even got stuck! Then she did the first arm and couldn't get the blood flowing (she was in the vein it was just slow) and held her there for probably a full 2 min before deciding it was all we could get out of that arm and it was only half as much as we needed. So then we had to do the other arm. UGH. She sobbed the whole time and it was really hard, but she stopped crying as soon as it was done and seems okay now. Poor baby.
@LovelyPlum: We suspect she possibly has a delayed allergy to tree nuts and possibly a true allergy (not intolerance) to dairy. But it is really hard to tell. She doesn't have classic/scary allergy symptoms. But she has persistent eczema that appears to be tied to diet but its been really hard to pin down what thing or things cause it. We're hoping this gives us some clarity on whether her eczema is just random and possibly weirdly timed... or if she really does have an allergy or allergies causing it.
@Truth Bombs: I didn't actually ask why they ordered a blood test rather than the scratch test because I was thrilled she wouldn't have to get the scratch test, which seems worse to me since she'd have to get poked so many times and she is really bad at being messed with by strangers (stranger danger!). But my best guess based on my dr.googling about the pros/cons of each is because blood tests are better at diagnosing delayed allergies than skin tests, and because they are often recommended for infants/toddlers so they don't have to go through the scratch test. The biggest downsides of the blood test v. the scratch test are that it is more expensive and sometimes not covered by insurance (don't care) and it has a higher rate of false positives. I believe that the plan at this point is to see what/if anything she tests positive to wit the blood test then if there is something we'll be referred to an allergist who will probably do a skin test to confirm just those suspected allergies, rather than doing like 30 skin tests.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
It's so interesting to hear how different pediatricians handle things. My son was referred to a dermatologist because of his eczema, not an allergist. Curious what your results will be like. Glad the blood draw is over!!
papaya / 10343 posts
@Adira: I asked for an allergist referral bc it seemed to me her eczema was diet linked and worse when we gave her dairy or almond milk. Doc recommended blood test before referral.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@Mae: Ohh, gotcha! Yeah, I wonder if Xander's eczema was related to his diet too since it seems to have gotten better since he's been off breast milk (where I was ingesting dairy which he is allergic to), though both the allergist and dermatologist didn't think it was related. Who knows! Hope you figure it out!
honeydew / 7230 posts
@Mae: Oh, poor Fia! They had to do both of Alice's elbows twice and still couldn't get enough for her vials, so they ended up having to do a heel stick and let it drip into vials. It was insane and the worst thing I've experienced as a mom. Three days later she had repeat blood work and the tech was flawless and had zero problems. That made me so furious that she had been through all that a couple days before for no reason. Ugh! I hope this at least gives you clarification on what's going on with her eczema and allergies! Keep me updated!
pomelo / 5073 posts
@Mae: Our little one had ITP so we had to follow up with a month of blood testing each week. She got to where she knew what we were doing when we went in. The best ones distracted her and tested everything out before they actually took the blood. I usually held her tightly and they would have someone else to help. I would sing to her and that seemed to calm her down some. I would cry later. Hang in there!
eggplant / 11408 posts
@Mae: oh poor baby I hope the tests give you answers, though. GI issues are maddening to figure out!
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