4 year old appointment - what shots do they get?

[citymama]

DD has her 4 yr "well-child" appointment next week. The receptionist at the ped's said there are a number of shots between age 4-6 and the doc would talk to us about it at the appointment. DD is absolutely petrified of shots since getting three flu shots last Fall, and I'd like to avoid having to have an extended conversation about shots with the doc while she's in the room. So I'd like to be prepared so I can plan for which ones she should get next week versus delaying on or waiting till her 5 yr appointment. (She won't be starting K till Fall 2011.) Can anyone tell me what shots they get at this stage, and whether there's any other traumatic stuff involved (eg routine blood work)? If so, I'm going to need DH to come along!

TIA for any info/advice.

[mom2binsd]

Usually no shots, except if you won't be going again before K...

[tmarie]

For us, it was none. They told me the next ones would be at 5yo. GL!

tmarie

[citymama]

Hmm, I was told there would be shots, and the doc would talk to us about them at the app't.

[jenmcadams]

There were no shots officially at the 4 year appt, but for us we did most of the K shots at the 4 year old appt for my DD b/c she would actually start K before her 5 year old well child visit. Then, with my DS, we just decided to go ahead with the shots early so that he would be all set in case we didn't get in for his 5 year old appt before Kindergarten started. Putting aside the issues of delaying/selective vaccination (we vaccinate on schedule), some Peds recommend doing the 5 year shots at 4 b/c some kids get more resistant and more worked up about shots as they get older (I know that's the case with my DD).

Having said all of that, ignore my advice/experience if what you were looking for was a schedule for delaying, etc. I did my research on the shots at the time (and vaccinations in general early) and while I'm comfortable vaccinating on schedule, I'm not as knowledgeable any more about the pros and cons of each shot/schedule.

[citymama]

There were no shots officially at the 4 year appt, but for us we did most of the K shots at the 4 year old appt for my DD b/c she would actually start K before her 5 year old well child visit. Then, with my DS, we just decided to go ahead with the shots early so that he would be all set in case we didn't get in for his 5 year old appt before Kindergarten started. Putting aside the issues of delaying/selective vaccination (we vaccinate on schedule), some Peds recommend doing the 5 year shots at 4 b/c some kids get more resistant and more worked up about shots as they get older (I know that's the case with my DD).

Having said all of that, ignore my advice/experience if what you were looking for was a schedule for delaying, etc. I did my research on the shots at the time (and vaccinations in general early) and while I'm comfortable vaccinating on schedule, I'm not as knowledgeable any more about the pros and cons of each shot/schedule.

What shots are given at the 5 yr appointment? Maybe we'll have the option to split between this one and next year. I think I'd prefer that if there are a lot of shots. We've also been absolutely on schedule with all shots so far, but DD is really worked up about shots at this stage so I'm trying to figure out the least stressful option for her and us.

[jenmcadams]

What shots are given at the 5 yr appointment? Maybe we'll have the option to split between this one and next year. I think I'd prefer that if there are a lot of shots. We've also been absolutely on schedule with all shots so far, but DD is really worked up about shots at this stage so I'm trying to figure out the least stressful option for her and us.

I think they got these:

DTaP
MMR
IPV (Polio)
Varicella (chickenpox) - booster

[o_mom]

Between 4 and 6, the schedule calls for:

DTaP
IPV
MMR
Chicken Pox

[DrSally]

There were none scheduled for us, but I got him caught up on his hep A booster.

ETA: Oh wait, we got the Varicella (chickenpox) - booster at the 4 yr appt. and then came back a month later for the Hep A shot.

[citymama]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We had her 4 yr app't today and the ped. gave 2 out of the 4 pre-K boosters - the DPT and polio. The other 2 (varicella and MMR) will be at her 5 yr appointment. I'm glad we split them up because I think 4 at once would have been too much. He didn't say anything about her needing a Hep A booster (re DrSally's comment) so I am assuming she must be all up to date on that one.

I had a moment of worry when she was squinting at the eye chart during her eye exam and basically couldn't read one of the lines (line 6 or so towards the bottom), but acc to the pediatrician she has 20-40 vision which is normal at this age. I hope he is right but I couldn't help but worry...

[DrSally]

Sorry, I should've clarified. We got the hep A (and booster) later than usual b/c I declined it when DS was a baby and we were out East (the ped seemed to be encouraging me to decline it and then we moved). It's usually given earlier IIRC. Yep, I've heard the same thing too about toddlers and their developing vision. Also, those ped screenings for vision can sometimes be hard to interpret b/c the toddler is tired/distracted, etc. DS borderline passed his ped screening and the ped mentioned something about his eyes not moving together. I took him into a ped opthamologist and he passed the vision test with flying colors.