Scared of Needles

My son never liked “pokes” at the Dr.’s office, but their clever approach of offering a choice from a bucket of sparkly toys worked for him for the flu shots he received in previous years. But, that dislike transformed into fear, which then turned to terror during the pandemic. Maybe it was the “brain-scraping” COVID test he got in the parking lot after catching a cold at drama camp, or maybe it was simply a lot of overhearing our conversations about “the jabs” that did it. We took him with us to observe us when we got our COVID vaccinations at an airport drive-thru clinic, and he handled it well. However, The flu shot drive-thru clinic we went to recently was a traumatic experience for everyone involved.

He’s excited to help protect his school community and his grandparents as well as all of the people who invisibly need all of us to support them. He’s a mindful and kind person with the heart and soul of a dog. Now that vaccine appointments are becoming available for his age group we signed him up immediately, just as our ancestors did, to protect their children and communities from Smallpox and Polio. Yes, it’s a big leap of faith. Yes, he is terrified of jabs, as are many people of all ages. Yes, we will bribe him by giving him his shot o’ vax with a LEGO back. But, we have also asked our community to help us build resources to support him as we ready our family for the next drive-thru clinic- the one we’ve been waiting for for 19 months. Here’s a roundup of helpful materials we’ve gathered together. These aren’t the result of a google search, but actual resources that someone we know has found to be useful. If you have anything to add, please share it in the comments.

Created by the Meg Foundation, a pain management non-profit, a chatbot called SuperMeg guides children through the vaccine process, learn more in this CBS news coverage, and review their site for a whole host of resources. We are finding this to be the best resource overall for our family when we have time to gather around a device.

Our family is an audio family! We love music and audiobooks, and of course, podcasts! Great for car rides, sometimes during meals, and other times that we do not want to gather around a screen. We find audio to be more engaging and stimulating, and we find that it always creates a great starting point for family conversation. Here are some very specific “kidcast” aka podcasts for kids & families episodes that were recommended to us by Kids Listen creators we have listened to and will probably listen to repeatedly.

Best Day Yet is a kids’ affirmation podcast that helps kids build a toolkit for managing pretty much everything in life. We loved being reminded by the show’s host, Marjorie Stordeur, that you need to practice these skills while you’re calm so that you aren’t trying to learn them when you need them most.

Vermont Public Radio’s But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids — Why is it a shot? Kids’ questions about COVID vaccines put together this awesome, comprehensive episode answering questions from kids to help raise awareness and ease concerns as approval for the ages 5–11 vaccine came through.

Andrew & Polly of the wonderfully fun and musical show Ear Snacks have just dropped a new episode that supports kids getting ready for the vaccine. A child life specialist from UCSF shares tips and tricks to prepare for getting a shot and talks about some strategies for being nervous. An analogy about pie from Laurel Bristow explains mRNA vaccines and kids share what they’re excited to do after they are eligible for the vaccine. Producing this one had me thanks for listening.

And, if you are a Spotify user, here are the episodes as a growing playlist.

Here are some more resources for parents to read as well:

Right now, our son is signed up for a drive-thru COVID19 vaccination this month. Even though our last drive-thru experience felt like taking a feral cat through a conveyor belt-room full of rocking chairs, we still think this is a better option than the walk of dread he would experience if we went into a clinic. And, he does too. We’re hoping that including him in every consideration will scaffold him through this experience, and we’re so grateful to science for providing another tool for protection.

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Previously Published on medium

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