Choice on what age to vaccinate your baby???

[Zen30]

Can one wait till baby is six months before receiving any vaccines? Can't bear traumatizing her tiny body with all the injections at this age ( she is a very healthy 7 weeks old) Comments from those with medical knowledge will be particularly appreciated.

[Primaryteach87]

I totally understand that instinct and felt really viscerally myself but remember that the illness you are vaccinating against are all the more likely to be very serious in such a little person. Sorry I know that's off topic and I'm not meaning to bully you! I do understand but just think if your precious little baby caught something truly nasty..

[SpeakNoWords]

No medical knowledge, but surely getting one of the diseases that there at vaccines for would be more traumatising than the vaccines themselves? Which from my experience were not traumatic at all, no side effects and minimal crying when my DS had his as a baby.

[SmallBee]

I have too agree. They are all healthy until suddenly they are not.
The vaccination programme has been extensively researched in order to find the optimum times for children to receive these vaccinations.
Having said that if you still have misgivings I would say the best thing to do is to talk to your health visitor and GP. The Internet isn't going to be as good for research into such a serious matter as this as sources are often not cited or incorrect and people often allow their opinions to colour their statements rather than medical facts.
Good luck making your decision.

[PurpleDaisies]

I'm a qualified doctor. I can totally understand your instinct to protect your baby from any pain. The trouble is, you can't predict when she will be exposed to the diseases that the vaccines will give her immunity to. All the best evidence shows that while there's a tiny risk with any vaccination, that's minuscule compared to the risk of harm if, God forbid, she were to contract the disease. The are mumsnetters who've lost children to diseases we vaccinate against.

How would you feel about talking to your GP about your worries? I'd caution against using google too much-there's a lot of dreadful misinformation out there. NHS.co.uk and patient.co.uk are very readable.

[onahorsewithnoname]

Vaccination is not a legal requirement.
It is up to you when or if your child has them.
However the consensus is that you should follow NHS advice.
Some GP practices will pressurise you quite heavily.
As will some mumsneters.

[pigeonpoo]

Why do you have 2 identical threads running in different places OP?

Iv replied on your other one btw

[Bishybishybarnabee]

Definitely talk to you GP/HV if you have concerns, consulting the Internet will just cause more confusion.

FWIW I wouldn't say my DS found them traumatising at that age, he cried for about 20seconds and that's it. If anything, it's the older injections I'm more worried about, once he has more understanding of what's going on.

[OhShutUpThomas]

Would you rather risk her tiny body being traumatised with whooping cough, flu, rotavirus, measles, tetanus etc etc?

They cry for 20 seconds then forget about it. The benefits far outweigh the risk. YABU B

[OhShutUpThomas]

No need for the extra B there!

[MyBreadIsEggy]

Personally I would get them over with early.
When DD had her first vaccinations at 8 weeks old, she made a little squeak as each needle went in and then was fine. She didn't have the third lot of vaccinations until she was 4 months (mistake at my GP surgery) and that was way harder to watch. It was as if she didn't know how to react to pain the first time, so there wasn't much of a reaction, but as she got older, sh had found her voice and really cried -but even then, a cuddle and some milk in the waiting area when we were finished cheered her up no end
As others have said, a few seconds of pain is going to be way less traumatic than seeing your baby poorly with one of the horrible diseases we vaccinate against, and you don't know if or when your baby could come into contact with those diseases unfortunately.

[lljkk]

Whooping cough is especially bad for babies.
You can't control what bugs other people are spreading.
You can make sure your baby has some protection against those bugs.

[Caterina99]

My DS really didn't seem that bothered by jabs. He's 9 months now and hasn't had any for a while, but he's honestly cried more from me trying to change his nappy when he doesn't want to stay still than from the injections.

He has had a cold (just a normal cold) and that was way more traumatic for both of us. I can't imagine how distressing it would be if he actually caught one of the diseases he's vaccinated against and was seriously ill.

[AuntieStella]

You can have the jabs whenever you want, but you'll only get the reminders at the regular schedule times, so it's quite a bit more effort.

The numbers of cases of whooping cough are not as high as they were a couple of years ago when 14 babies too young to be vaccinated died, but that's not a jab I would choose to delay.

[BertieBotts]

Yes you can delay them if you want to. Absolutely that's your choice as a parent.

However, other posters make some good points. Some of the diseases which vaccination protects against are especially dangerous for babies.

If you're anxious about needles, perhaps you could ask somebody else to take her? I delayed DS's vaccinations because I didn't know there was any such thing as a vaccination debate until I had him and then I just felt like I didn't have enough time to decide but looking back, really my anxiety was my own in that I am terrified of needles and hated the thought of my baby having to have one. So when I heard that it might be an option not to vaccinate, I jumped on it hoping that it was true (after much research I decided that vaccination is definitely worth it and necessary.) Actually although I was very matter of fact and cheerful about it at the time I've somehow passed on my fear to DS anyway. I've told DH that for any future DC, he will take them. I don't want to pass the fear on again.

[Move2WY]

Its actually harder the older they get and becomeo more aware x

[Topsy34]

I havent fully read replies as feeding baby and typing one handed!

You can choose to vaccinate your baby when and which ones, we have delayed marginally. We opted out of rotavirus completely as i wasnt convinced by the results of protection.

Ds2 had first vax at 10 weeks,mwhich was men b, then the following week 5in1 and pcv. Then he had the 2nd 5in1 and men c this week and the second men b will be next week. He cried for maybe 15 seconds and the nurse suggested i got him on the boob before so he was relaxed, he cried and went back on boob.

a friend lost her 10year old daughter to meningitis last year, literally there in the morning and gone by teatime. I can reduce the chance of meningitis massively by him having that little needle i will.