It was the very first time I’d tried to take my 4 month old and my 3 and a half year old to their doctors’ appointments together — and I felt like such an awesome multi-tasker (although I bet you can guess what’s going to happen)!
They weighed the baby and measured her and we talked about the kids general health. All very routine. I reminded them that they both needed vaccines today; we were doing one each.
The nurse came with a tray of 2 vaccines and 2 papers for me to sign. I was in the middle of filling out other paperwork, holding the baby and trying to reassure the toddler that things were going to be okay – so I signed both papers and tried to make some small talk to distract the toddler and myself. The nurse gave my 4 month old the vaccine and then said “I will be right back for his” and quickly left the room.
I didn’t think anything of it, so I put my baby in her car seat and waited. And waited. And waited. A long 5 or 6 minutes later I took Natalie out of her car seat and waited some more. Finally a different nurse came in.
“I need to let you know that the other nurse gave your infant the vaccine meant for your toddler.”
It’s hard to explain what went through my head at that point. I started to panic, but I couldn’t think of any intelligent questions to ask. I had no precedent for this.
They did explain that this particular vaccine (HepA) was not dangerous for her, or at least – not any more dangerous than any other vaccine. She just was not supposed to receive it until 12 months, so it was 7 months early.
I found out later that infants have received this vaccine at this age before — if they are traveling or if there is a known outbreak. She may have to get 2 more vaccines later, but we are only going to do 1 and then test her immunity to the disease later. Thankfully the disease itself, Hepatitis A, isn’t life threatening – so that in itself makes me feel better. And this particular vaccine is not a “live” vaccine, which is also reassuring.
However – it was a huge wake-up call for me. I have always trusted our Dr. and their safety protocols and never thought twice when they administer vaccines. And while I know this error was rare and not-intentional (and I have been assured it has been taken care of internally) – here are the things I’ve learned and will do differently.
- Obviously I’d love to never schedule their appointments together again – but that might not be practical. When possible I’ll schedule vaccine appointments separately. When not possible I will either bring Tony or a grandparent with me. And we will verify each vaccine 3 times before it is administered. Normally I am such a pushover and I hate to make a big thing deal out of things. But this could have been so much worse — she could have received something dangerous for her. Knowing that, I will micro-manage her vaccines from now on – even if it means annoying a nurse here or there.
- The Vaccine Book
by Dr. Sears was a great help in explaining the vaccine she did receive. And I feel it is so important to know about the vaccines they get in detail. Dr. Sears has been praised for not trying to persuade parents to vaccine or not – it is simply a book of facts on the vaccines themselves.
- Because our doctor wasn’t available to talk to immediately, I called everyone I possibly could to get as much information as possible. I also wanted a second opinion since I felt I had lost the trust of the people giving her the vaccine. The Center for Disease Control responded to my request for information within 24 hours to assure me that they agreed that she will be okay. They are not the correct people to inform, but they did answer my question and send me to the Vaccine Error Reporting Program (VERP). I was able to enter in the error and information here. VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System is another system available to report to – but this is mostly for adverse events following the vaccine rather than the an error in the administering of the vaccine.
- I also called Poison Control – they had no information.
- Looking back I really wish I would have demanded to see or speak to the Dr. immediately after the mistake. She was the only one to give me solid information that made me feel better about the whole thing, but not until she called me that evening. Her nurse had even given me some wrong information. You have every right to insist on talking to the Dr. and I wish I would have done this as it would have saved me a day of worry.
- One thing I am glad I did – they offered to give Miles his vaccine (the HepA) and I agreed. My thought was that (if they give him the correct one) I could compare their behavior and symptoms. When they both took long naps that day – I felt much better about it.
It’s been 4 weeks and my baby girl is doing just fine. Thankfully!
**Vaccines are such a personal choice for each family – this post is in no way suggesting that you should or should not get your child(ren) vaccinated. I just wanted to share my story to help remind us all that mistakes can and do happen. And give you some information on what you can do to help prevent those mistakes. Or what to do if you find yourself in my shoes someday. **
You should keep a lot of notes only on the vaccine your child is to receive but also the manufacturer name and vaccine lot number. Look at the bottle as they pull the syringe out (yes, you’ll need to follow the nurse into their refrigerator room but how else would you double check the lot number/vaccine?) and watch as they put that syringe into your child. Sounds dumb to read food labels in a store for something going into your child’s stomach that will just go out of their body in hours and then blindly trust someone that they are putting the correct item DIRECTLY into your child’s bloodstream that will remain there their entire life. Lucky for me, when my child was too young to receive shots two major Pharma companies recalled vaccines and posted big signs on the doctor’s doors. I wondered what moms did to know if their child’s vaccines were recalled. I never apologize for doublechecking vaccines. You’re right: Dr. Sears book is eye opening: pick your pediatrician based on the pharma brands they stock for their vaccines. Find another pediatrician if you dislike the nurse. Period.
Thanks Molly — That is all really helpful advice! I never thought about keeping notes on the vaccines, I will start doing that. And you are absolutely correct – it makes very little sense to worry so much about what we feed them – yet blindly let the Dr. or nurses just put anything into their bodies. Thank you so much for the suggestions!!
This same thing just happened to my baby. Thank you for sharing! How is your little girl now? When were you able to relax?