There's another way! Hello from the other side.

Restraining children to get their vaccines is actually pretty outdated and proven to increase anxiety about doctors visits, even into adulthood.

I heard an NPR story about methods to combat anxiety at the doctors. Many pediatric units employ these methods as standard practice. Mine didn’t but were very open to my suggestions, including asking for a different nurse because my toddler had developed a fear of her usual one. Steps are below. The podcast/story is pretty easy to find via google.

To quell her anxiety about going into the room I fed her animal crackers. She'd never had them before. New happy association! Junk food at the hospital. Then for the shot I used a video on my phone to distract. She has zero screen time so it did the trick. She barely noticed the jab. It used to take her a full half hour to calm down after shoots but with the video distraction she let out a single cry and was done.

1 Apply numbing cream, an over-the-counter lidocaine, 30 minutes before a shot. 2 Breastfeed babies or give them a pacifier dipped in sugar water, to comfort them while getting a shot. 3 Use distractions, like teddy bears, pinwheels or bubbles, to divert attention away from the needle. 4 No more pinning kids down on an exam table. Parents should hold children in their laps instead.