Vaccines (for people, not dogs)
My options are basically get the shot or avoid my sister-in-law's house for like a year. What do you guys think about vaccinations? |
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| Well, as a parent of four kids, and a kind of crunchy granola hippy type, I can see both sides of this. First off - getting the vax for whooping cough isn't going to stop you from potentially picking up the germs and carrying them around. It just means YOU won't get it. It doesn't protect your sister in laws baby at all. Washing your hands would be WAY more effective. Your sister in law is in what I call "pregnancy psycho" stage. It happens. New moms freak the hell out about every little thing. She'll be analyzing poop closer than a sheepie owner, and sucking every booger out of the kids nose like it was a felony for it to be there in the first place. On the grander scale - I did vax my kids. Slowly. I delayed a lot of vax's, because I just don't think getting umpteen shots at a time is a good idea for any kid. I've watched a child go into renal failure from the MMR combo vax, and vowed that my children would not have that risk. The school hated me, but I basically told them to suck it. I waited until they literally forced my hand to do the varicella vax. I strongly oppose that vaccine for many reasons, which I won't go into here, because no one cares about my soapbox speech, lol. She needs to chill, but there is nothing you're going to be able to do about it. Tell her you'll get the vax, when she gets a note from her pediatrician stating that the vax will keep you from giving it to the baby. She won't get it. Wash your hands. Don't touch your face in the babys presence, or mom will freak out probably. And for doG's sake, don't sneeze or cough around them. /sarcasm She needs to do her homework. Vaccinations don't make you sterile. And her baby is going to get sick someday. They all do. It's called LIFE.  |
| Unless you hang around a lot of children, the chances of you contacting whooping cough are slim to none, don't cave in. A lot of us "grandmother" agers haven't had all the vaxs now required, does that mean we couldn't handle the child either? When the baby comes make a point of washing your hands before handling the child, you'll impress the mother and maybe even make HER think you are obsessive. |
| I'm not even out around people most of the time. I do a lot of sitting at home and I'm barely ever around children. I see that the tdap vaccine is only 85% effective, anyway, and vaccines don't give a true immunity, having the disease does. Vaccines wear off. She's still demanding that everyone who is going to be anywhere near the baby gets the vaccine (which basically means me because she knows I don't have it and pretty much everyone else does). I think she's only pushing this because she went on the internet and read a bunch of horror stories about babies dying from whooping cough that the state of MI has on their website to convince everyone to go out and get the shot. I saw what she read, it's a story about a mom who had her baby and got the tdap shot before leaving the hosptial, then her baby got whooping cough, and of course it's the fault of unvaccinated people like me. It makes me wonder if that baby somehow got it from her mother getting the shot... But anyway. I have a feeling she'll give in before I do, there is no way I'm getting that shot. They said I can't bring my dogs over there anymore, either. I like dogs better than babies anyway, so  |
| She's on her third kid, too, and she didn't throw a fit about the tdap vaccine for the first two and they definitely survived... |
SheepieBoss wrote: Unless you hang around a lot of children, the chances of you contacting whooping cough are slim to none, don't cave in. A lot of us "grandmother" agers haven't had all the vaxs now required, does that mean we couldn't handle the child either? When the baby comes make a point of washing your hands before handling the child, you'll impress the mother and maybe even make HER think you are obsessive. Though there are several sides to this ...and valid on all... this is not necessarily true. Whooping cough is on the rise, depending on where you live. It was almost gone, but coming back quicker than most would like. It's not you that is the issue. It's the babies that can contract this - and if you ever see a baby suffer from this disease - trust me - anyone that watches a newborn turn blue and lose their breath - it made me vaccinate. No baby should ever have to live through that horror and I have seen it too often. I saw 5 cases in California in a 13 week period years ago as a travel nurse. There was a high immigrant population (unvaccinated) and the started spreading ...I had not seen one case ever before then ...ever...and it only takes one or 2 cases to start it going. Just FYI - I also spaced my 4 yo vaccines (and I am a pediatric RN and ER RN ...not the most popular decision among my peers  ) - but - I have seen what pertussis does and I have seen it spread in a short amount of time. Remember, polio was essentially erradicated ...thankfully...from vaccines. Do I think people should have the choice for vaccines? - yes Do I have concerns about newer vaccines and the amount we give small children all at once? - yesWould I get a TDap and give my daughters a booster - YES! Respectfully - I wouldn't allow anyone around my newborn either until she was vaccinated. The newborns are minimally in the hospital for weeks and can ..and do..die. Even when they survive...it is weeks (2 or more) of a hospital visit for a new family, a new baby, and that is nothing I would wish on anyone. She should respect your choices - but you should respect hers also. You two just see this differently - but unfortunately - if you end up in the wrong - her newborn will suffer - not you or her. Hate to sound so harse - but that is the reality. And the fact that you are not around children is not a factor - most children are vaccinated (or they cannot attend school) - so they are not spreading it. It is the adults who haven't been boostered and the immigrant population. The adults are giving it, unknowingly, to the vulnerable population of newborns and elderly. So - there is my 2 cents worth - for whatever it's worth.  |
| Ehhhhh just get the shots... And pick up a polio and measles vaccine happy meal while you're there. These diseases aren't prevalent because such a large percentage of the population is vaccinated. Not being vaccinated is kind of like breaking the social contract and taking advantage of those who do take the miniscule risk of vaccination. You're at a low risk only because of the risk others have taken. And while the risk for you now for succumbing to one of the vaccinated diseases is quite low for the aforementioned reasons, your risk from the vaccine is much lower. Finally, your not taking the vaccine puts others at higher risk. The vaccination rate plus the effectiveness of the vaccine are part of the formula that prevents pandemic, the virus doesn't get a chance to take root. If enough people refuse the vaccine, society is at risk. So at present in this country it's still your choice. But new laws have been passed under the heading of "homeland security" giving governors of some states the right to forcibly quarantine people... If you resent being told what you have to do now, imagine then. I say: Just be the bigger person, swallow (your pride) hard and roll up your sleeve(s). Someday you'll tell your niece/nephew what you did just for them. |
| Is this your sister-in-law's first baby? I love first baby paranoia. Kim's older sister was the first one in her family to have a baby. She wasn't as psycho as her husband. For example, as a baby, he was only allowed distilled water! By the time the 3rd baby came along, the 3rd baby could eat crumbs, bugs, dirt off the floor and they didn't care |
Baba wrote: Is this your sister-in-law's first baby? I love first baby paranoia. Kim's older sister was the first one in her family to have a baby. She wasn't as psycho as her husband. For example, as a baby, he was only allowed distilled water! By the time the 3rd baby came along, the 3rd baby could eat crumbs, bugs, dirt off the floor and they didn't care I think she said it was her 3rd child...she's just seeing the ads out now about whooping cough on TV, etc. And on the news, I also saw a story about dental caries way up in preschoolers. Apparently so many parents think they are doing a good thing and giving their kids bottled water...and not the fluoridated city water (would say tap water,but we have a well.) . But actually it is backfiring...with the tooth issue anyway.  |
| I've decided that I'm not getting the shot, but I will also respect her wishes by not coming to visit until after the baby has received his/her whooping cough vaccine at 8 weeks. I'm afraid something bad is going to happen once the baby gets the vaccine since I have read that the vaccine can cause seizures, especially when there is a family history of seizures (which they definitely have). Her other two kids have some health issues, the seven year old has terrible asthma and unexplained seizures, and the five year old seems like she is constantly coughing. There's no way I will ever vaccinate my own kids. I think she'd end up with a healthier baby if she chose not to vaccinate, but I have no right to tell her what to do of course, and that's okay. |
| I'm a firm believer in vaccines. The polio and measles vaccines pretty much eradicated those 2 diseases. They have EXTREME merit. I agree with Ron that getting vaccinations is part of a social contract each of us make with each other. |
| I know nobody cares about my 2 cents, but I didn't have my second son vaccinated, and I still wouldn't. We had issues with my older son and his vaccines and I truly felt the risks were far less going without. I know she probably read horror stories about not getting the shots, but maybe you should enlighten her about the horrors that occur to some who DO get vaccinated. I understand the risks, but I am willing to take them. Shellie |
| To me not vaccinating is a selfish act. It's on par with that guy that insists on coming to work with the flu or other evil virus. It's all about them and no regard for others. I have had measels and a secondary vaccination many years ago. But now that measels has reared its ugly head again (because people aren't vaccinating) I will have another vaccination next month as recommended as I travel frequently. My children have been vaccinated on a judicious schedule. Once they reached 15 I included a series for hepatitis and measles boosters. Such a simple act to protect them and society at large. |
| When I was a child, there were very few vaccinations available, so I got everything, except polio and smallpox, for which I was vaccinated. That includes pertussis, which I contracted when I was 8 months old. My parents told me I nearly died. One of the most common complications from pertussis is bacterial pneumonia. Which means, in addition to fighting off the pertussis virus, and struggling to catch breath while coughing nonstop, the infected person can get a second infection which makes it even harder for them to breathe. Why anyone would want to risk that for a child is beyond me. Hand washing will not do much to lessen the chance of spreading pertussis. Pertussis is spread by airborne particles when the sick person coughs, which they do quite a lot, and violently. A person with pertussis has this severe cough for 4 to 6 weeks or longer. It is possible to die from pertussis. Infants and young children usually get sicker than older children and adults. After your new niece or nephew is vaccinated, the baby will not have immunity immediately, but it will take some weeks to months for the immunity to develop. The reason that your sister is worried about pertussis is that there are more cases now than there used to be because of the numbers of people who do not vaccinate. Teenagers and adults (you would fall into that category) account for about half of all reported cases. |
Shellie wrote: I know nobody cares about my 2 cents, but I didn't have my second son vaccinated, and I still wouldn't. We had issues with my older son and his vaccines and I truly felt the risks were far less going without. I know she probably read horror stories about not getting the shots, but maybe you should enlighten her about the horrors that occur to some who DO get vaccinated. I understand the risks, but I am willing to take them. Shellie May I ask what the issues you had with your older son were? There are some pretty frightening stories on both sides. I wouldn't intentionally expose my vaccinated or unvaccinated child to any of the diseases that we vaccinate for because of the potential of it being permanently damaging to his/her health. For the same reasons I could not in good conscience expose him or her to the vaccines as I have read many stories of the irreversible damage caused by them. I don't feel like the risks outweigh the benefits at all. It is unlikely that my future children would be exposed to the actual diseases, as I have every intention of homeschooling and it's not like I have many people coming over (this also means that I won't be exposing my potentially disease giving children to vaccinated people, which seems to be an issue to lots of people). I definitely avoided many illnesses as a kid thanks to being homeschooled, even catching a cold was a rare occasion for me. |
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