allergy testing

[ashers3623]

I am just curious how old does the baby have to be before they can go for allergy testing. On my husband side there is a lot of family members including him allergic to the medicine of codeine. I want our baby to get tested for this allergy so if and when our baby does get sick i will know not to give him anything w codeine.

[AnnieBrooke]

Along with having it noted in his charts, you also need to be vigilant about anything your child is prescribed.  Keep your head if there is ever an emergency, just to double-check that they are reading the information in his chart.  That is good for a parent to do whether there is a suspected codeine allergy or not.

[ashers3623]

Thanks!! I just know for my husband he found out he was allergic when he was a child and was very sick his dr gave him something w codeine and he got worse. I like the idea as long as dr r aware it runs on his side of the family.

[AnnieBrooke]

Allergy testing in children is not terribly reliable, my son's doctor says.  She says they can come up as sensitive to something that in real life they don't actually react to, and not show as sensitive to something that the parents know from observation that they are allergic to.  She says it is better to just observe carefully, and test by experimenting with one food at a time.  As for codeine, simply tell the baby's doctor that the family has a lot of members with a codeine allergy, and you would like that noted in the baby's charts.  I can't think of many meds they would give to a baby that have codeine in them anyway.  My son is 5 and has never been prescribed anything with it.