I brought Sean for his third month checkup today.
While I fully understand the long-term benefits of immunisation, I feel very sorry for babies who have to go through jabs after jabs in the first few months of their lives.
Sean was due to take both rotavirus and pneumococcal immunisations today. I wasn't so worried about the rotavirus which is administered orally; it was the latter I was more concerned about.
He may have forgotten it already but I hadn't quite gotten over the trauma of
last month's 6-in-1 injection yet.
I know I really shouldn't be projecting my own fears on him but I can't help it!
(An aside from my own childhood: I remember how much I hated injections and would writhe and scream before the doctor even so much so as touched me. It took three adults - my mother, the nurse and the doctor himself - to hold me down into submission. Hmm, I think I just figured out where my fear/dislike for hospitals and doctors stems from!)
Anyway, just as we were about to enter the doctor's office, I suddenly remembered Foops mention he saw an advert for a
topical numbing cream that could help take away a bit of the pain of the injection.
I immediately asked one of the assistants about it and yes, they had it in stock!
The only requirement was that we had to apply the cream on his thigh (the site of injection and let it sit for at least half an hour or so before the injection can be administered.
We were more than happy to comply with the wait.
So did it hurt? Yes, it still did.
(Apparently, the
Emla cream only takes full effect some two to three hours later.)
He yowled very briefly, staring imploringly at me the whole time but quickly got over the pain after a reassuring cuddle.
A far, far cry - mind the pun - from his blood-curling scream from the last month.
It is a small price (SGD15) to make it less traumatic for mother and baby, I think - I'm definitely going to request for it every time from here on.
Otherwise, the checkup went smoothly.
Just for the record, he's growing well for a 3-month-old, measuring in at a decent 5.65kg and 60cm.
He is meeting all his developmental milestones and is a happy, sociable little fella.
Very recently, he has even begun to cackle when we play with him and you can see it in his eyes how he wants MORE MORE MORE! It's so infectious you cannot help but just laugh along.
His eczema is well under control and we haven't had any major recurrence since I switched to off-the-counter Physiogel cream on some of your recommendations (thank you, wonderful Internet people!). Could be the cooler year-end weather recently playing a part too.
His breath has also been sounding quite raspy and phlegm-y lately so I asked Dr Tan about that. She said it could be an allergy issue (again), triggered by what I am eating.
There's still no saying which foods exactly but as long as I take everything in moderation, she assured that there is no cause for worry.
Sean is running a very mild fever from the injection and has been a bit clingy today but I think he'll be okay after sleeping it off.
Till next month!
PS. I just found some other tips on how to make immunisations less traumatic for children
here.