Comments on: 2 months old! Ped appt and vaccines

By: Armando Shiyou

Armando Shiyou — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:41:52 +0000

I most certenly liked this innovative angle that you have on the topic. Certainly wasn’t planning on this at the time I begun browsing for tips. Your ideas was totally simple to get. Im glad to find out that there’s an person online that obviously understands on the spot what its is talking about.

By: FC Mom

FC Mom — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:30:18 +0000

The Vaccine Book is awesome.
I was also terrified about the 2 mo shots, but we staggered, (no more than 2 shots at a time, ever) and we have had no probs. My guy is 11mo and started daycare at 9 mo.
After my baby got a terrible stomach bug at 5 mo, I suddenly realized why these vaccines matter– not that his bug was vaxable– I just realized, wow, a baby can get SO sick from what just make me nauseous one morning– he puked for for days, had to be hydrated at hospital, then stopped eating for a few days– after that I feared the vax much less bc I just wanted to avoid him getting something really bad.
We did do H1N1, mostly bc i am a teacher and bc if daycare.
Good luck. I know it s a hard call.
I would say, don’t do more than 2 shots at once.
We’ve never had any fever or fussiness after shots.

By: Organic PR (Sheri)

Organic PR (Sheri) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:05:38 +0000

Our family has a history of a lot of allergies and vaccine allergies. Combined with all the reading I did on vaccines and the fact that my daughter was not in preschool and was home with my mom (her nanny) or me, I opted to not vaccinate until she was about five. Then we did the DTaP and watched for any reactions. We went about three to six months between vaccines and did them as individuals, not combos. But the time she started kindergarten she was probably very close to fully vaccinated (for the big stuff, no hepatitis or chicken pox, etc.) but I've always just signed a waiver saying we don't vaccinate at the school. I figure it's none of their business and I'm not sticking to some schedule that comes out later for the newest vaccine of the month. Our pediatrician was kind of confused but supportive of our decisions, and researched the proper schedule for late vaccinations. It took a lot less boosters. She has said since that she has read a lot more about it and the vaccines seem to be more effective later, so while she wasn't really on board with not doing them, she isn't completely opposed to it either. When people ask me about vaccines I always tell them that I wish our health care system had a way of helping parents decide for their family what is the right schedule, not just have a one size fits all plan. I have a friend who works at a hospital and she was agonizing over the decision but I told her I'd fully vaccinate because who knows what she's exposed to at work? I think there are situations that call for both ends of the spectrum, and you just never really know if you're making the right decision. Ultimately, parenting is about doing what you think is best in that moment. Kids have accidents and you don't expect them to break bones or fall out of trees, but you react as best you can in that moment. You can't go back and judge yourself later for something you did in the moment. Especially when it's a decision you are agonizing over. I hate to tell you this, but it's the first decision like this of many. Whether to get flu shots has been a big one lately here (we live in Arizona and the H1N1 was rampant). My family wasn't supportive at all about the decision and there was some drama about letting my daughter visit her cousins when she could be contagious. Which is funny because if your kids have the vaccines and you think they are so effective then why worry, right? But, it's not that easy to deal with if you family isn't behind you. My mother was very supportive and that made a big difference in my not reconsidering the decision over and over. And, having a good pediatrician was key as well. My daughter's doctor has been really great at diagnosing things like kidney refulx and advocating for us not to have the traditional testing (they tie the kids up in a blanket and let them scream while they test) and she prescribed a totally different protocol. So I've felt validated and understood even if she disagreed. Good luck, whatever you decide. You're a great mom!

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:03:29 +0000

Okay, my son was vaccinated on the regular schedule up until the last year. Instead of getting his four year old and five year old shots. He’s getting them at five and six. We decided to do this not so much out of fear of the vaccines as because his sister was in a very delicate state (pre-operative) and we didn’t want to risk something transferring from him to her. Since they share a pediatrician, he was completely in favor of delaying, especially since Ben is being homeschooled, so we can’t run into trouble from the schools.

Katie is on something of a modified schedule. Their pediatrician doesn’t agree, totally, with the Pediatrics group or with the CDC, so he spaces them a little differently. Because of her surgery, she also got a little off of that schedule, even, and, again, because of her surgery, we all agreed (neurosurgeon, pediatrician, and us) that delaying her MMR series until she’s two would be an outstanding idea.

Anyway, that’s what we’re doing.

By: devaskyla

devaskyla — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:29:17 +0000

We originally played to do delayed wth ds1. I was already anti-vax, but dh thought they were necessary. We took him at 6 months. He seemed fine. Then I realized I hadn’t heard him babbling since his shots. None of my kids has had a vaccine since. If you have any questions, @devaskyla on twitter

By: Alanna

Alanna — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:59:43 +0000

Thanks for posting this! We are going to interview pediatricians soon, so this is all very helpful info! I think we are going to purchase Dr. Sears’ book.

By: Birthra

Birthra — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:38:20 +0000

Whopping cough is only really dangerous for babies under 6 months (Still really sucky though). The problem with vaccine is it is basically no protection until after 3 doses, at which point the baby is 6 months. In addition,DTaP is one of the most reactive vaccines on the market. It also doesn’t prevent the spread of pertussis, it just causes a reduction in symptoms in the vaccinated person. Who then has no clue they have pertussis & go around spreading it. *sigh*

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:56:23 +0000

My son will be 3 in April, We have done all the vaccines that are the norm. I dont think he has gotten the Chicken Pox, because I think that one is just a bit silly.
I was completely against the H1N1, so we skipped that one this year. I was OK with him getting the flu shot, but it didnt happen, because of a constant runny nose (hello, it happens when you are in daycare and you have crazy Alabama weather).
He is perfectly healthy, and the only preventative measures we ever took were to dose him with tylenol the day of shots…because without fail he would run a fever for about 2 days following injections.
We did get the rotovirus, and he has been around several children in daycare who had it, and thankfully, he has never gotten it. One child in daycare was immunized against it, and still contracted it, but the Dr said that it was a mild case due to the vaccine.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:12:46 +0000

Emily -

Wanted to share something I found tonight. It’s a delayed vaccine schedule as recommended by Dr. Sears:
http://www.usnews.com/dbimages/master/8226/GR_PR_081203Vaccines.png

I plan to follow this — save for the rotavirus. I think we may skip that one.

good luck!
M

By: Christa

Christa — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:59:27 +0000

I’m so glad there are others before me who can help me figure out what to do, I’m still undecided and doing research! Let me know if you find any really good research either way!