skipping well child visits to avoid pressure to vax?

[3kidsclmr]

So far I've skipped DS#2's three-year-old visit and DD's 12 month and 18 month visits for well child care. In all honesty, I just don't feel like dealing with the doctors who lecture me for 30 minutes at every appointment about how I'm infecting the entire community by not keeping my kids up to date on their shots. I'm just feeling a lot of guilt about this right now... Certainly, if my kids were sick, I'd take them right in, but I wonder how important it is for them to see a doctor every year just to make sure nothing's wrong...

[momto l&a]

We don't do well child visits, don't see the need.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

DS hasnt had a WCV since he was 4mo and I stopped vaxing. I just dont see the point. When they are sick I take them in or course when needed. But I can weigh and measure them just fine without paying for it.

The only reason dd goes is for school physical but that is only every other year or 2 and she is past the age of vax except boosters and the Dr. was fine with it when I said religious reasons.

[lovin'leo]

I took ds1 in to be weighed & measured a few times. I took ds2 to the health nurse every few months to get weighed. Ds2 has seen a doctor once, a few weeks after he was born. I don't see any point to the wbv.

[Penelope08]

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org...304207001.jpeg

do you check all these things out for your kids yourself? do you measure their head circumferences and look at the change in growth over time to see if they are on developing normally?

it sounds like you are skipping doctor visits not to avoid "pressure" but to avoid embarrassment and/or annoyance. to me, that doesn't seem like enough to justify skipping something that can't possibly hurt your kids and could possibly help them. ya know? the fact that you are basically asking strangers for permission to do this suggests to me that you know that it's not right.

time to toughen up for your kiddos.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I do I printed off the charts to do it with online

[lirpasirhc]

actually, i think well baby/child visits can hurt. i just don't see the point in putting my dd through the stress of the visit (yes, they can be uncomfortable and even painful) and wasting precious health care resources b/c of the minuscule chance that a dr would catch a health problem earlier than dh and i would. we do keep up w/ dd's growth b/c of our own curiosity, but we can clearly see that she's growing and developing normally.

i would probably go to well baby visits if we still lived near our old ped. we thought she was fabulous even though we never needed her - thank goodness!

[reece19]

We don't do well kid visits. Doctors are for sick people. If kids are sick or I'm concerned something is wrong, we go in - if all is well, we stay away.

However, if you're only skipping to avoid the lecture, just have a few standard phrases that will stop the lecture and move the appointment along. Throw in a "Thanks! We're still researching all the information. Now, about her cough..." If that fails, I would move on to "We only have a few minutes to get to another appointment, doc. Can you just answer this last question for me and we're outta here..."

[Penelope08]

Originally Posted by lirpasirhc

actually, i think well baby/child visits can hurt. i just don't see the point in putting my dd through the stress of the visit (yes, they can be uncomfortable and even painful) and wasting precious health care resources b/c of the minuscule chance that a dr would catch a health problem earlier than dh and i would. we do keep up w/ dd's growth b/c of our own curiosity, but we can clearly see that she's growing and developing normally.

i would probably go to well baby visits if we still lived near our old ped. we thought she was fabulous even though we never needed her - thank goodness!

see, this is what I dont get. you would skip getting a vaccine if there was a small chance of a bad reaction for that particular vaccine, but at the same time you wont go to the doctor for a risk-free check-up because you think the chance that they are not developing normally/hearing well/whatever is too small.

it's your decision and i really do respect it. i just dont understand how you arrived at it and how you determine whether a risk is too big or not big enough.

[pixiedust]

I've skipped well baby visits since my now 2.5 year old was 3 months. I just see no point in going if everything appears to be on track

[MayBaby2007]

Originally Posted by Penelope08

see, this is what I dont get. you would skip getting a vaccine if there was a small chance of a bad reaction for that particular vaccine, but at the same time you wont go to the doctor for a risk-free check-up because you think the chance that they are not developing normally/hearing well/whatever is too small.

it's your decision and i really do respect it. i just dont understand how you arrived at it and how you determine whether a risk is too big or not big enough.

Sorry, but you don't need a doctor's license to figure out if your kid is okay or not. Anything the doctor can check for at a WBV, so can I (and so can so many other parents). My daughter is 15 months. The last WBV she had was 6 months. Her ped is harping on me about bringing her in for her 15 month WBV. I'm not doing it. There's no reason for it. She's received zero vaxes and is growing and thriving just fine. If I have a concern I'll be happy to take her in though

[Claire and Boys]

here in the UK, there's no such thing as a "well child visit" We all seem to do fine without them. Guess that's because we don't have to pay for our healthcare so they are not offered..

[berkeleyp]

here in the UK, there's no such thing as a "well child visit" We all seem to do fine without them. Guess that's because we don't have to pay for our healthcare so they are not offered..

interesting - I've been wondering if there is really any reason for them other than the vaxing. I feel pretty confident that I would know if something was wrong. I like bringing my kids just to develop a relationship with the doc so that when I do come in for illness, we're not strangers.

[Scattershoot]

Originally Posted by Claire and Boys

here in the UK, there's no such thing as a "well child visit" We all seem to do fine without them. Guess that's because we don't have to pay for our healthcare so they are not offered..

Good point.

Human beings have survived for a very long time without pediatricians. I believe that one of the reasons doctors and the AMA are flipping out about the increasing number of non-vaccinators is the fact that vaccination gets a child into the system at birth. It teaches us that only a doctor can tell us we are ok. If people stop vaccinating, then the next logical step is to ask "why are we even going to this person in the first place?"

Vaccination creates the habit and mindset that the pharmaceutical industry thrives on. Non-vaccination easily creates a snowball effect of individuals realizing that they are in charge of their own children's health. They can trust themselves. They don't have to fear everything.

There are health care practitioners who are much less intrusive who can help a child in need, but the biggest thing is that people will begin to question what is really a need to begin with.

As the years go by, and the non-vaccinating parents see how unbelievably healthy their children are, those worries fade away, especially when they see all the "healthy" vaxed children with asthma, severe allergies, tonsils and adenoids being removed, skin problems, constant runny noses, visiting the doctor once a month, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, autism, cancer, learning disabilities or suddenly dying from SIDS.

[Jwebbal]

As the years go by, and the non-vaccinating parents see how unbelievably healthy their children are, those worries fade away, especially when they see all the "healthy" vaxed children with asthma, severe allergies, tonsils and adenoids being removed, skin problems, constant runny noses, visiting the doctor once a month, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, autism, cancer, learning disabilities or suddenly dying from SIDS.

Oh come on? My kid is vaxed and has no issues at all. You really think health problems are limited to vaxed children? That children who are not vaxed can't get any of these things? Taken a read on the health board lately, lots of kids have issues, including the non-vaxed ones. For stuff not all of us are able to recognize. Have your kids blood pressure checked after age 3? Have you tested them for heart murmurs and other problems? How about vision and hearing screening? You think all issues can be be seen easily? I personally have several friends whose children had strabismus, some cases not at all that bad but definitely needing treatment. One in particular didn't know anything about it, and put off taking her child in. There are lots of things doctors can look for that the average person wouldn't recognize in their child.

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by Scattershoot

Good point.

Human beings have survived for a very long time without pediatricians. I believe that one of the reasons doctors and the AMA are flipping out about the increasing number of non-vaccinators is the fact that vaccination gets a child into the system at birth. It teaches us that only a doctor can tell us we are ok. If people stop vaccinating, then the next logical step is to ask "why are we even gong to this person in the first place?"

Vaccination creates the habit and mindset that the pharmaceutical industry thrives on. Non-vaccination easily creates a snowball effect of individuals realizing that they are in charge of their own children's health. They can trust themselves. They don't have to fear everything.

There are health care practitioners who are much less intrusive who can help a child in need, but the biggest thing is that people will begin to question what is really a need to begin with.

As the years go by, and the non-vaccinating parents see how unbelievably healthy their children are, those worries fade away, especially when they see all the "healthy" vaxed children with asthma, severe allergies, tonsils and adenoids being removed, skin problems, constant runny noses, visiting the doctor once a month, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, autism, cancer, learning disabilities or suddenly dying from SIDS.

I couldn't agree with you more, my unvaxed children first saw at doctor at three years old because they needed a physical for preschool. They are a picture of health and vitality. My ds has only been sick four times in the eight years he has been on this planet, although he claims he has only been ill twice -- and he remembers both, the other sick times (one was chicken pox) he really didn't fell that bad at all, so they don't count!

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by Penelope08

see, this is what I dont get. you would skip getting a vaccine if there was a small chance of a bad reaction for that particular vaccine, but at the same time you wont go to the doctor for a risk-free check-up because you think the chance that they are not developing normally/hearing well/whatever is too small.

You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about vaccines, the OP and why she does not vaccinate.

You assume that vaccine reactions are rare
You assume that vaccine reactions are only immediate
You assume that individual vaccines cannot be damaging to one's overall health
You assume that she is excluding something from her child's healthcare instead of declining to add something that she has determined has no value
You assume that her family has no risk factors that make their risk greater than yours
You assume that she is incapable of determining whether her child is developing normally

[MilkTrance]

We don't do WCV.

That said, when DS was small, we did bring him into the ND a few times. I trust her judgment -- not something I can say about any other doctor I have ever encountered.

She did weight checks, head circumference checks, checked his genitals, heart, eyes -- things that I don't feel comfortable enough doing myself.

Now, if a parent feels comfortable enough doing those things, there is really no need to bring a child into a HCP at all.

It is all about your comfort level. DS has never been into a medical doctor when he's been sick or had a fever (he did go to the ND once when he was very ill). I feel comfortable treating DS's small colds, flus and etc. My friend, OTOH, practically lives at her medical doctor's office. She doesn't even trust herself to tend (or leave) a fever.

It's a wide range of comfort, and it's up to the parent, not arbitrary medical "authority figures" (ped., doctors, NPs) to determine the course of action of preventative care for the child.

[lirpasirhc]

i have a master's degree which focused on interpretation of medical research. i've read as much research on vax as i possibly could. i don't think that the risks of vax are small - i think they are significant. ETA: based on family history, i think my daughter has a higher-than-average chance of having a significant reaction.

i haven't read any convincing research that well baby visits improve infant health. i'm philosophically against wasting resources (medical, etc) as much as possible. anecdotally, i haven't met anyone in real life whose pediatrician caught a disease/ medical condition before the parent was concerned.

ETA: i'm an SLP. dh is a ped RN. i think we have more training and experience in pediatric development than most doctors.

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by Jwebbal

Oh come on? My kid is vaxed and has no issues at all. You really think health problems are limited to vaxed children? That children who are not vaxed can't get any of these things? Taken a read on the health board lately, lots of kids have issues, including the non-vaxed ones. For stuff not all of us are able to recognize. Have your kids blood pressure checked after age 3? Have you tested them for heart murmurs and other problems? How about vision and hearing screening? You think all issues can be be seen easily? I personally have several friends whose children had strabismus, some cases not at all that bad but definitely needing treatment. One in particular didn't know anything about it, and put off taking her child in. There are lots of things doctors can look for that the average person wouldn't recognize in their child.

It is great that your vaccinated child is so healthy. And speaking for myself, no I don't think that health problems are limited just to children who have received vaccinations because health is so much more that just physical, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to health and vitality. I actually have a vaxed child (no vaxes since 5 though) who is now 18 years old and she is just as healthy as my unvaxed children, she also had no sick visits to the doctor in her entire life, she did obviously go to get her vaxes though. But it is still evident that children suffer from way more chronic illness now that ever they did in the past, and there is no doubt in my mind that vaccinations have a great deal to do with this.

Originally Posted by lirpasirhc

anecdotally, i haven't met anyone in real life whose pediatrician caught a disease/ medical condition before the parent was concerned.

Neither have I.