having a newborn and an unvaxed 4 year old sibling in school

[swl73]

Hoping someone might have some insight for us.  3 1/2 years ago, we made the choice not to vax our newborn daughter after extensively reading up on the various vaccines and the risks vs. benefit for each vaccine, given our specific circumstances.  The fact that she was not going to day care definitely played into our decision in terms of risks/benefits.  If she had been in day care,  we very well may have selectively vaxed her.

Now we're expecting #2, and our daughter will be in preschool in the fall.  We're feel comfortable with continuing for her to be unvaxed when she starts school given what we have read about risk/benefit for her age and situation.  But we're wondering about the implications for baby #2 if big sister is being exposed to nasty stuff at school and bringing it home.  We're not sure how that changes the risk/benefit ratio.  

Has anyone considered this?  Anyone aware of any literature on the subject?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Marnica]

what "nasty" things do you think your older child will be bringing home??

Personally having another child would not impact my vaccine choices. Frankly what your child will be bringing home from preschool won't be anything you can vaccinate for. I am not aware of any literature about the incidences of VPD's for younger vaxed siblings vs unvaxed siblings who have unvaxed older siblings.

I have a 3 yr old DS who is unvaxed and has been in daycare since he was 3 months old. He will be starting preschool next fall. While I don't have another child yet, (2 miscarriages in 4 months )

had either of these pregnancies worked out - we would not have vaccinated the baby either.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

FWIW, I have two completly unvaxed children who have been in icky poopoo daycare since they were each 8 weeks old. 

Also, your daughter will be bringing home plenty of "nasty stuff" that there are no vaxes for, so IMO, that theory is moot. 

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by ~Charlie's~Angel~ 

Also, your daughter will be bringing home plenty of "nasty stuff" that there are no vaxes for, so IMO, that theory is moot. 

This. There is no vax for the common cold or lots of stomach bugs. You could all get sick anyway! lol That's supposed to make you feel better......

[kawa kamuri]

Originally Posted by ~Charlie's~Angel~ 

Also, your daughter will be bringing home plenty of "nasty stuff" that there are no vaxes for, so IMO, that theory is moot. 

I may have misunderstood but I thought the OP was asking about things there ARE vaccines for. 

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by kawa kamuri 

I may have misunderstood but I thought the OP was asking about things there ARE vaccines for. 

No you didn't misunderstand - the point is that the crapola kids typically bring home from school/daycare are not things that there are vaccines for.

 

[ammiga]

I agree with the others... the risks your newborn will be subjected to are not VADs. My 3.5 year old isn't vaxed and neither is my 9 month old.

A different way to weigh your options is risk/risk. What are the risks of vaccinating compared to the risks of not. Risk/benefit can get tricky and will skew your answer depending on which you give the benefits to.

[LisaSedai]

My DS (7) goes to public school first grade and I was concerned for DD when DS was exposed to chicken pox ( from a child who had been vaccinated twice ) but he didn't catch it.I would have kept him separate from her if he had.  I never had chicken pox nor chicken pox vaccination but I have been exposed apparently b/c I have a positive titer. I was hoping that breastfeeding would protect her nevertheless. That is the only VPD he's been exposed to (well, other than the flu I guess if you believe it works- I don't) Like the other posters said though, what he brings home are the colds and stomach bugs- she catches it then I catch it. We're just trying to keep our immune system strong.

[swl73]

Thanks everyone for your responses.  It's very true that there are many more viruses that kids can acquire at school that there are no vaccines for, compared to the ones that vaccines exist for.  And we're well aware of the risks of vaccines.  We want to be very thorough in our research the second time around just like we were the first time around, and the one major difference for us is that our new baby will have an older sibling in school.  It would be nice to see some data on this issue but I'm wondering if such data exists.  Anyway, I do appreciate all the responses!

Oh, and I agree, Ammiga - risk/risk is probably a more accurate description than risk/benefit!

[member234098]

Life experience here - when I went to school for the first time at age six I was unvaxed.  I brought home pertussis to my three younger sisters by Christmas.  When that was over, I brought home the flu.  When that was over, I brought home other things.  I had chicken pox the following year in second grade, and then measles and rubella.  I had mumps in 5th grade.  

We are all still here, with lifetime immunity. Yes, it was probably hard on my mom.  I remember lots of water, juice, vitamin C and cod liver oil.   

[not_telling]

So glad you started this thread.  This is almost exactly my question...except that my DS is partially vaxed (3 HiB, 3 DTaP, 3 Polio, 1 MMR)  instead of completely unvaxed.  I guess the vaxes we nixed for DS that I'm wondering about for our baby who will be born in October (about 7 weeks after DS starts preschool) are the Rotavirus one and the new Prevnar.  Prevnar is one I'm just soooo not comfortable with because of the aluminum and issue of serotype replacement (or replacement by other organisma like staph).  I know DS is bound to bring home other barfing diseases aside from rotavirus, but is rotavirus especially bad?  (I know it's especially "nasty" to deal with in terms of mess, smell)

Also, DS's shots were really spread out...it took two full years for him to receive all of the above mentioned vaxes.  So another question is whether the baby's should be less spread out.  I'm still thinking just one shot per visit, but closer together.

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by not_telling 

So glad you started this thread.  This is almost exactly my question...except that my DS is partially vaxed (3 HiB, 3 DTaP, 3 Polio, 1 MMR)  instead of completely unvaxed.  I guess the vaxes we nixed for DS that I'm wondering about for our baby who will be born in October (about 7 weeks after DS starts preschool) are the Rotavirus one and the new Prevnar.  Prevnar is one I'm just soooo not comfortable with because of the aluminum and issue of serotype replacement (or replacement by other organisma like staph).  I know DS is bound to bring home other barfing diseases aside from rotavirus, but is rotavirus especially bad?  (I know it's especially "nasty" to deal with in terms of mess, smell)

Also, DS's shots were really spread out...it took two full years for him to receive all of the above mentioned vaxes.  So another question is whether the baby's should be less spread out.  I'm still thinking just one shot per visit, but closer together.

Dd had rotavirus when she was 2.5. Gross? Yes. Especially bad? No. Just a lot of diarrhea. We washed hands all the time and rinsed the toilet with vinegar water after every use. No one else caught it.

If you are worried about serotype replacement with Prevnar, the same can be said for HiB. I also wouldn't worry about your DS bringing home polio.

[Bellabaz]

We are in this situation. My dd1 started preschool when my dd2 was 4 months. Dd1 is partially vaxed(polio, tetinus and diptheria). Mostly she brings home stomach bugs and colds. Last June it was the chicken pox, both girls got it but everyone was fine. There is measles going around here and we are apparently a hot spot for pertussis too. Her school has also had cases of scarlett fever and scabies! Not that those are serious, I just remember thinking the first time I got the notice "Scabies!? Isn't that a pristes disease!".

Dd2 has the same vaxes as dd1 (just less doses) and we delyed for the first year. There really isn't much you can do except keep your immune system strong, breastfeed, I also make dd1 wash her hands with soap after school. But even keeping them seperated wouldn't really work because they have the same toys and alot of the "bigger" diseases have incubations periods when you don't even know they are contagious.

[sunnygir1]

My dd was 2.5 and in daycare part time when ds was born.  I was actually more concerned with me being exposed to Rubella from vaxed kids shedding at daycare while I was pregnant.

Dd is now 4 and ds is 20 months.  They have both been in daycare since November, and I have only received notice from the daycare about strep throat.  Ds has been sick much more frequently (and at a younger age) than dd was, but nothing that is vaxed for (except maybe flu).

I am more concerned that my children will not be exposed to childhood diseases than that they will bring them home from daycare.

I just don't think it's much of a concern here.  Now, if you lived in a less developed country, then there may be more cause for concern.

Dd did have roseola when in daycare before I was pregnant with ds, and I think he had fifth's disease when neither of them were in daycare last summer.  I say, until they hit puberty, bring on the rashes!

I don't mean to make light of serious diseases or your concerns.  But I truly think, at least where I live, there isn't much chance of children bringing home truly devastating diseases like polio.  I guess pertussis would be the most scary for me because there have been cases around here, and it wouldn't be good in a tiny baby.