DCP and vaccinations

kiwi625 · February 2012

Question: Do you think it is ok to request that your in-home child care provider be up to date on his/her vaccinations and a get yearly flu vaccination?

I'm really curious what the protocol is on this. I work in health care and they require us to have certain vaccinations, including a flu shot. But is it acceptable/normal to ask this of a nanny?

I must admit, I really get my feathers ruffled when my employer dictates what I believe to be personal health decisions...and now here I am thinking I might be that kind of employer... Boy, kids really do change everything.

KM121309 · February 2012

Yikes. As a previous nanny, I am not a fan of this. I don't get vaccinated and when I did for this pregnancy after OB suggested it, I had an allergic reaction to the flu shot (no egg allergy.) It is something you could ask when you do screening and it could help you make a decision between candidates, but I think you might end up losing out on some good care if you "require" it. I wouldn't have taken a job that required it, and I was an awesome nanny.

kiwi625 · February 2012

It's funny because I am not a fan of my employer requiring it either. Do you plan on asking your parents what their flu vaccination status is during flu season? (I ask because our nanny will more than likely be my mother.)

KM121309 · February 2012

kiwi625:
It's funny because I am not a fan of my employer requiring it either. Do you plan on asking your parents what their flu vaccination status is during flu season? (I ask because our nanny will more than likely be my mother.)

I am so confused, why ask the question if you are talking about your mother? I am clearly not asking my family members what their vacc status is, as I will not be getting vaccinated myself, nor will my husband. Both H and I have only ever gotten all the vaccines that are required by schools such as MMR and Hep, but hadn't ever had any of the "unnecessary ones." Now, this would all be different if my child had some sort of immunity disorder.

Mike_Patti · February 2012

I plan to ask my parents and any other family members who want to spend a lot of time with baby to stay up to date on their flu and get their dTap. If a care provider wasn't up to date on their vaccinations it would be a deal breaker. I respect people's decision to do what they want to with their health, but it will be a requirement for me. I don't think it's unreasonable at all. Babies don't have full immunity and are at increased risk of infectious disease.

caralck · February 2012

I would most certainly require my care providers be up to date on tdap and flu. I don't care if I "lose out" on a care provider because of it. That reminds me, I need to check that my parents and MIL get their tdap before baby arrives. whooping cough can kill a newborn, so yes, anyone hoping to get near my baby will need to be healthy and up to date on their shots. Thankfully the flu will be later on but will still ask MIL to get it at that time. I obviously can't make that requirement of the care providers at the daycare but since baby will be about 6 months old when we will use daycare, we'll just vaccinate baby before sending it off to the daycare center.

kiwi625 · February 2012

KM121309:
I am so confused, why ask the question if you are talking about your mother? I am clearly not asking my family members what their vacc status is, as I will not be getting vaccinated myself, nor will my husband. Both H and I have only ever gotten all the vaccines that are required by schools such as MMR and Hep, but hadn't ever had any of the "unnecessary ones." Now, this would all be different if my child had some sort of immunity disorder.

I was really just curious what was normal in the world of in-home child care. My mother has offered to be our nanny, and we are considering her offer. Family or not, I assume we would ask the same of her in this instance that we would with a non-family member care provider.

My curiosity was sparked last night when my husband mentioned that Whooping Cough had been on the rise locally. That made me wonder about mine, MH and my mother's vaccination status.

Again, I was really just curious what normal expectations are of childcare providers.

KM121309 · February 2012

kiwi625:
KM121309:
I am so confused, why ask the question if you are talking about your mother? I am clearly not asking my family members what their vacc status is, as I will not be getting vaccinated myself, nor will my husband. Both H and I have only ever gotten all the vaccines that are required by schools such as MMR and Hep, but hadn't ever had any of the "unnecessary ones." Now, this would all be different if my child had some sort of immunity disorder.
I was really just curious what was normal in the world of in-home child care. My mother has offered to be our nanny, and we are considering her offer. Family or not, I assume we would ask the same of her in this instance that we would with a non-family member care provider.
My curiosity was sparked last night when my husband mentioned that Whooping Cough had been on the rise locally. That made me wonder about mine, MH and my mother's vaccination status.
Again, I was really just curious what normal expectations are of childcare providers.

Gotcha. I was just so confused. I am also out of it because of a cold, but I thought potentially your OP and your second comment were two different people because they seemed contradicting.

kiwi625 · February 2012

KM121309:
Gotcha. I was just so confused. I am also out of it because of a cold, but I thought potentially your OP and your second comment were two different people because they seemed contradicting.

No, it's not your cold--I really am contradicting myself. Smile I guess I'm coming around to the idea of "required vaccinations" and expecting people who will have a lot of close contact with our children to have the flu and tdap vaccinations. Now that we will have these little people to protect, it is scary to think they could die from something that could easily be prevented by a vaccination.

Hope you feel better soon! I bet it's kinda miserable to have a cold right now.

KM121309 · February 2012

Yeah, H and I are just fairly anti-vacc-ers. LOL. I was so against getting the flu shot, but told myself to just do it since it was what "everyone" told me to do. Ended up in ER...So I am more inclined to not think about vaccines as a requirement. I am going to look in to the whooping cough one more and if we decide to get it, I will mention it to my mom and sister as my sister is due 4 weeks after me and lives at home with my mom.

doggie mama · February 2012

I don't know how old your parents are, but my mom and ILs are pushing 70 and older folks should get the flu shot anyway. Flu can be more dangerous than people realize. I forgot about the whooping cough thing though. My mom has offered to watch the baby a few days a week. I bet if I asked her to get the whooping cough one sh ewould do it to make me feel comfortable. My ILs would probably resist though.

What's the typical policy for daycare workers? Are they required by their employers to get vaccinated? I would think if that's the standard there, it's not unreasonable to expect it of in home nannies.

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