Immunisation Dress Up Party.....

[Beach Mama]

Honest question here - if you have the option of going to the council or the GP why do people opt for the GP - lots of my friends seem to opt for GP but have never really explained why - is there some sort of stigma I am missing out on about going to the council ones? - I love the free council service - the nurses are well practiced in vaccinating children (is all they do) - is far nicer than waiting in a docs waiting room etc etc.

I make an appointment so we never wait long, its bulk billed, kids love playing in the waiting room kids area, they are familiar with our dr who is gorgeous, so I would much rather do that than wait for up to 40 mins like I have at council run one.

[Astrid]

Prefer the GP as well. Started off as I wanted to avoid certain mums in my council area, stressful enough as it is without being the same room as some of them. Also at the time, due to DH's health, we were at the GP's a lot, so it was just easier and I preferred the personalised service, rather than the cattle call and stress of others pushing in.
GP has the added bonus, if the the nurse believe the child is not well enough to have the jab, then a GP is brought in to check out the child.

[wysiwyg]

Thanks for the replies about the GP, I guess it depends on the GP and the council alot - was just have friends who have had to go multiple times because they didn't have the injection and then given the non-standard one, and not that complimentary about the way GP does it so I wondered what I was missing about why people go there.

I never want my kids to be scared of needles, I have to have frequent blood tests and it makes life alot easier that I have no fear of needles.

[Beach Mama]

I don't want my kids to be scared of needles at all. I think there is a big difference between not liking something but knowing you have to suck it up and deal with it anyway, and being literally scared and fearful.
I want them to know that there are times that they have to have them, hopefully only rarely, but that they do hurt a wee bit, but I don't want them to fear them. I do distract them especially when younger but with DD's 4 yr old ones I was honest and said yes they hurt a bit but it's over quickly.

I also have a friend who is a diabetic who has to have a needle 4 times a day and often injects when she is here - kids have seen her to do and are quite fascinated and know she needs it or else she gets very very sick. They attribute needles to something you need to be healthy - as for "naughty" drugs, by the time they are old enough to know about them and may want to inject them as adults or teens I would imagine the conversations we will have will be extremely different to the ones I have now about needles and doctors. I don't want them to fear needles now in the hope they won't be drugs users later.

[Rouge]

I was being pretty tongue in cheek mostly