Cuddling through Vaccines

I read something a few weeks ago about various ways to comfort your child while getting shots. It had never occurred to me that I could hold my little one while someone is jabbing a needle into his thigh! The doctor always just said to put the baby on the table and who am I to question them (I'm chuckling as I write this cuz if you know me, I question just about everything, haha!).

Kenzo had his slightly delayed 5 month checkup today since we were out of town when he really should have gone. But that's beside the point. I wanted to avoid the negativity that arose from our last visit with she-who-shall-not-be-named so I went ahead and requested a specific doctor rather than saying "Oh, whoever is available". I'm not saying she's a bad doctor whatsoever, and she's a lovely person, we're just not exactly on the same page regarding my baby, and you should really really be on the same page with your pediatrician!! So, we saw Dr. Raptis this time as we've seen him once before and liked him, and a lot of our friends recommended him as well. When he asked me if I'd started Kenzo on solids yet, I said "No" and he responded "Well, if you don't mind..." and I started cringing thinking he was going to try to get us to start solids. But he kept going "...I really prefer to wait until 6 months" and I let out a huge sigh of relief and shouted "ME TOOOO!!!!!" ^_^ And he said "Oh, good! We're on the same page then!" Oh thank goodness.

Dr. Raptis did the full exam and announced Kenzo's 75th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height - way to go dude! I told him Kenzo's been rubbing his left ear, especially while nursing, but after inspection he said it looks good and that's often a sign of teething and he let me see Kenzo's lower gum with the light shone on it, and low and behold, two big lumps of teeth are working their way up.

Next was time for shots, which Doc told Kenzo are just 2 little mosquito bites - how cute! I asked if I could hold the baby and he said "Of course!!" and showed me the best position, which was him just sitting on my lap. I cuddled his arms in close to his body so he couldn't grab at the syringe. In went the shot on the right leg, just a little whimper. So I started singing one of our songs from library class we go to. In goes the shot on the left leg. He starts to cry a little, I ramp up my singing. Doc slaps on the bandaids and says we're done. I scoop Kenzo up and within 5 seconds he's completely settled down and content. O.M.G. I can't believe I never tried this cuddling thing during shots before! I feel like such a failure of a mom - letting my little one lay on the table being jabbed at, turning beat red and hysterically crying. My poor little guy!!! Anyone out there reading this - please give cuddles and singing a try at your next check-up / vaccinations!!! It makes a world of difference, for your little one and you!!