Alternative Vaccination Schedule

[sammilynn]

If you still do vaccines but do them on a different schedule or delay them what do you do?

[tanyachap]

We do a combination of Dr. Sears and what our pedi recommends. We are delaying MMR, varivax for Matthew but did MMR for Kevin at 2 due a huge outbreak in Europe at the time and my parents and family traveling back and forth. Matthews got his Dtaps on time since we live in CA and we have constant outbreaks of pertussis. We also did rotovirus since there was outbreak in the area and Kevin's preschool. But I waited with polio and some others till much later. So I talk to the pedi and with her input and Dr. Sears recommendations we come with out own schedule. Eventually both boys will be totally on track since they are going to public school. It will be just spread out for them.

[macksmom]

We do one shot per visit but usually not until the baby is a few months old. I don't remember when we started with DD2....maybe 3 months?

[macksmom]

We do one shot per visit but usually not until the baby is a few months old. I don't remember when we started with DD2....maybe 3 months?

ETA: We also don't do rotovirus or flu vaxes and we usually start with pertussis because we feel that is most dangerous. We don't do MMR until age 2 and Chicken Pox around age 5 I think....

eta....ooops I guess I replied instead of editing lol....

[dunegirl]

We are doing a combination of dr sears recommendations and my own research and personal preference.

[tanyachap]

I wanted to add that we do 1 at a time when they are babies and we wait for at least a month in between. At Kevin's 4 yo appointment, I did Hep A, hep B and varivax and I felt comfortable with 3 at the same time since he was 4. His next round will be at 4.5 for just one, havent decided which one. With Matthew, we still do one at a time and prefer waiting 3 months at least in between.

[martiniqus]

Our pediatrician only does alternative schedule so we follow what she recommends. It's pretty close to Dr. Sears' schedule but starts at 2 months with DTaP and Hib (I think).

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

We are doing a combination of dr sears recommendations and my own research and personal preference.

that is what we do...ends up being 1-2 shots per visit, with some shots not being given at all. Also, we factor in outbreaks. For instance, we were going to wait until right before school for MMR, but there was a measles outbreak, so we did it after 3.

[sammilynn]

What makes you decide what shots to not give or to wait to give later?

[dunegirl]

I weigh the pros and cons...or how risky I feel the vaccine it. For instance, chickenpox I won't vaccinate for until 4-6years old depending on our situation at the time (if she's in school or not). I wouldn't do polio since its been erraticated for decades. I was going to do MMR at 2 years old but now that she isn't in daycare anymore I will delay it for a few more years. I also weigh in the ingredients of the vaccine. I did a lot of research and read lot of books and then I decided what was best for my family.

[sammilynn]

Why would you vaccinate for chickenpox I wasn't as a kid and had it. So wouldn't it be better for them to get it and not risk getting the side effects and they get it and be done with it?

[HisWifeHerMom]

We didnt vaccinate for chicken poxs we believe its ALOT safer as a kid then adult to get them however DH and I never had them until I got pregnant and DD hada breakout which broke out DH...As for the other vacc's I started with delay vacc's until my pedi quit and now I cant found anyone who will see her without her being up to date Which I believe is SOO Wrong

needless to say Shes up to date now but I would be sure to have a good pedi who understands your wants and supports you

[dunegirl]

Why would you vaccinate for chickenpox I wasn't as a kid and had it. So wouldn't it be better for them to get it and not risk getting the side effects and they get it and be done with it?
Exactly!

[xtrememousey]

we mostly follow dr. sears i only really deviate from stuff like flu and chicken pox which i feel is unnecessary

[tapir]

I make lots (lots and lots) of alternate vax schedules for people (I am a complementary-friendly ped). I think it hugely depends on where you are, who you are around, family history, where you plan to go, and what risk you are willing to tolerate. There is definitely no one answer that someone over the internet can give you.
In general, aluminum content is an issue, so there are advantages to the combination vaccines like pentacel that cause less net aluminum.
In general, pertussis, H flu, and pneumococcus are really around and really kill babies. I think those are no-brainers for the small people (under age 2).
The rest is way less clear.
JMHO. You will not be able to pin me down any more than that in this forum, but if you want any more info feel free to PM me...

[misfit]

We do 1-2 vaccines starting at 2 months and go once a month. I didn't start this until Elliott, but Evie will be on the same schedule. Have not done Hep B or varicella and we don't do flu at all. We may start either of those or both at his 2 year check so he is good for preschool and then Kindergarten.

[TripMomma]

With the triplets we didn't start any until they were 2 years old, with Jericho we started at 1 yr...since he has older siblings in school and other activities that could bring germs home to him.
We do 1 shot at a time with a min of 2 months between shots...usually it has been longer. We skipped roto all together, will not do the chicken pox or hep vaxes until they are in grade school, MMR we are holding off until 6.
So far the triplets vax record looks like this...

Dtap #1 7/10, #2 9/10
hib 1st and final 3/11
prevnar 1st and final 7/11
IPV (polio) #1 1/12
Dtap #3 4/12

Still to come
IPV #2
HepA #1
Dtap#4
IPV #3
HepB #1
HepA #2
HepB #2
MMR
Varivax

I am not anti vax, I do think they have been helpful and are important. I just do not like the amount they want to give at a time, how often they want to do it and how young they want to start.

[tmbg1022]

Why would you vaccinate for chickenpox I wasn't as a kid and had it. So wouldn't it be better for them to get it and not risk getting the side effects and they get it and be done with it?

That's what we're doing with Varicella, but at some point you'll probably want to figure out a time to vax if your kid hasn't had it. When we were kids it would go around, now, because so many are vaxed, it doesn't go around the same way. From the teens on chicken pox can be much worse, so we'll get DD vaccinated sometime, possibly as a preteen, if she hasn't had it already. For women of childbearing age it will be important too since it is possible for an unborn child to wind up with serious complications if the mother has chicken pox while pregnant. That's a risk I don't want to saddle my daughter with.

The Sears Vaccine Book is great to read. It will help you decide which are important to you. Also, having a pediatrician who supports you in a delayed schedule or non-vax is worth so much. My pedi also has an amazing NP who we see for well visits. We were delaying the MMR until 5ish but at the last appt she just let us know that Measles has been around in our area, not pushing the vax, just an FYI. So we decided to do it earlier based on that information.

A few things to take into consideration are whether your child will be in day care (greater possible exposure to diseases) how much travel you and the people you are close to do (can up exposure) and whether you are breast feeding. We didn't do HiB, but did do Rotavirus. Hib we delayed and then somehow missed, but it is rare after a certain age so we skipped it. Rotavirus spreads so easily and it would be sad to see a tiny baby so sick. The others we did one every few months. DD got the Polio vax because I'm sure she'll travel to who knows where at some point and I want her to have immunity. Also, personally, I worked with someone who contracted Polio as a child, but could have been vaccinated. His parents decided against it and he was bitter about being in a wheelchair for all of his teens and adult life. That certainly affected my decision. DH and I don't get the flu vax and unless there seems to be a reason for her to get it, DD won't either. We're pretty healthy folks and none of us have respiratory problems. The Dtap is a good one to consider, just alternate, particularly with Hib (I seem to remember the reason is spreading out the aluminum the doses contain).

Good luck on your decisions! I actually found vaccinating/not vaccinating to be very interesting as far as doing research and making decisions. With a second child it will be more fun because we'll have to take into consideration exposure via an older sibling. It was so easy with the first one!

[GA1977]

We are doing a combination of dr sears recommendations and my own research and personal preference.

me too. With Parker (age 4) we did 1-2 per visit. But I wish we would have spaced them more and avoided some. She has not had Hep A or MMR (and may not ever get them...haven't decided yet).

Boden has had the Dtap series and thats it. I don't know if/when we will give him other vaccines. He won't get Hep B until he's in middle school. I would like to completely avoid polio but he will probably get this in middle school too.

We do not do flu shots at all ever.

[macksmom]

The chicken pox vax is required by our public school. Not sure if you can get a waiver if you already did other vaxes but every state and even county varies so you can look into that. We chose to do it a) b/c it's required for school and she was older (age 4 or 5) b) while we all probably had it as kids and did fine it's not as common so the strain your child may get could be one that is strong enough to still be around and more severe and c) I have girls and it's a concern for when they want to have kids - they might need the vax then anyway. Those were just our reasons. Do your own research and see what you feel comfortable with.

I agree to look at your area - pertussis is everywhere, but we had a measles outbreak a while back and i just felt more comfortable with them being vaxed. I am not against vaxes I just think the current schedule is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for their tiny bodies.

[sammilynn]

I am not against vaxes I just think the current schedule is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for their tiny bodies.

this is my thinking and if I would have thought to look at the schedule before DS I may have done it differently. So I'm thinking we will still fully vaccinate but in a more spaced out order.

[Cosmosmom]

Why would you vaccinate for chickenpox I wasn't as a kid and had it. So wouldn't it be better for them to get it and not risk getting the side effects and they get it and be done with it?


some cases of chicken pox can be very serious and once you have it, you are at risk for developing shingles. I haven't had it but have known people who have...usually elderly but I had a friend in high school and it was awful.

[misfit]

I definitely think many of the vaccines are important, but I find they give them too much in a short period. I would love if there was an easy way to wait to give Elliott varicella until sometime in grade school and Hep B in middle school, but I've been told it is complicated to get a vaccine exemption (here in Iowa anyway). And since I plan for him to have them anyway, at least delaying them until he is 2+ is better than what the AAP wanted.

[sookie4415]

my pedi told me that they really recommend the varicella vaccine because of all the adults out there at risk for getting seriously ill if they contract it...so basically to protect the general public...I did vaccinate for it, we have to with school and I have a school ager...

[Joie]

We do no more than two shots per visit, and only vax at scheduled well baby/well child visits. We skip the flu vax because we are not high risk (my girls and I stay home and my husband works with very few people). We have chosen to not do the chickenpox vax because we are not comfortable with it. At every visit our pedi sits down with us and together we determine which vax we will do at the next visit. That way I have plenty of time to research, and obviously she knows more about what my kids are at risk for at any certain age.

[KC's wifey]

From what I've read, once you have contracted chicken pox, as an adult any time you are around children with it your immunity to the disease gets a natural boost, and is a protection against shingles. In a way, the vaccination has contributed to the increase in shingles cases because natural communal immunity isn't happening any more. Children are getting vaccinations that are only temporary, and adults are not getting the immunity boost they used to get from being around children with it on a semi-regular basis. So now in addition to children getting vaccinated for chicken pox, adults now have to be scheduled for shingles vaccinations. It raises the question of whether our society was better off without it.

But this is the way the culture is going now. With this specific disease, the widespread vaccination has pretty much forced the hand of parents who would otherwise prefer their children (and themselves) to have a natural immunity.

I do believe vaccines have a valuable place in society. But just because a shot is available doesn't mean its always right for everyone across the board.