I wouldn’t consider myself pro-vaccine. Sure, my son was stuck in his chubby little thigh right on schedule. But, honestly, I never considered any other options. If The Vaccine Book had come out while I was pregnant, I would have chosen to slow-vax my son. He’d eventually got all his shots, but it wouldn’t have been at 3-5 in one sitting. Instead the book arrived in stores when I was a mother to a toddler who was already more than half way through the rigors of inoculations. While it certainly made me feel better about the choice we made to vaccinate accordingly to the traditional schedule, it also made me realize that I probably should have done a lot more research before I blindly trusted my pediatrician.
Considering that I vaccinated my son against many life-threatening illnesses… illnesses that killed some of my own ancestry when they were children, I never understood why I took such a hard stance against the flu shot. I’ve, personally, only received the seasonal flu shot twice in my life. The year I was pregnant and the year I was a mother to a newborn. My son Darius had the flu shot only once when he was 6 months old. I didn’t even bother to take in him for the recommended second dose hoping that my continued breastfeeding during the flu season would keep him safe.
Yet nearly five years after his one and only flu shot, I am pulling my son out of school 30 minutes early to drive to our pediatrician’s office to get the H1N1 vaccine.
With H1N1 already causing more deaths in children than the regular seasonal flu (and we haven’t even hit the real cold and flu season), I’m surprised at how many parents are opting out of the vaccine. One mother in my son’s class said that she was “pro-germs” and would take the risk of her children getting the virus naturally before she’d give them the shot. I was shocked! At least a third of the children who’ve died of H1N1 were healthy children before they contracted the virus. I’m all for building a child’s immunity to common colds, but I’m not sure I can be pro-germ when kids are the most vulnerable to this virus.
There have been two reported cases of H1N1 at my son’s school. One was a child in the kindergarten class next to my son. I want to do everything that I can to protect my son. We’ve amped up our hand-washing, have had lots of talks about how germs are not for sharing, and are keeping a watchful eye to make sure our son stays healthy. Add to it that my son has contact with many family members who are considered to have compromised immune systems. I couldn’t take the risk of my son exposing them when they are a high-risk category as well. It’s not about panic or pandemonium. Rather, I want to take precautions when we can to make sure that we protect the health of our family.
Lucky for my son, our pediatrician is only doing the flu mist for now. I don’t have to go back on my word of not having to get any more shots after we finished our round of boosters for Kindergarten. I’ll be getting the seasonal flu shot this year as well. I know it won’t lessen the risk of getting H1N1, but my son will see how shots are really no big deal when I roll up my shirt sleeve and take the shot in stride.
You can bet I’m gonna ask for a lollypop too.
Original post for the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog
