Are your unvaccinated children in preschool/school?

[SilverMoon010]

Our family does not vaccinate.  I noticed on this forum that a lot of parents who choose not to vaccinate also homeschool as well.  I'm not sure if they go hand-in-hand, as this was just my observation.  I was just wondering how many of you actually have small children in school who are not vaccinated.  I ask because I tend to be a worry wart, usually for no reason, but sometimes I feel like my son will be the only unvaccinated child in the class, and god forbid there is a breakout, they will blame him or something.  I know, I know.  It's far-fetched, but these are the silly things that go through my mind because it seems it's a division of vaccinators vs. non-vaccinators anymore.

I am a first-time mom, so this is all new to me.  We may be sending him to pre-K this September (he'll be 3 1/2), so these thoughts have been crossing my mind.  I just read an article in the Parenting magazine where the doctor was telling vaccinating parents to get angry at those who choose not to vaccinate when entering school.  I mean, are you serious????? I don't like that magazine because it's mainstream, and I can usually avoid those articles, but I had to read that one and it just made me angry and sick to my stomach.

I guess I'm looking for other stories in the same situation in regards to unvaccinating and entering pre-K/school.

[Marnica]

My DS has been in daycare since he was 3 months old. He will be starting proschool in September as a 3 year old. He is unvaccinated and will stay that way most likely (Im always open to new research/information)

[earthmama369]

I was homeschooling, but due to illness, we placed our kids in first grade and preschool a couple of months ago. We printed out a short letter quoting state law and stating that we were claiming a religious exemption under those laws and regulations, signed it, and brought it in when we registered. Neither school batted an eye. It's been fine thus far.

[ammiga]

My kids are vax-free. Dd was in play groups, day care at the gym, and with kids from 3 months old. She started pre-school at 2 and still goes.

I might decide to home school. If I do it will have nothing to do with vaxes and be entirely about our school choices.

[Mirzam]

My children have long passed pre-school, both attended completely unvaxed and are now still unvaxed in middle school. I claim a religious exemption, but could just as easily claim a philosophical one in my state.

[LiLStar]

My kids are both 100% vax free and my dd will be starting preschool in the fall. The exemption is super easy in my state! When I had the enrollment forms, I just did a google search for "washington state vaccine exemption form" and it came right up. I printed it, checked the box for philosophical exemption, signed it. Done. I'm not worried about it. My nephew is in the class too and I don't know exactly what his vax status is, but I know my sil delays for a super long time and only does a few, but idk what ones. So she wont be the only unvaxed kid in class ;) Guess they'll just have to blame my dirty family if there's an outbreak of something :P (tongue in cheek!!)

[glue92]

Not so easy in NY as far as I know or knew when my older children were of that age. My kids are 5, 12 & 14 - the 14 year old is the most vaccinated, less for the 12 year old and the 5 year old is not at all. We had a homeopathic who was also an MD, but he has since moved and aged. Looking for alternatives. So, on paper they are vaccinated. Hated that my older ones got the chicken pox vaccine especially, but just wish I had known more. Looking also for a naturopath doc in New York if anyone is aware of how to find one.

[glue92]

Forgot to mention that I was also told that my child was more at risk being exposed to those children who were just recently vaccinated because they were walking around with the "live" virus in their system. So, does that mean my child is building up immunities because he is exposed to those children. Not sure. This is sometimes all overwhelming to me.

[SilverMoon010]

My son has been so healthy to this point with no illnesses, and I worry when he starts school, he will be coming down with more illnesses.  Have you noticed an increase in illnesses with your kids since they started attending school?

[onthemove]

my dd's are unvaccinated and in school (10 and 8) I find some years are better than others. I don't remember any difference when they first started but would have boosted their immune systems. I definately noticed that this year was worse for colds and even a cough.  I think it is related to my going back to work and getting more lax with their diet.  They are both very healthy and I don't worry so much anymore.

[SoCaliMommy]

 My daughter is in 2nd grade, i handed the school her partly vax form and a waiver they tried to say they couldn't accept both but finally did. I'm not gonna let them send my child home if there was a outbreak of CP when she has had the vax for it.

My almost 5 yr old i just registered for Kindergarten the other day and didn't bother giving them his vax recorded but he was vaxed til 4months old, i just handed them a waiver and they asked if he had any vaxs and i said yes but only til 4months old. No issue was made.

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by Mandy F 

My son has been so healthy to this point with no illnesses, and I worry when he starts school, he will be coming down with more illnesses.  Have you noticed an increase in illnesses with your kids since they started attending school?

There have been a few more runny noses and such. Dd definitely brought home the flu after all the kids got the flumist, but no one else in the family caught it. That's the only VAD that came home, which I'm quite sure was actually caused by a vax

[listipton]

DD is 5 now and has been in preschool all year.  We turned in a letter along with a copy of her yearly physical and not an eye was batted.  Don't worry about being the only parent who doesn't vaccinate.  You'd be surprised at the number of parents who share your reasoning or who just plain old don't comply.  We did notice a lot of colds this year, but honestly, it seems like everyone here had a bad winter cold-wise.

[Emmeline II]

The first time your child is in a care situation they will probably get ill...often...vaxed or not. When my vaxed-to-12m son went to K he was sick from September through January, then had bronchitis in March from a pink eye infection. This year he's probably had a couple minor colds but he also suffers from our winter allergy season so it is difficult to tell. I do give them SA, a mult-vitamin, and Dr. Sears Omega-3 DHA chew daily this year. Judging by the complete non-reaction when I turned in his exemption, I doubt ds is the only one. I'm hoping that since his sister gets everything he does that she won't get sick as often in K.

[MyBoysBlue]

My unvaxed DS started Playschool in January, just two afternoons a week, and he has been sick a lot. He also weaned in September, and was rarely sick previously. He has been sick with a lingering viral cough that took about 8 weeks to get rid of. Twice he's had a day of vomiting. He's had short bouts of diarrhea too. None of this stuff has vaccines for it. Our province doesn't have vaccine requirements for school so the school doesn't even keep vaccination records.

[Chloebelle]

My child has gone to preschool for almost 2 years now.

The first year, she rarely got sick. Just a some minor colds. This year has been similar, but we were recently hit with a bad cough that has lasted for weeks. All the kids in her class had it.

As far as exemptions go, we just wrote a letter saying we don't vaccinate for personal reasons, and they didn't bat an eye. We'll see how it goes in Kindergarden next year, but I expect it to be the same based on what others have told me.

[LisaSedai]

My DS is only vaxed for DTaP. His first year in Preschool (4 & 5yo) it seemed like he caught every sniffle going around and passed it to me. Previously he had been fairly cold-free. Kindergarten was somewhat better but on the day they were giving out the nasal (live) flu vaccine I kept him home. This year I got a call from the school nurse saying there was chickenpox in his class and did I want to come get him... I was like, well... no. Turns out the chickenpox victim is one of my son's friends and she had been vaccinated for chickenpox. When I went to the health department to get his waiver signed the nurse warned me if there was ever an outbreak of a VPD that I would have to keep my son at home - I don't know why they didn't enforce the rule this time.

[SilverMoon010]

Originally Posted by LisaSedai 

My DS is only vaxed for DTaP. His first year in Preschool (4 & 5yo) it seemed like he caught every sniffle going around and passed it to me. Previously he had been fairly cold-free. Kindergarten was somewhat better but on the day they were giving out the nasal (live) flu vaccine I kept him home. This year I got a call from the school nurse saying there was chickenpox in his class and did I want to come get him... I was like, well... no. Turns out the chickenpox victim is one of my son's friends and she had been vaccinated for chickenpox. When I went to the health department to get his waiver signed the nurse warned me if there was ever an outbreak of a VPD that I would have to keep my son at home - I don't know why they didn't enforce the rule this time.

I want to make sure I'm aware when the school gives out vaccines. I would certainly be keeping him home from school on those days as well. Do they send out letters to all parents beforehand, and are there any types of cases where they do not need to notify parents? I'm assuming they need the parents' signature first. I have a fear that they will not notify me and give my child a vaccine withouy my knowledge, and how would I know if they did?  I remember reading a case where this has happened, where the school vaccinated a child who was exempt.

By the way, just curious, after the school administered the nasal flu vaccine, do you recall if your child got the flu from being around all of those live viruses?

Edited by SilverMoon010 - 3/27/11 at 4:11am

[Peony]

My DD1 is in school and DD2 is in PK, not vaxed. I doubt we are the only ones but I don't ask the other parents so I don't know. I do know that on the first day of school, I went out to breakfast with a group of moms from DD1's class, one mom was asking about the flu vax since her DS had gotten influenza last year and she wanted to make sure that everyone would be vaxing for it. Not a single other parent at the table vaxed their child for the flu! That one did surprise me. 

And yes, the first of school for my children has meant illness after illness. We've gotten influenza several times but never around the months where most people get the vax. 

[tink79]

My youngest DD's aren't vaccinated (they are 4) and they start pre-k in the fall.  I just filed for an exemption for reasons on conscience online and I received the forms within a couple of days.  My oldest DD was delayed because I didn't want to cause waves but she now has an exemption and won't be getting any more vax's.