Help! Needle phobic dd8 needs a blood draw!

[jengjohnson]

I haven't told her yet because I know she's going to flip out. Any ideas on how to prepare her? A pediatric specialist will be there to do it, but she gets so freaked out that I'm sure it's going to be difficult no matter how I handle it. I don't see how we can get around it because she's having chronic symptoms that need to be addressed. She hasn't seen a needle since she was 5, but just talking about shots makes her crazy. Her appointment is for 10am tomorrow and I'm not going to tell her until morning because I'm worried she'll fuss and stress all night about it.

 

Any ideas on how to handle it/her? I'm totally open to offering a prize though I don't expect that to lead to more cooperation. Might the pediatrition let me give her some sort of sedative?

[magnificent_baby]

I don't think you should give her any kind of sedative. I've had to hold my Dd on my lap (and she's a big girl) and physically hold her as still as possible. It took a lot of convincing and drama, but we were successful. I would totally offer her a prize or a treat when you are done.

[BakersDozen]

I only told my dd she was getting a blood draw when the nurse came in to do it. Otherwise, dd would have fainted in the house/car/waiting room. She was able to lay down and a butterfly was used rather than a larger needle which helped a lot.

[magnificent_baby]

double post

[GSOchristie]

I would not tell her beforehand, this s coming from a needle-phobic! If I know/knew, I work myself up into such a panic that I'm sure to pass out or throw up. If I were you, I would wait for the nurse to tell her right before, hold her in your lap facing you (turn your chair so they can get the angle they need). My mom had to do this for me or I would rip the needle out, like I was possessed or something. I just fainted on the floor of UNC-CH's optometry lab during a dye injection procedure last month >.<, so I know the panic she feels.

[J-rap]

My son used to have a severe needle-fear. I remember two nurses and myself having to hold him down once. I found that by offering him a great prize (yes, a bribe), he was able to get through it. (And at age 24, he HAS gotten over his needle aversion, in case you are wondering. :))

[Mommy22alyns]

Yeah, don't give her any forewarning, and I am absolutely in favor of a good bribe in these situations. Rebecca is the same way, also tooth-phobic.

[Karen A]

My daughter gets a reward for getting blood drawn or injections, with a bonus prize if her behavior is better than the previous time. The children's hospital and sometimes the doctor's office might use a numbing spray (don't know what this one was, but it was instant), or EMLA cream (needs to be applied some minutes before) for numbing. You might inquire before you go if either of these is available.

[gardenmom5]

I have an aspie who has had to have blood draws, and last summer/fall - did 12 weeks of daily shots. I won't give the gory details on how he does not handle needles - but having a dr who is familiar with aspies has been an enormous improvement. (and it's still a challenge.)

 

 

1. if the dr's have recommendations for anything calming - go for it. My son takes an extra 1000mg of GABA, recommended by his Dr, 30 minutes before the draw. (he already takes it for anxiety.)

2. make sure she has been drinking plenty of clear fluids beforehand so she is hydrated and you won't have to repeat it. we had to redo one.

3. he gets a tablet or my phone for playing games/ or watching a movie and it is allowed to be set up and going before starting the draw.

4. we made a "tent" out of a blanket for him to hide in with my phone (basically threw it over his head and he had the phone and his other hand. not seeing anything helped him tremendously) - he had to extend his chosen arm outside. we do tell him when the needle is coming so he's not surprised by the prick.

5. ours has the cool little doo-dad that has a light they can run over the arm to find the vein - let her look at her veins first if yours has something similar.

 

I've also taken an older son whom dudeling adores, so dudeling would sit in his lap and could feel safer.

 

good luck.

 

eta: with anxiety as part of his aspergers - bribes had no effect at calming him at all. We do give him a 'reward" for cooperating, even if there is drama. (especially the time the vein collapsed - TWICE. and we had to reschedule.)

[NotSoObvious]

I was needle phobic and have helped my two overcome it.

 

Absolutely offer a prize. Absolutely.

 

Do not dismiss her feelings, but do help her work through them. Yes, it will hurt for just a minute, but I will sit there with you and breathe. We'll count to twenty and it will be done.

 

The worst thing my mom did was dismiss my feelings and treat me like I was just a big baby.

 

 

[mysticmomma]

Do it laying down. Tell her to squeeze her butt cheeks together.

[Dmmetler]

Also, would a distraction help? maybe watching a video on a phone or something, so that she can ignore what's happening?

[stripe]

I had a very terrified child become very reassured by the right person, sitting calmly there and having blood drawn, as well as a fairly brave child break down and scream and run for the exit. In my opinion, the staff matters an enormous amount. My pediatrician recommended the particular lab to go to. The nice lady did give a little trinket, but to be honest, she was amazing and my child would have been fine without it.

[Aslana]

I'm going to tell you my story, you can take what you wish from it. I don't know if it will help much at all, but I'll tell you anyway. I've not read the other posts.

 

I was that needle phobic child. I was so bad, my mother had to papoose me with her body. The only thing that made it easy for me was a certain technician drawing my blood every time I needed it (military base, this was easy to accomplish). She'd turn my head from me, talk to me, then tell me once the needle was in, to look at the blood. Believe it or not, this helped me realize I wasn't dieing, he wasn't killing me, and I wasn't going to be killed (all very real fears of mine at the time).

 

How did I get over my phobia to the point were I now actually kind of like it? I donated blood at 18. I was the only 18 year old in my high school for a very short period of time and the school could not tell me no since I was legal. I donated blood right on campus and that made me feel, well--superior. That superiority helped me overcome it.

 

She's too young to donate, obviously. But perhaps she could watch you donate? Perhaps if she sees you not flinching it might make her stronger? Having the right person who actually knows how to insert a needle is also a good thing. Because of my fear, the technician only used butterfly needles on me (pediatric needles). This helped with the pain. Give her a reward too. She'll need it to help her overcome it. My reward was that superiority I felt for a short time.

 

After reading the replies, I will say numbing spray and the cream would not have helped my fear. It wasn't the pain that got me scared, it was the very real fear he was trying to kill me. :( I wish she was older, because I would definitely recommend trying donation. It truly helped me overcome it.

[DianeW88]

Do not tell her beforehand.

 

No sedatives. They wouldn't help anyway.

 

Have her lie flat on her back and turn her head the other way.

 

Let the nurses know ahead of time. They will bring in extra help.

 

For chronic symptoms, usually three or more vials of blood are needed. Don't let her see those. For some reason, multiple vials freak people out.

 

The nurses will restrain her. Let them do their job. Moms are usually not very good at it.

 

Be firm with her. Once it's all over with, she'll feel good about making it through. If you let her get out of it, it will only compound her fear for next time. Not to mention, some things simply cannot be diagnosed without blood tests.

 

Good luck!

[LNC]

I haven't told her yet because I know she's going to flip out. Any ideas on how to prepare her? A pediatric specialist will be there to do it, but she gets so freaked out that I'm sure it's going to be difficult no matter how I handle it. I don't see how we can get around it because she's having chronic symptoms that need to be addressed. She hasn't seen a needle since she was 5, but just talking about shots makes her crazy. Her appointment is for 10am tomorrow and I'm not going to tell her until morning because I'm worried she'll fuss and stress all night about it.

 

Any ideas on how to handle it/her? I'm totally open to offering a prize though I don't expect that to lead to more cooperation. Might the pediatrition let me give her some sort of sedative?

 

[Ottakee]

You have some good ideas already. I would NOT tell her ahead of time, don't lie, just don't bring it up.

 

We have had to use "the hold" many times. What we did was have dd sit on my lap sideways, I then put her 2 legs between might and squeezed to hold them. Then we took her back arm and put that behind my back and I would lean back. Then I could hug her while the tech held the "poking" arm. If you can distract her with a cell phone or other thing, by all means do it.

 

We went from the major needle phobic to running back on her own for blood work.

[clarkacademy]

My oldest son has heart issues and seizures, not that it matters but he has autism too. I got really fed up with the drama a few years back. His flipping out, people having to hold him down etc. I hate needles too by the way. As a young child I clawed my mothers face up she still bears scars from this. I sat my son down and explained in a very matter of fact firm voice that this is what was going to happen. He didn't have to like it or enjoy it and he could hate it all he wanted but it was going to happen. The harder he fights the more trouble he will be in. This is part of life get it done and move on if you act out of control you will have things you enjoy taken away. I know that sounds horrible but the more I babied and tried to get him through this the worse he acted. No I didn't do rewards because you are not going to get rewarded for everything in life. He still hates it by the way. He grits his teeth and chants over and over get it done go home get it done go home get it done go home. By the time we get to the car the needle is long forgotten and he is looking forward to going home back on his xbox. At 8 he was manageable but he is 14 now and bigger than me I couldn't imagine him acting like that now with his size and strength.

[LNC]

Oops I meant reply. There is a new invention they used on my teen with asd last night in er. It is a needless delivery of numbing med. It makes a woosh noise but is painless. My son let them do it twice. It looks like a raised bug bite and numbed his whole arm. He was too scared for the stick even after versed so we did a finger stick. Worth a try if your child is worried about actual pain and can be reasoned with. :)

 

 

[Terabith]

Don't tell her ahead of time. Let the dr/ nurse tell her. Bribe. Maybe emla cream? Distract with a phone? It can't hurt to ask the dr about a sedative, but not sure if it will help. But it probably wouldn't hurt either.

[Terabith]

Oops. Double post.

[Paige]

She may surprise you. My DD was/is very doctor phobic. She was so bad that she gets upset when we drive past a doctor's office and in the rooms we would have to drag her out kicking and screaming from under the chair legs she would be clinging to while hiding- and that was in just in this past year! She's 9. She has been like that since she was a baby and needed 3 nurses just to measure her head at her 1yr appt. I think it stems from NICU trauma. She needed blood drawn last month and I thought it would be awful. I told her beforehand. I told her she'd get a special treat for doing this whether or not she kept her cool because I know how upsetting it is. We talked and talked about how it would be ok, that it would hurt, but it wouldn't be too bad if she held still, and that the quieter she was, the faster it would be over.

 

She shocked me by holding completely still and not screaming at all. We didn't even need extra help to get her into the chair or to take her blood! I'm not sure if she just talked herself into doing it or what the difference was. The lady taking the blood was extremely good. She spent some time telling DD exactly what she was going to do, she showed her everything before she touched her. Then she spent some time looking at both of DD's arms while telling her that she was looking for the best spot, and she got it on the first try. I told the nurses ahead of time that DD was likely to flip out and since we were at a children's hospital, they were able to bring her a stuffed elephant. They told her to squeeze and look at the elephant and I think that really helped her. She was starting to lose it and the elephant seemed to snap her back to reality. Maybe you could have a surprise in your purse or if it is at a children's hospital, maybe they'll have something. DD is going back tomorrow and will have an IV and I pray that it will go just as easily.

[Ravin]

When my anxiety-prone DD had to get stitches after a car accident, they used an iPad to distract her, held by an aide. It was brilliant.

 

For us, the hardest part is that blood draws aren't generally done in the dr. Office, you have to go to the lab, so they know it's coming and my DD has plenty of time to get herself in a tizzy. Fortunately she's a lot calmer about the actual blood draw than she is about the anticipation of it.

[Tita Gidge]

I was this kid. I'm still not really over it as an adult. I have a chronic condition and require monthly draws, though, so I've had to get over it.

 

I did hypnotherapy as an adolescent, when my monthly draws began. It has been a great help (if she'll require more draws in the future).

 

They still use small needles on me, and if it's not one of my two usual people I began to panic. They've had to reschedule me a few times. That was almost worse, so I've learned to work myself down. They usually give me a few moments in a room, so I can re-regulate my breathing. They have iPods there, with headphones, which help me. I don't even turn it on, but just the headphones muffle the background noise enough that I can focus on my breathing (which is now echoing in my head) rather than on what they're saying and the noises they're making unwrapping stuff.

 

I always turn my head, and I always have a squeeze toy. I actually bring my own from home because I have to bite it LOL. Squeezing it in my hand does nothing for me. I learned this the hard way by messing up my jaw from clenching it so hard. I'd have headaches for days.

 

What also helps me is that one nurse is always talking me through it, kind of like a doula. She's saying, "Okay, right now we're rubbing in the ointment." etc and I finally figured out that she waits a nano-second longer to tell me they're inserting it. It's already in when she says, "It's in." and since it's so small I rarely feel it and it rolls less because I'm not all tense and clenched. And since she's mostly muffled since I have on my headphones, it sounds less scary or something. Can't explain it, sounds dumb but it's true.

 

I've had experiences where they've poked me many times, rolled my veins, and I've had to come back again because they couldn't stick me right. That was awful, and it taught me that I had to figure out how to manage my anxiety lest it makes a bad situation worse. It might be hard to reason with her if you don't tell her ahead of time and she's in a panicked state, but it's worth a nurse letting her know that it's the only other option. Maybe it'll give her incentive to try to relax some.

[zoobie]

Let her lie down, give her a lollipop early, earbuds in with music, and funny YouTube on the phone/iPad to stare at. Lots of distractions!

[jengjohnson]

Thank you all so much for the great ideas. Now I can visualize how I'll likely have to hold her and can pack a bag full of distractions. I also appreciate knowing that she's not the only one and that she might eventually get over it. She has been with me when I've given blood a couple of times, but I don't know how much she actually saw. I think she was enjoying the cookies.

 

This must run in the family because my mom once jumped out of a moving vehicle when she learned that she was going for a shot. I think I'll take the advice of waiting until we get in the room to tell her too.

 

Thanks!