DH does not want me to take DS to a baby group. Is he being...

[Snusmumriken]

DH does not want me to take our 6 month old to a mother/baby group because several of the other babies that will be there are not vaccinated.

He read an article about whooping cough in the Guardian this morning and is worried DS will contract something.

Is he being unreasonable?

Has your DS been vaccinated?

If your son has been vaccinated then what's the issue??

I think he's being an idiot. Sorry.

Yes, he is. I believe the evidence is suggesting that it is vaccinated children who are passing this outbreak on.

There is a thread running about whooping cough at the moment, and several people on it linked to this information. I'll try to find the thread for you

If yours has been vaccinated what's the issue?

I think you should wrap him in cotton wool as well.

I was taking dd from 2.5 weeks old so I could meet people. He is BU

Clearly your dh is being ridiculous. Is your child never going to attend school either? Or leave the house at all?

How does he know that.

But as long as your dc is vaccinated then I don't see the problem. Without baby and toddler groups I would of lost my mind lol

I Second the cotton wool!

here it is

God don't tell dh you will be taking him swimming!

perhaps point out to your DH that unless you stay inside 24/7 your child will be exposed to all sorts of things regardless of whether or not he goes to baby group

i thought the current outbreak was being passed around by vaccinated children anyway? so the presence of a few unvaccinated babies is no real risk.
an if your child IS vaccinated he surely is at less risk anyway?

So will you all be staying and not having contact with anyone?

At 6 months, your baby is possibly sitting up and ... er, that's about it. If you are really worried about infections, I suppose you could discreetly pop a few of your DD's own toys out of your bag and let her hold those, and just sit her a little apart from the others. At the end of the day, if you are home alone with baby all day, the baby groups at this stage are more for your mental health than for your LO to start networking. If you don't feel particularly strongly about it, you could invite a few 'babyfriends' to meet you for a coffee, but just don't sit down next to anyone with a cough...

If your son has been vaccinated then yes, he IBVU.

He is being unreasonable .... What is he going to do when the child goes to school with children who haven't had MMR?

Serious;y - does he expectyou to be inside all day? No contact with others?

Thats a bit restricting, IMHO. To you, i mean.

DS has been vaccinated. However, the article DH read suggests that whooping cough can still be contracted by vaccinated babies. I guess it takes a while for the vaccination to fully protect them.

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/22/who-needs-whooping-cough-jab?INTCMP=SRCH

Yes, he is being unreasonable. Your baby is 6 months old and has presumably left the house once or twice in that time?

DS2 was at a play gym with about a million snotty children at 3 days old because I had cabin fever and DS1 was climbing the walls. He survived.

To clarify - it's NOT being spread by vaccinated people. That would be impossible as the pertussis used in the vaccine has been modified to be inactive -ie it can't reproduce.

YANBU, by the way - though I have a DH who wanted me to avoid the local park and pond while avian flu scare stories were buzzing about, so I feel your pain...

Good God I can't believe you've got to 6 months without a mother and baby group!
I knew no-one in my town (and I mean no-one) and have made some wonderful friends through my group. I call the babies DSs friends too but I don't think he's too fussed!
Just go to the group, his immune system will be much better off in the long run by mixing with other babies.
Are you sure it was the Guardian and not the Daily Mail??

jaype - could I possibly impose upon you to check the other thread, the one I linked to - there appears to be a lot of discussion and links saying exactly that - that vaccinated children are passing it on. If that is not true, perhaps you could reassure them on that thread, with links about why it's not true, if you have them.

I read jimjams' reuters link. It says that immunity decreases with time after vaccine, and quicker than expected. So vaccinated children from aged 7 and up were more likely to test positive for pertussis than younger vaccinated children, and cases continue to rise with increasing time elapsed since vaccination. It doesn't say that the vaccine component causes whooping cough. And children in baby groups are not in that age group.

Are there other news stories?

I'm with your DH on this one. I would want to avoid unvaccinated children with DD and happy that schools, activity clubs, etc. here (France) won't accept unvaccinated children (apart from children who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons of course)