Contents
- Tip N ° 1: We play down the appointment with our pediatrician
- Tip # 2: Make sure our baby is not sick
- Tip N ° 3: We choose the time of the appointment with our pediatrician
- Tip N ° 4: We gently explain to him what awaits his thigh or his arm!
- Tip N ° 5: Where to put the painkiller patch for the 1st vaccine? Is sugar water effective?
- Tip N ° 6: Don’t forget your blanket!
- Tip # 7: How to relieve pain and calm baby after the first vaccination?
With a few tips, we can slowly pass the dreaded moment of our baby’s first vaccines! At just a few months, it can be impressive for us parents, but it is an essential step for his health.
Tip N ° 1: We play down the appointment with our pediatrician
Vaccines are good for children! They help train and structure their immune system thanks to the making antibodies to fight disease. If we panic too much at the idea of the injection, we ask a loved one to take over: the stress is communicative and the child risks feeling our anxiety.
Tip # 2: Make sure our baby is not sick
Runny nose, slight fever, diarrhea … are small symptoms that do not formally contraindicate vaccination. However, for his comfort, it is better to postpone the appointment for a few days, the time to make sure that a more important disease does not emerge on the horizon.
We are procrastinating: no compulsory or recommended vaccine will worsen a mild illness that has already been declared. On the contrary, a vaccine like Prevenar, against pneumococci, helps to decrease the number of ear infections.
Tip N ° 3: We choose the time of the appointment with our pediatrician
If he is hungry or tired, baby will have a harder time coping with this little ordeal. Must therefore choose carefully the day and time of the meeting, without forgetting to take into account the waiting time that there may be with some doctors.
As much as possible, we avoid having to run, before and after the consultation. Baby will surely need comfort and calm to recover from his emotions!
Tip N ° 4: We gently explain to him what awaits his thigh or his arm!
Even though our child is very small, he can understand and our calm voice will soothe him. We gently explain to him what our doctor is going to do, where it will sting, telling him that it might not be very pleasant, but that we are there. No need to lie by saying that he will not feel anything, we rather insist on the fact that it is very fast. Our voice will necessarily comfort him!
Tip N ° 5: Where to put the painkiller patch for the 1st vaccine? Is sugar water effective?
To anticipate the possible pain associated with the sting, the application of a cream or numbing patch (type Emla, for example), one or two hours before the appointment, can be effective. They are to be applied directly to the area that will be bitten, the top of his thigh or the outside of his arm. These products are available on prescription from pharmacies. Some doctors or pharmacists also recommend giving baby sugar water to calm him down.
Tip N ° 6: Don’t forget your blanket!
Soft toy, soft toy, favorite toy … a familiar object will always reassure him. The pacifier, if he has one, is also to slip into his things. Just before the consultation, you can give her a bottle of sugar water, then the pacifier: sucking, associated with the intake of sugar, will stimulate the production of endorphins, hormones with soothing and analgesic properties.
During vaccination, we distract from baby at the time of the bite with small noises – mouth or finger snapping for example!
Tip # 7: How to relieve pain and calm baby after the first vaccination?
If our child cries or complains, we can ask our pediatrician if an analgesic is indicated. We also take the time to gently dress our baby and congratulate him on his courage!
Vaccines: smiling or making faces can help reduce pain
Smiling or grimacing would reduce the pain when injecting a vaccine. A good idea to suggest to our children to better face this sometimes badly lived moment that is vaccination …
A study conducted by the University of California at Irvine (UCI) and published in the journal “Emotion” found that smiling or grimacing would reduce pain at the injection site up to 40%: good news for children, who often have trouble getting bites.
How to explain the usefulness of this simple trick? It would seem that it would make it possible to attenuate the physiological responses induced by the stress felt when facing needles by lowering the body’s heart rate, knowing that smiling has already been shown to improve stress responses. ” When faced with distress or pleasure, humans make remarkably similar facial expressions that involve activating eye muscles, lifting cheeks, and baring teeth. », Explains Professor Sarah Pressman, principal investigator of the study. ” We have found that these movements, as opposed to a neutral expression, are beneficial to reduce stress and discomfort.
An interesting avenue to suggest to our children (for babies, we will have to wait a few years…) for their future vaccines.