Delaying Immunisations?

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ds is due to have his 8 wk jabs soon. I'm pretty ambivalent about immunisations, have read up a little and found it all fairly confusing.
In the end, I don't want to take the risk of not immunising him at all. But I think I'd like to delay him getting them until he is a little older, so that he is bigger and stronger and more able to manage any side-effects (I hope).

What are your thoughts/advice on this? Has anyone else delayed their baby's jabs? what kind of reaction did you get from the medics? If I do postpone having them, how long should we wait?

Thank you

I agree avaitrix. My younger dd is completely unvaccinated and I do worry a bit about tetanus. But she's still only 3 & I want to avoid triggers.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind

Didn't mean to imply you were.

Just saying I like just chatting about it rather than have a mind changing agenda

The short version of why I didn't vaccinate ds2 and ds3 is because we think that vaccinations may have contributed to ds1's severe autism. There are several indications that the baby jabs played a role that I'm not going to go into here (suffice to say I was- in a previous lifetime- a scientist- so our decision has been well researched). Ds1 will never live independently- aged 8 he can' talk at all, - and - well I wouldn't wish his life on anyone really.

I do think that there are a subgroup of children who are more at risk of problems following vaccinations. Sometimes that may be because of the additives (thimerosal for example has gone from the baby jabs but may be in other jabs- personally I'd always check), sometimes the vaccination itself. Red flags for me (that would suggest taking extra care) would be things like gut problems, severe eczema, recent illness (I'd leave time if my child had chickenpox before giving MMR for example).

I would like a single tetanus jab- and tetanus does worry me- but currently I'm more concerned about giving a cocktail at once- once ds2 and ds3 become old enough for a single tetanus jab they'll have one though.

I tend to take each illness in turn and weightup our risk (no-one else's just ours). I've found Randall Neustaedters book 'the vaccine guide' excellent for that. He doesn't downplay the potential seriousness of the diseases, and he draws up a risk/benefit ratio for each. My copy is a bit out of date, but it's still a useful resource.

1dilemma- yes they do start in the delivery room in the US- with hep B. Which contains/contained thimerosal- implicated in the rise in autism. It's quite a scandal in the US.

when they're 10 you can get DT- bUT I THINK IT CONTAINS THIMERosal- whoops sorry1

dt being diptheria tetanus.

aviatrix, I got single tetenus jab for my son at the GP's.

when cazee? I was told the single tetanus was withdrawn when they introduced the 5 in 1 (in about 2005). There is a private guy who will give the adult one to younger children, but that's all I've found.

My friend told me she got a single tetanus for her baby in a clinic in Solihull.

couldn't get the single tetanus for my dd who was due one as they only last 10 yrs.I was shocked and pissed off when we had to make a decision there and then (dd was due to go on school trip and had to have tetanus).I did check the ingredients and there was no thimerasol as far as I could tell.

I delayed my ds's mmr until he was 2.5 yrs and haven't followed up with the booster.No problems from the medical bods.I just said it was a decision we had made and were happy with.

We delayed ds2's mmr until he was 2y10m, no-one asked why, so didn't offer any explanation, ds1's mmr was delayed also but not for as long, I just wanted to be sure.

Sil is in her early thirties & hasn't had any vaccinations at all(mil very against vaccinations).

Although she is healthy I think she should have ruebella at the very least.

Ds would have been about 1 or 2, so it would have been before 2005. I didn't know it has now been withdrawn. 5 in one??? Maybe they will soon develop a 156 in one jab they can give in utro .
They do all sorts in America. if you watch the birth programmes on some nondescript satelite channel (not me of course, I work HARD all day at home, or so I tell DH...) you see that as Soon as the baby is born they put some antibiotic thing in their eyes, WITHOUT EVEN ASKING MUM!!! "What is that filth all over my precious newborn's eyes" askes startled mum, "Oh that is just antibiotics love" replies the midwife "Don't worry your pretty little head about it..."

ds is 2 and half and hasn't had any yet. Basically like gess says for him it is to do with severe gut problems when he was a baby, and we're only now getting his system sorted out, so don't want to upset the balance. I'm not anti vax per se, but i do think gps know worryingly little about them. I have read up about it on both sides of the arguement and for now feel my decision is the right one. My worry is polio, if we travel, swimming in the sea abroad etc, i know the risk is low but it is a bit of a worry. If ds hadn't had his gut problems and food allergies i would have gone ahead with jabs at about six months old.

Message withdrawn

I took my DD to the Docs today and he was quite fab, he wants to see her again on Thursday before her jab appt on Friday to decide whether or not to do it.

gess hep B is different it's given at birth to prevent maternal transmission same in UK. If the return to work argument is correct (not saying it isn't just never heard it before then in US they should start their jabs earlier since they grnerally have much shorter mat. leave)
Kerrymum it can be any puncture wound or even mud into a graze what about rose thorns? (would get tetanus jab for rose thorn injuries in A&E in UK)

DS had a severe reaction to the DPt so with DD I was a little afraid. Instinct told me to delay it and all in all she was about 18mhs when she had the last one. I think I had about 6mths between them.

I mentioned this to the local pharmacist who said that he had done something similar although he shouldn't be saying that.

Glad to hear that UCM hope she is better soon.