I have to admit that I'm not the kind of person that reads about stuff months before the thing is happening. I just take everything step by step: when I was pregnant, I've read my pregnant books, I didn't even read what it would happen to me when I would be 8 or 9 months old, I would just wait to get there.
The same kind of approach I had regarding the immunization subject. I've heard stories, all kind of stories, but I would just say to myself: "when the time will come I know I will make the right decision".
And so the time came, Bryce was born, he was already one month old, one month way from the first shots.
So, where to start: obviously, if you google "baby immunization" or "baby vaccine" an avalanche of information just pours onto your screen and, as a first time mom, you're just overwhelmed by all these different opinions. I knew I didn't want to google, so, as usual I've found an amazing help in the blog of our dear neighbor friends MQQM and Pepitzel. She was writing about the Vaccine book by dr. Robert W Sears. I knew about the Sears family and we have already purchased "The Baby Book" written by his parents. So, thanks to Amazon I got my book in a couple of days and started reading it. What I love about this book is that the author presents in a very objective way what vaccines are, how they work, what are they made from, how many brands are out there, what his professional opinion about one and each of them is as well as an alternative vaccine schedule.
So, after reading it carefully and actually making a resume on a separate piece of paper with the pros and cons, we've decided to follow his alternative vaccine schedule.
Here are the differences:
(for the 1st year of life):
THE BOB'S ALTERNATIVE VACCINE SCHEDULE | vs | AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS SCHEDULE OF 2007 |
BIRTH - HEP B | ||
1 month - HEB B | ||
2 months - DtaP, Rotavirus | 2 months - HIB, Pc, Dtap, Rotavirus, Polio | |
3 months - Pc, HIB | ||
4 months- DTaP, Rotavirus | 4 months - HIB, Pc, Dtap, Rotavirus, Polio | |
5 months - Pc, HIB | ||
6 months - DtaP, Rotavirus | 6 months - HIB, Pc, Dtap, Rotavirus, Hep B, Flu | |
7 months - Pc, HIB | ||
9 months - Polio, Flu |
We've followed Dr. Sears' schedule as it made so much more sense to us and spare Bryce of having too much aluminum into his body all in one time. We also decided to postpone if not skip at all some shots like : Hep B and the Flu, so
BRYCE'S VACCINE SCHEDULE
looks like this
2 months - DTaP, HIB
3 months - Rotarix, Pc, Polio
4 months - DTaP, HIB
5 months - Rotarix, Pc, Polio
6 months - DTaP, HIB
7 months - Pc
And we're done until he will be one year old.
I don't know if choosing any different would have had a different impact on my baby, but in choosing this schedule, I can tell you that:
- Bryce didn't have any weird side reactions;
- he didn't have fever;
- he didn't loose his appetite;
- he didn't vomit;
- he was not grumpy or fussy;
Hope this post will help any other moms in doubt out there.
EDIT : I need to edit my post as I realize I didn't not explain what every vaccine stands for:
HIB - Haemophilus Influenza Type B
Pc - Pneumococcal Disease
DTaP - Diphteria, Tetanus and Pertussis Disease
Hep B - Hepatitis B
Rotarix, Rotavirus - Rotavirus Disease
Polio - Polio Disease
Sounds like you did it right. Good for you, Clara!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Myrna. I believe it was a wise move. I have to thank dr. Sears, too.:)
ReplyDelete