2 month check up/vaxing?

[ArtsyHeartsy]

Hi everyone, I delayed my two month check up until now at 3 months. I am just so torn on the vaccines. I wanted to delay originally but it seems the more I read the more I go back and forth! I'm definitely doing selective vaxing, but there is just so much information...and of course misinformation.

I'm just curious what you guys are doing with you little babies. I'm not trying to start a vaccine debate but I just want to know what everyone with babies the same age as mine are doing...if that makes sense!

My doctor seems pretty supportive and basically didn't bat an eye when I told him I wasn't getting her any shots today. He does recommend them, especially for pertussis. We had a pertussis scare right when dd was born and my dss had to leave the house for 3 weeks. Not fun. Anyway, I can see how the peace of mind would have helped then.

I hope this doesn't break any rules!?

TIA!

[nervousnelle]

Not vaccinating. Not apologizing for it.

I actually gave her HiB at the 2 month appt because her (former) ped bullied me into it and I was ignorant, but she had such an intense horrid reaction (to "the most benign" vaccine) that we landed in the ER. Terrible.

I read Sears' "The Vaccine Book" after that, and what impressed me most was that after every! single! description of each vaccine there is a statement that goes something like "a breastfed baby who is not in daycare has a significant low risk for ___ (fill in the blank disease)."

No (more) vax for my baby.

[mamakaikai]

Still havn't been convinced to vax my 2.5 year old...not doing things differently with this little babe either. I'm not against vaccines, but I am making the choice not to vax for now. So I'm not vaxing, though it may end up being 'selective' later on as I continue to re-evaluate our needs.

[lrgs]

Still up in the air on this. DD1 was vaxed almost on schedule with some delays. I haven't gotten DD2 any vax's and I'm not exactly sure what my plan is. I also read The Vacine Book and out of all the diseases they vax for here at 2 months they only one I would want is the Pertusis vax.......but of course that is combined into the Dtap so we are still waiting. I'll probably delay and selectively vacinate this time around but still haven't decided exactly what that will look like.

[expat-mama]

We haven't gotten any vax yet either. Another reader of the Vaccine Book here that likes that Dr Sears line about breastfed babies not in daycare- makes sense to me!

I am trying to get myself together and decide which, if any, we'll get. Living abroad there are a whole host of other issues that we have to consider. We decided not to travel to India or South East Asia around christmas as we had planned and are having visitors come here instead, so the pressure is off for the time being. But we are definitely doing some international travel next spring and summer. So I may feel that DS needs some protection depending on where we go, but maybe not.

What I've read has not convinced me that the pertussis risk is worth the DTAP- especially now that DS is 3 months. In my mind I am "selecting and delaying" but I can't bring myself to select any...I am good at the delaying part and it gets easier as DS gets bigger, older and stronger. I just can't imagine choosing to inject germs and chemicals into my healthy baby boy at this point. I ended up not even giving the oral vit K drops at birth- he's had nothing in his body except mama's milk, and I really like it that way.
We may just delay forever.

[Terrilein]

I voted full vax, but I do plan on asking the ped if we can't break up the vax into different segments. I don't know. My dd got the MMR and then the rest at separate sessions. But the MMR is grouped into a new vax so ds would be getting a vax for 5 things at once. A baby I used to be DCP for had that one and it made her really fussy. No wonder, she got the shots in both legs on the same day! We'll see.
ETA: first vax appointments here are at 3 months, not 2 months.

[2Peaches]

I delayed and skipped some vaccinations, others I broke up so that she wasn't getting more than 2 at a time.

[MamaMonica]

Hi ladies- as long as this doesn't turn into a pro and con discussion about vaccinating, I will leave it in the DDC

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by 2Peaches

I delayed and skipped some vaccinations, others I broke up so that she wasn't getting more than 2 at a time.

Same here.

[MJB]

My oldest got the MMR and DT at 7. My middle child got the MMR, DTaP, polio, and hep B at 4 (the required ones for kindergarten). Edie hasn't gotten any so far; I am considering the DTaP but am not ready to do it yet. I'm thinking maybe 12 or 18 months for that one and waiting until 3-4 to do any others.

[ArtsyHeartsy]

Originally Posted by MamaMonica

Hi ladies- as long as this doesn't turn into a pro and con discussion about vaccinating, I will leave it in the DDC

Thanks! That wasn't the intention, but you never know, right?!

Originally Posted by expat-mama

We haven't gotten any vax yet either. Another reader of the Vaccine Book here that likes that Dr Sears line about breastfed babies not in daycare- makes sense to me!

I am trying to get myself together and decide which, if any, we'll get. Living abroad there are a whole host of other issues that we have to consider. We decided not to travel to India or South East Asia around christmas as we had planned and are having visitors come here instead, so the pressure is off for the time being. But we are definitely doing some international travel next spring and summer. So I may feel that DS needs some protection depending on where we go, but maybe not.

What I've read has not convinced me that the pertussis risk is worth the DTAP- especially now that DS is 3 months. In my mind I am "selecting and delaying" but I can't bring myself to select any...I am good at the delaying part and it gets easier as DS gets bigger, older and stronger. I just can't imagine choosing to inject germs and chemicals into my healthy baby boy at this point. I ended up not even giving the oral vit K drops at birth- he's had nothing in his body except mama's milk, and I really like it that way.
We may just delay forever.

I hear ya! My baby hasn't been poked with anything yet...and I kinda like it that way, she's so pure! After we already had a Pertussis exposure...well almost (dss's mom had it and possibly dss too, who lives with us half time) I was more scared, but we dodged that, and it's showing up in vaxed kids here anyway. My dh heard all the docs talking about kids they had seen in the urgent care testing pos even with the vax.

Originally Posted by lrgs

Still up in the air on this. DD1 was vaxed almost on schedule with some delays. I haven't gotten DD2 any vax's and I'm not exactly sure what my plan is. I also read The Vacine Book and out of all the diseases they vax for here at 2 months they only one I would want is the Pertusis vax.......but of course that is combined into the Dtap so we are still waiting. I'll probably delay and selectively vacinate this time around but still haven't decided exactly what that will look like.

I could have written this myself, same with my dd1, she was somewhat delayed because she seemed to get a cold every time she had an appointment or something else would come up.

Originally Posted by nervousnelle

Not vaccinating. Not apologizing for it.

I actually gave her HiB at the 2 month appt because her (former) ped bullied me into it and I was ignorant, but she had such an intense horrid reaction (to "the most benign" vaccine) that we landed in the ER. Terrible.

I read Sears' "The Vaccine Book" after that, and what impressed me most was that after every! single! description of each vaccine there is a statement that goes something like "a breastfed baby who is not in daycare has a significant low risk for ___ (fill in the blank disease)."

No (more) vax for my baby.

I do take comfort in the fact that dd is breastfed and will be up until 1 year, which is when she will probably get into my college day care on my school days (loooooonnnngggg waiting list) so exposure is pretty minimal.

I wanted to watch that video by Dr Jay Gordon and I found out he is Jenny McCarthy's pediatrician so I'm not sure it would be unbiased. Is there such a thing anymore? I did look at Dr. Sears book but I think I need to look again.

I think time is just going to go slowly by as I research and I may end up with some selective vax's by the end of the year, I mean, I didn't decide while pregnant so I may need another 9 months. Just when I think I make a decision I read something new. I'm thinking this will all be easier in 10-15 years when there are more conclusive studies. Maybe I will wait until then.

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

My first boy is fully vax'd, my second is pretty much fully vax'd minus the chicken pox vax, third boy only has had the DTap only because we are around my moms property a lot and he's got tons of rusty nails and rusty stuff, fourth boy isn't and will be following the same lines of third boy.

[CookAMH]

DDCC. I had an April baby in 09 and we don't vax for a variety of reasons. Even if we did, we would NOT at 2mo, no matter what. It's just too early and there is nothing he was at risk for that he wasn't already protected by from bf and his exposure was so limited.

[neonalee]

We're doing the sears alternative schedule. He didn't get Hep B. After his 2 month checkup where he got ... dtap and rota. Then I read a story about a baby that had an extreme reaction and was worried all day! DS is fine and his next visit is tomorrow. He started daycare 2 weeks ago and caught a cold right away, poor thing!

[violet_]

Originally Posted by neonalee

We're doing the sears alternative schedule. He didn't get Hep B. After his 2 month checkup where he got ... dtap and rota.

Same here exactly. She was a bit fussy the next day and had a small red bump on her leg, but ok otherwise.

Doc was good about it -- she has her own copy of Sears' book and we went over it together to make a plan.

She told me to get my flu shot, and I agreed (I didn't while pregnant but want to now that she's here). So I told DH we'd go this weekend to both get flu shots, but before we had a chance he got the flu! So now we're all exposed and he's trying to stay away from me and Baby. Not sure if getting the shot now is better or if I should wait til my body deals with this first. So far I feel fine, but I don't know if I'll get it or not.

[evabea]

Also didn't do the hep B, and only did DTaP and Pc/prevnar at the 2 month visit, skipping roto, HIB and polio. Probably won't do MMR until a later age. Our family doc is very pro-vaccine but ok with my choices--he's worked in poor countries and seen the devastation of viral diseases. Adults here will do the flu vaccine, though I have mixed feelings about that while bfing.

I just started reading the Robert Sears book, and read Aviva Jil Rohm's vaccine book.

[Love Wins]

We haven't done any yet, mostly because I'm so undecided. I thought that I wouldn't vax, but I think delayed may be my route. I'm in a similar situation to expat, where we will frequently travel to Asia, or someplace, and because of that, vaxing is still on my radar. My DD's pedi said that 6mo notice would be all we would need to begin getting her a couple of what I consider pertinent vax's if we travel.

[Manessa]

With my older 2 kids I did delayed vaccination, but they were both caught up by kindergarten. My life has changed now though, and this baby is in daycare for about 10 hours a week. So we decided to selectively vaccinate for the illness' that she could be exposed to. My ped is great and is working with us. We are loosely following Dr. Sears' alternative schedule and going in every month for a "shots only visit." That way she's not getting more than 2 per visit. So far she hasn't really had any reactions.

[majazama]

my baby isn't vaxed and won't be vaxed. i think vax's are a load of crap (literally and figuratively) , but that's JMO. Building a strong immune system by eating right, exercise, etc. is what we do. my two older DDs are totally unvaxed and have never been sicker than having a mild flu or colds.

[matthia]

nak.

Finn's 3 mos and while I'm selective/delayed in my head, I still have no idea how that will translate to actual vaccinations. The issue is a little complicated by the fact that I am unvaxed and have never been sick (minus a very mild case of the chicken pox as a child), not even the flu; my husband is vaxed, and has had the measles. He's not pro-vax, I'm not totally anti-vax. This is by far the hardest decision we've had to make as parents yet.

Finn's breastfed and won't be in daycare for at least a year, hopefully much longer or never. Bonus.

We live in a largish city and I want him to be well socialized with other children. I know that there is pertussis and Hib in the community. Bogus.

Herd immunity is a great thing and makes polio and diptheria an unconcern for me, but the problem with herd immunity is I'm relying on other people vaccinating their children. I don't know how to feel about that.

Vaccinations are free, if we get the infanrix and all the other combination vaccines. We have to pay out of pocket if we go the selective route. Bogus.

We are active, outdoorsy people and I feel like the mortality rate of Tetanus is scary enough that I want him to be covered for it. Can you even get JUST a tetanus vaccine?

And just what the hell do I do about all the meningitis risks?

Basically, I am COMPLETELY undecided and totally confused and not very confident about anything. I can read the risk vs risk debates until I'm blue in the face and that's still not going to make me feel any calmer. Sure the risk of [enter disease of choice] is low, but WHAT the hell do I do if my baby gets that disease? Can I feel ok with that possibility. What if my baby has a one in a million reaction to a vaccine? can I feel ok with that?

I just don't know yet. I'm not sure if I'll ever feel 100% happy about whatever my choice ends up being. I guess this is a pretty good crash course in my future as a parent. The indecision and second guessing feels a little crippling at times....