Being Requested to Get Whooping Cough Vaccine to Hold Infant

[Gracie09]

Is it possible she is thinking about the health of Great grandma? Once the baby is what 6 weeks old? he or she will be given the DPTap and thus will be shedding Pertussis for others to catch. Maybe they do not want GGrandma to get ill? Although I do believe that should be her and her physicians choice.

The only confirmed cases of any vaccine shedding and cause any kind of illness was flumist which is a live vaccine. It was pulled from the market. Dtap are inactive vaccines. The only shedding of any components of them occur in fecal matter. So don't play with poop. So while it is ultimately the person getting the vaccines choice, like many choices there are consequences like not being allowed around the baby. That is the parents' choice.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My baby, my rules.

 

[Mizzoufan]

I'd wouldn't get a shot myself but with that said I'd be okay with not holding the baby if that's what the mom wants.

 

[DaisyJ]

My baby, my rules.

My body, my rules.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My body, my rules.

I agree with that too.

 

[mom2rtk]

My body, my rules.

I agree with that too.

Nobody is going to hold you down and make you get a shot. Don't do it. Just don't expect to hold the baby.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Nobody is going to hold you down and make you get a shot. Don't do it. Just don't expect to hold the baby.

Precisely.

 

[mom2rtk]

Precisely.

We all get to control what we get to control.

Deep, huh?

 

[aprilgail]

I would consider it and talk to my dr- but about the other thing- it is TOTALLY DISGUSTING that she would smoke during pregnancy potentially injuring that child for life!! I personally think anyone that smokes during pregnancy should be brought up on some type of charges!

 

[Magpie]

Ummm I don't understand the 2nd part of your post at all but I'm assuming it was supposed to be funny because you put a smiley there? Anyway, to the 1st part...yes I do snuggle newborns and older babies quite often.

Presumably, that's because their parents clearly don't care whether you're infectious.

If they did, you wouldn't be snuggling their babies.

And yes, I was amused, because you made it sound as if you think the mother's (presumed) smoking means her baby doesn't deserve any protection from whooping cough.

 

[Arielle22]

The only confirmed cases of any vaccine shedding and cause any kind of illness was flumist which is a live vaccine. It was pulled from the market. Dtap are inactive vaccines. The only shedding of any components of them occur in fecal matter. So don't play with poop. So while it is ultimately the person getting the vaccines choice, like many choices there are consequences like not being allowed around the baby. That is the parents' choice.

When my daughter was born 22 years ago, my mom was living with us and going through chemo treatments. The pediatrician recommended holding off on the polio vaccine as mom could possibly contract it from my daughter shedding the vaccine. We held off a few months. Otherwise both my daughters were kept to their vaccine schedule, including gardasil.

When my nephew was born a micro premie 8 years ago, he spent 4 months in the hospital and came home with a feeding tube. My sister requested the family (8 siblings in total, spouses, nieces and nephews along with BIL's parents and family) all make sure our vaccines were up to date if we wanted to hold him. Another sister and a niece smoked, my sister asked that they not only wash up prior to visiting but change clothes into clean ones that had not been smoked in. My nephew had lung problems at that time.

We all complied. I went and received my booster. The two who smoked up the opportunity as a kick in the pants to quit smoking. Both went to a hypnotist and have not smoked since.

Being asked about up to date vaccination didn't phase any of us as we knew it was in the best interests of our nephew.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would consider it and talk to my dr- but about the other thing- it is TOTALLY DISGUSTING that she would smoke during pregnancy potentially injuring that child for life!! I personally think anyone that smokes during pregnancy should be brought up on some type of charges!

I agree that it's totally disgusting. Not sure about charges, but it's pretty awful.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Haven't read all the responses, but as someone who has seen the effects of both whooping cough and measles on children too young to get the vaccine, please if you are going to be around infants make sure you and your children are up to date. These diseases truly are devastating and potentially fatal to young babies. You don't really get it until you are sitting helpless by an NICU or PICU bed as a child struggles to breathe or runs a fever of 105 plus and there is nothing more that can be done. We have the luxury of NOT having had to bury our children because of vaccines to the things that have killed infants in alarming numbers in decades past. I think sometimes we forget that.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

My DD had a life-threatening reaction to the Pertussis vaccine when she was a baby (her first shot). She stopped breathing in the middle of the night and thankfully, I woke up and found her and was able to get her breathing again. Pediatrician recommended that we continue with all normal vaccines except Pertussis and since it was rare he wasn't concerned. She was 13 when she contracted it and it was so bad that her body responded with extreme auto-immune response. So she now has multiple auto-immune diseases that the doctors say stemmed from that awful case of Pertussis.

Completely unfair, but the rest of her life has been affected. And it won't be a "normal" life.

Get the booster. Unless there's a medical reason not to, everyone should have it anyway. And the life of a child is just too precious to risk.

If it happened in the middle of the night, how do you know it was a vaccine reaction and not a reaction to something else she might have come into contact with that day? My child has had similar nighttime episodes in reaction to environmental allergens, some of which we never identified. Thankfully she never actually stopped breathing, but it was nonetheless scary and in no way linked to vaccines. They happened in her school aged years between vaccine cycles.

There is some indication that it make be linked to a family history of unidentified autoimmune problems. My MIL has had multiple autoimmune problems that they cannot pin down to a single disease or syndrome, but started with similar random allergic episodes. It sounds very similar to what you guys are dealing with.

 

[Magpie]

I would consider it and talk to my dr- but about the other thing- it is TOTALLY DISGUSTING that she would smoke during pregnancy potentially injuring that child for life!! I personally think anyone that smokes during pregnancy should be brought up on some type of charges!

Hmmm... how far will we go to legally control what women do when they're pregnant?

While I agree that it's not a good idea to smoke while pregnant, I'm not sure I want to strip women of their rights as adults the moment they come back with a positive pregnancy test. What benefit is there to throwing them in jail? Will that help them quit? It's probably enough having most of the world following you around, informing you not to drink that glass of celebratory wine, don't eat that sushi, haven't you heard deli meat can cause miscarriage, what are you thinking riding that roller coaster, painting that room, getting your hair dyed, keeping your cat, or continuing to work! When social pressure is adequate, we don't need to bludgeon people with the law.

Also, all we have here is the word of an offended anti-vaccination mother-in-law. I'm not quite ready to string the young woman up on that basis alone.

 

[Gracie09]

When my daughter was born 22 years ago, my mom was living with us and going through chemo treatments. The pediatrician recommended holding off on the polio vaccine as mom could possibly contract it from my daughter shedding the vaccine. We held off a few months. Otherwise both my daughters were kept to their vaccine schedule, including gardasil.

When my nephew was born a micro premie 8 years ago, he spent 4 months in the hospital and came home with a feeding tube. My sister requested the family (8 siblings in total, spouses, nieces and nephews along with BIL's parents and family) all make sure our vaccines were up to date if we wanted to hold him. Another sister and a niece smoked, my sister asked that they not only wash up prior to visiting but change clothes into clean ones that had not been smoked in. My nephew had lung problems at that time.

We all complied. I went and received my booster. The two who smoked up the opportunity as a kick in the pants to quit smoking. Both went to a hypnotist and have not smoked since.

Being asked about up to date vaccination didn't phase any of us as we knew it was in the best interests of our nephew.

the polio vaccine use to be a live vaccine, until around 2000. Then it became an inactive vaccine. That is now used almost exclusively in the US. So 22 years ago, the live vaccine would still be in use but still no actual cases of illness due to vaccine shedding.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Whooping cough is VERY serious! It is very important to get vaccinated if you are able. This protects babies too young to get vaccinated and others that are unable to get vaccinated (allergies, immune issues).

I requested the grandparents to get their booster when ds was born. When dd was born whooping cough wasn't an issue but by the time ds was born it was on the rise.

That being said when my parents asked their doctor about getting a booster before my niece was born the doctor told them they didn't need it since they were above a certain age. So you might not need it.

 

[Arielle22]

the polio vaccine use to be a live vaccine, until around 2000. Then it became an inactive vaccine. That is now used almost exclusively in the US. So 22 years ago, the live vaccine would still be in use but still no actual cases of illness due to vaccine shedding.

Since the pediatrician recommended we delay the shot, I was fine with it.

 

[PlainJane]

Presumably, that's because their parents clearly don't care whether you're infectious.

If they did, you wouldn't be snuggling their babies.

And yes, I was amused, because you made it sound as if you think the mother's (presumed) smoking means her baby doesn't deserve any protection from whooping cough.

Put me down as also thinking it's odd to not choose to protect a baby from whooping cough because their mother smokes. I would do it out of concern for the child. The baby would already be at a serious health and development disadvantage, why make it worse?

all we have here is the word of an offended anti-vaccination mother-in-law. I'm not quite ready to string the young woman up on that basis alone.

Exactly what I was thinking. I'm automatically going to tend to disbelieve someone who would act so inappropriately. Talk to the person privately!

 

[sunshinehighway]

I'm not anti vaccine, not even close but I'd be turned off by the post. It sounds like some passive aggressive (or maybe just outright aggressive) family squabbling and I'd just want to avoid it all.
The parents obviously get to decide the rules for who holds their baby. It just sounds like there is some using fb to publicize family drama and I personally try to avoid that at all cost.
I'm not a baby person though. I probably wouldn't want to hold the baby anyways.
Also, i don't like people dictating what I should do so that would turn me off. It's one thing to discuss it with people who you are close to and would be visiting a newborn but it make an announcement on fb like it's some type of royal proclamation? Yeah no thanks.
Are they going to be checking your records at the door? All I can think of is the dog groomer and having your pets vaccination records on file