Infant Daughter Reaction to Pentacel Vaccine

Fever and swelling/pain at the injection site are fairly common side effects. I had to get many of my childhood shots refreshed a few years ago (rather than getting titers drawn) and man - I felt terrible and my arm hurt for a week!

Also reactions usually increase with subsequent shots, because the body is recognizing the viruses and having a stronger immune reaction - that why you give shots in the first place, to trigger that immune reaction and teach the body to respond to the disease.

Now that said, you should speak to your doctor about your child's reaction. We also vaccinate on an alternate schedule and split shots (we never do more than one at a time)and I simply told our pediatrician that that was our plan and there was no further discussion or issues about that from her side.
If you wish to receive one or two shots at a time and no combination vaccines, you have to demand that your pediatrician orders them for you. If they will not do that, I would change doctors. We are talking about your child's health and you DO have a say in this! You have done your research, you have made a decision, now make your voice heard and insist that your medical decisions are respected by your physician.
We need to start being our own educated medical advocates and stop relinquishing all of our rights AND responsibilities when we go to the doctors office.
Good luck!

I know this reaction is not uncommon for some children, which surprises me in turn how accepted it is.

The vaccination companies have discontinued making vaccines individually as they were for a few years. I don't know if it's all of them, but I know some of them. Personally, I will not give my child a combo shot of any sort. They have a long history of issues, none of which I find worth it. That is totally me though, and the decision is obviously completely up to each parent.

I suggest looking into other locations that may still offer the individual shots. If you are finding that they're not available anymore, you and your husband will need to weigh and balance of if it's worth it to you to go through this again or not to continue the vaccination process (if/until they start making them individually again, which I HOPE they do.)

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide! These things are certainly not the easiest of decisions, but I'm sure you will make the best decisions for your family whatever you choose.

My daughter also had a fever, also the doctor said she wasn't supposed to (she didn't have a fever before she went in though!) and a large swollen area. I noticed her area swelling up more the day after though, as when the fever started.

The pain, swelling & redness at the injection site, increased fussiness & fever are expected after a vaccine. You can give your daughter some infant's liquid tylenol or ibuprofen to ease the pain. Some pediatricians don't carry individual vaccines, so I've just taken my kids to the public health department. You can use Google to find a location close to you. Call ahead to make sure they have what you need. Be aware that individual mumps, rubella & measles vaccines are not available anymore, so you'll have to get the full MMR shot when the time comes. Dr. Sears' website is a reliable vaccine information source: http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/

Did you take her back in to the doctors when she reacted that strongly? (And by baseball...I'm assuming you mean in 3d...not just a red circle a few inches in diameter)?