We had the same, unfortunate experience. I found out through reading a pamphlet from the hospital library that Maxilene might be a good cream to use prior to bloodwork. When I asked the nurse about it, she said it was available at the "nurse's discretion" to use and gave me a few tubes to "try and see if it makes a difference." Sadly, most people don't know about this. This medication is available over the counter (Sick Kids pharmacy does carry it - ask the pharmacist), but don't confuse it with Emla, which, as I understand, causes the veins to pull away from the surface of the skin. Maxilene is good for IVs, bloodwork, vaccinations, etc for adults and children. Strangely, the lab didn't really encourage us to use it, either, but we put it on anyhow. In your specific case, your son's age might have been an issue, being so young. That's also the good news because as traumatic as these things are (and I don't advocate making things more difficult than they should be), the children aren't going to remember them at such a young age.