12 Week Shots - Baby screamed in pain for days after 8 week ones

[Emmmie]

8 week shots - one of the more traumatic events in my life. My poor baby could not stop screaming, wailing, red in face, losing breath and tears streaming down her cheeks for days. Nothing could stop this, nothing could distract her. We ended up in the A&E.
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I am furious at the GP who completely dissmised any vaccine related concerns I had, I am furious at the nurse who gave the shots and who completely downplayed the side effects, I am furious at myself for just trusting. I did not even go through the vaccine leaflets kindly provided by the NHS before I let them inject my baby.

Anyway, rant over. 12 week shots are coming up. If your baby screamed for days after their 8 week shots, could you please tell me how were they after their 12 week shots?

Please help, I am in absolute agony with worry. I cannot eat or sleep ☹ I simply cannot handle the thought of hurting/damaging her. I am so worried it will be worse this time.

You might not want to hear this, but it could well have been coincidental. It will potentially harm her a lot more, or worse, if she were to catch one of the diseases the vaccinations prevent.

You were right to 'just trust'. Vaccines save countless lives and are one of the most important medical advancements of human history. Really only antibiotics come close.

DD reacted to one of her jabs. I reported the reaction, and made sure she has had every other jab.

What was the outcome at A&E? What did they advise? Could it have been the injection site? One of mine had a really sore leg after his 8 week ones but all the other jabs were fine.

Well, they checked her over and couldn't find anything wrong. But the screaming...she was in agony for days. I do not for a a second believe that it was all a coincidence. She has not cried like that before the vaccine or since.

I wouldn't say our baby screamed for days after 8 week jabs, but she did have one screamy/sleepy day which calpol got her through and a few days of dodgy nappies. At 12 weeks she actually screamed all the way TO drs, continued through jab then settled and slept going home and has been fine apart from the occasional scream having her thighs touched (eg baby carrier). Basically her mood has matched mine: I was relaxed before but upset after the 8 weeks because I felt bad holding her while the needles hurt her , then the second time i was stressed beforehand anticipating it and relieved after it was over. I would say try and take deep breaths and get some sleep because to some extent baby will pick up your mood. It will be over soon and will save your baby from some horrible illnesses.

@Emmmie

Well, they checked her over and couldn't find anything wrong. But the screaming...she was in agony for days. I do not for a a second believe that it was all a coincidence. She has not cried like that before the vaccine or since.

Horrible as that is, it's a small price to pay for her to be protected.

I am furious at the GP who completely dissmised any vaccine related concerns I had, I am furious at the nurse who gave the shots and who completely downplayed the side effects, I am furious at myself for just trusting. I did not even go through the vaccine leaflets kindly provided by the NHS before I let them inject my baby.

^So you didn’t bother to read the leaflets but are angry at the doctor and nurse for doing their job?

Me:" I am concerned about potentially serious side effects of the vaccine / vaccine injury."
GP :" I think people forgot how nasty those illneses were." End of discussion.
Do you call this doing their job?

Also, if you read my first post, I already took responsibility for not reading the leaflets before hand.

It's understandable that you are nervous after a horrible experience last tine, but even if she reacts in just the same way it would be better than her getting (and potentially dying of) whooping cough, tetanus, Haemophilus meningitis, etc.

It really cannot be overstated how awful a disease full-blown tetanus is.

Did you continue with the calpol past the three initial doses?

Yes, I did use calpol shortly after the appointment. I also used it as soon as the screaming started, but it didn't really work. ☹ .

I can assure you whooping cough and measles are much more unpleasant than an unsettled baby for a few days.........

If you couldn’t bear this reaction then imagine how awful it would be with one of the diseases they prevent.

My little girl had her 3rd jab yesterday - she is 4 months old.

1st, we dosed her up on calpol for the recommended 2 doses, she was fine. 2nd, no need for calpol. No issues.

Last night, she was happy enough, then slept through when she was due her 2nd calpol. Then she woke up 2 hours after that dose was due crying, but cuddles & her calpol dose sent her back off.

They say that they sometimes need a top up dose of the calpol, just like one paracetamol might not work for an adult. You don't just take one & then it work all day, you take another 4 hours later.

Hope your little one is okay with the next jab. They said no need for calpol after that one to us as it doesn't cause the same side effects.

I will say that one of my dc has absolutely no tolerance to pain and it could well be this.

Your baby had a short reaction to her vaccinations, there really is no harm done and it’s quite normal.

Please try not to worry about her reaction to the pain

I think your GP is right; I think people have genuinely forgotten the horror of those ‘childhood’ illnesses, I know I have, having never experienced any of them. But just for example:

Polio: killed children, left children with disabilities. I remember a man in my hometown with a very pronounced limp that resulted from Polio. Mary Berry had polio as a child and you can see the weakness in one of her arms if you look closely.

Measles: killed children, left children deaf, or brain damaged

Diphtheria: kills children, causes paralysis, kidney problems, heart problems

Mumps: causes infertility in boys

Tetanus: agonising death

Pertussis: kills children, so severe and high risk pregnant women are vaccinated to protect newborns

I could go on…

The new vaccine schedule involves the meningitis B vaccine at 8 and 16 weeks, which is known to have considerable side effects. But again, still much better than men B itself.

I know it’s distressing to see your baby upset, but it would be horrific to see them suffer with those illnesses. I can’t imagine it!

Thank you all for your comments, shared experiences and helpful advice. I just hope next time will be better.

The 8 and 16 week ones were the worst in my opinion, the 12 week ones weren’t so bad.

My baby was actually fine with all 3 but, from friends’ experiences, the 2nd set are fine. It’s the Men B ones that cause some side effects.

Had anything bumped her on the leg even her clothes brushing against it or the way you were holding her.. Could have been her teeth hurting and made worse feeling shitty after her jag. Fingers crossed next one isnt as bad.

@Vicky1989x

The 8 and 16 week ones were the worst in my opinion, the 12 week ones weren’t so bad.

Yes, absolutely this.

Did you ever figure out why she was unsettled? Fever from the Men B, upset tummy from rotavirus, painful injection site? That might give you more of an idea of how she'll react at the 8 and 12 week ones. The 8 week ones were the worst for both of mine, if that's any consolation. And 8 weeks can be a tricky age anyway.

I actually found 12 week jabs were dealt with much better than the 8 week ones.

My son didn't scream for days but he was 'off' after the 8 week ones and very very sleepy for about 2 days, dodgey nappies etc...

But after the 12 week ones I actually didn't notice a difference in him at all. I joked with DH at the time that the good thing about the jabs was the good night's sleep with both got afterwards but unfortunately we didn't get that after the 12weeks! He was his usual self after those.

The 8 week jabs were horrendous. He was screaming for hours, refused to be put down even for a second, didn’t eat, didn’t sleep just scream and both of his legs were red and a bit swollen.
We gave him some paracetamol but seemed it didn’t help really. We just walked around the house nonstop to make him calm.
At the end of the day we managed to make him sleep and after a long hours sleep he was back to his normal self.
12 week ones was fine, it didn’t effect him at all but we gave one dose of paracetamol just in case.
The next ones I’m dreading again. The MenB one. The nurse said that the MenB one is the worst one and makes them so poorly.

@Emmmie - it might be worth trying neurogenic for children instead of calpol - it reduces inflammation, and it sounds as if that may be, at least in part, what was making your baby so upset and uncomfortable.

I would give a dose before the vaccine, and again afterwards (I think it is a minimum of four house between doses) - even if the baby doesn’t seem to be in too much pain - better to get ahead of it than try to resolve it once the pain is there, is what I was taught as a nurse on surgical wards, and what counts for wounds should apply to other pain too, IMO.

I hope the next jab goes better. Even when you know how important the vaccines are, that doesn’t make it any easier to see your beloved baby in distress.

Some really helpful points...thank you!

Painful injection site - clothing rubbing on it/the way we were holding her could have been the reason or one of the reasons for crying. Looking back now, she screamed/cried in the same way when I removed the plaster from one leg.

Also, rotavirus is a live vaccine. After each bout of screaming, she would either have smelly wind or explosive green poop, again very smelly. I think this also could be one of the reasons for her distress.

It is nice to hear week 12 week shots were better for many.