Daisies & Diapers

Vaccination Day

When you find yourself anxious and upset on vaccination day, know that you are not the alone.

When my baby’s tears turn into screams my heart aches.

Sometimes I even cry like a baby, only in this scenario the actual baby is definitely winning.

Isn’t it amazing how connected you can feel to your baby?

Physically you’re not being injured at all, but your body aches for your child just as if it were you and not them.

Vaccination appointments are without a doubt one of the hardest tasks for me to do, but I do it anyways because I believe it is whats best.

My Beliefs and What I’ve Learned

I debated about if I wanted to talk about by view on vaccines or not, because it is so controversial, but ultimately I decided it was important to express my opinion on the topic.

It is because of vaccinations that so many diseases that were once widespread are now barely heard of.

If not vaccinated your child is at risk for these preventable diseases.

There have been several measles and whooping cough outbreaks since 2010 in children who were not protected by the vaccination. Half of these children did not survive the illness.

Vaccinating can save your baby’s life!

With today’s medical science advancements vaccines have been proven to be safe. It is very rare for a baby to have a bad reaction.

It has been estimated that 1 in 1 million will have a severe allergic reaction.

Hopefully this never happens to you, but if your baby was the 1 in 1 million, you should know that there is a program called The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. This program will pay for any of the medical costs associated with the injury.

In some cases babies are not able to receive immunization. For example, if they have leukemia or a rare immune disorder.

If everyone stopped getting immunizations all of these terrible diseases would come back.

All the more reason to make sure you can vaccinate if you have a healthy baby. By vaccinating you are helping protect the few who can’t.

Thoughts I Had As A First Time Parent

In my life before I had a baby I never once thought about my opinion on immunizations.

It wasn’t until it came time for my baby to get them that I really started learning about vaccines and beginning to think about what I felt was best.

My first thought was I don’t want my baby to be in pain.

I hated the thought of driving my happy, innocent little girl to the pediatricians office where I knew she was going to be poked and hurt. I still hate it.

After getting several opinions from friends, family, and even strangers, and having done a good amount of research I knew a little bit of pain was going to be better than risking my baby’s life.

Vaccination Schedule

• At 2 months baby will receive:
  • Pediarix: this particular shot takes care of multiple things in 1! The first of many being Dtap. Dtap prevents against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Second is IPV. IPV is the Polio vaccine. Third is Hep B. Hepatitis B is a blood borne infection that happens in the liver.
  • HIB: HIB stands for Haemophilus Influenza Type B. It is a disease spread through bacteria and was the leading cause of meningitis. Meningitis is an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.
  • Prevnar 13: This vaccine helps prevent pneumococcal bacteria. Pneumococcal bacteria can infect the sinuses, inner ear, lungs, blood and brain.
  • Rotavirus: Thankfully this one is given orally and not with a needle. Rotavirus is a virus that spreads through the stomach and intestines and causes inflammation.
• 4 months:
  • Pedarix
  • HIB
  • Prevnar
  • Rotavirus
• 6 months:
  • Pedarix
  • Prevnar
• 12 months:
  • Prevnar
  • Hep A: Hepatitis A, just like Hepaitis B is an infection in the liver. The difference is Hepatitis A is a food and water borne infection.
  • MMR: MMR is a 3 in 1 shot. This one takes care of measles, mumps and rubella. Rubella is also known at the German measles.
• 15 months:
  • HIB
  • Varivax: This is the chicken pox vaccine.
• 18 months:
  • Dtap
  • Hep A
• 5 years:
  • KINRIX: KINRIX will take care of everything in the Dtap as well as IPV.
  • MMR
  • Varivax

Thank goodness for that long gap after 18 months!

5 Ways to Comfort Your Baby on Vaccine Day

We already know watching our baby get shots is a miserable sight to bare, but there are ways you can help soothe your little one through this tough time.

1. Play soft music that your baby is familiar with and enjoys.
2. Use a comfort hold or lean over your baby, cuddle them as best you can and talk to them while they lay on the table.
3. Give your baby a pacifier.
4. Nurse them immediately after.
5. After you get home and your baby’s had a long nap go ahead and give them a warm bath.

Also remember to stay calm. I know, it’s hard because you hate to see your baby in pain but a baby will pick up on your emotion. If you are feeling uneasy your baby will instinctively know something is wrong, so do your best to hold it together.

What are some tips you use to help soothe your baby during or after immunizations?

As guardians of these little miracles it’s important to make sure even through the pain they feel safe with you, so we can all benefit from any tips and tricks we can learn along the way.

Pin these tips for later…

• About
• Latest Posts

Kayti Klaus

Kayti was the original founder of Daisies and Diapers before moving on to focus on her Real Estate career. Kayti loves her husband Ryan and spends as much of her days as possible with their beautiful daughter, Taytum and their two fur babies, Kanon and Soni.

Latest posts by Kayti Klaus (see all)

• Infant Milk Bath – How and Why? - October 7, 2019
• Survival Guide to Road-tripping with an Infant - September 16, 2019
• Important Facts to Know About Breast Milk - August 30, 2019