Jumping on over and a vaccine question.

jewels1199

Hi Ladies !!

Making the jump from 2nd to 3rd Tri..wow...I cant believe its that time already Im not an overly active poster but I pop on from time to time

I know vaccines are a HOT topic button so please excuse if this has been asked already. I looked over the board but didnt see this topic.

So I have 3 nieces all under the age of 10. Only the oldest is vaccinated, the other two are either partially vaccinated against some things or not at all. Where we live we are having a major major measles outbreak, schools are closed, hospitals are on over load....and two of the girls are not vaccinated. I NEVER even thought of it until my MIL brought it up the other day. If the girls arent vaccinated am I going to let them around the baby ? Im sooo torn....part of me expects that the baby is going to come in contact with people who are not vaccinated but do I KNOWINGLY let the baby around the same people?
I love love my nieces and my SIL has her own reasons for not vaccinating them and I have to respect that. But what would you do if this was your family??

jewels1199

jennish11 said:

Are you in Washington State by chance?  that's where I'm at and Vashon Island regularly gets measle outbreaks....

Especially considering there is a measles outbreak going on in your area, I would definitely NOT let my newborn around un-vaccinated children.

While you respect your SIL's decision, she must also respect yours.  Don't allow her children to get too close to your baby until you and your pediatrician decide it's safe.  And, if your SIL did her research on not vaccinating, than she should fully understand your decision to keep a distance from un-vaccinated children for awhile and she should fully support it.

No were actually in Vancouver BC, although I know there are quite a few areas having the same problem.
Its just such a hard thing .... those girls didnt get a choice and now they wont be able to see their new nephew ? Just not fair

jewels1199

RedheadBaker said:

S.O.'s sister did not vaccinate any of her four kids. They did not meet DS until his first birthday party.

Did it cause any tension between to two families? Was she understanding ?

PrimRoseMama

Nope. The cute little girls & your SIL won't be sitting next to you in the NICU if your baby gets gravely ill. I would not knowingly expose my baby to unvaccinated kids.

dragonfly711

On the news in NYC they are having more outbreaks of measles. I would not let my newborn by any unvaccinated person or child. Not taking that chance.

laurakaz13

I would never, under any circumstances let my newborn near unvaccinated kids.  And no, you don't have to respect your SIL's bad decision.  I just feel really badly for her children. 

AKB090609

If they are not vaccinated for reasons other than medical fragility, I wouldn't want them to have direct contact with my child until my child was vaccinated. I get that it is a choice, but I don't want to risk the health of a child who is not yet old enough to be protected.

RebeccaY1

Even once my child was vaccinated I still wouldn't want to visit unvaccinated people.  Vaccination does not guarantee that you are totally protected.  I wouldn't risk the health of my child because of the poor decisions of other people. 

cMichelle0423

Personally, I would not be letting them anywhere near the baby. It's not worth the risk.

laurblum

No way would I have them near the baby. 

klynne924

I brought this up with my MW yesterday at my appointment because my brother's girlfriend has decided against vaccinating my nephew because her half brother and/or sister had a "reaction" to a vaccine. My MW advised not allowing DD to be in contact with my nephew until she's vaccinated herself. She also advised not to be around him myself while pregnant any time that he is sick.

maelic

Nope, I would not let my newborn anywhere near an unvaccinated school-age child during a measles outbreak. No, no, no. 

tjkdlhb

No. Not worth the risk.

*LrCg*

Obviously I'm in the minority here but yes I would with precaution.  I would confirm with SIL that her children are well and address your concerns prior to them coming over (ask if any children in her kids schools have been exposed yet).  Obviously when newly exposed there sometimes aren't symptoms so I would probably ask that they not hold the baby or breath over it.  In my area, we are also having a mumps break out and in the last report there were @30 people and only 1 of those people were not vaccinated.  In addition, if you are keeping your baby from non-vaccinated people then make sure you keep them away from newly vaccinated children that received the MMR or chicken pox vaccine- those are the only ones that contain live virus and they do shed and can cause the disease (happened to my friend when her child was in daycare-chicken pox).  You'd want to ask your doctor to look at the pamphlet and find out how many weeks they shed for.  FWIW, with regard to chicken pox- if you had chicken pox and are breastfeeding your child has your antibodies while your breastfeeding (I mention this because not knowing your age- if you are @30 years or older you probably never got the vaccine).

Justabean3

wwwnc.cdc.gov/.../measles-rubeola
The incubation period ranges from 7 to 21 days from exposure to onset of fever; rash usually appears about 14 days ...


There is no way to tell if her children have been exposed and by then it will be too late.

Wouldn't let it happen

rainydayluck

jewels1199 said:

jennish11 said:

Are you in Washington State by chance?  that's where I'm at and Vashon Island regularly gets measle outbreaks....

Especially considering there is a measles outbreak going on in your area, I would definitely NOT let my newborn around un-vaccinated children.

While you respect your SIL's decision, she must also respect yours.  Don't allow her children to get too close to your baby until you and your pediatrician decide it's safe.  And, if your SIL did her research on not vaccinating, than she should fully understand your decision to keep a distance from un-vaccinated children for awhile and she should fully support it.

No were actually in Vancouver BC, although I know there are quite a few areas having the same problem.
Its just such a hard thing .... those girls didnt get a choice and now they wont be able to see their new nephew ? Just not fair


You are worried about being "fair" to the girls? Would if be "fair" to your baby if he got sick and was in the hospital because you were too concerned about ruffling feathers?

jewels1199

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all your feedback. Its such a tough spot to be in but of course the health of my baby comes first ! Your right...If im stuck int he NICU with an infant with a serious disease sure my SIL will feel bad but that doesnt make my kid any less sick.
Looks like they are going to have to stay away.....

spacepotatoes

*LrCg* said:

Obviously I'm in the minority here but yes I would with precaution.  I would confirm with SIL that her children are well and address your concerns prior to them coming over (ask if any children in her kids schools have been exposed yet).  Obviously when newly exposed there sometimes aren't symptoms so I would probably ask that they not hold the baby or breath over it.  In my area, we are also having a mumps break out and in the last report there were @30 people and only 1 of those people were not vaccinated.  In addition, if you are keeping your baby from non-vaccinated people then make sure you keep them away from newly vaccinated children that received the MMR or chicken pox vaccine- those are the only ones that contain live virus and they do shed and can cause the disease (happened to my friend when her child was in daycare-chicken pox).  You'd want to ask your doctor to look at the pamphlet and find out how many weeks they shed for.  FWIW, with regard to chicken pox- if you had chicken pox and are breastfeeding your child has your antibodies while your breastfeeding (I mention this because not knowing your age- if you are @30 years or older you probably never got the vaccine).

You are aware that for many illnesses, they are contagious during the period before symptoms appear, right? The kids being well may mean absolutely nothing. And they can be carriers without ever actually getting sick themselves.

BC&LM

I wouldn't let my child around them until he is fully vaccinated.

iqwedding3

I see folks saying stuff like "unless they have a medical reason not to vaccinate", etc.  Why should this make a difference?  Your kid is just as able to get infected from a person who can't get vaccinated due to medical reasons (more so if it's because they're immune deficient) as they are from whatever antivax nut lives down the street.

spacepotatoes

iqwedding3 said:

I see folks saying stuff like "unless they have a medical reason not to vaccinate", etc.  Why should this make a difference?  Your kid is just as able to get infected from a person who can't get vaccinated due to medical reasons (more so if it's because they're immune deficient) as they are from whatever antivax nut lives down the street.

I don't think it makes exposure to that child any less harmful. I think we just tend to judge those parents less because they're making a decision based on actual medical reasoning, and on their child's best interests given those circumstances. The antivax nutters are just nutters.

iqwedding3

spacepotatoes said:

iqwedding3 said:

I see folks saying stuff like "unless they have a medical reason not to vaccinate", etc.  Why should this make a difference?  Your kid is just as able to get infected from a person who can't get vaccinated due to medical reasons (more so if it's because they're immune deficient) as they are from whatever antivax nut lives down the street.

I don't think it makes exposure to that child any less harmful. I think we just tend to judge those parents less because they're making a decision based on actual medical reasoning, and on their child's best interests given those circumstances. The antivax nutters are just nutters.

It seems kind of inconsistent to say to an antivaxer that it's not about their beliefs it's about child safety, but for other people to say it's ok that we're not paying attention to the safety aspect.

I would find their intentional lack of vaccinations maddening, and frankly I wouldn't want my kid around crazy people.  But I'd also wonder about letting my kid near anyone unvaccinated for quite some time.

spacepotatoes

@iqwedding3 I'm not sure what's inconsistent about what I said. I do think that exposure to any unvaxed child is potentially harmful, regardless of why they are unvaccinated. I wouldn't allow my kid to be exposed in either situation. But I am also a lot more sympathetic to the parents who can't vaccinate, or vax fully, for a legitimate reason and I don't judge them for that. What are they supposed to do in that case? If they can't, they can't. I'm sure they are very concerned about their child's safety, if not even more so because they can't vax.

Realistically, the number of people who truly cannot vaccinate is not that high. The number of people who claim it, on the other hand...

iqwedding3

spacepotatoes said:

@iqwedding3 I'm not sure what's inconsistent about what I said. I do think that exposure to any unvaxed child is potentially harmful, regardless of why they are unvaccinated. I wouldn't allow my kid to be exposed in either situation. But I am also a lot more sympathetic to the parents who can't vaccinate, or vax fully, for a legitimate reason and I don't judge them for that. What are they supposed to do in that case? If they can't, they can't. I'm sure they are very concerned about their child's safety, if not even more so because they can't vax.

Realistically, the number of people who truly cannot vaccinate is not that high. The number of people who claim it, on the other hand...

I guess I'm saying that if I say that no unvaccinated person is allowed near my child, for, say 3 months because I don't want her getting pertussis, then it should be unvaccinated for any reason, not just antivax.

spacepotatoes

iqwedding3 said:

spacepotatoes said:

@iqwedding3 I'm not sure what's inconsistent about what I said. I do think that exposure to any unvaxed child is potentially harmful, regardless of why they are unvaccinated. I wouldn't allow my kid to be exposed in either situation. But I am also a lot more sympathetic to the parents who can't vaccinate, or vax fully, for a legitimate reason and I don't judge them for that. What are they supposed to do in that case? If they can't, they can't. I'm sure they are very concerned about their child's safety, if not even more so because they can't vax.

Realistically, the number of people who truly cannot vaccinate is not that high. The number of people who claim it, on the other hand...

I guess I'm saying that if I say that no unvaccinated person is allowed near my child, for, say 3 months because I don't want her getting pertussis, then it should be unvaccinated for any reason, not just antivax.

Then we're just arguing the same thing because I agree with that, totally.