Is it worth it to allergy test (skin prick) a 3 month baby?

My son has eczema. And the allergist recommended a skin test. But I heard from the pediatrician that it is not worth it since their immune systems are not fully developed yet. Their allergies are not stable at this time.

Is it worth it to allergy test (skin prick) a 3 month baby?
My son also inherited bad allergies, the pediatrician did a blood test called "RAST" and that was a baseline of some of his allergens, so you know what to avoid. That is much simpler for a baby.
Reply:Thats tough, I probably wouldnt do it
Reply:NO, Babies that young get alot of rashes and sniffles %26amp; such... Just wash his clothes in Dreft or Woolite %26amp; let them do the test at one year if it doesn't clear up %26amp; gets really bad... I think the allergist is just trying to jack you for your money!!! A pediatrician knows best when it comes to babies!!!
Reply:Well I was 25 at the time of my skin prick test and after 50 skin pricks I was still not properly diagnosed. The doctor thought I was allergic to wheat or dust. When it was cat hair. Not much difference but it would have saved 2.5 months of useless skin pricks.
Reply:An allergist is going to recommend this because he sees a potential new patient, and therefore more money. Listen to your pediatrician. Your baby is too young to have this done. It is uncomfortable and time consuming, plus the person receiving the tests has to lie still, which would be impossible for a baby. Just treat the eczema, and if your son is having allergy symptoms throughout his child hood, when he is around 11 or 12 you can have skin tests done. Even then I don't know that it's worth it. I had the skin tests and skin pricks done and they showed I was allergic to a ton of stuff, which I knew. I started the shots and all they did was make me sick. I'm controlling my allergies better now with Zyrtec and Nasonex. Good Luck to you and your little baby.
Reply:Better to know what is causing the problem, my son has a food allergy (gluten) that was not determined until he was 10yo. He had failed to thrive and was 50% weight at 10 and is now 70% in 3 years of being on a wheat free diet.
Reply:I would take your Pediatrician's advice on this one. If you are a stay at home parent you can try eleminating different things your baby comes in contact with one by one. Keep notes and that might give you and your Dr. some clues as to the source of her condition. Do the test much later.
Reply:my son had eczema also and we waited until he was 4, we just started from scratch with his food groups and added one per week watching for better or worse systems...3 months is too young and the tests are painful...I would wait,my nephew also had bad skin rashes he out grew them by the time he was2...
Reply:It would be more traumatizing to test him than to let him have the bout of eczema. My oldest son has Pustular Psoriasis and my middle son has Eczema and with both of them the pediatric dermatologist recommended using Dove bar soap for sensitive skin and use Eucerine lotion. Use both daily. You just have to be careful with not getting the soap in his eyes.. Also, for both of my sons I through trail and error found that Purex Dye free detergent works the best. Sometimes it is the perfumes in things that can cause a eczema breakout. Or it can happen when they get hot , they can develop it in the folds of skin like neck area or back of knee area or any fat rolls.For those areas use Pure Talcum Powder because it absorbs more moisture and prevents it from chaffing. Be careful with getting it into the air


put it on your fingers and rub to prevent him from breathing it in . And with my youngest I started from day one with the same soap, lotion, powder


and detergent with her and have not seen anything more than a bit of dry skin patches here and there in the winter.
Reply:No my mother does this all day long and that is the one thing she fusses about.





You do not need to put the baby through it until you have tried everything to see what is causing it and keep it away from the baby.





If you know, then treat the symptoms and keep it away.


If you do not know, keep track of it and narrow it down, only result in the skin test(s) a lot of pricks) if you cant find it,and the reaction becomes life threaten.
Reply:I would think the allergist would have more information about that than the pediatrician. It doesn't hurt to have the skin testing done. He will be more irritated with being held for the testing than the testing itself, It is not like getting a bunch of little shots. It is more of an annoying problem that actual pain. The skin test might be helpful to determine what is causing your son's eczema so they are better able to treat it. My first question to myself would be how bad is the eczema. If it is just a little spot, I would wait to see if it resolved itself as he got older. If he has a really bad case, it would be worth treating aggressively as he is probably uncomfortable with the itching, etc. It won't hurt to wait, and it won't hurt to go ahead. If the doctor is correct and his allergies are not stable at this time, the testing can always be repeated later.