how to soothe your baby after vaccination

It might seem like a scary, saddening task when it comes to helping your little one deal with his/her pain post vaccination. Even as adults, we’ve all experienced how much your hand or backside can hurt after getting your shots. One can only imagine how a baby must feel then. However, you needn’t worry, as helping soothe your baby post vaccination is not as tough a task as it may seem. What you need to understand is that the most painful part, that is, the worst that your baby has to endure is already over! Getting vaccinated is perhaps the most painful part of the experience of getting vaccinated, and the experience after is admittedly hurtful, but the effects can be eased and the pain can be relieved.

Here are some useful solutions to help ease your baby’s pain.

1. Do not let your baby strain the body part that has been vaccinated  

Considering that the body part usually vaccinated is the backside or thigh, it is best not to let your baby walk or moves around, as exercising that part will only lead to more pain.

2. Watch out for extreme irritability or discomfort, and consult your doctor prior to administering painkillers

In some cases, the pain can cause extreme discomfort to the child, and if the increased irritability leads to extra crankiness or a disturbance in their normal appetite, then a small dosage of paracetamol usually helps. However, it must be clearly understood that prior to any administration of paracetamol, the doctor must be consulted.

3. Don’t worry about the resultant fever

There is no reason to worry about the fever, and it is perfectly normal to expect the baby to become feverish after vaccination. However, this does not imply that the opposite should warrant worrying. If your child develops no fever, it should still not worry you, as that is normal as well. Fever or no fever, your baby is fine. However, persistent pain, fever that does not drop, or fever that is unnaturally high should be monitored and reported to the doctor immediately.

4. Watch your baby and keep an eye on them for any strange activity

While there should hopefully be none after getting vaccinated, there is a statistical possibility that something may go wrong and the child may suffer as a consequence. While this statistical impossibility is a minute, it cannot be disregarded. So, in any given case, watch out for your child. If your baby is under 6 months of age, it must be understood that your baby might benefit from skin to skin care, so get warm and in contact with your baby and it will do your baby wonders.

5. Ensure that the baby’s appetite does not drop

There is a possibility that your child’s appetite may decrease after vaccination, so make sure to feed your baby well. And considering that the baby is usually within the one year bracket, you will have to breastfeed regularly!

6. Play with your child

This may seem silly, but it can actually really ease the pain, as the child will be suffering and just watching an educational cartoon or playing with his/her favorite toy is in itself a huge relaxer for your baby.

7. Apply ice on the body part where the baby is vaccinated

The importance of this solution cannot be understated. This is perhaps the most important tip to parents when it comes to soothing your baby post vaccination. The mistake that parents make when applying ice packs to the injected area is that they directly apply the ice onto the inflamed spot. This does little to reduce the pain because the baby is not used to ice on their skin. First let a stream of cold water pass over the baby’s inflamed area, so as to help the baby get familiarized to the colder temperature. Then, gently take an ice pack or an ice cube and place it on the swollen area (the injected body part tends to swell and redden) and tie a cloth around it. This way, both pain and inflammation are reduced.