babies first shots

Mummyadams

I laways make my husband to take my son for his shots. Pamol (not sure what the equivalent is in the US - baby paracetamol) and keep an eye on their temperature, some babies react.

triciab79

I work for a company that makes software that tracks and forecast immunizations. You do not want to skip any of the shots your baby is suppose to get or mess with the schedule. I know its hard but these diseases are so much worse than the shots. Your child might be healthy enough to survive but if she gets measles and spreads it (disease take days to have symptoms) to a baby who is too young to have had that shot, it may very well cost someone else their baby. I know I could never live with myself if knew I caused the death of someone else's baby and I certainly couldn't live with myself if I went against medical advise and caused the death of my own child.

I was just wondering what you meant by mess with the schedule? Does that include working out a schedule of spaced out shots? Thats what I do and my pediatrician helped me make the time table and never said that it would risk her getting the diseases if we did it this way. She is the pediatrician for all three of my kids (9, 3 and 20 months) and will be for my fourth due in September. I'd really like to know what tracking and forecasting immunizations is. Does that mean you track and forecast the timetable that shots should be given? Would you be able to share that information? Thanks for any info you can share!

If your doctor is helping you work out a schedule then you are fine. Certain shots cannot be given at the same time or within a month of each other so in the beginning when you are getting shots for the baby every 3 months messing with the schedule can throw things off pretty good. Now usually they treat the 9 month check up as make up shots day so if you had to skip any due to fever or availability you can make them up at that point. You always risk the shot you want not being available though. Immunizations are not shelf stable like most medicine and the distribution is very carefully controlled so doctors really only keep on hand what they think they will need. If the state runs into a problem with a distributor a vaccine might not be available at the time of your appointment. It doesn't happen often but its not something I am willing to risk with my little ones. Once again if your doctor is behind you he knows best for your child's individual needs.

paperpudding

What country do you live in? In the US, you have to be 21 for this.

I live in Australia - but I dont understand your comment - what do you have to be 21 for?
obviously not for the infant vaccinations.
In Australia, the parent has to give consent for the baby - regardless of how old the parent is -if the parent is under 21, (or under 18 - 18 being the legal adult age here) they still give consent.

paperpudding

Since you give vaccines, are you aware of the argument over them (autism-related arguments, mercury and other chemicals in vaccines with no apparent reason for them to be in there, etc) and what is your opinion? Have you ever experienced any of these problems with vaccines first hand? Or at all? Do you believe they are mis guided or untrue? Im very interested in this.
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The autism arguement has been well and truly debunked - study was found to be fraudulent and author of study, Andrew Wakefield, has been de-registerd by medical board.

There is no mercury in vaccines in Australia.

I'm not sure what other chemicals you think are in there unneccesarily.

I'm not sure what problems with vaccines you are asking if I have experienced? - but have given literally thousands of vaccines to infants, school children and adults and have not personally seen anything more than a mild local reaction - redness, swelling at injection site, mild fever in babies, that sort of thing.
Very occasionally a baby with febrile convulsions -, none of whom had any ongoing ill effects.

CristinaL1983

Whenever my daughter had to get shots I held her in my lap. She would cry (as an infant) for about 30 seconds and then be done. I always got a little choked up when she was getting shots but didn't let her know... At her 5 year visit she had to get a few vaccines and she was not happy, I still got choked up. I definitely got her, her shots on time. I don't really know whether it's as big now as it was then to avoid vaccines but there were outcroppings around us of infants getting terrible diseases and quite a few unnecessary deaths.

TBH, unvaccinated kids (without medical cause) kind of irk me. A vaccine is usually only so effective. The strength is in the herd. If most kids get vaccinated then even if one gets the disease it isn't as likely to spread. If a bunch of kids don't get vaccinated and catch a disease, that puts everyone they come into contact with at increasing risk. I think it's just as much a social responsibility as it is a parental responsibility. Obviously, if a kid has some kind of risk factor, that should come first but just as a preference for no legitimate medical reason, grr...

AthenaErr

Shes probably forgotten about it by now. Obv monitor for fever etc but likelihood is shes over it.

gimpygramma

Nothing to really add that hasn't been posted already.
Its so sad to see them hurting, especially if they need multiple shots.
I try to have the doctor space them out as much as possible.
For me, the heel prick the day after birth was agonizing to watch and I am considering refusing it for my fourth (currently preggo).

I was so traumatized by my son's PKU test (the heel prick) that the memory is still fresh some 45 years later. They have to get a dab of blood in several different squares on a card. When the test was first done they didn't get a sufficient sample so we got called in to have the test repeated when he was two months old. Talk about panic and sleepless nights. I understood that the condition they were testing for had something to do with way the baby metabolized protein and that if he had that condition and was not treated immediately for it, it would cause mental retardation. So TWO months later?! How much damage might already have been done?
Then there was the test itself. It had to be done 4 hours after a feed. 4 hours after a feed my baby boy was STARVING! In total distress before that lancet ever touched his heel. Through the whole process he never took his eyes off me. Why wasn't Mommy feeding him? Why was she letting this nasty nurse hurt him? Betrayal! :sad:

robot_potato

I work for a company that makes software that tracks and forecast immunizations. You do not want to skip any of the shots your baby is suppose to get or mess with the schedule. I know its hard but these diseases are so much worse than the shots. Your child might be healthy enough to survive but if she gets measles and spreads it (disease take days to have symptoms) to a baby who is too young to have had that shot, it may very well cost someone else their baby. I know I could never live with myself if knew I caused the death of someone else's baby and I certainly couldn't live with myself if I went against medical advise and caused the death of my own child.

To each his own. Immunizations of any sort are certainly not right for my family. Thanks for the guilt trip though.

skinny_erme

i advise all of you to look up the ingredients in vaccines..you might not ever get them again

nornyb

Nothing to really add that hasn't been posted already.
Its so sad to see them hurting, especially if they need multiple shots.
I try to have the doctor space them out as much as possible.
For me, the heel prick the day after birth was agonizing to watch and I am considering refusing it for my fourth (currently preggo).

I was so traumatized by my son's PKU test (the heel prick) that the memory is still fresh some 45 years later. They have to get a dab of blood in several different squares on a card. When the test was first done they didn't get a sufficient sample so we got called in to have the test repeated when he was two months old. Talk about panic and sleepless nights. I understood that the condition they were testing for had something to do with way the baby metabolized protein and that if he had that condition and was not treated immediately for it, it would cause mental retardation. So TWO months later?! How much damage might already have been done?
Then there was the test itself. It had to be done 4 hours after a feed. 4 hours after a feed my baby boy was STARVING! In total distress before that lancet ever touched his heel. Through the whole process he never took his eyes off me. Why wasn't Mommy feeding him? Why was she letting this nasty nurse hurt him? Betrayal! :sad:

I am a NICU nurse and regularly perform these tests. The heel poke penetrates the skin approximately half of a centimeter (less than 1/4 inch) and we use 0.2ml of blood to fill those circles......there are 3ml in one teaspoon, so we are talking about a tiny bit of blood. Although the test is commonly called a PKU test, it is actually testing for a collection of metabolic disorders, one of which is PKU....the collection differs from state to state. Yes, most of the disorders are rare, but they can cause serious problems, including death, so it seems worth it, don't you think?

gimpygramma

Nothing to really add that hasn't been posted already.
Its so sad to see them hurting, especially if they need multiple shots.
I try to have the doctor space them out as much as possible.
For me, the heel prick the day after birth was agonizing to watch and I am considering refusing it for my fourth (currently preggo).

I was so traumatized by my son's PKU test (the heel prick) that the memory is still fresh some 45 years later. They have to get a dab of blood in several different squares on a card. When the test was first done they didn't get a sufficient sample so we got called in to have the test repeated when he was two months old. Talk about panic and sleepless nights. I understood that the condition they were testing for had something to do with way the baby metabolized protein and that if he had that condition and was not treated immediately for it, it would cause mental retardation. So TWO months later?! How much damage might already have been done?
Then there was the test itself. It had to be done 4 hours after a feed. 4 hours after a feed my baby boy was STARVING! In total distress before that lancet ever touched his heel. Through the whole process he never took his eyes off me. Why wasn't Mommy feeding him? Why was she letting this nasty nurse hurt him? Betrayal! :sad:

I am a NICU nurse and regularly perform these tests. The heel poke penetrates the skin approximately half of a centimeter (less than 1/4 inch) and we use 0.2ml of blood to fill those circles......there are 3ml in one teaspoon, so we are talking about a tiny bit of blood. Although the test is commonly called a PKU test, it is actually testing for a collection of metabolic disorders, one of which is PKU....the collection differs from state to state. Yes, most of the disorders are rare, but they can cause serious problems, including death, so it seems worth it, don't you think?

Oh definitely worth it! And his "pain" was over the minute he got the nipple in his mouth.

CristinaL1983

i advise all of you to look up the ingredients in vaccines..you might not ever get them again

Assuming that people are less educated than you is a dangerous trap. Several people on this thread have already mentioned their personal experience levels and they definitely trump yours.

I, personally, looked up every ingredient in every vaccination I gave my daughter. My knowledge of biology and chemistry helped me decide that vaccinating was, in fact, the right thing to do.

skinny_erme

i advise all of you to look up the ingredients in vaccines..you might not ever get them again

Assuming that people are less educated than you is a dangerous trap. Several people on this thread have already mentioned their personal experience levels and they definitely trump yours.

I, personally, looked up every ingredient in every vaccination I gave my daughter. My knowledge of biology and chemistry helped me decide that vaccinating was, in fact, the right thing to do.

i did not say that it wasnt a good idea for everyone..im just saying generally..get educated on what exactly is going into your childs body and how it might affect them in the long run

triciab79

I work for a company that makes software that tracks and forecast immunizations. You do not want to skip any of the shots your baby is suppose to get or mess with the schedule. I know its hard but these diseases are so much worse than the shots. Your child might be healthy enough to survive but if she gets measles and spreads it (disease take days to have symptoms) to a baby who is too young to have had that shot, it may very well cost someone else their baby. I know I could never live with myself if knew I caused the death of someone else's baby and I certainly couldn't live with myself if I went against medical advise and caused the death of my own child.

To each his own. Immunizations of any sort are certainly not right for my family. Thanks for the guilt trip though.

You are welcome for the guilt trip. If you aren't vaccinating your child you are putting my tiny baby at risk so a guilty trip is warranted don't you think?

Diary_Queen

i didn't cry. my wife didn't cry. my son didn't cry.

we monitored his temp, but never needed anything. he was fine.

Ditto on my twins. They never had a moment of panic before, during or after regular immunizations. Neither did I.

The only traumatic experience was when they both got sick (at 10 months old) and the smallest of my twins was so dehydrated that they were putting an IV in his scalp. He cried then and I held him, but we made it through just fine. It was all for medical purposes and didn't really seem like anything I should be upset over and in-turn upset my child. They're going to have to have shots from one reason or another all their lives. I was made to fear shots when I was little and was terrified of needles until my late 20s. Don't want to do the same to my kids. Now, they're super brave 8 year olds that regularly go with me when I give blood and they watch the needle stick and everything and are both excited to be old enough (16 years old - so eventually old enough) to have parental consent to donate blood as well.

LaurySch

I must be hard-hearted - no crying, no fussing, no over-coddling. 2 kids both made it through just fine and if you ask them if they were traumatized by it they'd look at you as if you'd grown wings out your ears.

I do understand the whole "don't want to hurt my child" thing, I just recognize that I am the parent and sometimes good decisions hurt.

As to the vaccine thing, I'll chance the risk over smallpox or polio any day. Or like someone else mentioned, letting my un-vaccinated, infected child give a deadly disease to the person in the grocery store who has a serious immune deficiency.

To each their own.

SherryTeach

i advise all of you to look up the ingredients in vaccines..you might not ever get them again

You might think differently about immunizations if you had grown up when I was born and babies and children my age were getting polio.

acbabbitt

Nothing to really add that hasn't been posted already.
Its so sad to see them hurting, especially if they need multiple shots.
I try to have the doctor space them out as much as possible.
For me, the heel prick the day after birth was agonizing to watch and I am considering refusing it for my fourth (currently preggo).

I was so traumatized by my son's PKU test (the heel prick) that the memory is still fresh some 45 years later. They have to get a dab of blood in several different squares on a card. When the test was first done they didn't get a sufficient sample so we got called in to have the test repeated when he was two months old. Talk about panic and sleepless nights. I understood that the condition they were testing for had something to do with way the baby metabolized protein and that if he had that condition and was not treated immediately for it, it would cause mental retardation. So TWO months later?! How much damage might already have been done?
Then there was the test itself. It had to be done 4 hours after a feed. 4 hours after a feed my baby boy was STARVING! In total distress before that lancet ever touched his heel. Through the whole process he never took his eyes off me. Why wasn't Mommy feeding him? Why was she letting this nasty nurse hurt him? Betrayal! :sad:

I am a NICU nurse and regularly perform these tests. The heel poke penetrates the skin approximately half of a centimeter (less than 1/4 inch) and we use 0.2ml of blood to fill those circles......there are 3ml in one teaspoon, so we are talking about a tiny bit of blood. Although the test is commonly called a PKU test, it is actually testing for a collection of metabolic disorders, one of which is PKU....the collection differs from state to state. Yes, most of the disorders are rare, but they can cause serious problems, including death, so it seems worth it, don't you think?

Totally worth it.

With ZERO family history of anything like this, both of my girls have PKU. One classic and one just "hyperphe."

My oldest daughter was the only child in our (western) state diagnosed that year and my younger daughter was one of two. Complete and utter shock.

However, with intervention and vegan diets (plus phenyl-free formula) they are gorgeous, bright girls.

No heelprick/newborn screening/PKU test? My girls would be severely mentally retarded. They are currently honors students and one is an elite athlete.

Please get the newborn screenings!

paperpudding

i advise all of you to look up the ingredients in vaccines..you might not ever get them again

You might think differently about immunizations if you had grown up when I was born and babies and children my age were getting polio.

Yes exactly - try looking up the diseases you are being vaccinated agaisnt - you might never miss another vaccination

DawnieB1977

I have 2 kids and taking them for their immunisations isn't nice but i always thought it was worse for me! They were always fine. I had to take my son for his pre school boosters on Monday and he didn't even cry, just said ouch at the 2nd one. I gave them calpol (not sure if you gave that in the US. It's paracetamol for kids.) each time.