Vax on/Vax off.... har har har

[staceychev]

Sorry for the joke. Was having a Karate Kid moment.

Anyway, DD1, entering kindy in the fall, has been vaxed up until this point. I think I've decided, at least for the time being, not to vax DD2 (age 4 months, going to a home daycare provider starting in September).

OK, so DD1 has already been in our public school system, for Pre-K. She's going back to the same school this fall. DD2 will eventually be in this system. DD1 is "due" for the last of her vaxes and I need to provide the paperwork for her to enroll for the fall. So, do I:

1. Finish her vaxing since I already started and deal with the "one kid vaxed, one kid not" thing when DD2 goes to school
2. Don't get DD1 vaxed and claim a religious exemption, even though it's been less than 6 months since I last provided vax paperwork. (I live in NJ, and while there is no philosophical exemption, the religious exemption is unspecific and straightforward, and they can't question it...)
3. Another option I haven't considered?

Any other parents out there who dealt with vaxed and non-vaxed kids in the same school?

Mods: Sorry if this is the wrong forum. Couldn't decide between here and the vax forum.

[blessedwithboys]

my 15yo and 8yo go to the same school (pre-k to 12 charter school)

my older ds was fully vaxed except for hep b and chicken pox. i always questioned vax, but didnt have the internet to help me do more in depth research, so i did the best i could with the knowledge i had.

my kids are 7.5 yrs apart and in that interim i decided to stop vaxing altogether, so ds2 has had zero vaxes.

as the time for kindy for ds2 drew near, and since ds1 was getting closer to "needing" certain boosters, i just filed a religious exemption for ds1 at the start of the school year about 2 yrs before ds2 would start.

i actually did both exemptions on the same day even though ds2 wouldnt need it for a while bc i had the slightest thought he might do a year of preschool plus i figured it couldnt hurt for both exemptions to show the same date, as if to say "this is the day i decided not to vax anymore".

ds2 never went to pre-k and then the year he started kindy i moved them to the new charter school so i could have both kids in one place. i'm sure they got ds1's vax record from the previous school, but the registrar was super cool, took both exemptions without batting an eye and i've had no issues since.

can i ask you a ques? you said you dont plan to vax "for the time being". does that mean you may vax later? if you file an exemption now and then do some vaxes, on your own modified schedule that doesnt match the regs where you live, you might not be able to do public school. you either vax on their schedule or you file an exemption. and once you file and exemption, and then do some vaxes, you cant re-file the exemption later.

if one of your dc are on an exemption and you do boosters for the other, and the school found out, that might be grounds to deny all of your exemptions.

better to pick one or the other, you cant waffle.

[whatsnextmom]

This will probably not be the right forum for this question as people have very strong feelings on vaccination.

I can say that exemptions are not a big deal. My children are vaccinated but my eldest got her "kindergarten shots" a month too early for them to qualify for school (though it was correct time for her medically.) I had to either re-vaccinate her or fill out the simple sheet stating she wasn't vaccinated due to personal beliefs. Obviously, I wasn't going to re-vaccinate her so I filled out the sheet. In the eye of her elementary school, she was not vaccinated even though she had all her shots and it was never an issue and didn't come up again her 5 years there. For middle school and high school, I just had to send in copies of the cards and they shoved them in her file. I don't think anyone even looked at them. DS was all on time so never an issue.

If you decide not to continue with them, just fill out the little form and leave it at that. It's not a big deal.

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom

This will probably not be the right forum for this question as people have very strong feelings on vaccination.

What do you mean by this?

[whatsnextmom]

I mean that I've yet to encounter a to vaccinate or not post on a board like this that didn't turn into a debate. Since this isn't a debate board, it's risky to ask whether you should finish vaccinating your child or not. Hopefully, it will remain nice.

[lauren]

Moving to Vaccinations

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom

I mean that I've yet to encounter a to vaccinate or not post on a board like this that didn't turn into a debate. Since this isn't a debate board, it's risky to ask whether you should finish vaccinating your child or not. Hopefully, it will remain nice.

Oh, OK.

I don't think I was thinking through clearly and probably was really inarticulate in my first post. I'm more interested in BTDT experiences with schools and one vaxed kid and one unvaxed one.

Oh, wow. Just re-read my post. I really was asking for opinions, wasn't I? Dear me... I'm in such a brain fog. I guess I felt like I wasn't really asking for "do I vax or not" and more like "How do I make this work?"

Thank you!

[mum4vr]

We have had this issue-- not as much w school as w child care tho. And I'm not familiar w the laws in your state.

DS1 was fully vaxed bc I was a young mom, and although I was very uncomfortable (say giving him hep b less than 24 hours after his birth)! I got run over by the my-mom-and-the-pediatrician BUS. So to avoid being called an irresponsible young mama, I vaxed and hated it. Five years later, DS2 had delayed and selective vax-- I was more informed, and not about to be run over, but (now ex) husband grew up in a country where he got to see kids die of vax preventable diseases, so we compromised. Two more years, and DD was not vaxed at all.

Except that she did receive one vax MMR when I COULD NOT get her into a daycare AT ALL without getting on the "catch-up" plan (this may be an option worth considering). Essentially, you get the most overdue or the most acceptable vax-- once, then get a schedule to "catch up" from your dr. This is acceptable in most cases. As in...We are not "caught up" on vax but are in the process-- SEE, all my appts for vax?? anyway-- she'd already had rubella by the time she got vaxed and it was not vax-worthy at all-- less ill than w most colds.

(Try explaining THAT to folks who need all their vax records to line up neatly in right angles!)

So... your exemption sounds like it would cover you, even if you vaxed in the past.

If not, are you willing to do the "catch up" plan? In hindsight, I am not happy about it, but my dr KNEW I had no intention to actually catch up, and eventually started making us appts to do the FIRST vax for catch up, rather than make us actually do the vax-- as in she'd give us the schedule when the appt was made, not when the shot was given, so we could have child care without actually being vaxed-- then she tell her clerk to delete all our vax appts, lol. I hope you don't have to get into all that rigamarole.

Since people obviosly do change their minds about vax, I hope your exemption is enough-- let us know how you do

One more reason why I disagree w REQUIRING vax!