How to help your child overcome fear of needles in time for Covid 19 vaccination roll out
Pfizer and BioNTech recently submitted data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is a significant step closer to having Covid-19 vaccination available for children ages 5-11.
While many of us parents (including myself) and educators may be thrilled to hear this news, taking your child for a vaccination appointment may give rise to a wave of anxiety for many parents.
A number of school districts and committees mandating Covid-19 vaccination may accelerate your unease.
Let’s face it. Most of us, young or old, do not love getting shots.
Good number of us have some level of fear towards injections.
In fact, statistics show that 20-30% of young adults, 20-50% of adolescents, and the majority of children demonstrate fear of needles. Furthermore, it’s estimated that 16% of adults avoid flue vaccination because of their dread of needles.
For some, the fear is so severe that they may tremble, have difficulty breathing, and even experience panic attack. For children, their attempt to escape getting a shot often result in a series of challenging behaviors including tantrum, screaming, aggression, and elopement.
The good news is, you CAN help your child overcome the fear or alleviate their stress.
Here are some strategies you can use to make the vaccination experience much more manageable.
1. Explain the ‘WHY’ piece:
As parents, we all had to explain hundreds of WHYs in the past year a half. Why is school closed? Why do we have to wear masks? Why can’t we hug and share snacks with our friends?, etc.
While it may have been exhausting and nerve wrecking at times having to explain so many thing, explaining WHY we do what we do helps your littles understand and accept the reality as it is.
You can start the chat by asking your children what we do to keep us all healthy.
They may surprise you with the wealth of knowledge they already have! Those include eating healthy, drinking water, washing hands, getting exercise, sleep, brushing teeth, etc.
You can then remind them,
‘Remember we can also take some vitamins and medicine to keep us from getting sick? There are some medicine that we can eat or drink, but there are also ones that we can get through a shot. The one keeps us from getting sick is called a vaccine. The vaccines for Coronavirus has been available for grownups, but now they are available for you too!’.
Your children may naturally have lots of questions. If they have any questions, answer them in a simple yet honest manner.
2. Practice at home:
You can help your child practice getting a shot through play.
Act out a Doctor’s office dramatic play.
It starts with you or your child visiting the clinic/hospital/pharmacy, wherever you may be planning to take your child for the vaccination. Practice checking in, waiting in the wait room, sitting in the chair, and roll up the sleeve.
You can practice a little poke with a toy syringe, a gentle pinch, or with a toothpick, without breaking skin, of course.
Practice (Play) often to help them ease their anxiety towards visiting a doctor’s office.
3. Expose to the fear factor:
During the days leading up to the vaccination appointment, gradually expose your kiddos to needles in a variety of format.
You can start with simply talking about needles, showing them picture and/or a video of a needle, and eventually a video of someone else getting a shot.
If there is an opportunity, you could bring your child to show someone else getting a shot in person too.
The idea is that exposure helps your child:
1) understand that needles aren’t as scary or dangerous as they thought they were,
2) decrease the reaction through repeated practice, &
3) gain confidence that they can overcome this.
It is important note that..
Even though the fear your child has may seem more generalized (e.g., getting a shot), it may be more specific (e.g., fear of injections, fear of blood, fear of injury, etc.), and the exposure procedure will look different depending on where the fear resides.
It is important to first identify the specific fear factor for your child.
4. Make practice visits:
For some children, practicing dramatic play and exposure at home may not be enough to help them overcome their fear.
For some, visiting the doctor’s office itself may bring much anxiety.
If that is the case, try contacting your physician or doctor’s office to see if you could make some practice visit to the office prior to the actual appointment.
If your doctor’s office can let you enter a room, practice visiting a couple times (or more) and help your child relax in the room.
5. Give lots of choices:
On the day of the appointment, there are many things that your child can have control over.
Here are some choices you can offer:
“What would you like to wear to the appointment?”
“Do you want to read or watch something while waiting?” “Which book/video?”
“Do you want to sit on your own? Or do you want to sit on my lap?”
“Do you want me to hold your hand or rub your back?”
“Do you want to look away or watch while you are getting poked?”
“What would you like to do after you get the poke?”
Offering many choices increase your children’s overall active participation, and that may help them manage their anxiety.
6. Set up a winning prize:
This may seem too obvious, but it is an important piece and worth mentioning.
Set up an item or an activity that your child can look forward to after successfully getting the shot.
Remember, it may not go as smooth as you’d have liked, but if they did get the shot, deliver the promised item/activity and celebrate.
I hope you found these tips helpful in making the vaccination visit easier and more tolerable for you and your child.
Every step may not be needed for everyone; only some steps may be sufficient for some, and some may require all steps and more.
The steps and treatments are individualized based on where the fear resides and the severity of fear and/or avoidance.
If you’re interested in learning more or want to schedule a time to talk about your specific concerns, feel free to contact me for a free 30-minute consultation.
Chisato Komatsu, PhD, BCBA-D, is a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the doctoral level with over 18 years of experience studying and working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). I utilize evidence-based interventions, which help individuals and parents learn how to take action in their lives to achieve ideal outcomes in a safe, confidential and empathic environment. I work in Culver City and greater Los Angeles area. I am available for telehealth sessions for families throughout CA. Contact me at chisato@littlepineconsult.com or (323) 285-2221 to schedule a free consultation.
