LO has his BCG on Monday - does this have any effects after? sleepy? grumpy etc...............or was your LO ok with it?

p.s I always hated my BCG scar I feel sad LO has it so early now - I was 12 or so

hi hun, i haven't heard of the bcg being given to babies? how old is ur LO? xxx

butterfly the BCG is given to babies who live in areas that are considered to be high risk for T.B or those that are likely to be exposed to foreign travel a lot. In some areas it is part of the normal vaccination schedule. HTH xx

i also didn't know they gave it to babies, but nhs trusts vary so much around the country, i didn't have mine until i was 15 at school. xx

oh right, i see, sorry akaladyk i didnt realise it was given to babies, thanks for explaining katstar. i was also 15 when i had mine at school. xxx

Me too girls I was in my teens, it was news to me also. Apparently we dont get it at all now. My OH is south african and we live in London so I was told baby needed it if we ever intended to travel. I looked in my notes and some are given at birth.......he will be 5 weeks - I am dreading it to be honest. I wonder if baby is grumpy or sleepy etc after.....I have no idea

Like all imms baby could react by being grumpy/sleepy etc.

The scar is quite prominant in babies and I have seen lots get infected so just make sure your LO's is kept clean and dry as much as possible. It is better that he has it if your Hubby is S.A if you ever intent to go there. London is also considered a high risk area.

Thanks Dink - the thought of the scar really upsets me but I guess its better than TB.......I hope it heals well.....

We are off to SA in January and they said make sure we have it 6 weks beforehand boooo

It does settle well and at least you are doing the best thing and protecting him- being a boy he will probably LOVE the scar!

I know lots of babies that have had it at birth so have always had the scar.

Hi LakdyK,

My LO had to had the BCG at 2 days old when we were in hospital. I was born in Africa and an aunt of mine had TB many years ago. Apparently they are not given as standard anymore like when we were young. She was taken away by nurse crying and came back crying poor little thing. I was an absolute wreck though and insisted we stay another night in hospital just in case she had any side affects in the night.

We went for her 8 week check and the doctor couldn't see any mark on her arm. I was thinking this was great but no, apparently there should be some evidence of it for about 6 months afterwards before the horrid scar appears. Doc said it may not have worked so we have to go back to the hospital to check and possibly have another :-(

Apparently they have to get the injection just right - just under the skin. It does not harm them if it goes into muscle etc but will not cover them against TB.

I really hope that she is just lucky there is no mark. I don't want to go through more injectiosn with the poor little thing.

On the plus side she was absolutely fine after the jab.

Good luck with Leo's!

xx

I live near Heathrow Airport so was advised for my son to have it so he had it at about 5 months old and he still has a small red bump on his arm and that was 3 years ago now!!
I will warn you, it does hurt them so be prepared for lo to be very upset for a while after. Apart from that I don't remember my son suffering any other side effects.
If he'd been born at the hospital closest to where we live he would have been offered it at birth as they do it routinely as they are so close to the airport.
I was told they don't give it at secondary school anymore? I don't know how true this is though
Good luck with your lo x x

[Modified by: Mum0f2 on November 07, 2009 09:57 PM]

They don't give it at high school anymore. It is given to babies if there parents/grandparents where born in a high risk county, parents work in health sector or live in an area with high number of migrants. My lo was given it at about 6 weeks. It was because my mil was born in Singapore, I'm quite glad she had it and she does have a little red mark on her arm. She had no other side effects other than being a bit sleepy. My scar nwr bothered me cos everyone else has one.

Hi There
just to let you know my lo had his BCG when he was just a day old<in fact i don't think he was even 24hrs>in hospital because of where I live.It has left a red little lump on his arm and as someone said this shows it has worked.He didn't suffer afterwards at all but then again he was very small,he is now a big strapping 16 weeks and had no side effects at all.