Vaccinations - what do you all think?

[kokie]

Hey again everyone -

Okay, as I'm sure most of you read in my other post, our ped is only having us come back in a week and a half because she wants to talk to us about vaccinations. What do you all think if having a child with DS vaccinated? Is it good? Do you do it? Is it better to not have vaccinations done? None of the kids in our family have ever been vaccinated, as my mom has researched it and she is of the thinking against it. Needless to say this is the first time it has come up since, she is going to research it again and we are also wondering others opinions (particularly because of the DS situation).

TIA -

[MB]

My son almost died from the DPT. He stopped breathing four times before he was admitted to the ICU. He would start breathing again with a little nudge. We are so lucky that I was holding him when he had his episode. He was six months old and this was his second set of shots. He did not react until 24 hours later - very unusual.

The culprit was the pertussis vaccine. With his small airways, pertussis (whooping cough) could have been even more deadly than the vaccine.

He cannot be immunized against pertussis. Whenever he has had boosters, the nurse has had to bring the vial into the exam room, show me the vial and point out how she knows it does not contain any pertussis vaccine. Sometimes two nurses will come in and document for each other that they witnessed the "no pertussis" DT vaccine being administered. No one is ever offended by my vigilance.

My son with Ds is my youngest. If I had another child, I would have insisted that the vaccines be spread out. I would no longer allow a DPT, MMR, Hep B etc.... super session of vaccinations.

I would vaccinate any future children. I would allow the pertussis to be administered. I would be scared to death and watch the child very closely, but I think we all take that risk for the greater good of society.

Good luck with your decision and God bless and keep that precious baby.

MB

[momofrussell]

I am for vaccinations. There are risks and some think they are WAY to great to risk the vaccinations and I can appreciate that.. but I think the risk of NOT vaccinating and getting sick and getting others sick is too great of a risk too, so I have vaccinated all my kids. None of my kids (I have 3) have had adverse reactions to any of them. And Russell IS DX'd with Autism also, but it wasn't from the vaccinations. I am pro-vacine LOL... but that is just my little ole opinion....

Your mom has to do what is best for YOUR family though!
A.

[logansmom]

Logan's OT has a child who is 13 and has cerebral palsy caused directly by vaccines (documented case with a financial settlement). . . but even she recommended that Logan get the vaccines as scheduled. Today's vaccines are a lot safer than they were even 10 years ago since most of the ingredients that caused the few very severe reactions were removed or replaced. That said, I also think there's merit to spreading out the vaccines rather than having the "super shots" all at one time. Even with the vaccines, Logan's had a tough winter. I can only imagine how bad it could have been without them. We definitely keep Logan on the vaccine schedule.

Kim and Logan (26 months)

[PaigesMom]

I hear stories like MB's and Logansmom's and they scare me to death, however with a deep breath, I am still pro vaccine. For the same reasons others have stated. I think that the risk of NOT vaccinating and getting disease (for the child and exposure to others) is higher than the risks of vaccination, however, that is only my opinion.

There are cycles of when disease comes back - such as whooping cough (pertussis), which is on the rise again right now.

I gave both kids everything - including varicella (chicken pox) and Prevnar (pneumococcal) even when it was very new. Paige is also neutropenic and the pediatricians felt she really needed that one specifically.

Anyway, good luck!

[donnita]

My children have had all the vaccines available to them at the time.

[meghans_mom]

I am pro-vaccine too....there are risks on both ends - to get and not to get, but in my opinion, I feel the risks are greater in not being vaccinated.

laurie

[Emilysmom]

All of my children had every vaccine they were available at that time. (the Chicken pox vaccine was not out yet).
I weighed all the risks and benefits and decided the risks were too great if we did not do the vaccines. I would agree with checking to see if they could be given individually, rather than all together.

Susan

[AnnieC]

All my children have been vaccinated as well & I plan on having the baby vaccinated.
Unfortunately, with anything, there are risks.....but I believe the benefits outweigh the risks in this case.



on a side note....Raven was dx'd with PDD (on the autistic spectrum) & she still had the MMR. I do not believe the MMR had anything to do with this, because the signs of autism were there before she had the vaccination.

[MatureMomG]

We have made an informed choice not to vaccinate (25 years ago when our youngest was a baby).
Why would your choice be any different for a child with DS? Whether you are pro- or anti?

Yours in Christ,
Kathy

[momofrussell]

Kathy, I can't speak for myself because I choose to vaccinate all three kids for the same reasons and do agree with the "why do it differently with the child w/DS" thing... but I would think some might consider vaccinating a child w/DS after previously not vaccinating their other children because children w/DS have different immune systems and can get illnesses easier then "typical" kids. If for some reason I did not choose to vaccinate my other children and then had Russell, I might take that into consideration.

A.

[PaigesMom]

Kathy, I think A. hit the nail on the head. That is also the only difference that I could see as well.

Debbie

[kellyds]

We have had our other five "selectively" vaccinated. That means we've gotten them the shots where we think the risk of illness outweighs the risk of the shot.

For instance, we have not had our children immunized against chicken pox, as the risk of the "new" vaccination outweighs the risk of a routine bout with chicken pox.

With Joshua, we took a deep breath and are having him fully immunized. The reason is because, for him, the risk of ANY illness outweighs the risk of the vaccination.

When making these kinds of decisions, you have to be careful what websites you visit. Don't base your decision on one person's anecdotal story. Look at broad studies, done by reliable sources.

Good luck to your mom in deciding the best thing to do for your sweet little brother.

[momofrussell]

You know, I didn't think I would be giving my kids the chix pox vac either. I had NO probs with any of my kids, Russell included, getting chix pox. I mean, it's a rite of passage to me. LOL But our ped INSISTED that Russell have it when he was old enough to have it and that Regan have it too. He said he could get much sicker with the chix pox due to the immune issues DS causes sometimes. So, we did the vaccination for it. Reece had it too.

I have heard from enough parents since then that it really wasn't a big deal their child w/DS got the chix pox. So, I was kinda sad I would never see my kids itch and complain and be off school for days LMAO!

A.

[Connie]

I am for vaccinations but with Collin I can honestly say that I was very very nervous about giving them to him.

With my other children they recieved all their shots right on time with no hesistation but, with Collin I spaced his out. I would only give him one at a time and would allow 2-3 months between each one before he would get the next.

I can say that I am not a big fan of the Chicken pox vaccine and Collin and Lauren have not had that one yet. I am hoping they get the POX before I have to make the decession to give it to them.

Connie