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3rd Trimester
TerryGDesign
member
Whooping Cough Shot for Entire Family?
TerryGDesign
member
Our Dr. recommended that we make sure anyone and everyone who will be around the baby (before he gets his shot at 2 months) gets the whooping cough shot. My family will do this no problem! However...my husband's family is a different story, especially his grandparents. I would hate to force someone to do something they don't believe in (even if it's more of just being stubborn than a true reason), however I don't want my little baby to get sick. Now that I am in my 3rd trimester...it's time to start requesting this from the family. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach a potentially touchy subject like this?
Thanks!
Re: Whooping Cough Shot for Entire Family?
Pertussis is the sniffles for an adult. They often don't know they are contagious. For an infant it can kill them.
I do not care about others' feelings vs. The health & safety of my kids. They can piss & moan all they like. No TDAP means they stay away.
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
https://www.soundsofpertussis.com/pertussis-symptoms.html
https://www.soundsofpertussis.com/pertussis-in-infants.html
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
If you get the vaccination whilst pregnant, then you will pass on the immunity to the baby. The vaccine also last for 10 years in adults, so they don't need to get it again if the have had it within that period of time. So the most important person to get the shot is you between 28 and 32 weeks.
Also the US is one of the very few countries that offers the shot to adults. The UK and Australia only offer it to the expectant mother and to children as part of their immunisation plan.
Edit* sometimes I just spell like a two year old.
I was told anyone who would be around LO a LOT should have the shot. I got mine in the third tri of course, DH had had his booster a year prior, so he didn't need another one. My mom and sister were going to be visiting for a week to help, so they got it, and my in-laws came for a week as well, so they got it. Everyone else we just made sure they washed their hands and/or applied anti-bacterial before handling the baby. Really, no one else but our immediate families were holding her for more than a few minutes when she was that small.
If your in-laws are going to be around a lot, and wanting to handle the baby a lot, I'd say "no shot, no touching the baby." You can get it done really quick at most pharmacies, it's not a major imposition requiring an actual doctor's office visit to get it done. If the problem is that your in-laws are anti-vaxxers, I would not allow them near the baby until the baby was immunized...whooping cough isn't the only thing that they could be passing on to your unvaccinated baby.
My rule is: no shot, no holding or touching baby. There are few things as horrible as sitting in a hospital room, watching your new baby struggle to breathe and cough. My (now ex) MIL stopped by to visit at home when DS1 was just a few weeks old, and she was the only visitor that week. She washed her hands, and held DS1 for less than 20 min. Nope. For HER it was a cold that showed up the next day, for my tiny baby it was a week in the hospital.
No family member's feelings are worth that. If their beliefs are against the shot, or they just don't want to, then they'll need to be happy with pictures until after baby is old enough to get the vaccine.
DS1 01/08/03 DD1 08/11/04 DD2 10/06/08 DS2 09/30/14
SURPRISE! Hannah May born 01/22/16
Also, most people get the shot as children and the effects for the pertussis part wear off by the time you are an adult. Adult boosters generally do not include the pertussis part, only the diptheria and tetanus.
My rule also was no shot, no seeing the baby. Washing hands isn't going to prevent someone from passing it along.
Jamie
Jamie
I told my husband today...if they don't get the shot (and prove it) they can't see or hold the baby.
Jamie
You do have to make sure the booster is the full TDAP to guarantee that whooping cough is included. If you specifically tell the pharmacy you need a whooping cough vaccine they should get that for you.
My SIL is another story...she is anti-vaccine and we just aren't going there. She just had a baby in March so she may have had it while pregnant. But she had been combative in the past over us getting vaccines and I'm sure it would be even worse to ask her to get one. She lives 2.5 hours away and we only see her about once a month.
The only person who did not get one was my grandpa because he forgot but he absolutely did not hold my son that first visit (by his choice) he forgot to get his and didn't want to expose my son. He felt terrible and they stayed 5 days. No problems this time because they are already covered (except grandpa who will get his this time if they come out before the first vax).
No shot, no baby. And I'm prepared to push the issue to a few family members as my baby is not worth their feelings.
I was told that even though you don't need a booster until 10 years they recommend anyone who hasn't had one in the past 5 years to get it if you're going to be around an infant.
People who HAVEN'T been vaccinated can also be asymptomatic carriers and cause just as much, if not more, damage, like my exMIL in my above post.
ETA: I just realized replying to you is mostly a waste of time. You seem to only be here to make anti-vaccine comments.
DS1 01/08/03 DD1 08/11/04 DD2 10/06/08 DS2 09/30/14
SURPRISE! Hannah May born 01/22/16