Vaccines Take 2

Ok, per some requests I am posting my vaccine schedule. Keep in mind, this is not set in stone and I also have not run this past a doctor, but I will explain my reasoning for all of it.

Birth: None
2 Mos: DTaP, Hib, PNC
4 Mos: DTaP, Hib, PNC
6 Mos: DTaP, Hib, PNC
12 Mos: None
15-18 Mos: Hib, PNC
2 yrs: None
3 yrs: IPV
4 yrs: IPV, DTaP
5 yrs: IPV, MMR
6 yrs: MMRV, Start Hep B and Hep A

For the actual chart, here it is. It is hard to read unless you click on it.



Here, also is the Utah recommended immunization schedule.



My reasoning is as follows. DTaP, Hib, and PNC all take care of diseases from which babies are at risk from dying or being severely damaged. Case in point, pertussis or whooping cough which I wrote about previously. Haemophilus Influenza type B click here for more info or click here for info on pneumococcal. Both are potentially scary.

I decided to push IPV, or the polio vaccine back because that disease is basically eradicated from the united states, but not quite yet. See here . Because it is not totally extinct, I think it is important to keep vaccinating. I just want to do it later on when they are bigger.

Now, the MMR is the most controversial vaccine from what I understand. In most publications about the MMR vaccine, they have an appendix of some kind saying that the vaccine has not been linked to autism so I guess a lot of people say it is. Click here for a site of one explanation of why people are afraid. Measles is a little scary because there are outbreaks currently and apparently it spreads VERY easily. See here for an overview. Mumps is only vaccinated from what I understand because it causes sterility in men as does chicken pox. Rubella or German Measles has no serious side effects except for that it causes birth defects if a pregnant woman gets sick. My ASL teacher in college was deaf because her mom caught rubella while pregnant. I put the MMR later because in the past, all three diseases have not been very common, but if measles keeps spreading, I might move it up. I put the MMRV very last because I would honestly rather have my kid get chicken pox than the vaccine. I and most people I know caught chicken pox and it was just fine. However, with the vaccine, the disease seems to be dying down and if the off chance they don't catch the disease while they're young, I would like them to be vaccinated.

Hepatitis A and B I feel for my family are very unnecessary. My doctor told me the reason they immunize the babies for Hepatitis B is because they can't get them to come in as teenagers when they are sleeping around and using intravenous drugs. Although I cannot guarantee that my kids will not doing any of that when they grow up, I can guarantee that they will not be doing that as babies. Can't they make it a requirement for like 6th or 7th grade? Hepatitis A comes from contaminated food or water, which I'm pretty sure my baby will not be getting unless we travel somewhere very remote like the jungles of Africa or something.

So there you go. If you have any suggestions to what I have scheduled, I would appreciate hearing them. One thing I have learned as I have been studying this even more is that, it's a good thing to think about, but it is really easy to freak yourself out. So, don't worry too much. Be informed but in more cases than not, vaccines are a very good thing. Caleb is caught up to where he should be on the Utah schedule, and I feel very confident that he is safe from some scary diseases out there. Have a happy and healthy day!