to be worried about 8 week vaccinations?

[MyGirl6]

My son is 11 weeks old today and has his first set of vaccinations on Friday. He's been a bit poorly on and off over the past couple of weeks so had the initial appointment delayed. I was (probably irrationally) worried about this as I was scared he would be unlucky and catch something in the interim!

He was quite poorly when he was born. He had over 20 heel pricks every day for 4 days, couldn't feed, needed lots of help and it was all very scary.

I remember how hard I found hearing him squeak every time he has those heel pricks and am worried I'll find him getting his vaccination quite upsetting.

I probably sound ridiculous, as it's only an injection and is really important, but can anyone share their experiences with me? Were your babies all okay after or did they feel poorly?

Probably worrying irrationally but I can't help it...

@OldPosterNewUsername https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/paracetamol-affects-childhood-jabs/

"It has found that routinely giving a baby paracetamol in the 24 hours following their childhood immunisations, although clearly successful in reducing the risk of fever developing, reduces the immune response to the vaccine"

The study found that giving a single dose of paracetamol did not result in a reduction in immunity

Read the whole article again, the whole way through and you will see that you have slightly misunderstood it.

Honestly, it is time to give one dose of paracetamol.

It actually says * "The study found that giving a single dose of paracetamol did not result in a reduction in immunity to treat a developed fever*"

This is advice that was given to me by my GP so whilst I do genuinely appreciate people suggesting to use Calpol, I feel inclined to take the advice I've already been given.

That's interesting MyGirl6 as we were given a sheet explaining when to give Calpol following the injections from the gp surgery (this was 6 weeks ago). Different ideas in different areas maybe?

@LayTheTableMabel possibly! I can only go by what my gp told me but don't want to tell anyone else they're wrong as there may very well be different guidelines available.

Also thanks everyone.

MyGirl6

You have read the article completely wrong and taken one line of it as the advice.

The NHS actually state within the advice that "the study found that giving a single dose of paracetamol did not result in a reduction in immunity to treat a developed fever"

You can't just take a study read part of it in complete insolation but do what do you like it is your baby.

@OldPosterNewUsername yes, to treat a developed fever. A fever developed AFTER the vaccine. I'm saying the advice is to not give a dose before the vaccine.

I haven't read it wrong at all. I've read the whole thing. Don't know why you are arguing this. I'm going off advice from my GP. No offence intended but why would I take advice from a person on the internet that I've never met over my gp?

But you're right, it is my baby!

Old Poster - I agree with your interpretation on that link, but different surgeries definitely do it differently. My NCT group: 6 babies, across 4 different surgeries. 3 surgeries told us to give Calpol. 1 surgery told the parents not to, because it decreased the effectiveness of the jab.

We gave Calpol to both our DC, but there are some doctors who advise against it.

OP - it’s no fun at all, and I made my husband take ours because I was such a wimp and I cried the first time. But you’re doing the right thing for your baby’s health, and it’ll all be over before either of you know it

Mine barely even flinched when he got the actual jab but was a bit mardy and unsettled for a few days. The nurse said it makes their leg ache in the same way that your arm aches after the flu jab so I gave him some calpol to take the edge off and he was totally fine.

And as unpleasant as it is, having seen babies sick with some of the diseases vaccinated against (whooping cough and meningitis), I can safely say with 100% conviction that the vaccines are by far the lesser of the two evils.

The thing you need to understand is that babies feed of the emotions of their carer.

So you need to act calm and not bothered when they are getting the injections. They will then scream but calm down quickly.

As PP pointed out if the baby gets the disease they are being vaccinated against you won't be putting up with 5-10 minutes of them crying but days and days of it plus much worse symptoms.

Don't know why you are arguing this

I don't think I am being the argumentative one here but the reason I am trying to get my point across.

It is because I would hate for another nervous poster to read this thread before their baby gets vaccinated and then due to reading your posts, that poster ends up not giving their baby Calpol just because they think it is some how going to stop the vaccination from working properly.

You are scaremongering and being nonsensical by taking one line of the reading around the medical trial and not explaining the outcome of the ACTUAL RESULTS AND recommendations which are -

"There was no reduction in immunity following just a single dose of paracetamol or the use of paracetamol to treat a developed fever. It was only the regular use of preventative paracetamol use that was associated with decreased immune response. On this basis, parents should not be concerned about giving paracetamol to their baby/child to treat a raised temperature or associated symptoms of pain and irritability"

That's my whole point @OldPosterNewUsername - I'm saying I was told not to give it routinely as a preventative measure, and that I would only give it if my baby had actual symptoms. It's not scaremongering I'm doing what my GP told me to do.

I know you didn’t @ me but when DD had her first set of injections a month ago, it was 3 separate injections (6-in-1, meningitis B and one I can’t remember the name of but was for pneumonia type illnesses) as well as a pipette of medicine for your baby to take orally. I stupidly thought it was just the one syringe! 😅

@Thegirlhasnoname ah that's good to know! It said on the letter it was 6-in-1, maybe I misinterpreted that!

Giving paracetamol to babies after routine vaccine jabs may lessen the effectiveness of the immunisation, according to BBC News.

The study behind this coverage is an important and well-conducted trial in which 459 babies receiving their immunisations were either routinely given paracetamol in the 24 hours following their injection or were given none. Although the drug was clearly successful in reducing the risk of a fever developing, it was shown to reduce the immune response to the vaccine, suggesting that it would be less effective. However, although the preventative use of paracetamol had an effect on immune response, using the drug to lower existing fever did not.

This means that parents should not be concerned about giving paracetamol to their child to treat a raised temperature or associated symptoms of pain and irritability. But if a baby has just had an immunisation, it may be wise only to give them paracetamol if they are unwell, and not to prevent symptoms from occurring.

So: to me this says don't give paracetamol before the jabs or to reduce symptoms which have flared up straight after the jabs.

News to me. Tbh.

I've read it again and i find it quite unclear actually.

Right. I think it means don't give paracetamol before the jabs, or after the jabs if there are no symptoms.

If there are symptoms (which presumably shows the immune system doing it's thing) then you can give the paracetamol.

It's just me left here struggling with this then

Yeah, three needles as PP said. Three at the 8 weeks plus oral syringe, one at 12 weeks plus oral syringe, three again at 16 weeks but no syringe, four at 12 months.

Poor little mites.

Oh dear. Guess the advice has changed then, I was actively told to give paracetamol as standard after the vacs. It said it in the booklet they gave me too. Hopefully, it's not lessened the vaccination effectiveness in DD! I'd hate to have gone through all the angst for nothing. But I suppose she'll get the booster at one year and there's no need to give calpol then.

My 10 week old DS just had his a few hours ago. He screamed for all of ten seconds after each jab then settled down straight away after a big cuddle. He fell asleep in his car seat within ten minutes and slept for the next 2.5 hours. Woke up for a quick change and feed, is now asleep again. A bit feverish as expected so has had calpol.

It’s honestly scarier for the parents than it ever would be for the baby, they have no fear whatsoever and no clue what’s happening. It’s over in a flash and they sleep the effects off. This is a minor thing compared to the life altering conditions they could contract if you didn’t vaccinate.

Op, if I'm not mistaken you are BFing. In that case I would make sure you are actually feeding DS while they give him his jabs. I think that way you are both likely to feel calmer and reduce the crying.
I only "found out" about this with my second baby when the nurse suggested it. It hadn't even crossed my mind with my first, but it did make everyone calmer and it really shouldn't be no bother for the HCP as they have good access to the baby's leg while you are feeding anyway.

My little boy had his 8 week jabs last week and I was told to give him 3 doses of calpol afterwards because the men b jab is likely to give a fever. It says in his red book as well. The nurse actually told me off for not giving it beforehand. I think it’s only the 8 and 16 week with the men b they recommend it preventatively as most babies get a fever after having it

My little boy screamed the most heartbreaking screams at his 8 week jabs. These went on for about 10 minutes and then he fell asleep in his pram on the way home. When he woke up he screamed solidly for 2 hours, slept fine throughout the night and was fine the next day.

12 week jabs, I was dreading but he only screamed for about 10. seconds and then was fine.

I'm not looking forward to the 16 week ones next week but at least they're over with for a while then.

Good luck.

@Laiste that's how I read it and that's what my GP told me to do :)

Thanks folks. Feeling a little less concerned now. I just worry that's all...