Would you be happy for your child to have 4 jabs in one go?

[MaMight]

We have fallen a bit behind with ds's innoculations. Also we live overseas so there are a couple of extra he needs.

Initially we were going to do 3 or 4 trips and space the injections out so he never had more than 2 at any one visit. However, the Paed assures me that the 1st 4 can all be had at the same time without any adverse affects.

I thought we might as well get it over with - if he's screaming about 2 injections he might as well scream about 4. Do you think?

I'm getting cold feet and wondering if I'm a horrid mummy. He has to have all of them, it's just a question of how many visits we take to get them.

Better to get it over with? 4 in one go tomorrow?

Or better to have no more than 2 at a time?

Eeek. My poor baby. Playing happily with his beads and no idea what tomorrow has in store for him.

No chance.

No way, 4 at the same time far too much IMO.

Probably yes, especially if Paed thinks it's okay. Paed should know what he's talking about. He's the trained expert, not me.
Which ones, btw?
Out of curiousity, anyone who says no to 4 at once, have you followed the UK standard immunisation schedule?

Why not? Is it because it will be traumatic for the child to be jabbed 4 times in a row? Or because you would worry about the drugs interracting, or the child having a reaction or something?

Erm, tomorrow he needs...

Infantix Hexa (DTP, IPV, HIB, HBV)
Prevnar #3
Chicken Pox
HAV #1 (which I think is hep A???)

Does that mean anything to you?

all of the things you mention tbh, could you split them at least 2 /2 with some time in between?

Just saying what I would do btw, not critcsising you in any way.

over here we have a more intense vac schedule.

at ds's last visit he had a 6 in 1, a meningitis and a Hib vaccine at the same time.

so 8 'dieases' being injected into him at once, one less than your lad will have tomorrow.

he was fine, bit grumpy and feverish but certainly not the worst any of mine have been after jabs.

My old gp did say though that although there are no known issues with doing it he wouldn't be happy mixing live vaccines like MMR with dead vaccines as the way the body responds to them is a bit differant and he thinks it's too much strain on a young body.... have no idea if that's true or not though!

So Riven would you go on 4 separate trips to the doctor? And how would you decide how long to leave between each one?

In fact, it would be 8 separate trips because after tomorrow (if he has all 4 tomorrow) he will need two further trips where he will get 2 jabs at each one.

No, never.

Sorry, that was no to the jabs, yes to the extra trips.

I would spread, but then dd had single dose Measles and Rubella - I firmly believe in innoculation but don't agree with them being pumped full.

So how long would you leave between each injection?

Tulips - what is a live vaccine and what is a dead one?

on a daily basis the immune system is encountering countless bacteria, viruses and other foreign objects which it interacts with and forms antibodies to.

Humans generate and estimated 10 billion differant antibodies, learning to make 7 or 8 extra in one day isn't actually that much of a strain to the system.

'live' basically means exactly that, a living microbe but disabled in some way so that they don't produce the illness but the immune system can learn to make antibodies the right shape to attach to the microbe.

'dead' vaccines are disease causing microorganisms which have been killed... the immune system still learns how to create antibodies to 'fit' them but they can't preproduce and cause infection

exactly Riven - jabs are nothing like the virus entering the body through the natural route; the nose or throat which triggers the immune defence in the first place.

I also believe in vaccination for some children - just not at once to save costs

My son just got shallow scratches in about 7 different places on his legs, while collecting grasses in the field. I wonder how many germs have wandered directly into his blood this afternoon? Way more than 4 different sorts, I bet.

A shallow scratch is very different to a shot into a vein though; the skin is an organ with many layers that all work to fight off infection picked up from this kind of scenario. YOur example is another natural way of picking up an infection.

IS vaccination against chicken pox essential ? I'd not bother with that one personally.

Apart from anything else he's going to be pretty upset if he reacts to the injections, one of mine never batted an eye but the other two were pretty wound up about one, I can't imagine hold them still for another 3 afterwards.

He has to have chicken pox. Schools round here won't admit children without a CP vax cert. Also, of course, because everyone is vaxed against it he is very unlikely to catch it to develop natural immunity as my older dd did when we were living in UK.

So, anyway, we've been this morning. He had CP and HepA and I said we'd go back on Thurs for the next two. Actually he wasn't really distressed or traumatised by the needles themselves. A bit of a squark and a quick bf and he was running round the waiting room giggling 2 minutes later.

Still, 4 lots of vaxination running round his little body seemed a lot so we'll do it in 2 goes, then back in a month or two for the next installment.

Next step: getting 4 yr old dd up to date . Something tells me this will not be quite as painless.

Personally I would. DD had four at birth and has had every vaccination known to man (or so it seems). Luckily for us she's nevr had an adverse reaction, but it is personal choice at the end of the day.