BCG!!

[CharlotteH99]

My baby is 5 weeks old and having her BCG tomorrow. I'm very nervous - any advice please??

It takes a long time to heal but don't be alarmed. That's normal.
My son had his at 2 days old and he still had the healing wound at 4 months.
Baby may be a bit grouchy afterwards but not temperature wise like it is with regular 8 week jabs.
plenty of cuddles and a feed straight after should do the trick

Cricket Is that new for babies? I remember getting that at School and my daughter had it as a teen.

I'm unlucky enough to have worked in a homeless shelter when there was an outbreak of TB. I have never been more glad to have had the BCG.

It's a very temporary pain to avoid something terrible.

Both of mine had it as babies. It's a slow vaccine, you will need to hold baby very still for a minute or two while they administer. My youngest was six months when they did hers. I took her on my own, there was a doctor and a hca, and they told me how to hold her close to me and still, so they could administer it into her upper arm. It felt like it took an age to do. Not going to lie, she screamed and was quite upset, but she got over it pretty fast. They had us wait a while after the jab to make sure there were no adverse effects.

The jab site swelled up quite a bit and was quite sore for a while, we kept it clean and kept a close eye on it to make sure it wasn't infected. It took a couple of months to really heal properly. She has a scar now at 2 1/2 but it's fading.

Ds was over a year old and quite big and strong, so dh held him to have his. He also screamed the place down. He healed a lot quicker, and once the actual jab was done he was fine.

In both cases the worst bit was the holding and jabbing bit, once that was done they were pretty ok.

I believe they are only offered to mixed race babies?? I could be wrong but that's why my baby was offered one as she's more vulnerable to TB. But I'm 22 and I didn't have a bcg at school, I didn't think they did them anymore tbh

4 months poor thing. It sounds like a horrendous injection - Thank you though, hopefully she isn't mad at me for too long lol

Very true, thank you

Yes the hole in the arm after the blister bursts is normal and don't get the blister wet because it stings like a bitch. It takes weeks and weeks to heal, this is normal and after the first few days it doesn't hurt unless you bang it.

Really not looking forward to it, already feeling guilty lol. Thank u for your reply, I guess it's only temporary

Do you think I should avoid bathing until it's healed then? Just wash with a flannel etc?

It's a lot better than TB that's for sure.

I still bathed, I just wrapped a strip of cling film round it. I think its the soap and stuff that stung not the water itself.

Ok, thank you

Mine slept through the whole thing! I don't remember any problems afterwards.

Wow, what a trooper. Hopefully mine does too 🤞🤞

@CharlotteH99 , good luck with your little one, it’s not nice seeing them like that but it’s soon forgotten. X

Thank you! Probably just being a precious first time mum but you're right it's not nice x

My two were offered it because their fathers family is South African and there was a good chance we would visit or get visitors.

It's tough seeing your baby in pain, but I'd do every single jab again without a second thought. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

Hi, OP. We're going to move your post to Parenting now (the childcare board is for threads to do with paid childcare).

One of mine had it at 4 weeks because we lived in East London (not mixed race). Other than the actual injection, which wasn't much fun, no issues at all. No blister, no scar, just a bit out of sorts for a day or two.

Both of mine had it as tiny babies because they were born in London boroughs with relatively high rates of TB where it is given as standard. One had it at 2 weeks old, one before we even left the hospital after birth.

They wailed when it was given but that was pretty much it. Calmed down with a feed and cuddle and were fine. Maybe a tiny bit grumpy but no temp afterwards. There was a small scab which healed normally.

My DS had it as a baby as we lived in S London - having now moved somewhere more rural I've learned that babies here don't have it, it's offered to those (of all races) who live in areas with a lot of immigration, as there are higher rates of TB and more risk of outbreaks amongst immigrants coming from other countries (I hope I haven't phrased that insensitively!)

I honestly don't even remember taking him for it, and the healing was ok. Good luck op, it's never nice to take your baby for a procedure you know won't be comfortable, but it will all be fine

Same experience, DD had it the day after she was born as we were in a London borough - from memory she cried but it healed quickly, nowhere near the level of trauma of the proper jabs at the doctors. I’m actually quite glad we could get it out of the way when she was tiny as I remember the healing from when I had mine as a teenager and it was rubbish.

I think the younger they have it the better, tbh. When I had it as a tween we all had pus and weeks of scabbing and soreness, whereas having it as a newborn both of mine healed totally uncomplicatedly, and I don't think they have any scar. The only reason I even remember my oldest having it is because a nurse came in and told me jokingly that he'd scared the waiting room (he had some lungs). It was literally only one big cry though.

My daughter had it at a few days old. It takes ages to heal and does leave a blister. Hers has also left a scar.
Better than dying of TB though