Anemia/lead Blood Test - What's It Like?

they took the blood from teh arm just like an adult when my son had it done. It was the worse. And the tech wasn't that friendly either.

My son just got over a bout with anemia. They 1st tested him in the pediatrician's office with a toe prick (less likely to pull at the toe bandaid than the finger). There is no need to stick the arm for this. He barely even noticed he was pricked...no tears or anything. Since then he's had blood drawn about 5 times. He did get an IV at the hospital & that is the only time he really cried. At the hematologist they stuck his arm since they usually needed more blood. This went fine too, as long as they got him on the 1st stick. He just didn't like having to hold still, but there weren't any tears. The last time they decided to prick his finger and they ended up having to prick 2 finger to get enough blood....once again no tears. He kept pulling at the bandaids and the fingers would not stop bleeding. He got blood all over his clothes and it was all over the floor just from 2 fingers! That's my only gripe about the fingers...they bleed like crazy and it looked like a massacre & you can't hide a kid's fingers on them. So don't sweat it...the toe prick went well and as long as you get someone who is good at sticking young kids, the arm isn't bad either & it's quicker than milking the toe. Good luck and no worries!

Hi R.,

Here is a web site. Something to think about.

www.evenbetternow.com

D.

Is this required now? My kids are grown, so I'm not up on current required tests. My oldest, now almost 21 years old, had a blood draw for lead testing when he was very little. We were removing a lot of old paint in the house and were absolutely clueless about what we were doing. How stupid we were! But, he tested fine. It was fairly traumatic at the time. He was about 5 or so, and so there was a significant fuss over the needle and draw. But, he just walked by me and I asked him about it, and his reply was, "I was tested for lead?" As traumatic as a blood draw seems in the moment, time heals the momentary trauma. (And he probably got a bunch of stickers or some sort of treat to divert his attention right after the draw.)

I took my son when he was one. It was very tramatic for me. The blood was taken from his arm. I had to hold him while they drew his blood. He let out a scream and cried for about 30 seconds. I gave him some golfish and he forgot all about it. It was much harder for me then it was for him. Good luck.
L.

It's an arm draw. We actually had it done twice since the first one came back a bit elevated.

Find out what your options are with your insurance. It was slightly more expensive, but I had my daughter's drawn both times at AI DuPont Children's hospital and I cannot speak highly enough of their phelebotomy department. All of the girls have at least 15 years experience just in Pediatrics and most have more on top of that.

They are specially equipped. I sat in a reclining chair with my daughter on my lap. The first time she cried, but that was more about being restrained than being in pain. The second time, she watched fascinated, and did not cry or try to move at all. Both times they got the vein on the first try.

S.

I can't say it's much fun... but it is so important to do. We had an arm draw. If you can try to be calm and hold her and sing and try to distract her with a song or something else to keep her attention off of it (without overstimulating her) - we blew up one of the surgical gloves and drew a face on it, and that took his attention off the whole thing - and combined with the singing and also the great tech, it was fine. He was bummed for a little bit, but he was over it before we left the office. We took him to a pond afterwards to feed some ducks to help him forget the whole thing, and honestly, he was really fine much sooner than I was... I think it is much harder for us than them.

I just took my daugter for this yesterday @ the Quest Diagnostics lab in Quakertown. I asked about getting a heel or finger prick but they said they couldn't because of the lead test. However, I think that depends on where you go because I know others who have had their children tested that way.
We were very lucky- I went at 11:00 and there was no wait. The woman who took the blood (they had to draw it from the vein) was excellent- one try- 5 minutes- and we were out the door.
The worst part of it was the fact that my daughter hates having her hands held or touched by strangers and they had to hold her arm straight to draw the blood so she pitched a fit. But as soon as it was over she was fine.
Good Luck!

They can do either for both tests. YOu are better off getting the blood drawn vs the prick. Reason being it's way more accurate. And while you as the mom may be traumatized a tad, would you rather come back after having the finger prick and then have to have the blood drawn. The lead especially can have false positives, especially if you live in an old house. They may touch the walls and end up with perhaps some on their fingers and then say they have lead in them, but it's the blood work that will tell you accurately whether or not there is a problem.

Hi R., When my girls had that blood test (many years ago in another state) it was a regular blood draw not a finger prick. Remember that your daughter will take her emotional cues from you so you need to stay calm, cool and collected before, durring and after the blood test so that she will be able to deal with it effectively and not develop a fear. It is an important test that you shouldn't skip. Best wishes.

Hello Rachel,
My name is M. and I am the mother of an 11 yr old and a 3 yr old. My 3 yr old (Joshua) was born with severe anemia(Hereditary Elliptocytosis). When he was born his anemia was so bad that he had to be in the NICU the entire time he was in the hospital. After he left his hemaglobin kept getting lower so he ended up getting a blood transfusion when he was 3 weeks old. When that happened he had to be tested 1-2 times a week, which meant he had to have blood drawn. You think he would be used to it, but he still hates needles.
So to answer you question, more they will probably draw the blood to get a better reading. Hope this helps, good luck and God Bless you and your little one.

M. G

my son had to have blood drawn for the standard lead test that is supposed to be done at a year old. he did not like it but it had to be done. i had to sit him in my lap and hold his one arm down while one test drew the blood out of his arm and the other one held it still. it was over with quick. i went to the labcorp in thorofare off of jessup dr. they are awesome, if you live in the area. i have also been to quest diagnostics and i feel lab corp is much better. your daughter will be fine. i think the main thing is to have people who know what to do so it can be done quickly and effectively.

We just had the iron test. My oldest tested low on iron on the first test which they did with a toe prick as they only needed a small amount of blood. She hated it and it was done in the office. The problem was that she just didn't bleed much and required a lot of "milking" to get enough. That came back low so she had to be retested at 1 year and that test they did with the blood draw at the lab. She hated being held down, but my husband sat with her on his lap. Otherwise it was fine.

They used to do a finger prick, now they draw blood. They can draw blood from a 13 month old. It wont be fun that is why I put it off until my kids were at least 4.

Hi! My son is two and he's had the lead test. No anemia test that I can recall... but, it was a blood draw in the arm. They make u sit in the chair and hold them in your lap. Then you basically have to pin them to your body so they can't jerk around. AS SOON AS they give them the shot, you hug, love, and soothe them to pieces!!!

If you ask for a finger stick like we did at the blood draw center - it's absolutely no big deal, she didn't even feel it. Good luck

Because of living in a really old house, our doctor recommended that we have our daughter screened for lead. I asked her the same question, and she said that they never do a pricked finger or foot for lead. Most offices are sending their patients to the lab to have blood drawn. However, all of my kids have had a prick test for iron level. (heel or finger depending on if your daughter is walking yet.)

I had bothe children tested since it was a requirement. We went to DuPont Children Hospital since they are good at this with the kids. They had to draw blood. It wasn't that bad. Even my 2 year old was fine with it.

Just a finger prick, nothing to worry about! My daughter is 14 mos old and had that done at her last doctor's visit too.

We had it done because our house is older then 1970. Our doctor sent us to a lab for lead screening and it was only a prick of the finger. For an adult anemia is only a prick too.

Mine all had this done, and our ped is now recommending the lead at age 2 as well as 1 year (due to all the recent problems with lead in toys). They drew the blood from the arm, and the worst was always having to hold your child still as this tends to freak them out a little. With three of the 4 blood draws we've done, the actual prick didn't seem to phase them at all (most at this age don't have quite the needle anxiety they develop later). We always went to a lab for the draw, and the would have me sit in the chair with my child in my lap. The only warning I would give is that you do want to be sure the lab or tech doing your draw works with children frequently since we did have one time when the tech obviously wasn't used to working with smaller veins and just kept poking my daughter and getting frustrated. We ended up leaving and having the test drawn at a local children's hospital. We've also done draws at a regular lab, though, so experience of the tech is more important than the actual place the draw is done. Good luck and know that any upset will be over and forgotten very quickly!