Children and vaccination

Often, the vaccination situation is more stressful for the parent than for the child. The child does not have to decide whether or not to be vaccinated, vaccination is always an adult decision. Children are curious and understand a surprising amount of different things.

Prepare the child well

You know your child best and know how well your child needs to be prepared for vaccination. Tell the child in advance about the vaccination in words that the child understands. For example, you could tell that the vaccine feels like an sting or a pinch. You can also discuss with your child in advance what would help in a vaccination situation.

Children often have a very good imagination that can sometimes make unknown things scary. Often, waiting increases fear, so vaccinate the most fearful child first.

We recommend coming on a full stomach; even adults are sometimes annoyed if they are hungry or thirsty.

Let the child sit in your lap

Often children feel safe in the lap of a familiar adult. Our nurses will guide you how to hold your child. The vaccination event is quickly over and at the same time you can tell your child about something nice like a weekend cottage trip or a bike ride. You can also sing, look at pictures or videos together. You can continue talking about the vaccination at home afterwards. 

Praise your child

Once the vaccination has been given, tell your child how great she was. Understandably, if a child’s vaccination felt scary and hurt, you can say that these feelings are normal and praise the child that she told about it.