Controlling child during 1 year jabs

[1sttimemumm]

Hello

My baby is due her 1 year jabs next week and (obviously along with the illness afterwards) I’m worried about how they are actually going to inject her...

She is very strong and mobile and has a temper!! If we try and pick her up or put on our lap (especially when somewhere new to explore) she screams and does a weird shimmy out your arms. I realise we will need to deal with this as time goes on but it’s hard to reason with a 1 year old who doesn’t talk and is hyper!

We’ve tried the restraining technique when trying to clean her teeth before- one arms across her arms and other head but she always manages to flip and throws her limbs around like crazy. Has anyone else experienced this and any tips? I don’t want her to end up really bruised and in a terrible state. I could try breastfeeding her during? However she has 13 teeth so I might end up in a lot of pain ?

I think you’re just gonna have to be very firm holding her....there’s 4 injections, one in each limb. You could preempt and ring the surgery to ask if they could have an extra nurse doing it to make it quicker?

No advice but sympathies. My DS has his next Wednesday and I've got the exact same worry. He throws himself backwards and stiffens up so it's impossible to keep hold of him. Dreading it

Just hold her firmly and she will be fine

Oh dear :(
For toothbrushing -large bath towel, wrapped up like a mummy and a firm grip on the join plus the statement there is the easy way or the hard way, this is the hard way has worked for both mine at that age.

Got the jabs tip off this site which was to sit your child facing you on your lap with their arms and legs round you like a big cuddle. Then clamp their arms under yours and hold the legs. Make sure the nurse is ready first, as the window may be small. This method worked for me.

I also didn’t lie - I explained where we were going, agreed it would hurt, but it’s worth it and you get chocolate after.

Good luck.

I know that parents find this difficult, but the calmer and confident you are, the better it is for your child. So try not to show your apprehension or your child will pick up on it.
Dress them so that you don't have to remove lots of clothes beforehand. So shorts or short dress, socks not tights, short loose sleeved top. Give them a sweet or small piece of chocolate on the way, sugar helps to raise their endorphins which are 'natural painkillers'. Take off their coat in the waiting room.
If the jabs are going into arms and legs, then sit them on your knee, facing you with legs straddled either side of yours. Put your arms down holding their arms in your armpits and hold on to their legs with your hands.
If the jabs are going in the legs only, sit them on one knee facing sideways, and 'trap' their legs between your own, their inside arm tucked under your arm, your other arm holding the 'outside' arm.
Hold tight with your sympathetic but 'no messing about' face on.
Give them another sweet or chocolate when it finished.
This is a one year old child and you are the adult, so they are not as strong as you and being held in a 'big tight hug' will actually make them feel safer and more secure than if you are half-hearted about it.
Same approach to preschool booster! With the explanation of the 'scratchy medicine' beforehand.
Good luck!

Thanks everyone! All really helpful! Will definitely do a strong hug hold... well get Daddy to I think haha. Oh and bring a treat. And thanks for the towel tip!
I guess this is the last set of jabs where she doesn’t understand what’s going on and I can explain to her etc so just need to get it over with!
Thanks again all, feel better x

I sat mine sideways, holding the shoulder with one arm and the lower arm with the other.

Make it look like a cuddle. Nice, smooth but firm gestures. Speak to her with a calm voice, distracting her with something in the room.

If the reception staff are nice in your Practice ask them could they advise which nurse would be best. In my Practice there is one nurse who is well known in the area for being able to distract older children when they are getting their vaccines.

A big yes to breastfeeding her during - this has been shown to help during jabs (I read an article about it ages ago!). They will show you how best to hold her.

Don't ask to bf her just do it! Be prepared to be in a slightly unusual position as they will need access to her thighs.