Do you still vax when your DC is not well?

[Adallae]

Poor DD has a cold. She's happy during the day, but has a hard time sleeping because her nose is so stuffy. She doesn't have a fever.

She has her 6 month check up today and is supposed to get one shot (last of the DTAP). We haven't started any other vaccines yet. Should I let her get it or wait until she's feeling better? I'm not sure why, but my gut tells me it's better to wait. What would you do?

[Mosaic]

Wait.

[MyBoysBlue]

Wait. Even before we stopped vaxing I knew to wait if our child was ill. My first son was vaxed. It was impressed upon me by the literature given to me about vaxes by the health unit that we should cancel any vax appointments if our child is sick at all.

[pixiepunk]

definitely wait. i selectively vax, but never never let them have one when they aren't well. honestly i wouldn't want to take my baby to a doctor's office during cold/flu season for a well-child visit if s/he wasn't feeling well. while the immune system is down i don't want to expose them to something potentially worse. perhaps you can just postpone?

[luvmybaby333]

I definitely would NOT have anyone administer a vaccine to my child if their immune system was already compromised due to illness.

[ShadowMoon]

I would definitely wait.

[Bokonon]

Another vote for waiting here. Doctors are not supposed to administer vaccines to an ill child, but many do anyway.

[miriam]

Why would any one do that?

The idea is of vaccination is to introduce a disease causing toxin into the body to create an immune response. If the body is already compromised in the process of fighting off one disease, one needs to wait until the body is in a healthier condition to fight another disease.

[pammysue]

Wait-if for no other reason than your mama instinct says to.

[Adallae]

Thanks! I had a feeling this was a 'duh' question, but my brain is fried from being up all night, so I needed some reassurance that I haven't completely lost it. I have a feeling the doc might push for it anyway since it's just a runny nose, but I'll put my 'Don't Question Me' face on and we'll skip it.

[lifeguard]

Wait.

But your health care provider might not even do it anyway. My doctor won't give a vaccination to a child with any kind of cold or sickness.

[thtr4me]

Yes, wait. Our doc does not know we have stopped vaxing. At our last visit, I just told him there would be no shots since DS was sick.

[angelpie545]

I would wait too. I could have gotten dd#2 the swine flu vaccine (she's at a higher risk for complications from the flu, so I feel comfortable getting it for her) but she had an ear infection so we waited. Dd#1 did get it though, with no side effects other than a sore arm and a minimal bout of nausea. I think it was worth it, for us anyway, since there are a few of us in our family at high risk of suffering severe illness from the swine flu.

[Emmeline II]

A "mild illness" and/or "low fever" is no longer considered a contraindication to vaccination; though when I was a child, the practice was to not vaccinate ill children.

[nataliachick7]

DtaP is a highly reactive vaccine. It is the reason why we stopped vaccinating all together. I would wait.