Now we've been to 2 out of the 3 appointments for Brooke's first lot of injections I feel like I can share our experience and hopefully be of some use to anybody who has their baby's first injections coming up soon.
As a new mum I was vaguely aware that small babies have to have vaccinations but that's about it. I was pretty clueless about when they happened and what exactly they were for.
So far Brooke has had her 8 week vaccinations and her 12 week vaccinations - the 16 week ones (which will be the last until she is 1) are coming up just before Christmas.
I was absolutely dreading the first appointment, like really really dreading it. I know vaccinations are done for such good reasons and of course 2 seconds of pain is so much better than a serious illness, plus Brooke obviously won't remember these AT all, but there is still nothing more heartbreaking than your babies little face looking at you, screaming out in pain, wondering why mummy - the one person who is meant to protect them from anything bad - is letting somebody hurt them! :(
At the 8 week appointment Brooke had three injections, two in one thigh and one in the other, and one oral medication to vaccinate against rotavirus.
The injection that I was particularly anxious about was the one for Meningitis C. It is a very new vaccination that had only been offered for around 6 weeks by the time Brooke had it so I had no friends to ask for advice about it.
NHS advice with baby vaccinations in general is to have calpol on hand in case baby develops a fever later on that evening but with the new Men C injection it's not IF baby gets a fever, it's WHEN baby gets a fever because it is almost a certainty that baby will react badly to that one in particular. You are advised when you book to actually bring the calpol with you to the appointment and to give some straight away after they have the injection, plus twice more through the night.
We have been very lucky and thankfully Beooke has coped incredibly well with her vaccinations so far and hasn't had any major side effects.
After the 8 week jabs we gave her calpol at the doctors as advised, she was a little sleepier than normal but was absolutely fine. She amazingly didn't develop any sort of fever and slept as normal that night. We only felt the need to give the calpol that day and by the next morning she was her usual happy self. She did actually come out in a bit of a cold a few days after which I've mentioned in a previous post, so I expected that was a delayed effect of the injections.
At the 12 week appointment 2 injections are given (no nasty Men C this time - Yay!) and one oral medication. Again Brooke reacted well, had a slight temperature later in the evening and flushed rosy cheeks so we gave her one dose of calpol but was good as new after that!
I'm a bit worried because her 16 week injections are the week before Christmas so I'm hoping she doesn't have a nasty reaction to them that will ruin Christmas for her, so fingers crossed! Plus we have to have the nasty Men C one again next time!
Obviously the actual moment when the injection is carried out and Brooke screams her head off completely breaks my heart! BUT we definitely feel it is for the greater good and will continue to get her vaccinated as per the NHS recommendations. Luckily we have a super brave little girl and she has only cried for 30 seconds max and cuddles from mummy and daddy really seem to help.
Have you had your little ones vaccinated? I'd love to hear about your experience? What do you think of the new Men C injection?
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XOXO
