How do I emotionally survive my 4 mo’s shots?

@davidschmitt Mine reacted so badly to her 4 month Vax experience, doc recommended that we visit a neurologist. We ignored that, as we knew her unwillingness to pass ANY of the developmental milestone tests was a combo of "no nap" and "I think I remember this smell, and I didn't like it last time either".
She took a 4 hour nap after getting the shots, and was just fine afterwards. Didn't visit the neurologist either. Happy baby, except for fighting sleep like it's her greatest enemy.
 
@davidschmitt My 9mo reacts fairly well to her vaccines, but one thing I do is stay close to her face. They lay her down on the table and the nurse always stands next to her legs/feet. I stand to the side of her head and I kind of lean over her, she focuses on me and I talk and coo at her while also holding her hands. I’m there to calm her down before the freak out happens and it seems to help her!

She had to get a handful of heel pricks a few days old to check her bili levels and I started doing that then.
 
@davidschmitt I felt the same way! Don’t worry though! Just have a bottle handy for after the nurses are done and your LO should be fine! My MIL says girls handle shots better than boys do (she had two boys and one girl) and she said both boys cried and wailed until they tired themselves out and fell asleep. My daughter (FTM to a 10 month old) took hers a lot better than I anticipated. She cried for the first five minutes and I held her and cuddled her and then gave her a bottle and she was fine after. Her injection sites were just sore for a couple days after so it made her fussy, but nothing some cuddles, a bottle and Tylenol couldn’t fix!
 
@davidschmitt Nurse them right after if you BF, give them Tylenol if you do that (check dosage with pediatrician) and give them an Epsom salt bath that night (also check with pediatrician).

They’ll be fine. It gets better each time, and you’ll have tons of other great memories in the following days/weeks/months that will erase that one.
 
@davidschmitt I always have to tell myself that the crying from the shots is much more tolerable than the fear, crying and pain the illness they prevent causes.

My son had a reaction to the rotavirus vaccine at six weeks which is pretty rare I think. It landed him in hospital and the docs pretty much said something along the same lines that really stuck with me.
 
@davidschmitt I asked the pediatrician if we could give Tylenol before the appt and she said it was okay! I feel like it helped but make sure your ped is okay with it. Also, at every appointment our daughter would get vaccines yes she still cried but she recovered so much more quickly after. By her 12 mo shots she was upset just for a few seconds!
 
@davidschmitt My baby went on a bottle strike after his two month shots (exclusively nursed from then on, from combo feeding), stopped sleeping in his bassinet by himself after his three month shots (started cosleeping on a Japanese futon as is traditional in Japan, where I live), and I was so nervous for the next shots, but every time since it’s been a bit easier!

I still hate them, but nothing like the first couple times. You’ll survive, and you’re protecting your baby from horrible illnesses!
 
@davidschmitt I nearly cried the first time I took my daughter for shots. She had to get 4 at once. It wasn't so much she screamed she just cuddled into me and whimpered. I hated it. Poor soul.
 
@davidschmitt My husband is the one that holds my baby. I just cannot handle it 😭 and his 4 month shots were horrible. But to be fair, he had his shots and covid at the same time. Rough 4-5 days. He had 102 fever for like straight 24 hours. My poor baby.

I’m so glad he’s back to his normal happy self.

I have a love hate relationship with vaccines. I know they are important but I hate hearing him cry 😭.

Now 2 months of not worrying until his 6 months shots.
 
@davidschmitt We have a reflux and colic four month old. We are about to get shots in a few weeks. There are days where he cries at the same level as getting shots at 2 months, so honestly, no preparation really. He’s on medication now which seems to help so I am a little nervous as to how everything will go this time. You never truly get used to it. All you can do is hold them and snuggle them and thankfully they won’t remember this.
 
@davidschmitt Our daughter was inconsolable after her 2 month shot but after her 4 month she cried when they jabbed her and then immediately after was smiling and laughing. We did give Tylenol when we got home but it didn’t seem like she really needed it just more of a precaution than anything.
 
@davidschmitt My baby was inconsolable at the 2 month shots but cried way less at the 3 month shots. There was one less shot for his 3 month and the nurse let me hold him while he was getting the shot this time.
 
@davidschmitt Bring ice packs and put them on the baby’s thighs before the shots and then have a toy ready to distract them. That reduced the crying at my last two appointments I don’t think I could handle it like it was before I did that again
 
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