PP here - forgot to mention that our ped was fine with this decision. Roto is really not critical around here. Dehydration and hospitalization are truly unpleasant but not life-threatening.

the vax doesn't last that long - only a few years. We actually skipped the last dose for my younger one - and I am a big proponent of vax - because he had a bad reaction to the earlier ones, and we made the judgment that we'd rather live with the risk of him getting it, esp. since his older brother was vax'ed. All to say, good to question what your ped was thinking, but this isn't one that is so critically important that you should overthink the danger to your kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I spoke with the doctor, who said that she does not offer the vaccination because it has been subject to recalls and adverse reactions. One of her patients had a severe adverse reaction that required hospitalization. She said that the vaccination was not needed in this community and is more appropriate for developing countries. She said that I should have received a handout on vaccinations at some point, which would have explained everything (I did not -- nor do I think that is the appropriate method of communication regarding such an important topic). She apologized for the lack of communication.

Yikes. It sounds like one of her patients had a terrible reaction to it so this is out of principle. I feel a bit nervous about the vaccine now and I'm supposed to have it administered tomorrow.

Do what you think is best, but I wouldn't base my decision on that one doctor’s practice. If anything, I this her approach is based solely on one negative experience. My new ped was shocked that he didn’t get the vaccination, so it can't be that risky. After this experience, I polled my friends & they all got the vaccination. I wish my son had, too.

I'll likely have him get the vaccine tomorrow, but I am going to show our ped this thread and ask her about it. I'm pretty shocked that a mainstream practice like this actually foregoes rotavirus, and without even mentioning it! I go to a pediatrician often mentioned on these boards and told her I wanted to space vaccinations and not get any she didn't think were truly necessary. The only one she took off the table for DS was Hep-B (said we can delay this one if we want) - she strongly recommended all others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well it was taken off the market for several years -- how old is your child? Perhaps when he was age appropriate for it is when the vaccine was off the market. FWIW, my son had a HORRIBLE reaction to it. To the point that we skipped the last two shots. Though I am aware that is not common.

It's not a shot. It's administered orally!

It comes both in an oral and a shot version.

Really? That's not what the CDC says:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-rotavirus.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well it was taken off the market for several years -- how old is your child? Perhaps when he was age appropriate for it is when the vaccine was off the market. FWIW, my son had a HORRIBLE reaction to it. To the point that we skipped the last two shots. Though I am aware that is not common.

It's not a shot. It's administered orally!

It comes both in an oral and a shot version.

Anonymous wrote:I had thought that, at the very least, I could trust a medical doctor on something as cut & dry as scheduled immunizations.

Actually the vaccine schedule is easy -- here it is:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/downloads/parent-ver-sch-0-6yrs.pdf

And yes, I'm appalled that you couldn't trust your doctor about this.

As for reliable sources on parenting, I'm not sure there are any... My mother's advice was to read a lot of different parenting books, and see if there's anything in there that you think might be useful for you. Which is probably better than my advice to just skip the parenting books.

Anonymous wrote:OP, consider this a lesson learned, you are your child's best advocate. I adore and trust my ped but as a parent I strive to be as educated as possible, including knowing what vaccines are to be administered at each visit.

OP here. You make a very good point, but what you say feels beyond me. I am as type-A as they come, but I really don’t want to be THAT parent who scrutinizes, second-guesses, and verifies everything. What’s more, I can't seem to find any reliable sources on parenting. Take sleep training. I read 4 books & still had unanswered questions & confusion. Take solids. I still can't find anything helpful or precise or that held me know what’s best for MY son. I am not stupid or lazy, but I honestly don't know where to go to educate myself. I have really struggled with this. I had thought that, at the very least, I could trust a medical doctor on something as cut & dry as scheduled immunizations. Right now, I feel overwhelmed & somewhat betrayed. If you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

That's pretty surprising because the way I understand it, the CDC is pretty diligent about insisting on documentation that this vax is administered at 2/4/6 mos of age. I don't know how old your child is now, but the biggest reason to give it to infants is due to the risk of dehydration.

I understand that your ped had a challenge with this particular vaccine but, IMO, she should have been more diligent about ensuring her patients received the information. Just a quick review of the Wiki page states that the production was halted of Rotarix & Rotateq for a couple months in spring, 2010, but that suspension was lifted.

I'm all for empowering parents and I actually chose to delay/stagger some vaccines for my children but I would be ridiculously pissed off if my pediatrician made this decision for me. OP, consider this a lesson learned, you are your child's best advocate. I adore and trust my ped but as a parent I strive to be as educated as possible, including knowing what vaccines are to be administered at each visit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I spoke with the doctor, who said that she does not offer the vaccination because it has been subject to recalls and adverse reactions. One of her patients had a severe adverse reaction that required hospitalization. She said that the vaccination was not needed in this community and is more appropriate for developing countries. She said that I should have received a handout on vaccinations at some point, which would have explained everything (I did not -- nor do I think that is the appropriate method of communication regarding such an important topic). She apologized for the lack of communication.

Yikes. It sounds like one of her patients had a terrible reaction to it so this is out of principle. I feel a bit nervous about the vaccine now and I'm supposed to have it administered tomorrow.

Do what you think is best, but I wouldn't base my decision on that one doctor’s practice. If anything, I this her approach is based solely on one negative experience. My new ped was shocked that he didn’t get the vaccination, so it can't be that risky. After this experience, I polled my friends & they all got the vaccination. I wish my son had, too.

Anonymous wrote:Well it was taken off the market for several years -- how old is your child? Perhaps when he was age appropriate for it is when the vaccine was off the market. FWIW, my son had a HORRIBLE reaction to it. To the point that we skipped the last two shots. Though I am aware that is not common.

It's not a shot. It's administered orally!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I spoke with the doctor, who said that she does not offer the vaccination because it has been subject to recalls and adverse reactions. One of her patients had a severe adverse reaction that required hospitalization. She said that the vaccination was not needed in this community and is more appropriate for developing countries. She said that I should have received a handout on vaccinations at some point, which would have explained everything (I did not -- nor do I think that is the appropriate method of communication regarding such an important topic). She apologized for the lack of communication.

Yikes. It sounds like one of her patients had a terrible reaction to it so this is out of principle. I feel a bit nervous about the vaccine now and I'm supposed to have it administered tomorrow.

Our DD was also a patient at Washington Pediatrics, and I didn't find out about the rotavirus vaccine until I did my own research after she got her first stomach bug - by which time she was too old for the vaccine. I was also pretty annoyed about it. She had rotavirus 3 times this past winter - it would have been awesome to skip that! For this and other reasons, we have switched doctors.

This is interesting to me. We delayed some vax (fully vaccinated but spaced them out so DS got only one or two at a time) and this is one our doctor felt strongly (that babies should get) for kids in day care.

Anonymous wrote:^^ I would change PEDs. We go through enough anxiety as parents over the whole vaccination thing than to do deal with a loosey goosey pediatrician. My DD wasn't offered the vac, but her brother born three years later was given it. Luckily, when the bug hit the whole fam. DD didn't get it very bad. Just diarrhea. It put me in the hospital.

Oh, I changed practices alright. That's the only reason why I learned of the missing vaccination.

^^^ OP again. I am still angry about this. The office is so poorly run and, unfortunately, that disorganization led to DH & me being deprived of an important parenting decision. I was told that the practice would take the time to talk to parents & that surely has not been the case. The doctor did take time to speak with me on the telephone and answer some of my other questions, but it is so infuriating that at both the old and new practice, we wait for damn near an hour to see a doctor and then we are rushed through the appointment. What is a new parent to do?? Read a bunch of books that all say conflicting things? Ask family, who raised kids decades ago before all the recommendations changed? Make it up as you go? I guess so. Thank you for induling my rant. I guess I'll just do my best & try not to f-ck my kid up too badly.