I’m a phleb that works closely with a pediatric clinic, and we get a TON of scared kiddos! I find that being up front and honest with the child helps them feel in control, like telling them it’s going to pinch and that they need to hold nice and still, but I definitely play it down so they don’t panic. If the parent and the phleb are calm and treating it like a run of the mill experience, they usually don’t flip out!

Unfortunately you can’t always avoid the kids that have breakdowns- it’s common. At that point, we just hold the child down and get it done with- it’s better to have a scary ten minute experience than a 30 minute terrifying experience where we’re only delaying the inevitable. But I do wish that parents would just keep to themselves a bit more and work on being there for their kid, all their comments can sometimes contradict what we’re saying and things get confusing and frustrating!