Need Help with Delaying Vaccines!

Remember first that lead and hgb are "tests" and I would never consider not testing for lead. The flu shot is probably a good idea - especially this year. I am making my children - who are all much older than yours - get it for the 1st time ever. My suggestion for the others is to talk to your doctor about the vaccines. If you don't like the answers then you have a problem with the doctor. Get a second opinion. I personally always vaccinated my kids and if I needed to make thoses decisions again I defintely would. Good luck.

I think they only do the lead test if there is reason to believe that lead could be an issue - like if you live in a house with peeling paint or are doing renovations on an older home, etc..

Personally, I'd hold off on the MMR, measles and mumps are not really deadly/dangerous until they are older like 12, and rubella is not dangerous to children at all - only to pregnant women - so that one is for the public good not the good of your child.

Varicella/chicken pox vax is also not really dangerous until older like 12.

Prevnar is the PCV shot like the first J. suggested. It's not only not required for day care or school entry, but children aren't even in the most at risk group. Here is info from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases website:
Anyone can get pneumococcal disease. But some groups are at particularly high risk for pneumococcal disease or its complications. These groups include persons aged 65 and older; individuals with weak immune systems due to cancer, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); persons with sickle cell disease or without a functioning spleen; individuals who have a chronic illness such as lung, heart, and kidney disease, diabetes and alcoholism; persons living in special environments or communities, such as Alaskan Natives and certain American Indian populations; and residents of chronic or long-term care facilities.

I don't have a great answer...but I am with you on your approach to vaccines. I skip the flu and rota virus and delay chicken pox...if your dr. can space them apart, that would be great...but I find it hard to keep track of a different schedule on my own so I sort of go with with dr's office. Good luck.

We have gotten all vac. at the schedule that the dr recommended. I took my son (all of us really) separately for the flu shot . I thought about not giving him the Chicken pox shot, but then I found out that if the get the vacc and do not get the chicken pox, then they can not get Shingles (very painful) later in life. There is a lot of info out there and do talk to your Dr. My doc put me at ease because I was worried about the vacc. also

OK, Prevnar is the pneumococcal, right? Not required, I don't think.

Flu is not required

PPD is a TB test, not a vaccine. It is not required yet either, but it's also not a shot.

I would personally wait on lead until your child has been crawling a little while.

What does that leave? Varicella and hgb. Hgb - is that the iron test? That's just a pinprick. OK, so that leaves only one shot!

ETA - I missed the 15-month stuff. You definitely don't want to skip the DTaP - pertussis has been going around the past couple of winters, and it can be really bad. Deadly for infants. I've known more than a couple of adults and teens who had it last year, so it's not unlikely your child could be exposed. MMR - I am not sure of the schedule but maybe you can space out the shots so they are at different visits?

Hi A.,

Don't wait to long and talk to your doctor! Although your child is very young, when he gets older and ready to attend school the vaccines and immunizations need to be up to date.

All the Best!

I recommend taking a look at 2 sources of information about vaccines. The first is the excellent website that the Children's Hospital of Philidelphia has. http://www.chop.edu/service/vaccine-education-center/home...

Basically as a parent you need to decide what the risks and benefits of each vaccine are, and whether it makes sense to get them sooner or later. I found, when talking with our doctor, for example, that kids get 3 DTAP shots because that's how many are required to get something like 70% of the population to have an adaquate immune response. Now, they do this all before age 15 months not because your kid NEEDS to have that immunity at that age, but just because they see babies often in this age range and it means your kid is likely to actually get them all. As opposed to an older kid, who might slip through the cracks because we forget or they don't see them often.

Anyway, the other resource that I suggest is The Vaccine Book by William Sears. This one goes through an intelligent discussion of the risks and benefits of the vaccines and the disease that it's vaccinating against, and may be helpful for you.

As for what to prioritize right now, given the hysteria about flu this season and that my kids are in daycare, I did seasonal flu vaccine with my two kids (same age as yours). Both my kids do have all their vaccines, but I wasn't too concerned about being a bit late and/or spreading them out over a longer period of time.

FWIW we skipped the lead and hgb tests since we don't live in an old home (so no lead paint) and I just wasn't worried about hgb.

I think all the responses are all informative. You may feel free to read some of my past posts on vaccines, and the responses. There is a lot in there and again, a lot of good advice. I think you should do what your gut tellls you. It sounds to me like your gut has whispered, "wow, that seems like a lot of shots, and now the flu shot as well, hmmmm" I know many people feel safer, responsible and have followed the advice of their doctors, and chose to vaccinate. I love that we all come to different conclusions, given the studies that are out there, about what we feel is safe for our babies. An EXCELLENT book that I highly recommend to every mother is Dr. Stephanie Cave, What Your Doctor May Not Tell you about Children's Vaccinations. I think if you read that book, you'll have the knowledge to make that decision. I also have a passion for both medicine, science and vaccines. I could talk for hours on hours about many things on this subject. With that being said though, there isn't a moment that I am not aware of their diet, hygiene, metals, chemicals, and all the things that can contribute to a lowered immunity. Anyway, good luck and this is an excellent site for mothers who choose to be informed.