Children And Immunization: Dealing With Children's Fear Of Vaccination

Dealing With Children's Fear Of Vaccination

Published by M. Ben Aria

Vaccinations can cause real anxiety, fear and panic in children. In this article we look at ways of helping your children deal with the fear of needles,injections and vaccinations ...

If we are to eradicate crippling and deadly diseases from the world, it's important that every child be immunized. But how does a parent cope with a child who has developed a fear of needles and vaccinations? Things were easy when your child was a baby and the pinprick of a needle was really nothing, the pain and trauma passing in mere seconds. Now, as your child ages, anxiety sets in and by the time you need to sit your child down to be vaccinated, he or she is screaming in fear or crying hysterically.

There are many reasons why children develop fears in the first place. Perhaps they've lived through a traumatizing event and remain marked by the upset, or they may have witnessed someone else going through a traumatizing experience. Even television can end up providing children with their fears, by the child having glimpsed a show where a traumatizing event was going on. Whatever the reason your child, understand and recognized that the feelings of anxiety and paranoia attached to fears are very real and should not be dismissed.

One tried-and-true method some parents use is to inform the child of the doctor's appointment, but not the reason why. Telling a child that the doctor wants to make sure they are healthy is a good way around giving out too much information about the impending vaccination. The child will have no extended time to create horrific scenarios in their head before even arriving at the doctors' and fears won't be able to feed on themselves, becoming larger than they need to be. Often the fear is more of the impending 'doom' of the needle and not the needle or the pain itself.

Children will take their cues from you, so if you are calm and collected, they will be too. After all, if Mommy or Daddy is smiling and is accepting of the doctor and what he has to do, the child will process that information. While it may not make them feel the situation is pleasant, your outward expression and tone of voice goes a long way to reassuring your child that everything is alright.

At the same time, be honest about the situation, but don't exaggerate. Telling children 'this won't hurt' isn't true - a needle piercing skin does hurt and they'll feel betrayed by your well-intentioned lies. As a result, everything you say becomes subject to question and scrutiny, so never break your child's trust in your word. Do keep the words you use at their level and don't confuse children with terms they don't understand. Explain why they need the vaccination, and what happens if they don't have it. Also, explain that it's okay to be a little bit afraid (but at the same time, make sure not to give them a hidden message that there's something to be afraid of!) and it's alright to feel like crying. The point is, they don't have to enjoy vaccinations, but they do have to have them.

Next article: Edward Jenner - Vaccine Discoverer

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