...to race to the Drs on Monday morning and beg for the vaccine I declined for DS?

[eggsnmarmite]

I'm pro vax, but also a huge worrier and compulsive googler.

It was DS2 (first baby in almost a decade from my other two) 's first lot on Tuesday. I declined the Men be and asked for more time to think on it because:

1. Giving it at the same time as the others had made friends babies very poorly.

1. Googling revealed that the jab is still in the 'black triangle' phase. Never been rolled out to a population anywhere else in the World.

1. Giving it at the same time as the others meant I would HAVE to give paracetamol, when 9 years ago (last baby) I was told to avoid it because of lots of emerging studies about it reducing immune response and triggering other conditions.

Thankfully DS got through the normal jabs really well. No calpol needed. Just lots of hugs.

Have since googled the absolute hell out of the search term 'meningitis b vaccine'. Definately want to give it to him. Should I get it done straight away having terrfied myself or wait another week to take full advantage of the 'vaccine spacing' , which I've read sensible information to say that this can help reduce reactions.

Its late and Dr Google has really scared me! Having visions of this precious baby I never thought I would have getting dangerously ill with it ALL because I delayed - which I know is highly unlikely in the next week (more chance of a 10k win on a scratchcard). But still.

What should I do? Does anyone else get themselves in an absolute state over new vaccines and meds?

I think you should put dr Google down and have a conversation with an actual, qualified doctor about your concerns.

Oh and in relation to jabs, DP works in healthcare and has seen many sick babies. Our DS will be getting every jab available.

Stop Googling and get your child vaccinated. With all due respect, you don't have medical qualifications, understanding and insight (Google is not the equivalent to a medical degree) to be able to properly debate the pros and cons of a vaccination. The NHS and the team of medical professionals who do decide which vaccines to introduce do...

I am sure your NHS team will be happy that you want your baby vaccinated even if it's a bit late. There is nothing wrong with thinking things over and not following the herd.

I don't think there is anything wrong with spacing the vaccines out.

Tbh I'm not sure about the cervical cancer vaccine. My DC have had all the others dd1 had the latest meningitis vaccine. He missed it at school he was off sick but I booked him in to our GP. My dd isn't quite old enough so I've still got time to think about it. They all have the flu jab each year. I caught flu in 2010 and spent 7 weeks in ICU. I'm very pro vaccine but I'd not beat yourself up if you were concerned about giving paracetamol then a couple of weeks delay is highly unlikely to cause problems.

Don't know how much help it is but my latest baby has had the Men B vaccine when the rest didn't. She didn't react at all in any way. She had no lump on her leg. She had two doses of calpol to ward off any potential temperature spikes but didn't get miserable, didn't get even slightly warmer than normal. Not every baby gets the side effects they warn you of. I would go and get it done

Stop Googling and get the vacc. No brainer.

How about you google the the damage meningitis does, this is far more worrying than potential side effects of the vaccine.

You asked for more time to think about it, you've had that and you've decided you do want it. Nothing unreasonable about that.

Using Dr Google is unreasonable. Any twonk can set up a Web page and make it look professional and authoritative, including many people without any scientific or medical knowledge.

Agree with Rhoda that Google doesn't provide a balanced view as anyone can put stuff out on the internet regardless. You need to really delve into who wrote it and where they've got their info before you start believing it.

That being said YANBU to take time to think about it and decide to space the vaccines out - no need to get in a tizz though (although have got myself in a tizz googling in the middle of the night many a time), just ring on Monday and explain you didn't have Men B with the others and would like to book it in. Sorted.

Just phone your practice nurse back on Monday, say you'd like it asap, and ask when she recommends

You don't have to give paracetamol at the same time. It's advised at some ages due to the quite high rates of minor side effects eg fever, but not all babies have a reaction. I didn't give it until my baby actually developed a fever and she was fine

If you avoid "black triangle" medications you will miss out on recent medical developments. There is a robust reporting system to pick up any emerging problems

DH had meningitis as a baby and seeing how scared MIL is talking about it 30+ years later was enough to convince me to get the Men B for DS.

It is a harsh vaccine IME - DS got a high fever both times. For the first dose he had Calpol straight away (as recommended), and he still had a fever through that. The second time I waited with the Calpol (advised incorrectly by nurse), his fever was very high and he was very distressed.

There are real risks of high fever in a tiny baby - a couple of doses of paracetamol are unlikely to be harmful.

The horrible effect of meningitis far outweighs the risk of the vaccine. When i was at school one boy lost his 8 year old sister to meningtis but not before the amputated a leg in an attempt to save her life, all within 24 hours. Ive never forgotten that. Op you asked for time to think about it, you have and decided to go ahead with it. Just phone the gp surgery on monday and arrange the vaccine. Only thing id say is dont use goggle as your medical advice unless you use a proper website like nhs or similar. Any concerns talk to your practice nurse.

OP, remember google doesn't have a medical degree, I honestly think vaccines are the best way to go. Vaccinations may have side affects but the outcome of suffering from meningitis is far far worse.

I do understand where your coming from though, I remember having to think long and hard about whether to give my DD (born 1999) the MMR vaccine after the Wakefield paper. I am so grateful I did go through with it though seeing as the paper was not valid.

They won't bat an eyelid at you booking it later than the other jabs.

I also preferred spacing them - in my case it was splitting the mmr from the others. The practice were fine with it.

I was talking to my practice nurse about vaccines last week though it was regarding my DD18 not a toddler. She explained that if they're given on the same day it's ok, but if not, you should wait three weeks between vaccines. Something to do with the body's reaction to the first vaccine and what it has to do in order to develop the immunity. If a second vaccine is given, say one week later, that process is interrupted and isn't complete before a new process is triggered. The vaccine won't work. The immunity won't be satisfactory. So my advice would be, by all means, get it, but wait three weeks. Hopefully this will be the advice from the surgery too. HTH. All the best.

I caught viral meningitis a couple of years ago, they say that is so much easier to manage than the stronger train, but i can tell you from experience the pain I was in... I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

And if that was the weaker strain of the 2 then I didnt want ds in that position so he got the vaccine as soon as he was eligible!

I agree, stay off the internet on these matters and speak to a medical professional who will give you advice, there are so many fake dr's and wannbee know it all's its hard to believe whats real and not.

I've just paid a lot of money to get the men B vaccine done for my 3yo.

Just ring the surgery on Monday and ask when they can fit you in. I suspect it will be spaced a bit more due to appointment availability anyway.

Plus there is zero credible research into spacing, other than that parents who do it are found to miss more vaccines than parents who don't.

I spaced the men B out - had it done two weeks after the baby jabs in each case. This wasin Germany, where it isn't on the schedule yet, but I did want it done. Dd was fine (was a bit hot and bothered briefly after the first two but no real fever or other reaction) and I was happy with the spacing.

You'll be OK. Ds will be OK. I do understand these thoughts - dd is the baby we never thought we'd have, 10 and 8 years respectively after our sons. Make an appointment and don't worry too much.

They won't care that you declined it once.

Just ring and say "I didn't have DC vaccinated with the Men B at x weeks, but I would like to do so now, can you tell me how I go about it please?"

They will be fine. I think part of GPs' funding is attached to how many DCs have their vaccinations, so they will be pleased.

(And yes I worried myself to bits about vaccines, my PFB was a baby right when the MMR scare was at its height. But they all had it and all have been fine. None of my DCs have ever needed paracetamol for a vaccine, BTW, it's not a given.)

Problem with Dr google is no one ever starts a blog that says "I went to the doctor, and he told me rightly there was no problem at all" so you get the worst case (and often the 1in 1000000 chance).

Plus anyone can say they're a doctor on line.
Dd2 has a condition that isn't totally rare, but not very common. It isn't known why it happens but there are a couple of theories.
I once Google searched one of the theories.
I was shocked the number of people who claimed to be doctors (mostly American) spouting the most utter rubbish on it. One such doctor claimed several other things were also caused by it-most of which we know exact why they've happened.
His website was full of "thank goodness you've finally given me an answer" and he was so gracious in response... While pointing them in a "just a little donation to help further research" page.
In this case it wouldn't be life-threatening or dangerous. But it made me realise how much rubbish is out there.

Ladybird333 that info re a 3 week gap for vaccines is incorrect.
There are spacing recommendations for certain vaccines within the baby immis schedule but this would not apply in this case and is more to do with the timings of the same vaccine i.e the gap between doses of PCV for example.
There would be no issue with giving the Men B at ANY point after the other vaccs in the OPs case.
Some live vaccines have restrictions regarding timings but not all of them so it sounds like your Practice Nurse was a little confused.
OP, get your baby vaccinated. Your PN should be able to accommodate you.
I would not recommend vaccine spacing, it is not necessary, will mean multiple trips (stressful for you and baby) and someone has to choose what gets 'left out' (that would be you not me, how could I possibly choose which disease to leave your child unprotected against?).
Oh, and put google away as others have advised. Your PN can put you in touch with your local Public Health England department if you want expert advice!

Thanks so much for all your responses, particularly those about timings. I'm going to chat to the nurse on Monday and ask her when is best to give him the Men B. I know that in the trials it was given along side other injections and separately so presumably the nurse can find out about the interval they recommend. 2 weeks seems reasonable? 3 weeks delay would mean giving it at the same time as 12 week vaccines, which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place. Maybe 2 weeks? Glad I'm not the only one who separated them a bit. xx