I can't possibly be the only one!

[Messac888]

My husband and I selectively immunized our son until he was about 8 months old, then stopped completely, much to the discomfort of our family and friends. Our son is now a healthy, very active 28 month old and our new daughter is 6 weeks old, and has never even been to the doctor's office (she was born at home). Right now is cold and flu season, blah blah blah. WELL, nobody- and I mean NOBODY- will come over if they so much as have a slight sniffle! I keep telling people we NEED sick people to come over because we need our son to get ill so he develops natural immunity to certain illnesses, but no one will come over, ever- nor will they let us bring him over when they're sick either. (They were this way before I was pregnant with dd.)

How can I convince people that my son will NOT get overly sick from a cold? And that my daughter will not get sick AT ALL because she is exclusively breastfed? I know from experience that, when the family gets sick, I get it the worst if I'm breastfeeding. It's fine with me, I'm the adult and can deal with it. But if my son isn't allowed to get illnesses, won't his immune system get weaker as he gets older? Or at least not get stronger?

My son rarely gets sick as it is; he maybe gets something once each year, if that. We don't protect him from ill people, which may sound terrible of me, but it's important to me that he develop a strong, naturally-immune body! Is anyone else experiencing this? What do you do when people refuse to visit because they have the sniffles and don't want to get your kids sick? How do you convince them it's fine?

[TigerTail]

er- where did you get the idea that an exclusively bf baby won't get sick, ever? certainly illnesses are fewer & shorter in duration (at least in a non-scientific comparison to say, other people's babies that are not bf), but my exclusively bf baby caught a case of croup that sent us to the hospital, & was worse than pertussis.

if you go to the market with your kids, or the mall, or the playground, you won't need to worry that no one will come over while sick. the germs will find 'em, in plentitude.

suse

[chevy974]

my exclusivly breast feed baby got pertussis as well and I was careful who she was around. Germs find us lol

amy

[joesmom]

I have never worried about Joe being around sick people. He had all his vaxes up to 4 years, but in spite of that he has been very healthy. We just spent several days last week with my friend who is recovering from asthma, I was helping her with her kids. Her son was sick & her DH was deathly ill with the flu. Her daughter's therapist came over one day & she was just getting over the flu. Joe is fine.

Another big reason, I think, is because I have never overly bundled him to protect him from the cold. When he was a tiny baby I made sure he was warm but I see parents (my sister does this) bundling their kids until they have to be too hot. Sometimes now Joe will take his coat off in the car, or want to wear just a sweatshirt. I always let him because that is exactly how I am...

Hope this is helpful.

[hunnybumm]

I personally won't try to let my kids get sick, especially not as young as 6 weeks. I personally feel that is still too young to try and expose a child to anything. From what I have read around here is if the baby is still exclusvily BFed they won't gain immunity by being exposed. Like if they get chicken pox before 6 months they are at risk of contracting them again. Not sure if I have that right though, I have only read that here.

Once your baby starts rolling, crawling, walking, etc they will be exposed to so much stuff you won't even want to know. My son was EBFed until 7 months and he got sick about 10 times, though he was born in December so there were a lot of germs in the air. And I started going to BFing support group/play group since he was 2 weeks, went to visit family in CA and KS around 3 months, then to CA again at 6 months. So we were exposed to tons of family, friends, and air port germs.

[joesmom]

Originally Posted by hunnybumm

I personally won't try to let my kids get sick, especially not as young as 6 weeks. I personally feel that is still too young to try and expose a child to anything.

Six weeks IS young- I never intentionally exposed Joe to anything at that age.

Originally Posted by hunnybumm

From what I have read around here is if the baby is still exclusvily BFed they won't gain immunity by being exposed. Like if they get chicken pox before 6 months they are at risk of contracting them again. Not sure if I have that right though, I have only read that here.

I have never heard that, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. It doesn't make sense to me though...

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by Messac888

.. cold and flu season.. NOBODY- will come over if they so much as have a slight sniffle! I keep telling people we NEED sick people to come over because we need our son to get ill so he develops natural immunity...

Building immunity to flue or colds is of little purpose because we NEVER have the same flu virus again in our life time. So, to avoid it is not a bad idea but not essential.

And that my daughter will not get sick AT ALL because she is exclusively breastfed?

You can not depend absolutely on bm to protect your child from diseases. Bf offers protection in the very young and that protection wanes as the child's immune system matures. But no matter what, bf is certainly worth it and should be encouraged.
When the child comes in contact with a virus you build immunity to it and the child gets the antibodies via bm. But only up to a certain age.

... if my son isn't allowed to get illnesses, won't his immune system get weaker as he gets older? Or at least not get stronger?

NO and NO. There is NO way he will be able to avoid pathogens. Germs are all around us everywhere. He would have to live in a bubble. You take him to the store, to church, play groups... Just touching the shopping carts... anyway, be assured that his immune system is constantly working and maturing.

The healthiest child will show very little sickness even when he is infected. He may be a bit 'down' but constantly protected by his strong immune system.
Our immune system can not get weaker unless we have an autoimmune disease. A healthy child's immune system will continuously get stronger.

We don't protect him from ill people, which may sound terrible of me, but it's important to me that he develop a strong, naturally-immune body!

I feel the same way. We actually celebrate when my grandson gets sick. He and I get ready to fight those germs or viruses. We make a game of it. NO medicine whatsoever. I think he wouldn't take any even if a doc insisted. LOL

Your son is doing fine. If you take no precautions and he seldom gets sick, that tells me that he is extra strong and has a good working immune system. Trust it!

As for the sick people not coming over, I would not push that anyway. He's exposed to whatever is necessary. And wait till he goes to school. He'll come home with a few germs. But if not, remember, he is fighting them off just the same.

[suschi]

Personally, I didn't want my children as infants exposed to sick people. This is how an infant can easily get whooping cough, an adult, or teen, thinking they just have a cold (and cough), nothing serious, but once transmitted to a young infant, it can be serious. This is something I would definitely not want to have to deal with in a young infant. They will have plenty of time to get exposed and build immunity, I wouldn't rush it.

[aira]

ditto suschi

[Mommy To Baby Roni]

Ditto to everything said. And like said, be careful what you wish for - it could be real bad. And who's to say your ds isn't being infected with illnesses? Maybe his immune system IS strong and is fighting them off so well that he rarely shows symptoms?

[mattemma04]

Library,parks,and shopping will expose you to a lot.I tried very hard to avoid a sick baby.Hard to bf with a stuffed nose!