Advice from parents of unwell toddlers/on medication

[cloudyworld]

I think I possibly need a hand hold please. My bright, bubbly, happy 18 month old was in hospital for the past fortnight and diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. Almost every day, she was pinned down for about 30 minutes for bloods to be taken and cannulated (many of them failed so she had to be recannulated). And then pinned down again several times throughout so medicine could be given to her by syringes. It took about 6 nurses and doctors to hold her down each time for the cannulations. She cried so hard she broke a sweat, turned white and sometimes gave up and wept silently. It's utterly broken me seeing her so so traumatised. I've been holding her, cuddling her and giving her kisses but I feel sick with worry that she doesn't feel safe.

We are home now but we've been tasked with giving her medicine with syringes and eye drops roughly 6 times a day for the next month and a half. She is so traumatised from all the pinning down I am so worried by the end of the 6 weeks it will have changed her, and she will no longer feel like she can trust me as I am constantly holding her down to give her medicine.

I have only the utmost respect for parents in these situations where you have to act like everything is OK and be the calm and peace your baby needs to see to feel safe all whilst on the inside your world is breaking into a million pieces.

How do you do it? Does your baby trust you? Is there some way I can make my baby take the medicine without being so scared? I've tried playing with the syringes with her teddies and getting her to put pretend eye drops in my eyes and she finds it fun for that role play session but is back to kicking and screaming when it's time to actually give her the medicine

Also, do you have any advice on how to hold it together? I feel like a wreck. And also, I'd appreciate any advice on how to make sure my baby feels safe and secure and can trust me. If you've been in this position before, did your baby change? Did their personality change? What can I do to ensure she doesn't feel so scared all the time?

TIA x

This is absolutely heartbreaking, your poor baby girl. I can imagine it has completely traumatised you, as well as her. I don't have any personal experience of anything similar or any useful advice to impart, but I just wanted to respond iand say how sorry I am that you both had to go through that. And also in the hope of bumping this thread a bit, so others with relevant experience might see it and be able to offer you some comfort.

I'm so sorry OP. It's unspeakably awful going through this. My DD (6) was unwell a few months ago and had traumatic cannulations and blood tests needing multiple staff to hold her. It has definitely caused a trauma response re medical procedures. She is extremely wary of doctors now. Obviously my DD is older but I'd like to reassure you that she hasn't shown any signs yet of damage to our bond/relationship from me having held her tightly during these procedures. At a rough guess, I had to pin her to me for around 20-30 cannulation/blood taking procedures over the course of a couple of months.

Regarding the med syringes, you could try role playing and letting her give syringes (empty or with water) to her teddies, to you, to an older sibling (if there is one) and to herself. 18m is young but she might just be able to start engaging with this.