First Immunisations - scared!

[sallysayshi]

Hi,

Taking 8 week old DS for his first set of immunisations next week and really scared. Seen he should be given calpol straight after but what exactly happens during them and how is my little one going to behave after? Will he sleep a lot, he grumpy etc? Which calpol is best there seem to be a couple diff ones? What clothing is best for him to wear for them, a simple short sleeved bodysuit so easier access and less grumpiness getting him changed? Sorry for stupid questions...

Also what symptoms should I watch out for? He hasn't even had a cold yet so I'm really worried if he gets ill and I won't even notice until it's more serious.

Thank you!

Firstly, calm down! Its all going to be fine! It really is get so fast and they have forgotten about it by the time you get home

Vest and sleepsuit. They'll pull their legs out and you will hold him nice and tight and they will just do it. His wee face will scrunch up, and he will start crying but you get him straight up and out of the room as quickly as you can because then they feel safer being away from it. But cuddle, and head on home. The different Calpol are just different flavours. Get whichever one you want as long as it's the right age group. Doesn't need to be straight after either; do it when you get home. They won give you a leaflet for symptoms but it's so so rare for anything bad to happen that you barely need to think about it. He will be a bit grumpy and a bit sleepy, but there won't be much difference. It's really not bad.

*will give you a leaflet.

And honestly, the babies are fine. The problems happen when the parents start crying and shaking etc
Your baby will be more upset if you are upset. It will take longer if the nurse is having to calm you down and get you to concentrate on holding the baby. If you start crying or whatever, it makes the whole thing worse. So don't do that. Just get through it. It's only a few seconds of lain, a wee bit of upset and then you're done.

Thank you! Feel better now. Know I'm being over anxious, just really scared for his first ones :)

We all feel like that. We feel like you're doing something horrible, and then people who've done it before will say "it's nothing, don't worry" but we don't believe them. Then once you've done it, you look back and think "that was ok actually".

Their wee face when they realise it hurts it heart breaking, but just hold tight and give big cuddles and they will be fine when you're home and having a feed. Good luck!

They're really not that bad! they have 3 needles, 2 in one leg and then one on the other and drops on their tongue. The nurse did it so quickly. Obviously she cried but literally had her out in the waiting room cwtching her within 2 mins and got her dressed, she then slept in the pram on the way home. Abit later on in the evening about an hour or so before she was due her next dose of Calpol she started crying and was quite unsettled for a few hours. My partner eventually got her to sleep by putting her in her car seat and rocking it for 20 mins lol after another dose of Calpol. then she was fine overnight. much more sleepy than normal the next day but by the following day she was completely back to normal. She will have her next lot in just over 2 weeks so I'm hopeful that they won't be even as bad as that

I personally found leghings/trousers easier than a sleepsuit. Don't have to faff with poppers.

If it makes you feel any better, I cried before in the waiting room, throughout the appointment, and afterwards! DS cried for about 10 seconds!! It is horrible but they remember nothing.... I may be scarred for life though! We have 12 week one next week. My DS was fine and didn't have a temperature or anything. We gave him calpol at the appointment then 4 and 8 hours after.

If ever in doubt about different medications ask someone at the pharmacy counter they should be happy to explain them to you. You can also look at the label and see the amount of active ingredients. That way you can easily spot when a product is the same thing just with different packaging or flavour and save a lot of pennies if you go for the generic product rather than branded one like Calpol.

Get some calpol and some baby nurofen. There are lots of different kinds of calpol for older children, which is the one in the red boxes, but for babies it’s the purple one and the only choice is strawberry or orange so it doesn’t really matter.

Don’t panic - your baby may be ill after or they may not but just keep reminding yourself that they would be a lot more ill if they caught the things the jabs protect them from.

Having had a flu jab last week and another unrelated jab for anti-nausea Friday - they sting! The flu wasn't so much, but my second jab was like a wasp sting for maybe five seconds then went away.

The flu jab site then feels bruised for a couple of days, enough so that it was annoying to sleep on that side. The other one feels like it'll be the same.

This time I didn't get any mild cold symptoms after the flu jab, but I have had before and it's a known effect.

So! Your kid will likely feel a mild pain on the jab, and then some persistent mild pain, bruise and maybe mildly ill, for a day or two. This'll be strange and unsettling, DS will likely be a bit more hard work during that time.

But if you go in all fretful and frantic about it, your baby is likely to key off that and get whiney and everything will just be awful. Put on a brave face, and be happy about your son's bright future of not dying of smallpox! Etcetera.

I was very anxious for my little one and I don’t think that helps. For his BCG I breastfed at the time as the release of certain chemicals helps surpress pain.
With these jabs they didn’t want me breastfeeding as they do 2 super fast and then you turn them the other way for their other leg.
I will be honest and say he screamed like I hadn’t heard before. I had never let him cry very long at home so was shocked to hear this new deeper cry... but it did not last long. I fed him as soon as I could after to help him calm. The whole thing is very quick. But I understand your anxiety.
They recommended we give the calpol immediately. He fell asleep almost straight after leaving the doctors..and Had slight temp for 6 hrs or so.

Sorry. I wasn’t very clear.
If you breastfeed then I would offer it as soon as possible
I know someone mentioned leaving the room ASAP but in my experience they like to keep you a bit to make sure the baby has no immediate reaction. I asked too if I could stay for ten mins after. I wanted to feed him and calm him there.
If you bottle feed then that could help, but I would be careful not to give too much. The baby should receive the rotavirus liquid and then they take the calpol, you don’t want them then feeding lots and being sick as you don’t want them losing the rotavirus.

It’s oir jobs as mums to stay calm and be strong so just channel all your calm zen like strength. The 12 week is just one jab so also tell yourself it will be over in ten seconds (3 Jabs literally took that long) and it won’t be so Much the next time

You don't give an 8wk old Nurofen as suggested by PP. it's not licenced for that age. It's for 3months +

DS was eight weeks premature so had the shots 4 days after his original due date (so was absolutely tiny). He cried for a moment and then stopped. Didn’t even give calpol as he seemed his normal self after. Each baby is different, I wouldn’t over stress it.

They cry for a couple of seconds but then are fine, and they might feel crap for a couple of days after. DS was actually worse the following night which confused us a bit but was fine once we'd given him some more calpol.

I feel your anxiety OP as dd has her 8 week jabs on Monday. I have bought a box of the standard infant calpol. They only really do 2 which is infant and 6 plus, the rest as just sugar free and colour free versions. First of all I went straight for the sugar and colour free versions before realising I actually went her to take it and just went to the standard option. It's got sucrose which is basically baby catnip. In hospital they would put sucrose on a dummy to take dds blood and she couldn't have cared less what they were doing to her. To allay my fears a bit I've asked the MIL to pop over on Monday for a couple of hours just in case she is clingy, grumpy, unsettled etc so that I know that i have a bit of support. Do you have anyone you could call on?

Thanks for the replies, it was over really quick but he screamed the house down. :( He then screamed most of the day until 9 and had a normal night. He has slept a lot today tho is that normal?

Currently having 2 and a half hours nap which he has never done before, doesn't have a temp or anything

He's fine. He will have tired himself out with all the screaming yesterday!

Let him sleep, but just keep popping in to check his temperature.