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Easing the Pain of Childhood Vaccinations · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Hello, and welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  I'm your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
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  We are housed in the Martin Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.
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  Childhood vaccinations are a necessary evil, although they're not really evil.
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  They are important and they help to keep our child healthy and ready to meet
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  all of the challenges that they might face in the world of germs.
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  Here today, my guest, Katherine Jury, Extension Specialist for Family Health,
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  is going to share with us about easing the pain of childhood vaccinations.
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  So welcome, Katherine. Thank you so much for having me, Mindy. You are right.
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  Vaccines are an important part of preventative health care for our children.
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  But as a parent, it is not a fun experience to take your kiddo in knowing that
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  they're going to need to get a vaccine or a shot that day.
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  But there are some things that we can do that can help make it a less painful
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  experience for everyone.
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  Yes, I thought, as I said, they're necessarily evil. It's like,
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  they're not evil. They're good.
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  But a child often views them as evil. But right.
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  As you said, there are lots of things that we can do to make the experience,
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  while maybe not exactly fun, perhaps at least a little bit more pleasant for all involved.
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  So how can we make childhood vaccinations an easier process?
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  Process so as a parent you want to
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  feel comfortable and confident with whatever
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  vaccines your child is getting so ahead of
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  time you want to have an open conversation with your child's health care provider
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  about what vaccines that they need and when they need to get them so there's
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  a routine vaccination schedule for children based on their age,
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  but there are a lot of variables.
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  Everything from allergies to your child's medical history, even going back as
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  far as if they were born premature or had low birth weight.
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  So there's really a lot of options when it comes to scheduling your child's
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  vaccines exactly when they get which vaccination.
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  So as a parent, you want to be comfortable with that decision and that conversation
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  ahead of time with your child's health care provider can help you feel better
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  going into that appointment as well.
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  Well, can you share with me about the menu of comfort measures often offered
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  by health care providers who routinely care for children?
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  They can offer things like cooling spray or topical numbing ointment where they're
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  going to give the vaccine.
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  Sometimes they offer comfort measures like an ice pack or an ice cube directly
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  after. or they provide little incentives.
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  So maybe a sticker or a small treat afterwards.
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  So knowing what to expect ahead
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  of time can make a huge difference in your comfort level as a parent.
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  Oh, definitely. I remember as a child, I did not take medicine well.
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  And so I always opted to get a shot as opposed to getting medicine.
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  So vaccines were no big deal for me.
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  Absolutely. But it is true, I think, that people who give vaccines to children
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  on a routine basis do have some tricks of the trade to make it less painful or at least fast.
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  Yes. So I do think it makes a difference where you choose to get your child vaccinated.
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  People who work with children on a regular basis typically have some of those
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  tricks of the trade that they're familiar with.
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  Well, and then also, I know that you want to make the child comfortable.
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  So, what are your tips for making your child comfortable with the vaccination plan?
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  Absolutely. So, I think it's important to talk to your child ahead of time if
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  you know that they're going to get a vaccine at their appointment.
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  Not days ahead of time because there's no need to like build up anxiety in your child,
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  but, you know, directly ahead of the appointment, being open and honest with
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  them in an age-appropriate way to let them know, hey, you're probably going
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  to get a shot or a vaccine at your appointment today.
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  We don't want to have fear-based discussions, but I think it's valuable to talk
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  with our child about why we get vaccines.
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  That they're not fun, but a small pinch for a second hurts a lot less than the
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  severe effects of some of the diseases that vaccines prevent against.
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  And so making that known to our children is important.
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  And as our kids get older, we can talk more in
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  depth about the science behind how vaccines
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  scenes work and how our bodies build up immunity and how vaccines help that
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  immune response and that we would much rather get a vaccine than be introduced
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  to some of those scary germs that can really have big effects on children's bodies.
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  So having those discussions is valuable ahead of time.
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  And especially if there's somebody in your life, in your family's life,
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  in your child's life that would be specifically susceptible to severe disease
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  saying one of the reasons that we get vaccinated are to help protect other people that we love,
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  either people who can't get vaccinated or people who fall in those risk categories for severe disease.
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  So if it's young children in the family, if it's older family members or somebody
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  who's immunocompromised due to their circumstances.
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  I think that's an excellent way to frame the vaccination and why we do it.
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  And I know that if a child has an experience, I remember when my son had to have his tonsils out.
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  And so having the experience of being poked and prodded a little bit made getting a shot no big deal.
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  And so that was an experience that was like, okay, I can live through that.
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  So then I can live through a shot.
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  And so sometimes reminding them of the things that they went through can also
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  help to ease the pain of a shot.
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  Absolutely. Our kids are resilient. And so talking to them about we can do hard
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  things is another valuable, teachable moment that comes from the uncomfortable
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  thought of getting a shot.
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  There's also some things as a parent that we can bring with us to help comfort
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  and distract in those moments.
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  And so those are things that if we just take a minute or two before we're running
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  out the door to our appointment can make a big difference when we're actually
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  sitting in the exam room or getting that vaccine.
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  Yes. And I love the little doctor kits and those sorts of things.
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  I know I've gotten those for my granddaughter and say, you know,
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  you can give me a shot with her little play syringe.
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  And then she never knows that she's getting a shot. And so that's always a fun
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  thing to do as well. So sometimes- Great distraction.
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  The buildup for the shot is more intense than the shot itself.
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  So if we can help to mitigate some of that, then it's not as big a deal as it has to be.
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  Absolutely. For older kids, it may be a distraction item. My son loves mind
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  benders or logic puzzles. So, I always try to have something like that that
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  is a good distraction for him. It just keeps his mind off of it.
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  My little one has a favorite stuffed animal.
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  And so, we always make sure Bunny goes with us to the doctor.
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  Yes. I remember Bear. Bear always got a shot whenever Joshua got a shot when
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  my children were small. also.
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  Absolutely. And again, kind of depending on your kid's temperament,
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  their personality, sometimes something like a special Band-Aid,
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  if they're really into Band-Aids, a special kind of Band-Aid can make a big
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  difference, or a special sticker.
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  If your child tends to have pain at their injection site after a vaccine,
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  bringing a little ice pack from home for the ride home can be a good comfort
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  measure for small children, babies,
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  bringing a pacifier if they use one, a bottle, or being prepared to breastfeed
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  initially after a vaccine can be comfortable to provide some of those comfort measures as well.
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  And if you're comfortable with it as a parent, sometimes a small treat or a
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  small snack can help take their mind off of their vaccine as well.
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  So just things Things that you know that your child likes, things that make
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  them comfortable, things that take their mind off of either waiting or the buildup
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  or directly post-vaccine can make a big difference in the experience for everybody.
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  And Catherine, we haven't talked about it, but what vaccines are commonly coming
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  up that aren't on a schedule but might be things that children need to get ready for annually? Yeah.
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  Absolutely. So similar to adults, children are recommended six months and older
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  to receive an annual flu vaccine and COVID vaccine if they're eligible.
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  So generally, those are vaccinations that are updated annually.
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  So those new vaccines tend to come out early fall, late summer.
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  So they're good to kind of keep in the back of your mind.
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  You want to get them in the early fall before the end of October,
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  if possible, because they do take a little bit of time.
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  A while to work with our body's immune system to build up that greatest amount of protection.
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  Generally, people tend to travel for the holidays, see lots of family members,
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  friends, be around a lot of people.
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  We want our kids to have that maximum protection for those times.
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  So if we can get our vaccines by the end of October, then we have maximum protection
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  by by the time Thanksgiving festivities roll around towards the end of November
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  and then moving forward into the rest of the holiday season.
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  That sounds like a perfect plan. Get everybody really have their immunity built
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  up and ready to celebrate.
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  Absolutely. Katherine, thanks so much for your time today.
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  I feel like this is an important discussion that lots of parents and caregivers
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  are going to benefit from.
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  Well, thank you for having me, Mindy. I appreciate the opportunity then to talk
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  from one parent to another because, you know, those experiences aren't the most fun,
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  but our job as parents and caregivers are to make the best decisions for our
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  child's health. And we know that vaccines are a part of that.
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  Exactly. If you are just tuning in, you're listening to Talking FACS,
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