Children can be tested at any age for allergies, although allergies are much less prevalent when children are less than 2 and rare when they are less than 1 year old. Testing is frequently not necessary, as treatment can be tried without testing in most cases. Testing is most often done by one of three methods:

1. Elimination, whereby the suspected allergen is removed from the child's environment and symptoms are monitored. If symptoms disappear, then reappear after re-introduction of the allergen, the diagnosis is made. There are three main disadvantages to this method:

• One must know what the suspected allergen is (not a foregone conclusion);
• One must be able to eliminate it from the child's environment;
• Re-introduction of the offending agent must occur for diagnosis.

2. Skin testing, where several potential allergens are injected into the skin, causing reactions if the patient is allergic. This is expensive, time consuming and uncomfortable for the patient.

3. Blood testing (RAST), which is very expensive and will often give equivocal or clinically non-significant results (often, patients will be labeled allergic to something which does not cause a clinical problem and avoidance will be difficult and unpleasant).

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