Allergy in Child

So now the only thing you know is that your child is allergic to something. You’ve done your homework and have tried to take away some of the foods that he regularly eats. But an even more thorough look into your child’s symptoms may help you pinpoint your next logical course of action. One of the things that you have to consider is if your child has specific symptoms. Children exhibit several symptoms altogether but most of the time, it varies with each person as much as the allergens change.

Another important thing to look out for is when do these allergic reactions or symptoms occur. Is it during the daytime or at night? Does it happen more frequently during the rainy season or does it proliferate during summer time? You also need to take a long, hard look at how the child is affected by food allergens.

If your child eats something that he or she is allergic to, do they symptoms happen as soon as he or she has digested the food? Does it take longer than that? Do the symptoms go away after a few hours or does it stay on for days on end? Because of this, it is best that you keep a food diary in order for you and your child to take note of the different things that may possibly be causing the allergic reactions. The more detailed and the more consistently you journal, it would be an easier job for you to conclude the allergens of your child.

What is a parent do?

So, now that you have narrowed down your suspected foods to a few meat products and some dairy, you may now be able to go about testing what your child is allergic to. One of the simplest ways to test if your child is allergic to a specific food is to do the prick skin test. This is one of the most common methods used to test if a person is allergic to something or not. It should be noted that this test is not as accurate for those children under the age of 12 months.

However, it is perfectly allowable for a child above a year old to have this test and obtained fairly accurate results. How it’s done is drops of common allergens are placed on the child’s skin. After that, light pricks or scratches are then made in the skin and the area is then observed for any reaction. It is a quick and relatively painless test. One of the things you should remember whenever doing this type of test is to ensure that your child is not taking any antihistamines if he or she is indeed taking any for allergies.

So there you have it, how to essentially test if your child has allergies and how to go about narrowing down the suspected allergens all by yourself. It’s important that you are able to proceed with extreme caution and prudence. Always log your observations and sure enough, you’ll be able to hone in on the allergens that are plaguing your child.