How to protect baby from infections?

[butterfly92]

Hi ladies... I know you are all probably going to find me odd and weird but this is genuinely how I am feeling and I am sure not many of you will agree but just after some friendly advice!!

I am not getting the whooping cough vaccination simply because I believe there are too many risks of having it. I am not anti vax though, I am getting baby vaccinated but I am not doing it now because I am worried about what can happen.

I am due in October so it will be winter and planning on keeping baby indoors for the first two months until he gets his vaccines. My partner and I are getting the whooping cough vaccine after he is born! I have notified my family that nobody can visit until he has had them :/

Just wondering if I HAD to go out, would a rain cover protect him from germs or breathing in bacteria, Even if it isn't raining? Thank you .. I am an Anxious mum to be!!

[motherinferior]

I'm delighted that there are more vaccines these days and whack everything into my daughters that they can get. They are now teenagers and the fact their risk of cervical cancer has plummeted thanks to vaccination is a huge joy to me.

But then both their father and I have parents from parts of the world where diseases you need vaccinations for are rife.

[TheHubblesWindscreenWipers]

atenco

I work in clinical research (not for a pharma company I hasten to add) and the level of regulation is insane
Don't get me wrong, big companies have the morals of alley cats, but on the side of the business i see (the science, developing and testing drugs and vaccines) is heavily regulated. marketing and sales... Now they are less good. But the actual dealing with patients bit is as highly regulated as it gets

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I feel sorry for Always. She genuinely believes that breastfeeding will keep her child disease free for life. The fact that for the overwhelming majority of human history humans have been breastfed and yet died in their millions after contracting contagious (not now preventable) diseases seems to have entirely bypassed her.

I'm going to give her a pass though, she appears to be a first time mum and I think my brain took a little holiday for most of the first year too.

[Mawsymoo]

The pharmaceutical industry is very highly regulated - second only to aviation. All products are heavily scrutinised by independent bodies before being licensed for sale.

I work in the area of vaccines (not for a company). They all have side effects - some common but mild (sore injection site) others more serious but extremely rare. In my job I unfortunately get to see the rare serious reactions. I still vaccinated both of my children and even got them some extras that aren't on the schedule - mainly to protect them but also because I consider it my duty to protect those who for various reasons cannot be vaccinated or don't develop immunity.

Vaccines have prevented more deaths from infectious diseases than any other development in history except for public sanitation. They have saved more people than antibiotics. That's a fact. I believe in 1900 something like 35% of all deaths were in under 5s - pneumonia, TB and good old diarrhoea being the 3 big guns. Back in the good old days when things were "natural"...

[milpool]

Atenco I'm pretty sure that pharma companies would make more money selling medicines to treat deadly diseases than they do from selling vaccines.

Always like others have said, the information you're peddling is dangerous. I won't pick it apart because others have said what I would have anyway.

Vaccines. Are. Safe. They're so rigorously tested. If you would take medication to treat measles then you should also trust a vaccine that is designed to prevent it.

Like Hubbles said, nature isn't this benign force. Diseases themselves are natural. Earthquakes are natural. Fire is natural... Do you see where I'm going with this? Nature doesn't give a shit about protecting your child. But you should.

[Atenco]

Thank you Hubbles and Mawsymoo for your well-thought-out answers.

This subject is so emotive that people generally just try to close the conversation down and so we all lose the ability to learn from it.

I personally think that access to clean water, public sanitation and a better understanding of toxins has been the most significant change for the better in public health.

[TheHubblesWindscreenWipers]

1. Hygiene
   
2. Vaccination
   
3. Antibiotics
   

Worryingly of course we are on the brink of extensive widespread antibiotic resistance :(
That makes it even more important to vaccinate

Op, things got a bit derailed here. I hope you can access some help for your anxiety

[Daisyandbabies]

OP, you have to get help for your anxiety. You do realise that worrying about germs and illness and your child will never end, right? It might be whooping cough at first, but that will probably be replaced with flu, measles, etc. You really can't live like that, you HAVE to get professional help.
Keeping your baby inside for 2 months will only feed your anxiety and make things much worse.
Nobody can force you to get the whopping cough vaccine but I did for both of mine and all was fine.
Nobody likes their children to be ill; I suffer with health anxiety myself and have been known to keep my child off pre school if there is a vomitimg bug going around, put alcohol gel on their hands after the playground (something I need to stop as its not doing them any favours) and cringe every time I have to take them the dr because of the germs in there. Trust me on this though, I worry about my 4 year old just as much (infact more so) than my youngest. The worrying won't stop once your baby isn't a newborn anymore, although at this stage you probably believe it will. I still remember my anxious mum worried sick in th Autumn months when I was in high school because that was 'meningitis season.' The worry NEVER ends, you just have to find ways to deal with it.
Hiding your baby away is perhaps the worst thing you can do. They also have to start building their own immunity to the outside world otherwise. Get help

[blueberryporridge]

OP, everyone worries about their LOs and with your losses (which I am so sorry about) it is not surprising that you are so anxious. I waited 10 years for my DD (who then arrived 8 weeks early) and was anxious about vaccinations (and lots of other things besides). After lots of research, I came to the conclusion that the risks from catching diseases like whooping cough and measles were far greater than the risks from the vaccines, and she had all her baby jabs.

Hiding your baby away in your house is not going to help you or your baby - yes, avoid people who have obvious bugs but I don't think you are going to be able to avoid going out at all and, anyway. I think that you need to be able to get outdoors and socialise with folk when your baby is little for your own well-being as well as the baby's.

Please try to get better support with your anxiety as your worries seem to be a bit more than pre-birth jitters - if your current midwife isn't helping, please go to your GP and ask for a referral.

Incidentally, lots of people on this thread have advised you to breastfeed your LO. That is great advice but it is also the case that some people (me included) find breastfeeding very difficult. So my advice would be to give it a try, with all the support you can find, and definitely if possible for the first few days after birth as colostrum is fantastic for your baby's immune system. But please don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work out ...

[whatdoido2016]

Can I just add OP, I too had a winter baby (dec baby) and was so worried she would catch every bug going! But honestly she's healthy as a horse and had much less illness (barely any at all) compared to her May born brother. He seems to be ill constantly (common cold & ear infections).

Obviously all babies are different but I just wanted to say that a winter born baby won't necessarily be more ill than a summer baby. I think of anything people are more conscious of spreading colds during the winter so they stay away from newborns or are extra vigilant with hand washing etc.

I agree with others re the worrying about childhood illness never goes away. I'm always panicking that my toddler will bring home chicken pox and pass it on to the baby. However I've started to tell myself that logically there is nothing I can do to prevent some illness and it is highly likely that the 2 of them will pass illnesses back and forth.

I've vaccinated so I know I've done the best I can for them in terms of trying to prevent serious diseases and I don't knowingly expose them to dangerous illnesses (measles exposure to a 5 month old - seriously who knowingly does that!?) but other than that all you can do is keep them clean, well fed,
Loved and safe.

Please talk to your gp as the anxiety will only get worse when baby arrives and it will ruin what should be a special time with your baby. I had awful anxiety with my first and it put a huge strain on my relationship, my bond with baby and my happiness. I wish I had realised at the time how bad I was suffering
And had got help.

Best of luck and enjoy your new baby when he/she arrives

[whatdoido2016]

Sorry for typos and weird format, on my phone and can't edit the post

[Orsono]

"My unvaccinated child should be no harm to any vaccinated child seen as they're all vaccinated. "

They're not all vaccinated though. My DS2 couldn't be vaccinated on schedule because he had a congenital heart condition. He had to rely on herd immunity (ie. the fact that thankfully the vast majority of us are vaccinated) to protect him from diseases that could have killed him. Your unvaccinated child is also relying on herd immunity - you've got the rest of us who vaccinate to thank for the fact that they haven't got ill, not anything you've done. Parents like you who choose not to vaccinate their children compromise that herd immunity and directly threaten the life of children like mine. It is not just your family your choice affects.

OP how about talking to your GP about your concerns about vaccines? The information you've got about the risks is not accurate, so maybe your GP can reassure you.

[MedSchoolRat]

I am a researcher at university so this is my area of speciality so to speak

No you're not, & it's not your work specialty. (Sigh).

Do you believe parents who make different decisions about vaccinations are either ill-informed or reckless?

[Atenco]

Excuse my ignorance, but I don't understand your comment MedSchoolRat

[MedSchoolRat]

I guess OP may work at a Uni, but is not an expert in risk assessment, infectious diseases or evaluating vaccine safety or medical evidence.

I think others on thread are cleverer than me at spotting the support OP really needs.

[Atenco]

So you believe that the OP is lying, so why do you think she is telling the truth about being pregnant, not wanting the WC vaccine, etc. etc.? In fact, what is the point of posting if you believe the OP is lying?

[lljkk]

Why does anybody on MN post anything?
Just so much froth in the Internet sea.

[Atenco]

"Just so much froth in the Internet sea"

That's a whole other existentialist discussion.