Guest guest Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 On Wed, 30 Apr 2003 12:59:09 EDT L@... writes: > Tomorrow starts my 30th week of pregnancy and I'm more confused than > ever > regarding whether or not to vaccinate my child. I don't want to > inundate his > immature immune system with a cocktail of diseases he'd never be > exposed to > naturally, but I'm afraid of the consequences of not vaccinating at > all. Wow! Congratulations and here's hoping for smooth sailing the rest of the way. P. and/or , I think, may have mentioned their proposed schedules for vaccinating; the fruits of that discussion some time ago seemed very logical to me so if they don't chime in soon, I'd either contact them directly or send this out again with their names in the subject line. Take care, Fay ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 Tori -- I'd second . The middle of the road decision is also what we did. Our first kid is fully vaccinated, then I became aware of the issues after my daughter had a mild seizure following a vaccine. She now has received only tetanus shots and when she's about seven, we'll give her the MMR. I think it's important for parents of girls to consider that this childhood or teenage shot also protects any children their daughter may have. For our newborn baby, we're only giving him the HIB at four months. When he's two, I plan to have him have tetanus shots and then at three, stagger the MMR so he gets each individually. When all our entering their teens, I will assess their risk for hep b then, (let's all take a deep breath and pray that it remains minimal!) and at that point, they may have the vaccine. Interestingly, a neurologist recommended that we NOT vaccinate our newborn as he was plummeted with antibiotics early on at birth and had seizures due to strep b infection. She is of the opinion that staggered and minimal vaccines are better. Hope this helps (and believe me, I have researched and soul-searched this issue). Finally, now that you're aware of the dangers and drawbacks -- as well as the benefits -- of vaccines, you can also be onthe lookout for the smallest, slightest reactions in your baby that might alert you to whether or not he/she should discontinue the series. B Vaccines in children Hi Tori, My sister made a middle-of-the-road decision on vaccines by delaying many of them (doing them at a slightly older age) and also splitting them up (I believe she did the DPT, diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus, in three installments). Also, I had hepatitis B and wouldn't wish it on anyone but it's extremely hard to catch unless you're an adult, so I do wonder why they give that vaccination to children. You must be counting the days till your due date--how exciting! Best wishes, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 Tori, It is a complicated issue. The fact is that most children are vaccinated at that early age mainly because babies are brought in to the doctor's office more often than older children. If they didn't do it until the kids were three, there would be a lot of problems with compliance. You will find some people that consider all vaccinations terrible, even a huge government conspiracy, and others who happily embrace any shot available to reduce the suffering of their children. It is tough! I tend towards a middle of the road approach... I give the older vaccinations, for things like Measles, Mumps, Rubella. I am skipping on the huge number that have been developed so recently that long-term studies haven't been done yet. Personally, I would prefer preps without mercury-containing compounds (thimersol? I can't remember the spelling) It may not hurt anything, but I don't see any reason to take a chance on it either, given that it is not impossible to avoid. I know some parents who prefer to get each shot individually, and there is some sense to it, but I haven't tried to push that one at all. I also delayed some of them. After being dx'd with Graves, I decided to hold off on further vaccinations until my son was three or four. Since he isn't in day care, I have more options. In a lot of areas children can't be in day care or nursery school unless they have ALL the shots. If your baby will be in day care, you might be required to vaccinate, and, honestly, given how infectious little kids can be, I think I would. Most parents do, and their kids never have any problems. If holding off bothers you, consider that breastfeeding (if you choose to go that way) will pass on your own immunities for the first six months or so. So he/she will not really be unprotected. Given what I know of you and your values, I think you might consider not vaccinating for the first year, so the babies immune system has time to develop without interference. If there is an outbreak of measles or something where you live, it is always possible to go in and get that shot. The decision doesn't have to be made at birth, and doesn't have to be all or nothing, so try not to feel too pressured about it. Not matter what you decide, you have a lucky baby, having a mother who cares as much as you do! I hope you are feeling well! -- in Fla. L@... wrote: > Tomorrow starts my 30th week of pregnancy and I'm more confused than ever > regarding whether or not to vaccinate my child. I don't want to inundate his > immature immune system with a cocktail of diseases he'd never be exposed to > naturally, but I'm afraid of the consequences of not vaccinating at all. I'd > appreciate any advice you have. > > Peace, > Tori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 Hi Tori- We're holding off on varicella and HepB. We'll do varicella if the kids haven't had chicken pox by age 10 and HepB we decided to do when they start playing regularly with other kids. HepB is much more contagious than HIV so we decided to vaccinate for it when there was a chance of blood exchange (sometimes kids fight and it can be bloody). Originally, I was going to stagger all vaccines because of the possibility that vaccinations might lead to autoimmune disease. Our pediatrician consulted with an immunologist who told him that in a study of 100,000 people in the general population there was no significant increase in autoimmune disease in vaccinated people. That study doesn't exactly apply to the children of those of us that already have autoimmune disease. What I'd be interested in seeing is if there's an increased incidence of autoimmune disease in vaccinated children of parents with known autoimmune disease versus unvaccinated children of parents with known autoimmune disease. There's no such study. We made our decision based on the fact that my husband works on many unvaccinated people and often comes across these diseases. And that I have a school age boy in an area with a large unvaccinated migrant population. If there weren't these risk factors, we'd be more conservative in vaccinating our children. Mostly, for the reason that you mention. Children would never be exposed to these diseases in nature all at once at such a young age. Take care, dx & RAI 1987 (at age 24) > Tomorrow starts my 30th week of pregnancy and I'm more confused than ever > regarding whether or not to vaccinate my child. I don't want to inundate his > immature immune system with a cocktail of diseases he'd never be exposed to > naturally, but I'm afraid of the consequences of not vaccinating at all. I'd > appreciate any advice you have. > > Peace, > Tori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 2, 2003 Report Share Posted May 2, 2003 Thanks to everyone for the input and kind thoughts. I'm definitely planning to breastfeed and won't be taking him to day care as long as I can stand not working, so that alleviates some of my fears that by not vaccinating him, he'll contract an awful disease. The middle of the road approach seems more reasonable than the standard vaccination schedule. I've saved all the responses so I refer back to them when I'm no longer under the influence of pregnancy hormones. Right now, all my thoughts are too clouded by the excitement and joy of the impending birth of our little one to make logical decisions. Peace, Tori In a message dated 4/30/2003 10:41:56 AM Pacific Daylight Time, csr@... writes: > Tori, > > It is a complicated issue. The fact is that most children are > vaccinated at that early age mainly because babies are brought in to the > doctor's office more often than older children. If they didn't do it > until the kids were three, there would be a lot of problems with > compliance. You will find some people that consider all vaccinations > terrible, even a huge government conspiracy, and others who happily > embrace any shot available to reduce the suffering of their children. > It is tough! I tend towards a middle of the road approach... I give > the older vaccinations, for things like Measles, Mumps, Rubella. > I am skipping on the huge number that have been developed so recently > that long-term studies haven't been done yet. Personally, I would > prefer preps without mercury-containing compounds (thimersol? I can't > remember the spelling) It may not hurt anything, but I don't see any > reason to take a chance on it either, given that it is not impossible to > avoid. I know some parents who prefer to get each shot individually, > and there is some sense to it, but I haven't tried to push that one at > all. I also delayed some of them. After being dx'd with Graves, I > decided to hold off on further vaccinations until my son was three or > four. Since he isn't in day care, I have more options. In a lot of > areas children can't be in day care or nursery school unless they have > ALL the shots. If your baby will be in day care, you might be required > to vaccinate, and, honestly, given how infectious little kids can be, I > think I would. Most parents do, and their kids never have any problems. > > If holding off bothers you, consider that breastfeeding (if you choose > to go that way) will pass on your own immunities for the first six > months or so. So he/she will not really be unprotected. > > Given what I know of you and your values, I think you might consider not > vaccinating for the first year, so the babies immune system has time to > develop without interference. If there is an outbreak of measles or > something where you live, it is always possible to go in and get that > shot. The decision doesn't have to be made at birth, and doesn't have > to be all or nothing, so try not to feel too pressured about it. > > Not matter what you decide, you have a lucky baby, having a mother who > cares as much as you do! > > I hope you are feeling well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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