freaking out about vaccinations

[ciga]

maybe freaking out is an overstatement but we have our 2 month checkup today at 1pm and I still haven't made a decision about this. I had kind of decided to just get him started on the Dtap only but now with the appointment only hours away I'm just not sure anymore.
I know no one can tell me what to do but I'm feeling like...
#1 he is totally breastfed
and
#2 he is home with me and therefore almost never with other babies/kids

so the chances of him getting sick are slim

so maybe I should just hold off a little longer since I'm feeling so uncomfortable. It is just that I've spent the last few months pouring over reading on the subject and I'm still unsure. I'm also gearing up for the possibility of the doctor not being into delaying. Our appointment is with our original doctor's (who I really like) husband so I'm crossing my fingers that he is just as open minded as her.

I just needed to get that out and my husband is kind of trusting my decision on this (which is less than helpful)

[Charmie981]

You can always vaccinate later. But you can't undo a vaccination. If you are uncomfortable with it, go with what your gut is telling you.

[staceychev]

I cancelled our 2 month appt for the same reason. DD1 is fully vaxed (won't be though, since I'm not a fan of the HPV...) at this point, and I just plan on delaying with DD2. My friend, a naturopath recommends a 2 year delay for her clients who chose to vax (she didn't vax her own), but I don't know that I'll wait that long.

[gardenmommy]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

You can always vaccinate later. But you can't undo a vaccination. If you are uncomfortable with it, go with what your gut is telling you.

This. I very much agree with this. If you decide to vax, be informed, do the research, be comfortable with your decision. If you decide not to vax, be informed, do the research, be comfortable with your decision.

[judybean]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

You can always vaccinate later. But you can't undo a vaccination. If you are uncomfortable with it, go with what your gut is telling you.

I know it's late (and you would have already had your appt!), but this is exactly what I was going to say.

With dd1 I didn't question things and she was vaxed to about 2 yrs... with dd2, same thing, but maybe just through 12 months... dd3 hasn't gone in and dd4 is also free of all vaxes.

That said, I'm not completely sure where I fall. I'm not convinced they're this marvelous creation (far from it), but I'm not totally sure they're all completely evil either. I do think there *can* be a time and a place for them.. I just don't think it exists in my little world right now But by NOT getting them, I still leave the option open to get them later if we deem it necessary.

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by ciga

maybe freaking out is an overstatement but we have our 2 month checkup today at 1pm and I still haven't made a decision about this. I had kind of decided to just get him started on the Dtap only but now with the appointment only hours away I'm just not sure anymore.
I know no one can tell me what to do but I'm feeling like...
#1 he is totally breastfed
and
#2 he is home with me and therefore almost never with other babies/kids

so the chances of him getting sick are slim

so maybe I should just hold off a little longer since I'm feeling so uncomfortable. It is just that I've spent the last few months pouring over reading on the subject and I'm still unsure. I'm also gearing up for the possibility of the doctor not being into delaying. Our appointment is with our original doctor's (who I really like) husband so I'm crossing my fingers that he is just as open minded as her.
I just needed to get that out and my husband is kind of trusting my decision on this (which is less than helpful)

I'm with charmie, hold of if you're unsure.
Also, don't let the doctors feeling on vax influence unless it's something you agree with.
We don't vax, but the decision is diffrent for everyone depending on your lifesryle, etc.

[lizsky]

I'd trust your gut and do what feels best for your family.

If you do go to your appointment, I'd decide ahead of time what you want to do and stick to it, because sometimes in the moment it might feel easier to just go with whatever the ped/nurse says.

For me and my family, we've chose to vax on an alternative schedule, and do them 1 at a time. My ped was fine with our choice and has never pressured us to do things differently. The nurse, however, kindof pressured us to do them all at once and implied that it would be so much nicer for DD to just get it over with than to keep coming back for each separate shot. I just had to firmly say that we would be doing them 1 at a time regardless and she eventually stopped making comments.

Good luck with your decisions.

[Plummeting]

It really is a tough decision. I hope your appt went well.

[ciga]

Thanks for the support everyone

I ending up deciding to go with an alt. schedule. I looked at my own vaccination schedule, which my mom saved and gave me, and used it as a guideline. The only difference is that I'm holding off on polio.
The doctor gave me a very polite speech about how there are no side effects to the current 5 shots at a time schedule and I said thank you and stuck to my dtap only plan.
The nurse actually said that she was relieved to only have to give him one because she hates doing it.

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

You can always vaccinate later. But you can't undo a vaccination. If you are uncomfortable with it, go with what your gut is telling you.

I didn't put it off with my first baby and I regret it. She definitely had some unusual issues (I guess? Hysterical SCREAMING every time her tylenol ran out... which I found out later may have been from brain swelling or something ) and I wish I had waited. FWIW, I stopped vaccinating her after her 1 yr appointment, and my Ds1 only got two doses of HIB (also against what I felt like was my better judgement) and I have no current plans to vax them any more. Give yourself some time to do some research and feel comfortable with your choices. Check out the Vaccinations forum, they're good at giving you pros and cons over there as well as links to studies, etc. The "I'm not vaccinating" forum you're gonna get a lot of why not to do it, if you want to look into that, too.

Good luck on your search!

[Mamatoto2]

I remember going through this same struggle with my first, but I too went with the idea that I could always do it later but I couldn't undo it. There were even times when I scheduled appointments specifically to get a vax but then called and canceled because I just couldn't pull the trigger. In hindsight, I am very glad that I took that approach because as I learned more about DD I was better positioned to make informed decisions, and I have not had the same stress thinking about DD#2 or DS because I trust my instincts and can point to DD#1 and say that we've made it through okay using our best judgment.