First of all, you can expect a few tears. Both from you and your new baby. I think I probably cried even more than my baby did, I was even a little miffed at the nurse. Not because she did anything wrong, but because she was the low down dirty do-gooder that hurt my baby! Really, though, she did nothing that was wrong. It was just my over-protective mommy mode kicking in.
When baby turns eight weeks old, he will get a well-baby check up that will include his first shots. Your baby will get the DTaP shot that will protect baby against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. He will also get vaccinated against hepatitis B, polio, flu, pneumonia and the rotavirus. Baby may have gotten the hepatitis B vaccine when he was 4 months old, if so, he will not get it again this time.
Your first question is probably “Are all these vaccines safe?” The answer would be yes. Babies very rarely suffer complications from the vaccines. And before you ask, there has been no evidence that baby shots cause autism. The disease your baby is being vaccinated against are much more dangerous that the shots themselves.
Baby’s legs may be a little sore for a day or so, he may get a low-grade fever and be a little cranky. The pediatrician usually will ask you to give the baby and acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve these symptoms. Even though is is very unlikely to happen, monitor your baby for difficulty breathing, seizures, excessive crying (more than three hours), rash, swelling of face or throat, or any other allergic reaction.
You may want to know if it will hurt. Well, to put it bluntly, yes. But, the good new is, it will only last for a few seconds. If you hold your baby while he is getting his shots and distract him with a toy or by making silly faces and talking to him, he may not feel the pain so much.