June 2013 - the terrible twos aren't so terrible

[Biscuitswithtea]

Here goes with a new thread!

Yes, pre-school booster is 3 years, 4 months...gonna be non-stop jabs for poor DD for the rest of the year!

I assume it doesn't matter exactly when as long as they are done before school?!

You're giving me food for thought here. When it all kicked off I looked at the vaccination. The literature seemed to suggest that the vaccine wasn't as effective in those over 1 year old. They also suggested that over 1s were less likely to get it. I remember at uni a girl in our halls died of meningitis and everyone in her circle of friends were tested.

I may look at it again though.

What I find weird is teenagers no longer get the BCG but because DDs grandfather was born in Africa she was given it. I didn't tell them that her grandfather moved to the UK in the 1960s as I figured it was a useful vaccination if I ever want to take her travelling with me for work.

I wonder if they'll introduce it at some point now that's all died down. If I knew they were going to then I'd go for it (privately, before it was introduced).

That does make sense but knowing my luck they'd not come into contact with it enough (DD has avoided it for three years so far).

Pre-school boosters are a very specific 3yrs 4 months here. DD will be due her second men b jab at around the same time! And the flu vaccination, but that's not too bad.

DD had the BCG because the inlaws were living abroad at the time and due to visit when she was a baby.

DS hasn't been entitled to it as they're back here now and it's not a routine vaccination in this area.

My family live in an area with a high number of cases of TB where it's a routine vaccination. My BIL got TB through his job in the community a few years back. People say it's almost impossible to catch like that but it's clearly not. We all had to be tested as we'd been in close contact when it was contagious - he didn't know what it was at the time - and a couple of family members needed further investigation and treatment.

I want DS to be vaccinated too as we visit regularly but that's something else we'd have to have done privately.

I was vaccinated against smallpox! Any of the rest of you?

I don't think so!

I had the single measles jab when I was at primary school (measles seemed to be quite common when I was younger but I avoided it). I caught mumps as a child though.

I remember mumps and chicken pox very well. I remember the itching from chicken pox. And bein stuck on the sofa with mumps feeling terrible

I can remember my cheeks being swollen with mumps and the itchiness of chicken pox. And my parents buying me a jigsaw to cheer me up! Does calamine lotion really help anyone?! From what I've read there are more effective solutions nowadays, thankfully.

Ugh, calamine lotion was hopeless! I remember chicken pox as a kid - I don't remember the itching, but I do remember having to stand naked in front of the fire to have calamine dabbed all over me, and rolling cold milk bottles up and down my legs (that might have been the allergic reaction to penicillin though, not sure!) :o

We used calamine ointment for DD 7 years ago, but Virasoothe for the boys when they both had it last year.

I remember the pox...I got told off for rubbing my itchy back on the spines of the wooden dining chairs!

I remember my pre-school jabs too with polio on a sugar cube!

I'd forgotten about the flu vaccine. Both of ours need that this year. At least it's only a nasal spray!

I'll put a reminder in my phone to book the pre-school jab for DD.

I don't know if I was vaccinated against smallpox. Hmmmm!

Oh, the NHS website says that they don't vaccinate against CP as it's less risky to have it as a child than an adult and if you're vaccinated there's a chance it'll wear off and you'll just get it as an adult, worse than if you were a child. There's also a risk of increased shingles cases later on too.

Oh yes, polio sugar cube! I'd forgotten about that! I got a booster sugar cube in secondary school.

I only had one chicken poc when I was little so got off v lightly. DS caught chicken pox when he was 1; I never got it off him so I assume my singular spot did enough to provide immunity.

I think the childhood vaccine programme has changed slightly in the past three years? I really should revisit all that stuff and check that our reasons for doing/not doing things still stands - rather than apathy dictating our action!

Changing the topic slightly, where on earth do you buy non pink clothes for girls? At this rate DD will live in sleepsuits for ever, purely to avoid the pink frilly sea that seems to exist out there!

The risk of shingles is to the population as a whole not the individual, because of the lack of chicken pox circulating providing the immune boost. The NHS website I explains this here www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/chickenpox-vaccine-questions-answers.aspx

Basically the best thing for the child is to vaccinate, the best thing for society is to not. I have been selfish and chosen mine over society knowing that they wil likely be ok while everyone else's kids continue to get it!

Re non-pink girls clothes - try Mothercare, and Sainsburys is usually quite good. Next is hit and miss but usually has a few bits, and Gap is ok too. You do have to be selective though! I used to buy bright coloured boys tops for DD as a baby, nobody could tell.

And H&M!

I still see it differently (what hungry says the NHS website says is how I see it. There's a chance they won't get exposed in the future, and you wouldn't really know for sure). I guess it depends on what you're worried about most (I know it's horrid and there are risks but I'd rather them have it now and not have to worry about the possibility of them having it in the future, when it would be even more horrid. If the vaccine provided immunity for life I'd definitely go for it).

On one of my other groups there's a lady from a country where the vaccination is standard and she said that she hasn't known of any cases.

They aren't sure how long the men b vaccination lasts for either but as it's only really a concern up to age 21 that's not something I'm worried about.

Re non pink clothes, Boden do some lovely ones.

I only know all this stuff because it used to be my job. I left just as MMRV was being abandoned and certainly I've not kept up with research in the mean time. In any event there is now a shingles vaccine so that's not so much a thing anyway. I think I feel strongly about it because all our work in getting MMRV ready was wasted! Certainly if it hadn't been pulled we wouldn't be having this conversation. I know nothing about men b really except what I read so I don't doubt the messages there. Chicken pox is different because of my background. But if I were you I would certainly go along with guidance and not the words of an Internet stranger! Certainly for me if nothing else I would rather spare them the misery and me a week off work but I can see why others may not share this view.

Non pink clothes I get from M&S , sainsburys, John Lewis and next. However DD2 is currently sporting boys dungarees with a pink vest. I can't believe I didn't discover how good dungarees are before. Why oh why do boys get dungarees and girls get dresses? Dresses on babies are stupid because they ride up at the back. I've got so many impractical dresses that aren't getting worn and 2 pairs of dungarees that are in a constant cycle of wear/wash/iron

Hmmm. DH and I have just been debating the practicality of dresses on babies. Virtually every clothing gift for DD has been a dress/tights/vest combo. But we also have loads of dungarees from DS. Will keep them until DD has grown out of them!

Wear the vest and tights underather dungarees and save the dresses for the day the present giver comes to visit! Unless you're one of those people who likes babies in frou frou dresses and headbands. But you don't strike me as one of those

Your perception is bang on Sunny! There'll be as little of that as possible. Tights strike me as bloody useful ds was forever pulling his socks off but I'll be on a mission to find jolly non pastel tights for her.

DD has worn tights once, I think. She's not keen! And no headbands here either.

Tesco clothing has plenty of pink avoidance opportunities. Next isn't too bad (and lasts well).

Jojo have good tights in non pastel colours. Dresses are reserved for grandparent visits at that age. By three you may have a child who constantly requests dresses and requests that they be pink! And at three it's less of a bother but a crawling baby in a dress is an annoying concept. My big bug bear is those stupid massive head bands on hair free baby girl heads!

My favourite tights come from Mother care in bright red and have grumpy looking bunnies on their knees. Kind of wish they came in my size