how did your babes do after their 2mo vaccines?

MagPie08

Mine are getting theirs today & the thought of them both screaming in pain stresses me out. I'm a wuss. 

I've heard to give some Tylenol shortly before their appt. Any other tips? Did your babies seem fussy in the days that followed?  

macchiatto

Will did OK; he did cry for several minutes after the vaccine and was extra fussy for a bit afterwards, but that was a fussy age anyway. Alex had a harder time with his 2m shots; they got the shots in the afternoon and he was pretty inconsolable most of the time until about 8 a.m. the following morning. His reaction was worse than most babies though, so hopefully you won't have that experience, but my advice would be to be prepared (and hopefully have an extra set of hands around) just in case they do need a lot of extra attention and cuddling.

Our pedi said some babies are more bothered by the 2m shots than the other rounds just b/c it's kind of a shock to them if they haven't experienced anything like that before. You can do the Tylenol, though there is some research that indicates that actually makes the shots less effective, so you might want to check with your pedi to get his/her opinion. And also, just try to stay as calm as possible, since LOs will pick up on any nerves you might have about the experience.

My boys did so much better at their 4m shots and every shot since then; since then, Will only cries for maybe a minute, Alex might cry for 5 minutes or so (he's very sensitive), but then they're fine.

finallyreilly

They both did ok during.  They cried but nothing too bad and not for long.  They both slept the day away after.  DD had a slight fever later that night so we gave her tylenol.  The next day they were both a little out of it but by the following day they were back to normal.

I would check with pedi beore giving tylenol before.  Some of the shots they recommend it and some they say not to do it before because it can impact the absorption rate of the injection.

GL - it really isn't too bad.

jennie13

they screamed, but they always scream   They passed out in the car afterward. 

the next day, they slept forever, and they are usually short nappers.   My DD was always sleepy after her shots, too.  

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All of mine cried, none had a reaction.  When DS1 was born, I was stressed from birth to 2m about his first shots and he did fine. 

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All 3 of my boys have always done well with shots - b/c I don't stress about it.  There is no reason to--- so, they might cry for 30 seconds - so what? That's what babies do... they cry b/c they can't talk and say "ouch- that hurt a little bit" which is exactly what my 3y/o does now... he knows it will hurt a little bit- b/c I tell him- i never lie about it.... he cried for about 10 seconds at his flu shot last week and tehn said "oh, it doesn't hurt anymore".

if you stress about things- your children will, too... they feel it.  So just relax and realize  that nobody likes shots- but the fact is that they rarely hurt more than a few seconds.... and the bruise type pain you sometimes get afterwards isn't too bad either.

talk to your doc re: tylenol... i do not give it anymore unless they get a fever - b/c of the studies showing it reduces the effectivness of the vaccine.  My kids rarely get fevers after vaccines anyway.

 

TheNewFry

Aw, MagPie - I am right there with you... we are leaving in a few minutes to take our twins to their two month appointment and I am sooo nervous about the shots. I am sure I will cry more than them!  GL.

browneyedgrl4282

Honestly i think it was harder on me, especially with the twins because I was first time mom. My kids i think cried for a second and were fine once i held them!

DarthBaby

Mine were just crab pants the next day and took barely any naps. Don't stress, it will be okay!

macchiatto

And OP (and anyone else who's worried), please know that if your babies do cry a lot afterward, it's not necessarily because you did anything wrong or weren't relaxed enough. Different babies have different reactions to things, and some are physically more bothered than others by the same thing, different pain tolerance, different levels of sensitivity, etc. Like I said, my twins had completely different reactions to their 2-month shots and it's not because we did anything differently with each of them. No offense to Goldie--I think she's a great mom--but I don't think it's fair for a parent to say "My kids handled X great because I did such and such." That might be one factor, but honestly, some kids are more sensitive than others, and some parents just get lucky. Sure, parents can do things that help but some of it is genetics (which is why all of one family's kids reacting the same way doesn't prove it works for everyone), luck, temperament, etc.

My two handle a lot of things very differently from each other even though they're getting the same input from DH and me; they are two different kids. I have to give myself shots for MS and my body's injection site reactions to both meds are stronger than most people's (huge welts, significant pain, etc.); it has nothing to do with stress level or emotions, it's just physiology. For all I know, Alex inherited that from me while Will inherited his dad's "off-road package" and unusually high pain tolerance.

Or with BIL and his family, two of their kids are totally unfazed by everything from shots to tonsilectomies, while their other LO is extremely sensitive and freaks out at all of the above. The parents do the same things with all three kids, but they're different kids so they have different reactions.

I'd just hate for another mom to feel guilty or like they did something wrong if their LO has a strong reaction to vaccines. Moms of 2-month-old twins are stressed enough already without having to worry about that, too.

MagPie08

macchiatto:

I'd just hate for another mom to feel guilty or like they did something wrong if their LO has a strong reaction to vaccines. Moms of 2-month-old twins are stressed enough already without having to worry about that, too.

Thanks for this, macchiatto

Babies took it like champs and are sleeping it off.  

macchiatto

So glad it went smoothly!