I finally brought Calvin to get his 4-year-old needles done today. We have been putting it off since he turned 4 as the boy has been protesting and we were slack … 🙂
I started to prep the boy yesterday, telling him that he has to be immunised — that is, 2 needles, one on each arm. Of course he was *horrified* and refused. But I told him he needed the needles in order to go to the *big school* and that I would reward him with a lollipop afterwards. That seemed to calm him a little.
So, after his kindy today, I brought him to the clinic, armed with a lollipop. He was still protesting and said that he did not need the needles as he was not sick! I was quite firm with him and I think that helped. He was actually quite well behaved at the clinic given that we had to wait for more than 30 minutes!!!
When his turn finally came, Calvin happily showed the nurse his lollipop before he put it in his mouth — and before he knew it, the nurse had poked the first needle into his arm. There was not a sound. He whinged a little at the second shot, but he did not cry or scream. That was it. No drama. Thanks to the lollipop! The nurse even gave him a balloon and told him that he could now go to the *big school*. That has made the boy very happy.