How to Distract Your Child for an Injection

Our daughter was born with a rare form of cancer and in order to bring her home between chemotherapy treatments I had to learn how to give her injections. She has since gone into remission with her cancer (she is now a healthy 6 year old) but the treatments left her with no adrenal glands and another health issue that require periodic injections.

It wasn’t difficult when she was an infant to give her these injections but now that she is older it is a bit trickier.

Here are some tips our family has learned in order to make it easier for all of us.

At our daughters request we do not let her know what day is shot day until the injection arrives via the parcel service that delivers the injection. When they bring the package our daughter knows that shot day is near and she will inquire as to what day she has to have her shot.

As soon as our daughter knows what day her shot will be she begins to prepare herself. She will mark her little calendar and remind us of the day her injection is due.

While mom prepares the injection our daughter is busy gathering her favorite stuffed animal and a helper. The helper is generally her older brother (he is an adult) and she likes to crawl up on his lap during the injection.

If we happen to have her favorite bandaids available (which we usually do) our daughter will also pick out her favorite from the box.

Then a special treat is selected generally a popsicle or some ice cream is selected and we are set for the injection.

During the injection our daughter is told exactly what mom is doing the entire time the injection is being given. Her older brother will help her either count as high as she possibly can or they will plan a special bike ride or something. This keeps her busy during the actual injection.

After the injection lots of hugs are given and a bandaid is applied. Then comes the treat and after that the special bike ride or some other such reward.

By keeping our daughter’s mind off of the main part our daughter knows that this will only take a few brief moments in her life and that she will remain well.

Other ways our daughter has come up with to keep herself distracted during her injections are helping someone read a book, picking out a favorite video to watch or having a friend to play with afterwards. Whatever the “reward” be sure your child is aware of what is going to happen and understands that mommy (or whoever gives the injection) doesn’t like it any more than the child does. The best attitude we have found is “lets just get this overwith and then we can go and have fun”. Keeping our daughter involed in the process helps her to understand that this is just routine for her and that we won’t lie to her. Once kids understand what is going on they are much more likely to cooperate.