At what point should you tell the child the doctor’s visit includes shots?
I think I would want to know ahead of time. I dont think I would want to be told five minutes beforehand that I was getting shots. In fact, that did indeed happen to me at a checkup when I was 13 or so. Mom reassured me that there would be NO shots at the appointment. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. I got told I needed tetanus shots about halfway through the appointments. My sweet mother threw me under the bus and quickly agreed with the doctor that this should happen at this very appointment.
And you may be able to guess what happened next.
Yep. I passed out.
Of course now that I am the mom, I see things a little differently.
Really its all about when do I want to hear the crying and for how long? At the office I only hear it for a few minutes. If I tell them in the morning, like I did with Sugar today, I get to hear the tears all da long. Yay for me.
But which is right? Opinions?
I think it depends on the child’s personality and Mom knows best. My oldest was a kind of go with the flow kid and finding out a day or two ahead of time or at the very moment said shot was about to be given caused no big problem. My youngest needs to know a schedule and all it entails as soon as possible and then wants/needs multiple daily reminders and up dates. Over the years I have found with him a two to three day lead in time for doctors appointments works best for us and as for shots or blood draws I ALWAYS say there is a possibility and then we can celebrate if none are needed or whimper slightly when we find out they are happening. Luckily neither kid has that extreme fear of needles so many people talk about. I am all for making doctors visits as painless for everyone involved.
Best of luck with the next one!
Comment by Tree — June 11, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
http://www.diyfather.com/content/pointy-issue-to-vaccinate-or-not-to-vaccinate
Comment by Scott — August 15, 2009 @ 8:05 am