Half of Babies Are on a Slower Vaccination Schedule – Should Yours Be?
Half of Babies Are on a Slower Vaccination Schedule – Should Yours Be?
Are you delaying vaccinations for your baby? If so, you're part of a growing trend. Vaccination delay (not following the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended schedule), or under-vaccination, is something parents are doing more and more lately. It seems like we want more say in our kids' vaccination schedules, and we want those schedules to slow the hell down.
A recent study took a look at the under-vaccination trend and confirmed that it's building momentum. Nearly half of the 300,000 children in the study were under-vaccinated by at least one day by the time they reached their second birthday. What's especially interesting is that the study looked at children who were under-vaccinated because the parents chose that, and children who were under-vaccinated for any reason.
So there's the major finding that under-vaccination is a growing trend, the study also looked at what kinds of visits these babies had while they were under-vaccinated.
- Under-vaccinated children do fewer outpatient visits than on-schedule kids. (This means visits to clinics, doctors' offices, and short hospital appointments.)
- Under-vaccinated children have more inpatient visits than on-schedule kids. (This means hospital stays.)
- Children who are under-vaccinated because of parental choice do fewer outpatient visits and have fewer emergency encounters.
In other words, under-vaccinated kids go longer between doctors' visits. But here's the worrying part -- under-immunized babies also check into the hospital more often. Other studies show that children who don't get vaccinations at all are nine times more likely to get chicken pox and 23 times more likely to get whopping cough than immunized kids.
So there you go -- some information to mull over while you decide whether you want to follow the ACIP schedule or an alternative schedule -- or none at all. Every parent who made a decision about this has their unique story to tell. My son followed the ACIP schedule (more or less) and has never needed a hospital stay. But that's just my story. We're all a special case and you can't generalize from one person's experience. All I know is, I'm glad I never had to check my baby into the hospital.
And if I had to do it all over again, I might delay the schedule for my child just a little bit more, but I'd still do all those immunizations pretty much on schedule. Except that chicken pox! Damn you, chicken pox vaccine. I had the chicken pox when I was five and I was just fine. Oops -- there I go, generalizing from my unique experience.
Have you chosen to delay vaccinations? Why or why not?
You have to go with what fits your family and lifestyle. WIth my second, I delyaed vaxed. She didn't go to daycare, my dh, my ODS, and I were fully vaxed, and we didn't have a lot of visitors. WIth my youngest, we delyaed vaxed as well, but I started getting him up to date quicker than I did DD because I have been volunteering at the school a lot around other children.
As with all things, you have to look at the real risks and weigh them with the benefits.
Its not really a 'growing trend'
the 'delayed vax' plan (or at least the one my family follows)
is the same schedual that we all grew up on in the 70s 80s and 90s.
its the schedual they have now that is the new trend. earlier, more of them, and MANY more all at once. my nephew came home from his 3 month check up a few months ago and had 7 shots!!! 3 in one leg and 4 in the other!! :( :( thats TOO MUCH imo.
no we didn't choose a delayed vaccination schedule,
however there are a couple vaccinations that I've omitted.
We've been to the hospital twice with each kid..
oldest- 1 time for a big bump to the head (first time parent.. freaked out because the bump was the size of a golf ball.. worried about brain damage, the whole nine yards while my daughters sitting on the bed in the ER laughing.. lol.) second time was for outpatient surgery completely unrelated...
youngest: onces for an er visit.. she had stopped breathing, had a lot of pains, etc.. doctor there was a douche bag.. long story short.. thankfully she survived.. I'll leave it at that.
and another time because she fell with an object in her mouth, she was bleeding, but I couldn't find the source so I was concerned that she cut her throat..
Both my kids are up to date on all their vaccinations. Going into 7th grade here, they wont let you if you are not up to date. Not sure if they stretch the rules or allow for anything other than religious, never really looked into it.
My ds 1st pediatrician told me as soon as he turned 1 to get him the chicken pox vaccine because his eczema was so bad getting cp would make it 10 times worse. He is almost 17 and never had the cp, nor anything other than a few colds and ear infections.
It scares me though when I hear of all these outbreaks of whooping cough, even though some of the kids had been vax they still got it, I am assuming because its a different strain? Then I think of all the kids who were not vax for ANYTHING and what is going to happen to them.
I understand the risks of receiving vax although I do not know anyone personally who had or has a child with some kind of reaction be it autism/adhd/add or whatever all they are saying the vax cause. Noone wants their child to get sick, be it from an illness or from the prevention. It bothers me that with all the "threats" of dirty bombs with smallpox/measels all these dreaded diseases and I think of all the kids who are NOT vaccinated.
My 3 oldest siblings got the I think smallpox where they do the 50 or so needle pricks in the arm and it leaves a lovely scar. By the time me and my other sister were old enough to get it they were no longer doing it.
I also look at the fact that with air travel soooo prevalent you never know who is going to walk off that plane with something that we havnt been exposed to in more than 30 years. Do they have cures for any of these diseases? Thats why we have vax because there is no cure for what could and has killed millions of children for hundreds of years? Of course now we have tylenol, motrin, clean water, etc..to treat the symptoms so death is less likely.
What if a child who was not vax came down with an illness that has say a week long incubation before symptoms pop up, and he sits next to a kid who was vax but has a sibling who has a compromised immune system? The sibling who was vax can still bring that illness home with him (he may not get it) but he can still give it to his immuno compromised sibling. What then? Just some food for thought.
I am not bashing anyone, I just think that people who check every little detail about vax (nothing wrong with that) they get scared more of the prevention than the disease itself and choose not to vax and put those children and those with compromised immune systems at risk.
i never thought about NOT doing it, I just did it. If I had to do it over again I would probably still do it.
Bash away!!!
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on Jan. 24, 2013 at 1:52 PM