daughter now terrified of injections?

[momcj]

i had to take my 6 year old daughter for a blood test today. it was sooo truamatic! she screamed the place down. I had got some numbing cream from the doctors beforehand. The nurse totally botched up taking the blood, so could not collect from her arm. Then had to get it from her thumb, there seemed to be blood everywhere, on the floor, chair-got a big blood patch on her leggings! My main worry now is that this will have traumatised her and she will be terrified of needles! how am i going to deal with future injections? Anybody had a similar problem?

[squarebear]

She will have forgotten all about it in a few days.

[momcj]

I wish that was true and maybe she will forget about this experience for now but as soon as she needs another injection i know she will remeber!

[annie0000]

If you make a big deal of it then you are feeding any potential fear - just act like everything is going to be fine, keep your mouth shut and see what happens. Is she likely to need many more injections?

[cazzz1975]

she will forget in time however I would make sure a proper phlebotanist from the hospital does any further blood tests, some of these nurses in gp surgeries are quite poor at drawing blood, probably due to lack of practice.

GP surgeries normally have a phlebotanist come in once a week to do blood tests.

[ljdksa]

Leave it to her. If she brings it up at any point, you can reassure her that normally everything is simple. I think if you make a big deal about it, at this point, she will worry more.

[momcj]

Im obviously not showing her my fears or telling her, suppose it was quite upsetting to see my daughter so upset and i know it will hopefully be a long time until she needs another injection, i just wondered if there were any parents on here who have to deal with a child who is scared of needles and how they deal with it.

[annie0000]

it's like any other fear, you don't make a big deal about it and show them that whatever it is is nothing to be afraid of. e.g. if they are scared of the dentist, you take them with you and let them see you have treatment/check up without being afraid, then gradually expose them to it. If she is scared of the needles, then make sure that she accompanies you to doctors appointments so that she is used to seeing nurses/doctors when she doesn't need treatment and offer to give a blood sample before her if they are happy to accommodate that.

[zzxxee]

Bless her x
i would not make a big deal out of it, and just deal with it when the next situation arises
praise her, for being a good girl give her a treat.

[boxtops]

Don't make an issue of it, try to laugh about it - then if she has to do it again, just don't comment beforehand. The staff in GP practices are trained to undertake phlebotomy but some are better at it than others - and the surgeries which don't do it (like mine) send you to the hospital for it. The more practice, the better.