A plan you make together
Comfort, Ask, Relax, Distract. Bub walks your child through it as a tiny picture story, you tick what you will ask the clinic, and they pick a game and a brave word.
For kids and the grown-up beside them
Shot day, braver.
Brave Bubbles helps kids get through a quick poke with a plan, a buddy and a game for the chair. Made from what nurses and researchers know works.
iPhone, iOS 17 and later. No account. The chair is always free.
What it does
Something to do in the chair
Pop the bubbles or breathe slow with Bub while a countdown you set runs down. When it is done, your child taps the Brave button.
A brave day to keep
A badge for today, a count of brave days that only goes up, and a certificate with their first name to share with the people who cheered.
How a shot day goes
Plan, play, you did it.
Three moments, one buddy the whole way through.
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1Plan
Before the visit, walk the four cards together. You tick what to ask the clinic. Your child picks the game.
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2Play
In the chair, one big screen. You set the countdown. They pop or breathe, then tap the Brave button.
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3You did it
A badge for today and one more brave day in the count. Make a certificate to send to grandma.
The chair is always free.
The Play screen, the countdown and both free games never sit behind a paywall. Nobody should meet a price tag in the chair.
- Pop the bubbles
- Breathe with your buddy
- The countdown
- The Brave button
For grown-ups
Honest words, a clear plan, and what the research says.
The Grown-ups tab sits behind a simple grown-up question. Here is what is inside, in plain words.
Words that help
Say what will happen: a pinch, a squeeze, then done. Do not apologise. Praise the effort, not the calm. Studies of what adults say in the room found that reassurance goes with more distress in children, and talk that distracts goes with coping.
Say this
- “A quick pinch, a squeeze, then it’s done.”
- “Let’s blow out slow, like a big bubble.”
- “You sat so still. That was brave.”
Skip this
- “It won’t hurt.”
- “Don’t worry, it’s okay.”
- “I’m so sorry.”
What to ask the clinic
- Numbing cream. Can we use it, and when should it go on? It usually needs 30 to 60 minutes before.
- Holding. Can my child sit upright on my lap or in a hug hold? Lying flat makes fear worse.
- Which arm, and can we count down before it starts?
- One voice in the room. Can one person do the talking?
- Cold or vibration. Do you use anything like that here?
If they feel faint
Sit or lie down. Tense the big muscles of the arms, legs and body for about 10 seconds, release, and repeat. Tell the nurse. Feeling faint around needles is common and it passes.
Calm mode, for you
Teens and grown-ups have needle days too. Calm mode (in the Brave Pack) is a quieter skin with no mascot: a paced breathing ring, an applied tension coach, an “I feel faint” button that starts it straight away, and a plain plan card.
The evidence, in plain words
Brave Bubbles puts well-studied ideas in one place. The app itself has not been tested in a trial, and we do not claim it reduces pain.
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The CARD system
Comfort, Ask, Relax, Distract. A plan built by Anna Taddio’s team in Toronto so children can choose how they cope. In a trial in Calgary school vaccination clinics, students who used CARD reported less fear than students who did not.
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The 2015 CMAJ guideline
A Canadian clinical practice guideline on reducing pain and fear during vaccination, from babies to adults. It recommends holding young children upright, numbing cream, distraction, slow breathing for children from about age 3, muscle tension for people who faint, and no false reassurance.
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The Cochrane review
A 2018 review of 59 trials with 5,550 children. It found that distraction, and breathing combined with other coping skills, may reduce children’s pain and distress around needles. Distraction was the most studied.
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Applied tension
Some people faint around blood or needles because their blood pressure drops. Tensing the big muscles for 10 to 15 seconds, then releasing, helps hold it up. If you have heart problems or high blood pressure, or are pregnant, ask your doctor before you try it.
Brave Bubbles is help with fear, not medical advice. Talk to your clinic about numbing cream and positioning. Your clinic knows your child best.
Work at a clinic or in child life? For clinics: a one-page flyer with a QR for the wall.
Brave Pack
$5.99 once
The chair is always free. This is the rest.
- 5 more buddies
- 4 more games for the chair
- The sticker book and clean certificates
- Up to 5 kids
- Calm mode for grown-ups
Plus the printable plan to hand to the nurse. One purchase, no subscription. Yours forever. Buying asks a grown-up question first.
My sticker book 7 stickers
One sticker for every brave day.
Questions
Things grown-ups ask
What age is it for?
Kids from about 3 to 12, with a grown-up beside them. Little ones need you to read the plan with them. Older kids can run it on their own. Teens and grown-ups can use Calm mode.
Does it tell my child it won’t hurt?
Never. False reassurance tends to backfire, and children remember it next time. Brave Bubbles says what will happen: a pinch, a squeeze, then done. Every line your child sees is checked against a list of words we do not use.
Is it medical advice?
No. Brave Bubbles is help with fear, not medical advice. It does not diagnose, treat or dose anything. Talk to your clinic about numbing cream, positioning and anything else to do with your child’s care.
What about needle fear in adults?
Calm mode, in the Brave Pack, is made for teens and grown-ups: plain words, no mascot, a breathing ring (4-7-8 and box breathing), an applied tension coach for people who feel faint, and an “I feel faint” button.
If fear keeps you from care you need, talk to a doctor or psychologist. Therapy that works on the fear step by step is the first-line treatment, and an app is not a replacement for it.
Does it use the microphone?
Only for the pinwheel game, where your child blows into the phone to spin it. The permission is asked the first time that game opens, never before. The app reads the sound level only while the game is on screen. Nothing is recorded or saved.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no account and no sign-in. Everything stays on your phone, including the optional first name for the certificate. You can back it up to a file you keep.
What is free and what is in the Brave Pack?
Free forever: 3 buddies, the CARD plan, Pop the bubbles and Breathe with your buddy with the countdown, the Brave button and today’s badge, the Grown-ups tab, one kid, and a certificate with a small “made with Brave Bubbles” mark.
The Brave Pack, $5.99 once: 5 more buddies, 4 more games for the chair, the sticker book and certificates without the mark, up to 5 kids, Calm mode and the printable plan.
Can nurses use it?
Yes. Hand the phone to your patient, set the countdown and let them play. It is made for one family’s phone, so there is no clinic account or patient list, and it collects nothing about anyone.
What’s coming next?
We would rather not promise dates. Everything on this page is in version 1.0. If there is something that would help your family or your clinic, write to support@tundra.industries. We read every message.
What about privacy?
Nothing leaves your phone. No analytics, no ads, no third-party code, no account. Purchases go through Apple. Links out of the app and the Brave Pack sit behind a grown-up question. The full details are on the privacy page.