Head Spinning on Vaccinations...

[mamalia]

DD is below the weight-for-age percentiles curve (she's 1 year and barely 17lbs) and I am worried about giving her the vaccinations at her 12month checkup. My apprehensions arose because a mom in our playgroup mentioned that their ped delayed giving her son his shots until his weight climbed back up (he'd been sick and dropped percentiles).

Before her appointment can anyone shed any insight or point me to a website? I did an advanced search and geez my head is spinning - there was one post that had 130 responses!!!

Thanks,
Malia

[MMEand1]

My DD was 16 lbs at her 1 year apt and her ped said that yes, she is small, however, she is growing on her own curve and not on the standard curve. They also took into account that she was BF and her mom (me) is very small, so she is just naturally tiny. We went ahead with her 12 month vaccinations and had no problems.

Don't know how much this helps you, but it looks like our DD's are about the same in stature.

Mariah P.

[mamalia]

Thank you it really does help. You have reassured some of my mommy fears. My DD seems healthy - very bouncy, energetic, curious, etc. And her pediatrician was not too concerned about weight at her nine month check up for similiar reasons to you. But sometimes I do worry because she is so much smaller weight-wise than everyone we know (my niece who is two months older is in the top weight percentiles). So it does really help to hear that 1) DD is not the only child who is not even on those charts and 2) someone else was given the a-okay to vaccinate.

Thank you,
Malia

[lmintzer]

My son was pretty small at a year--roughly 18 lbs., maybe 19 tops. We never were concerned about vaccinating. Are you worried that your daughter might have a shot reaction, not feel like eating, and lose more weight? Or is it something else that you are afraid of?

[bunnisa]

I'd say that if you have reservations, you might want to follow your mommy instinct and wait a bit.

Bethany
mom to one and one on the way!
http://lilypie.com/days/060226/0/8/1/-6/.png
"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
-J. Torres

[8isenough]

I do not want your thread to be side tracked, so if you would like, please PM me and I will give you some links. FTR, you are not questioning vaccinations themselves, more so is this the right time for your child, correct?

Sterling

[Twins2000]

My twin daughters were born 4 1/2 weeks early, so they were quite a bit below the avg weight curve for their 12 month check-up. I think they weighed around 15-16 pounds at the time. They had their shots without any complications.

[dogmom]

What vaccines does your practioner give for the 12 month check up? Mine gave none, since that is when the state mandates a lead test. (They figured that was traumatic enough) The CDC schedule gives the range for most of the vaccines as 12-15 months, so you may be able to wait 3 months with no problems.

My son wasn't small, but I know many mothers of small children that size that didn't alter the vaccine schedule and had no problems. I think we underestimate how resilitant children's immune systems are. I mean, the reason they always have colds and such is they are getting exposed to viruses and the like for the first time and their immune system is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. If it didn't, we all be spending the first year of life in the hospital. (Of course that thought gives me no comfort at 3 am when my child is sick, gee at least I'm not in the emergency room. ;) ) So your DD will probably be fine if you get them, but if it would make you more comfortable to wait I don't see a huge downside.

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey
1/16/03
& Eve
EDC 6/18/06

[BaileyBea]

We told our Dr. that we are not doing the full MMR but we will do them split over 3 months. The 12 month visit requires too many shots etc.. So we worked out a plan where DS will get one set of shots every month. By 15 months he should be caught up.

This wasn't in response to weight etc..for us it just felt like he would get too many shots at the same time and we felt it was too much for his small little body. Most Drs will split the MMR but you have to order it ahead of time. And it may cost you a bit extra.

I really think you should just trust your instinct and do what you feel is best for your DD.