No vaccination, no visiting newborn

[WMPAGL]

Hi all,

I'm new here so learning the ropes.

I will soon have a newborn baby and am becoming increasingly concerned about the apparent number of people who have not been vaccinated and are choosing not to vaccinate their children.

I'm not looking for a fight about whether you should or shouldn't vaccinate - I know that everyone acts out of love and in what they think is the best interests of their child - but please take it as read that I am firmly in the vaccination camp.

What I am interested to know is whether other people have actively asked whether their visitors are up to date on vaccines before allowing them to come and meet their newborn (before the baby has been able to have all his or her own vaccinations)? If so, which ones in particular have you stipulated?

On the one hand it feels a bit dramatic to interrogate people and 'make a fuss' but on the other, I would never forgive myself if I put my child at unnecessary risk just because I might have to have a few awkward conversations with people.

I'm planning on having a good word with my doctor about this but am interested to know what other people have thought and done in this situation.

Thanks so much for your input.

Your child won't get fully vaccinated till they're 4! They don't get the MMR vax at all till they're toddlers.

Titchy - Yes, alright, I was thinking of the first big chunk which should be done by 16 weeks.

First MMR is at 12-13 months and second at 3 year 4 months according to current NHS info.

If we want to get pedantic about it, they won't be ^fully vaccinated until they're 13 years old at earliest and have HPV and Men ACWY according to the current NHS schedule so please don't let me off the hook at 4 years when I could, technically speaking, be so much more wrong!

The first ones are diphtheria and polio - virtually unheard of in the U.K., plus tetanus - which he's not going to catch unless you feed him soil. And meningitis which no adult over 21 is vaxxed against.

Measles is the only one he potentially catch off someone which is nasty. And he won't be vaxxed for that for over a year. So no granny cuddles for a year? No trips to your doctors? No baby groups? No trips to Tesco's or to the farm park?

So honestly there is no logical reason at all for your standpoint.

Titchy - Please be assured that I have fully grasped your opinion by this point.

As I made clear in my first post, I am not seeking to debate the point of getting the standard early vaccinations which is where the first part of your post is straying.

Have a good evening and thanks for your contribution.

I think op just doesn’t want to knowingly put their baby at risk ... you can’t control outside of your circle but inside she can

I found out my nan was a c diff carrier when my baby was a few weeks old ( she saw him once ) but not again for until about 4 months.

It’s not always active and when it’s not he can’t catch it but it wasn’t worth the risk .. in my eyes not everyone agrees in my family but I spoke to a doctor and he said best. It to.
I waited until I felt he was stronger she always complains of tummy pains so it’s hard to know if it’s wind or the start of an episode.

Op is trying to do the same ... limit the risk and that is totally her choice and I agree that with a new baby you limit the risks as best you can.

I do go to play groups and he shoves toys in his mount that other kids have done similar with now he is older I need to let him get stronger and build his natural
Immunity. But to
Give your child the best start and to not take unnecessary risks when super vulnerable is totally the right thing to
Do x x

Yes I had a medically fragile preemie and we kept him isolated from other unvaccinated kids and sick visitors because the RSV virus nearly killed him at 8 months (he was on life support for 19 days)-he had the vaccine but so fragile he still nearly died from it.
That said I don't blame you at all with so many unvaccinated children herd immunity no longer seems applicable. My son's first pediatrician refused vaccine refusers

I am also firmly in the vaccinate camp but you are being U. I think it's different if you, say, knew of a family who were anti vax and hadn't had any of their children vaccinated. But adults? There'll be LOADS who aren't vaccinated against everything.

DH is 35, almost 36, and I don't actually think he's had the MMR purely due to age (think it started for children mid-late 80's?). I didn't realise this until recently when I was pregnant with DS2, and I did nag him to check his medical history and get vaccinated if not. But of course he never got round to it. DS2 is here now and has had the first lot of his vaccinations, but I was never going to stop DH from having contact with him

I'm totally pro vaccinations and I wouldn't be friend with someone who was antivax. But this idea of asking people what immunisations they've had seems completely unworkable logistically (are you going to ask them for their records, what if they can't remember, what if they had jabs but didn't get full immunity?), unworkable if you want to leave the house (because most bugs and illnesses will be airborne or via bodily fluids so you could just have someone breathe on you in the supermarket or a baby touch your baby's hand at a class), and missing the point in the sense that yes measles etc can be very serious, but you're much more likely to encounter colds, flu, CP, HFMD, slapped cheek etc, most of which can't be jabbed against (or aren't routinely) and these things can be pretty grim for a baby too even if less serious. So you could be busy protecting your child from the anti Vaxxers but still picking up a load of other illnesses. Even having a newborn with a cold is super stressful the first time when they can't breathe properly and you're snot sucking and spraying solution up their nose to no avail and they can't feed properly because their nose is bunged up.
My advice is to chill a bit. Having a baby means having to tolerate a whole new level of uncertainty and anxiety. Yes there are times when you can and will need to put boundaries in to protect your precious little bubba but honestly I think this is not the way. I wonder if you'll look back in a couple of years and laugh at this post. We've all been there in one way or another! :)

I am 83 baby and I had mmr ...

Thanks all. Yes, as first time mum I'm definitely feeling my way towards what are reasonable and unreasonable boundaries and trying to walk the line between protecting bub while not losing the plot!

Must admit that I have a very easygoing DH who has happily agreed to be injected with whatever I ask :) so the main two of us should be covered!