Vaccinating a 6 year old? And.. her brother is vaxed, she is not. Issues coming up there....

[Karennnnn]

Confused momma here.

I have a 6 year old and a 10 year old.  10 year old is fully vaxed, but when 6 year old came along we decided to at the very least delay.  6 years later I'm still on the fence.

Has anyone begun to vax/selectively vax their child at this age or older?

We do have a friendly doctor in the area that I could take her to and am waiting to hear back from them because they don't often take new patients.  She has only been to the doctor twice; once for a PKU after she was born and once for a Kindergarten physical (THAT was an interesting experience.  Ugh).  I'd like to establish her with someone just in case she needs a doctor.  I'm not thrilled with who we take the 10 year old to, but keep him there for a separate issue.  Just easier that way at the moment.

Now, the two will be at different schools next year since he's starting middle school but I worry that we will be questioned about why he's vaxed and why she has an exemption.  I would assume it's none of their business, but is it??? 

Incidentally we're taking him to the doctor today and he "needs" a Pertussis vax to enter middle school.  I was going to sign a waiver for him too but thought it would be suspicious considering he already is fully vaxed and then suddenly we're refusing.  We live in VA so there is no philosophical exemption, only religious.  I could delay it another month since he's not 11 yet but logistically we need to do it today.

The other issue that has come up recently that I didn't think about was that now the ten year old is asking why he needs a shot to go to school but his sister does not.  I can't just not say anything about it anymore, they need an explanation.  And the last thing I need is one of them saying the wrong thing.  So far I told him that it's kind of a complicated reason and that when she was born we realized it wasn't a good idea to give her so many shots at once and that she probably would end up with shots at some point.   Hopefully that will quiet him for a bit but after the vax he's getting today, it will probably come up again.

Thoughts???

[Karennnnn]

And another thing...

Once you either fully or selectively vax, do you still keep that information from the school and keep the exemption?

[JavaFinch]

Bumping this up for you - would love to read some responses :)  My DD is entering preschool (she's 3) and hasn't had any vaccines yet.  I haven't taken her to a well-child appt since 15 months, so I'm a little nervous about her physical appt Tuesday ... What was your experience for your DD's Kindergarten physical?  Did they give you a hard time for not doing all the well-child appts?

The only shot I'm even remotely considering is dTap, mostly for the T because we live out in the country and she goes barefoot a lot.  But I feel we could wait a bit more before doing it, so I'm not planning to get started this Tues on anything.  I know I'll get another lecture, though ... they always do there!

[purslaine]

I think you need to figure out where you stand and from this day forward do accordingly.  I do not think you should vax one child but not the other unless there are medical reasons involved.  Medical decisions for children should be dosed out evenly if at all possible.

If you go the selective/delayed or non-vaxxed route, I think filing an exemption now for both kids is fine. 

In the mean time, I would share the least info possible with the schools.  They do not need to know DS is vaxxed and DD is not - it is none of their business.

[Karennnnn]

Sorry it's been a while. 

My update is that we decided to continue with my son's vaccines.  Like I said in the prior post, ds was vaccinated from the start and when dd came along, I had a change of heart.  This is mainly because in the case of my son, I had never questioned that the vaccines were or were not the way to go.  As a young parent I just did what everyone else was doing and figured it was o.k.  I don't necessarily think what's good for the goose is good for the gander (not now anyway!) what if she had a reaction that he didn't have?

And, since she was born at home it was "easier" to just stay out of the doctor's office.  She went once for PKU and that was that.

As far as dd goes now, I have an appointment with a holistic practice nearby who thank goodness was finally taking new patients.  This is at the end of the month and I made sure I requested the doctor who I hear is least judgmental.  As a whole I hear they're non vax friendly, but wanted to pick and choose!!  From what I understand about the practice I will probably be able to follow her advice regarding selective vax and if I don't, it's my understanding that they leave it be.  I'm still very nervous though.

When she gets older though I am not certain what to tell her.  It's funny, my daughter is 6 and probably knows more about reproduction than I did at 15, yet I can't think of a way to talk to her about this?  My fear is her talking about it with friends and having word get out that she is not vaccinated and it is NOT because of religion.  This could open a huge can of worms.  Even as a teenager where she can comprehend the reasoning, if she says it to the wrong person, then what?   Same goes for my son too; he could easily blab about it.  Since he's older he knows a little more but again it's the concern of the wrong person hearing info.

I suppose what it all boils down to is that your medical history and preferences are private and protected but in my mind I already have myself sued by the school system because I'm kind of paranoid like that.

So anyone reading this fro the first time have any advice or similar stories?  I'm still interested to hear about a much older child beginning selective vaccinations.

[yentroc]

I didn't read the entire thread but wanted to mention that we started dd's vax at age 6.  She's received 2 doses of DTaP and will receive one more to be "complete" for her age.  

I may do one dose of MMR for the rubella titres.

I was completely non vax but wanted her to have T protection and the P protection is an added bonus since she has reactive airway.

[iamawake]

Hello,

We have a six + year old in 1st grade. Just started vaccinations. One at time with ample time in between as to be aware of any reaction or change.

Like stated above, our child knows so much of how the body works....more than I ever knew as a child. Seems like a place to start the conversation is about natural immunity, antibodies and how the body battles with germs, bacteria and viral infections and the various outcomes. With the basis of how the body naturally encapsulates infection or recognizes infection, the information of the invention of vaccinations made more sense. Explained carefully that while there is research to support scientists and medical claims that we as the owners of our bodies must also do research and compare and ultimately decide. When we find a common ground and the vaccination would in theory prevent death we will choose it. We are counting on the body is more resilient and capable at 6+ years than just born.

Every day more vaccinations are lining up in the wings and to many, we will say no.

It is our duty as parents to educate ourselves as well as our children.

I also saw this quote recently. It hits home with me.

This period of hypo-responsiveness to carbohydrate antigens coincides with the intense myelination process in infants and young children, and conjugate vaccines may have disrupted evolutionary forces that favored early brain development over the need to protect infants and young children from capsular bacteria."