Our 4 year old has all sorts of environmental allergies. When they did the back poke test almost everything bubbled up. The doctor said when he turns 4 she'd recommend him doing allergy shots as it could have a big improvement in his quality of life. I really like her and I think I'm on board but thought I'd get some more input.

Any of you have experience with young kids and allergy shots? Appreciate any info!

One other idea as you check all the boxes might be looking into Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT). I have been using for the last ~9 mos. as I try to remedy my cedar allergies developed as an adult.

Don't have experience with kids, but I'd say he's a good candidate for allergy drops per the previous comment. I took the test and was so reactive to everything that they had to stop the test. They took a blood test and determined the best allergy immunotherapy formula. They didn't recommend the shots because they feared I'd highly react to them.

Historically, you get faster results with the drops compared to allergy shots, but unfortunately they're not covered by my insurance so it's a little over $200 every 2 months or so.

If you're still on the fence, I'd get a 2nd opinion just to make sure.

I would go ahead and start something if he was that reactive. A 4 year old will probably respond quickly to either method, and it's always better to treat the root cause vs just manage symptoms with antihistamines and steroids. His symptoms will also likely continue to worsen if left untreated, which can lead to more issues down the road (chronic sinus issues, allergen induced asthma etc). If it were my 4 year old I would go with the drops for convenience and also spare him all the needle pokes.

I would strongly consider allergy shots or drops. The drops work but they are not FDA approved as each solution is custom made. There are FDA approved sublingual tabs for timothy grass allegy and dust mite allergy that I have started on patients in the recent past. When you consider the cost and risk of shots vs the out of pocket cost for SLIT most parents opt for SLIT.

(sublingual immunotherapy)

Also agree with the above poster that it is always better to treat the root cause if possible instead of treating symptoms forever.

I've never seen a 4yo get immunotherapy via shots. They just don't tolerate to process well. If they have a lot of allergies as you described, it's likely to be two shots weekly for 4-6 months before they can be started to be spaced out. It can be a 2-4 year process. Even if the child could tolerate it, it is also a difficult thing for parents as you have to go to the doctor's office, get the shots, then wait there for 30 minutes to make sure there is no reaction.

As others have mentioned, SLIT is a better option for a 4yo but there are some things to consider. It does not work equally for all types of environmental allergies. All immunotherapy is poor for cat and dog dander. If you have an animal that your child is allergic to, you are going to have to get rid of the animal. If there is a significant dust mite allergy, get rid of your carpet and get encasements for the bed and pillow. Get rid of stuffed animals. SLIT works best for grass, weed, tree type allergies. You're more likely to see improvement if those are the things that tested positive.

We started getting my son allergy shots around age 6 or 7. He was terrified of shots initially but grew out of that after a few sessions. He inherited my boatload of environmental allergies, and he's definitely better off now.

Other than LASIK , allergy shots was the best thing I ever did for myself. Ill just put that out there lol.