Taking kids for blood work

My 4 year old needs to have blood work done for allergy testing. He recently had stitches, which has left him inconsolable for any kind of doctor appointments?. It took us holding him down (3 people) to get the stitches in and getting them out was another ordeal where we had to go to 2 doctors because the first one couldn't get them out. He had an anaphylactic reaction, so he needs to get this done. I'm not sure what to do. Every time I try to talk to him about getting blood drawn, he runs away screaming. I've tried bribing him, explaining things to him, offering to get looked myself... His reaction is the same. Any suggestions?

Re: Taking kids for blood work

I can relate, although my son as ASD and hates doctors but reacts the same... when we have to get blood done for him we make sure to go to a Quest or a similar lab where they are experienced with drawing blood so they stick him the first time and that's it. My DH still has to bear hug him as he is getting drawn but at least they are quick...

Re: Taking kids for blood work

I really like north shore lab in Bethpage. There is a nice lady named Satinder (sp?) and there is an assistant there to help hold children still. I found her recommended here by someone else and started going there with my baby. She is good at finding the vein. I think there are only two people there usually, so if you need more assistants that might not work. My doctor also recommended going to north shore manhasset.
My 4 year old was not scared to the degree your son is, but she was afraid of needles from the doctor's office. I talked to her about it in advance and told her what would happen. I talked about being brave and I did promise her a toy. When we went, she climbed into the chair. I could see she was afraid, but she said she was ready and she was the bravest girl. I was so proud of her.
I would keep stressing that it is one poke because the stiches probably took awhile. Idk if you are getting just one thing tested, but the standard allergy panel for top allergens is a lot of tubes of blood.
Good luck!

Taking kids for blood work

I would go to the lab at Good Sam. I had a terrible experience at lab Corp when dd1 was a year old. Two visits, countless sticks and they couldn't do it. Went to Good Sam and they brought in 3 people and had it done so fast with one stick. Granted a one year old is way easier than a 4yo but the extra sets of hands should help.

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Re: Taking kids for blood work

Re: Taking kids for blood work

Message edited 4/14/2017 7:41:49 PM.

Re: Taking kids for blood work

Message edited 4/14/2017 9:36:21 PM.

Re: Taking kids for blood work

My DD gets regular allergy testing. The lab at Good Sam is great with little ones. You don't need an appt. but call before you go to see when there will be someone there that specializes in pediatrics. There is one woman who works in the lab and the NICU so she was great with DD. We saw her twice, when DD was 1.5 and 2.5.

When DD was 6 months, I didn't know better and took her to the Sunrise that I always use. The phlebotomist there is great with me but she had to keep sticking DD and tried both arms. It was a nightmare with a screaming infant. You definitely want someone with pediatric experience. Their little veins are not like ours.

ETA: And I'm sorry to hear about the allergies. Definitely not fun, especially when they're anaphylactic

Message edited 4/14/2017 10:12:13 PM.

Taking kids for blood work

Thanks for the replies! The hospital is not an option because he freaks out when we have to go there. He had a rough 2 weeks- first we went to the er to get stitches because a glass knob he was using to climb the cabinet shattered under his foot. He kept kicking the podiatrist who was putting stitches in because he was so afraid. Then less than a week later he had an anaphylactic reaction and was taken back to the ER where he had an IV in his hand after he pulled it out of both his arms. He was in the hospital for 2.5 days from that reaction and every time a nurse or doctor came in he started screaming "nothing sharp!" Then he had to have his stitches out a week later. The podiatrist couldn't do it because DS kept kicking him and trying to escape, so he told us to go to the hospital, which brought on so much more anxiety and screaming. I decided not to bring him to the hospital, so he went to his pediatrician to get them out. I get it- he's had a long few weeks with doctors and needles. I never brought him for 1 year or 2 year blood, so it's not like he's even ever had it done to reference. He had never cried for shots or been afraid of anything. The stitches really changed that for him (he actually already had stitches when he was around 1). I just hope he didn't develop fill blown anxiety that is permanent from this! In my opinion, it stemmed from the doctor telling him she was going to put special numbing cream on his foot and then she jabbed him with a needle.

Taking kids for blood work

My other suggestion would be the outpatient Stony Brook lab. It's in Setauket (3 technology drive suite 100), not in the hospital. I brought my little preemie there and they were always excellent. There's always plenty of people there for extra sets of hands.

They don't take appointments but the number is 631-444-4033.

Taking kids for blood work

Make sure he is hydrated when he goes. I learned the hard way when we had an early am appt with barely any fluids prior. Call and ask for someone specialized with kids.

Taking kids for blood work

I'm not on Long Island but can sympathize.

My son had similar issues last year at 4 after a hospitalization (many failed attempts at blood draws and an IV infiltration while we were there) where he freaked out any time we went to see a doctor (which we did frequently after his hospital stay).

We had to get blood drawn as part of a GI workup (trying to figure out what was wrong with him) and we had to do it at a certain time in the morning and the only option was going to Quest.

Surprisingly, it went quite well - we had someone who specialized in pediatrics, I held DS in a bear hug and the draw was quick and painless. I was expecting the worst.

Good luck!