Intro and Q: Chossing an allergist

flycka

Hi ladies, my daughter is allergic to dairy, intolerant to soy, eggs, nuts, and gets eczema from wheat, citrus, carrots and sweet potatoes. She got tested for food allergies by the Pediatrician at 4 months and it showed all normal numbers, so that didn't give us much info.

I've been mostly on my own and following others on the breastfeeding board and a tha FAAN site.

We will see an allergist this week and I already have a bunch of questions ready. Is there any standard questions to spot a good pediatric allergist?

Should I stick to no more testing until 1 year old? Do they always run a RAST on fist visits?

Will a GI have a better idea on how to approach the introduction to solids (we already started but going very slow), or formula if needed? 

Thanks in advance.

LSU628

DD went to the allergist around 8 mo. Her skin was so terrible from the eczema, that was the allergist's first concern. She wouldn't have been able to do the patch test on DD at that point b/c she wouldn't have been able to tell what was a reaction and what was eczema. After getting DD"s skin cleared up, she had us come back in for a patch test. She did a panel of 24 allergens including the top 8, environmental allergens, and things like dust mites, mold, mildew. We never did a blood test since DD was exhibiting so many signs up the milk protein allergy and she tested positive for the dairy.

As for good signs, are they gentle with your LO? Our allergist is very soft-spoken, kind, speaks to Grace and legitimately seemed concerned and upset that our pedi had dismissed my concerns and DD's symptoms for so long.  She also takes her time with us, answers all of my ?s and I like that she has young children herself so she just seems to "get it" more than some doctors.