It is important to any parent that their child has a good experience when receiving a vaccine. Often parents’ question, does the clinic have experience vaccinating children? Are they patient and do they have a pleasant manner?  For over 30 years Nomad have been welcoming families and vaccinating infant and child travellers. Our experienced, professional, and friendly team of clinicians acknowledge that having a vaccine can be daunting and that children often feel anxious or scared. Based on our significant experience, here are our top tips to help you prepare your child for their travel vaccination.

Travel vaccinations for children: Top 10  to prepare your child:

Here are our 10 top tips to help you and your child prepare for their vaccination.

1. Choose an appointment time that suits both you and your child when you are both less likely to feel rushed, tired, or stressed.
2. For children under 12, talk to them in simple language on the day of the appointment about having the vaccine and answer any questions.
3. Preschool children can practice playing Drs and giving a vaccine to a favourite teddy.
4. Bring your child’s personal child health record ‘Red book’ to the appointment
5. If you as the parent have a needle phobia or anxiety, try and stay calm to reduce the risk of your child picking up on your worry.
6. Toddlers and older children should wear clothing with short sleeves to allow for easy access to the arm
7. Older children may find practicing mindfulness or breathing exercises helps with any anxiety.
8. In clinic, comfort your child and then distract them, we recommend bubbles for (infants and young children), watching a tv show on a smart phone or games on a tablet.
9. Give lots of hugs and kisses afterwards
10. We will provide the stickers to anyone who wants one!

Making children comfortable during the vaccination procedure

At Nomad our clinicians:

• Allow plenty of appointment time so that you and your child do not feel rushed.
• Provide you with all the information you require to make an informed choice about vaccinations for your children and will answer all your questions.
• Break the vaccine process into steps so you and your child know exactly what is going to happen next.
• Use ‘cuddle’ sitting positions for infants and children that allows for safe support without restraint, reducing fear and muscle tension.
• Allow older children to feel in control by letting them choose what arm to have their vaccine

Travel vaccines for Children at Nomad

At Nomad we offer a wide variety of travel vaccines that can be given to infants and children. Such as:

For travel:

• Rabies vaccination – From birth
• Japanese Encephalitis from 2 months
• Yellow Fever vaccination – from 9 months
• MMR – from 12 months
• Hepatitis A – from 1 year of age
• Typhoid – from 2 years

Not all our clients visit our clinics for travel purposes. We also offer vaccinations that may not be possible to arrange through your GP such as

• Chickenpox from 12 months
• Meningitis B from 2 months
• HPV vaccine for older children aged 9 and older.

Contact Us or Make an Appointment

If you would like to arrange any a vaccination for your child, you can book an appointment online at your local Nomad clinic.