Need help with alternative vax schedule

[spanannie]

L has her 4 mo. appt tomorrow. I have never followed an alternate vax schedule, nor did I plan to with her, but, at the last appt., I decided it was something I did want to do. I just felt it in my gut that I didn't want her to have all of those vax at once. I just couldn't do it to her. That said, I hadn't researched it, up until that appt., so she had already had Hep B #1 at the hospital and I gave her the DtaP, HIB, Prevnar (Pc) and Rotavirus at the 2 mo appt. I opted to skip the Hep B and Polio, since they really aren't necessary. Tomorrow she is due for DTaP#2, HIB#2, Polio (which I won't be getting), Prevnar (Pc) and the 2nd Rotavirus according the Pedi schedule.

I'm hoping to switch to Dr. Bob's Alternate Vax Schedule:
2 mos: DTaP, Rotavirus
3 mos: Pc, HIB
4 mos: DTaP, Rotavirus
5 mos: Pc, HIB

So, what should I get tomorrow to veer us onto the alternative schedule?
I know we'll be getting the DTaP and Rotavirus, but should she get anything else?

According to Dr. Bob's schedule, she should get the #2 Pc and #2 HIB at 5 mos. Should I wait until 5 mos to get those #2 shots, or go ahead and get them tomorrow and be caught up until the 6 mo appt? Then I think I'd be caught up to the schedule and could start from there. She'd be getting 4 vaccines instead of 2, though, and that's what I'm aiming to avoid.

Thanks for your help! I am new to this!

[Raidra]

Why would you want her to get all of them tomorrow, instead of just the DTaP and Rotavirus?

According to either schedule, she's caught up.. per Dr. Sears, by her 4 mo. she should have one dose each of DTaP, Rotavirus, PC, and Hib.. and that's what she has, right? No reason to give her four shots tomorrow when you'd rather her get two.

We follow Dr. Sears' schedule, though we don't do rotavirus. Fiona got DTaP at 2 mo, PC and Hib at 3 mo, DTaP at 4 mo, and will be getting PC and Hib at 5 mo.

[spanannie]

You're right . . . guess I am caught up according to Sears' standards.

Looking down the road . . . where am I going the find the MMR separated? I know that Hopewell Pharmacy used to have them to order, but when I called for my son, they had been out for a long time . . . and the pedi told me that they may never have them again. I know this doesn't matter right now, but I will have to be working on this for her 12 mo vax.

Also, does this schedule have the child sufficiently vaccinated (according to a preschool's standards) to attend preschool after their 2nd birthday?

Thanks again!


Why would you want her to get all of them tomorrow, instead of just the DTaP and Rotavirus?

According to either schedule, she's caught up.. per Dr. Sears, by her 4 mo. she should have one dose each of DTaP, Rotavirus, PC, and Hib.. and that's what she has, right? No reason to give her four shots tomorrow when you'd rather her get two.

We follow Dr. Sears' schedule, though we don't do rotavirus. Fiona got DTaP at 2 mo, PC and Hib at 3 mo, DTaP at 4 mo, and will be getting PC and Hib at 5 mo.

[Raidra]

I'm new to the world of delayed/selective vaccinations, so pardon my ignorance. ;)

I believe you can sign vaccine waivers if your child isn't caught up by the time she enters preschool. We homeschool, so I've never needed to worry about that. You may also feel more comfortable with giving her more frequent doses of vaccines to get her caught up when she's closer to two, rather than a tiny infant.. obviously, that's your call.

You do have to order the separate MMR vaccines yourself, and you'll most likely have to pay upfront and try to get reimbursed by insurance later. I know you usually have to buy them in, like, a box of ten or something, so I've heard of moms joining up and splitting the costs. You can find information like that on MDC.. there's the Finding Your Tribe local areas section to find people to share with, and there's a whole section on vaccinations to ask questions about preschool requirements and whatnot.

[spanannie]

I've been looking at the book further -- I should have read it all by now, but just can't find the time since having a 3rd! -- and it sounds like Dr. Bob is not certain that there is any benefit to giving the separate M, M and R vax, so, now I'm confused how you proceed, once you get to that point. He says the bad stuff that's in the combo vax is in each of the individual vaxes, so, instead of getting it once, the child is getting it 3x. So, I guess the main benefit is that it's less insult to the system to have one at a time and there is less chance of reaction. Other than that, you aren't really avoiding anything by separating. Now I'm really confused!

I think our school will probably require that she is "caught up" by 2. Like you said, though, I may be OK with that, since she won't be a tiny baby once that time comes and I won't feel as bad about giving the vaxes to her.


I'm new to the world of delayed/selective vaccinations, so pardon my ignorance. ;)

I believe you can sign vaccine waivers if your child isn't caught up by the time she enters preschool. We homeschool, so I've never needed to worry about that. You may also feel more comfortable with giving her more frequent doses of vaccines to get her caught up when she's closer to two, rather than a tiny infant.. obviously, that's your call.

You do have to order the separate MMR vaccines yourself, and you'll most likely have to pay upfront and try to get reimbursed by insurance later. I know you usually have to buy them in, like, a box of ten or something, so I've heard of moms joining up and splitting the costs. You can find information like that on MDC.. there's the Finding Your Tribe local areas section to find people to share with, and there's a whole section on vaccinations to ask questions about preschool requirements and whatnot.

[Raidra]

Yeah, I'm not positive that we'll split up the MMR. I did read that section but didn't retain a whole lot, since I have plenty of time to decide. I do remember him saying that the bad stuff is in each, and that you'll just be subjecting your child to two extra sticks. I also remember he seemed more concerned about needle sticks than I am.. like, he seemed to recommend the combo vaxes so your kid doesn't get stuck more than once, but the actual needle stick isn't my concern, it's the overloading the immune system that worries me. So.. yeah. It's never cut and dry.

[Tondi G]

why not polio? I just ask cause the father of a close friend of mine had it as a child and was SO adamant about his grandchild getting the vaccine so he didn't take the chance of contracting polio. We live on so Cal so maybe it's because we have a lot of south american immigrants that he is so worried. It still exists in other parts of the world am I right?

[MacMacMoo]

why not polio? I just ask cause the father of a close friend of mine had it as a child and was SO adamant about his grandchild getting the vaccine so he didn't take the chance of contracting polio. We live on so Cal so maybe it's because we have a lot of south american immigrants that he is so worried. It still exists in other parts of the world am I right?

I second the polio. If your child gets it, there are so few doctors who have worked with it getting proper treatment is extermely difficult.

[Raidra]

Polio has been eradicated in the US and in the Americas as a whole. The only reason we continue vaccinating is because there are four countries where it is still endemic.. Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The Americas were declared polio free in 1994. I believe the last case of wild polio in the US was in 1984 or thereabouts.

According to Dr. Sears schedule, we'll give polio at 9 mo. and again a few months later. The chances of my baby coming in contact with the feces of a person from one of those four countries who happens to be infected are extremely low, especially in her first 9 months of life.

We will get it eventually because until it's eradicated worldwide, there's a small chance that there could be an outbreak through international travel. For now, the chances of her getting it are so monumentally slim, and the chances of a case of polio being paralytic were quite low to begin with.

[KBecks]

Hey Annie, I have been reading Dr. Sears while BF our newborn.

Our pediatrician does not give rotavirus, I don't think. I don't think my kids have gotten any rota shots. I am looking at the 2 month shots and whether I want to do any of them, which would be HIB, Prevnar (Pc), and DTAP.

I was feeling good about the shots UNTIL I looked at his chapter about aluminum in the shots....... it is still probably fine, but in his chapter on aluminum he points out that aluminum in shots has never really been studied, but aluminum in IV feeding on preemies was studied and had negative effects on development. Great. So it's not really known what is a safe level of aluminum on an infant. That's why the shots in his schedule are 2 mo, 3 mo, 4 mo, etc -- to spread out the aluminum exposure so it's not so concentrated. You'll have to read your book if you want more detail, and that's my rough summary based on memory. Some brands have more or less aluminum. I may call our pedi to see what they use.

As for MMR, I chose to do it all together because of concerns over "hot lots" of Rubella. It may be harder to get all the components separately, and some rubella only vax have had more reported problems, I think through VAERS. Since I didn't want to mess around with checking lot numbers and I didn't want to get into it with the pedi office, I decided to do the combo shot > 2 years. For my newest I may wait even longer before doing MMR, but I know we will do the shot, as I decided I didn't want to deal with home treatment for a natural case of measles, and I don't feel all that comfortable with wanting exposure to get natural immunity. Hope that helps!

For polio, we haven't done it yet for my 2 y.o., I believe the risk is very low, but we may do it later in life.

[Tondi G]

Polio has been eradicated in the US and in the Americas as a whole. The only reason we continue vaccinating is because there are four countries where it is still endemic.. Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The Americas were declared polio free in 1994. I believe the last case of wild polio in the US was in 1984 or thereabouts.

According to Dr. Sears schedule, we'll give polio at 9 mo. and again a few months later. The chances of my baby coming in contact with the feces of a person from one of those four countries who happens to be infected are extremely low, especially in her first 9 months of life.

We will get it eventually because until it's eradicated worldwide, there's a small chance that there could be an outbreak through international travel. For now, the chances of her getting it are so monumentally slim, and the chances of a case of polio being paralytic were quite low to begin with.

GOTCHA! Just wanted to inform myself a little cause my neighbor is due to have a baby in the next few weeks and is hoping to spread out her vax. She and I were talking about it. She is having a rough time finding a Ped who will agree to it that is also on her insurance!

[CAM7]

So, what should I get tomorrow to veer us onto the alternative schedule?


Nothing.

Honestly I'd cancel the appointment until you are 100% sure of what vaxes you think she should get.

Until then you can file an exemption for the preschool.

You can get some info on mothering.com in their forums about the vaxes...take your time and ask a lot of questions. :-)

[CAM7]

She is having a rough time finding a Ped who will agree to it that is also on her insurance!

Try mothering.com for their "Finding your Tribe" forum. Look for the state she lives and she can start (or you) a thread there asking for suggestions for a doctor. Sometimes it's best to switch to a 'family' or general practioner...they are less likely to be pushy about vaxes.

[CAM7]

We live on so Cal so maybe it's because we have a lot of south american immigrants that he is so worried. It still exists in other parts of the world am I right?

I would not worry about the 'immigrants carry diseases' scare.

Mexico has one of the highest vax rates...

[Tondi G]

Try mothering.com for their "Finding your Tribe" forum. Look for the state she lives and she can start (or you) a thread there asking for suggestions for a doctor. Sometimes it's best to switch to a 'family' or general practioner...they are less likely to be pushy about vaxes.

I will pass this on to her! She has an appointment with a ped who supposedly is ok with a delayed/staggered vax schedule. If she doesn't like her for whatever reason I will suggest this to her!

[spanannie]

I don't know how that person contracted the polio, but my mother's brother also had polio. He actually got it FROM THE VAX. That was when the vax was a live virus, so this happened more often. Our pedi said the polio would be more likely to come from traveling somewhere like Africa.


why not polio? I just ask cause the father of a close friend of mine had it as a child and was SO adamant about his grandchild getting the vaccine so he didn't take the chance of contracting polio. We live on so Cal so maybe it's because we have a lot of south american immigrants that he is so worried. It still exists in other parts of the world am I right?

[brittone2]

I don't know how that person contracted the polio, but my mother's brother also had polio. He actually got it FROM THE VAX. That was when the vax was a live virus, so this happened more often. Our pedi said the polio would be more likely to come from traveling somewhere like Africa.

That's also what happened w/ that case 2-3 years ago (maybe longer?) in the midwest. The child was in contact w/ someone who had received the live virus. She was fine and IIRC, she was not contagious to others.

Some people suspect that the live vaccine used back when Polio was more common actually caused quite a bit of the Polio that occurred.

[Raidra]

I don't know how that person contracted the polio, but my mother's brother also had polio. He actually got it FROM THE VAX. That was when the vax was a live virus, so this happened more often. Our pedi said the polio would be more likely to come from traveling somewhere like Africa.

Vaccine-derived polio (VDP) was the cause of the most recent 'outbreak' of polio in (?) Minnesota. I don't have this info in front of me, but from my recollection, none of the children even got sick.. it was detected by chance. The virus in the oral vaccine is weakened and much less likely to cause paralysis. I believe the oral vaccine caused paralysis in 1 in something like 15 million doses. Poliovirus is shed in feces for only 6 weeks, so it's unlikely that VDP is circulating unless there's a high population of unvaccinated children (like in the Amish community in 2005).