I am not afraid of most diseases...because I believe in vaccination. Ebola scares me, but I am not at risk. AIDS scares me, and changed behaviors when I was 20 or so. MMR not so much. I have immunity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An infant that is being breastfed receives whatever immunities his or her mother has, so babies actually can have some protection before they are vaccinated. One of my children was born during a measles outbreak and the doctor was very reassuring that my baby had a lot of protection through my immunities (which had been checked during pregnancy).

+1

But since DCUM'ers don't breastfeed, they worry about this stuff. It must suck to be that afraid of something.

Do be "that afraid" of preventable communicable diseases? I dunno - seems pretty reasonable to be afraid of those.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An infant that is being breastfed receives whatever immunities his or her mother has, so babies actually can have some protection before they are vaccinated. One of my children was born during a measles outbreak and the doctor was very reassuring that my baby had a lot of protection through my immunities (which had been checked during pregnancy).

An infant that is breastfed receives some antibodies but they are not full protection by any means. I am really tired of people assuming that breastfeeding makes babies invincible, or even noticeably more protected against infectious disease than formula fed babies. There is little evidence of this.

(From a mom who breastfed her kids 1 year+ each, so I have no cross to bear here, but still).

During a contagious illness outbreak, the safest thing to do is for you and especially your infant (who does not have a fully formed immune system) to avoid crowds and in the case of an illness spread by tough, like pertussis, wash your hands often and avoid touching your face with your hands when possible.

Of course avoiding crowds and washing hands often is good advice. One of my babies was born during a measles outbreak in the community we were living in at the time. I did all the things suggested above and in addition, was reassured by my doctor that the immunities present in my breast milk were helping my baby's immune system. Any extra bit of protection helps when babies are still too young to be vaccinated.

My baby did not get measles and was vaccinated as early as possible- in fact, actually had to be vaccinated three times because of the extra early vaccination. I was glad to be breastfeeding during those early months before it was possible to vaccinate, especially since I had older kids who were going to elementary school each day.

Anonymous wrote:Right...but the point is some of the pro-vaccine rhetoric is not actually fact. Which is extremely frustrating for people who really do want to know how things work and what certain risks are.
For instance, I just looked up rotavirus and breastfeeding. While the vaccine must be administered by 4 months so for vaccination is doesn't really matter, it was interesting that studies show a strong protective benefit from breastfeeding - but only for the first year. Also breastfeeding right after the vaccination may make the vaccine less effective.
Many people on DCUM have recommended giving Tylenol before vaccinations to help combat soreness....that's great except Tylenol can make the vaccines less effective. Again, accurate information is vital

Are you really going to avoid getting a vaccine because some people on DCUM told you some things that might not be quite true? Seriously, this is the problem. Please rely on advice from medical professionals. I just met with my pediatrician and her advice was to get vaccinated, that it was the best we have and the benefits outweigh the risks. She also told me (which I was happy to hear) that her practice is no longer accepting patients who demand delayed vaccination schedules for anything other than specific medical reasons such as immune deficiency.

I am sure that she would be happy to address my questions, just as your pediatrician would be happy to address yours.

Anonymous wrote:An infant that is being breastfed receives whatever immunities his or her mother has, so babies actually can have some protection before they are vaccinated. One of my children was born during a measles outbreak and the doctor was very reassuring that my baby had a lot of protection through my immunities (which had been checked during pregnancy).

An infant that is breastfed receives some antibodies but they are not full protection by any means. I am really tired of people assuming that breastfeeding makes babies invincible, or even noticeably more protected against infectious disease than formula fed babies. There is little evidence of this.

(From a mom who breastfed her kids 1 year+ each, so I have no cross to bear here, but still).

During a contagious illness outbreak, the safest thing to do is for you and especially your infant (who does not have a fully formed immune system) to avoid crowds and in the case of an illness spread by tough, like pertussis, wash your hands often and avoid touching your face with your hands when possible.

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Haha. NP here. You'd better stay home then, because there are unvaccinated people ALL OVER. If you make the choice to take your daughter out, you bear the responsibility.

Going out in public is not actually a choice. It's something that normal people normally do as part of normal life.

That means being exposed to people who don't vaccinate, also within their rights to circulate in public. If a parent wants to go out in public, they have to accept that others are going to be there too, and that is their choice.

Yes, people who don't vaccinate also have a right to circulate in public. What they don't have a right to do is be a vector of vaccine-preventable disease.

Actually, it seems they do.

A legal right, I guess. Not a moral right, though.

Yes, a legal right. Unless that changes, it seems safe to say there can potentially be unvaccinated people everywhere. Parents who dislike that should plan accordingly.

NP. Plan accordingly how?

However makes them comfortable. ???

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Anonymous wrote:

Haha. NP here. You'd better stay home then, because there are unvaccinated people ALL OVER. If you make the choice to take your daughter out, you bear the responsibility.

Going out in public is not actually a choice. It's something that normal people normally do as part of normal life.

That means being exposed to people who don't vaccinate, also within their rights to circulate in public. If a parent wants to go out in public, they have to accept that others are going to be there too, and that is their choice.

Yes, people who don't vaccinate also have a right to circulate in public. What they don't have a right to do is be a vector of vaccine-preventable disease.

Actually, it seems they do.

A legal right, I guess. Not a moral right, though.

Yes, a legal right. Unless that changes, it seems safe to say there can potentially be unvaccinated people everywhere. Parents who dislike that should plan accordingly.

NP. Plan accordingly how?