How do you feel about vaccinations?

[mamaof4]

Where I live this is a hot button issue. How do you feel about non vax'd or delayed/partially vax'd kids in your day home?

[Emilys4Guppies]

We have delayed vaccinations for our children until our first started school. When he started school our youngest was 2yo, so we got them all the DTAP at once. Then a month later we got our first and second the MMR. Now that I'm running a daycare AND have children in school I feel it's more important to get them those basic vaccinations because their exposure increases dramatically from just being home with only me.

So, we are taking our newest child, 6mo, in for his first vax this week. DTAP.

We only do the vaccinations that are legally required to attend school (yes, I know I can opt out)...no chicken pox or menjugate, or anything like that. DTAP and MMR.

I'm fine if parents don't want to vaccinate. I am educated on the symptoms of most of the diseases, as I needed to be as a non-vaxing parent. My own children are vaccinated, so that doesn't concern me. I know there are good reasons to vax and good reasons to delay...I'm fine with either choice in my dayhome.

[fruitloop]

I'm fine either way. My own kids are only vaccinated for the DTAP ones. I don't vaccinate for everything because I feel it's not necessary. All these "common" childhood illness are being over hyped and scaring parents into vaccinating when there is no need. For a lot of them, complications are a fairly low % and over vaccinating for every single illness out there is 1 of the reasons we have super bugs now...all because of over medicating.

[Tot-Time]

I too believe it is a parental choice to vaccine their child. I don't require it for my daycare, but I do ask what vaccines the child has or hasn't had so I am aware.

Both my girls have their vaccines but I was the type of parent that delayed them as long as I could.

[playfelt]

I leave vaccination up to the parent and the doctor. At the same time I do ask parents to let me know if there is anything different about which ones they are not giving or if they changing the schedule so I can be more aware of letting them know things their child might have come into contact with. The MMR is one that concerns me because of the danger to my other parents that might become pregnant should this child get Rubella. But at the same time I delayed many for my own kids based on the different schedules between provinces and the rationale for them. I always opted for the older age when possible giving the system longer to mature before injecting extra things to deal with so it was MMR at 15 m not 12m for instance. Most of the extra things either didn't exist when mine were little or were so new I didn't feel comfortable with them and obviously used to cost back then since they weren't part of the routine.

[mlc1982]

How important is it to you that all children are vaccinated before they start in your dayhome?

[playfelt]

I leave it up to the family and their doctor to determine the sequence and timing. I have not yet had to deal with anyone that was adamently against vaccination but if I did I would make it very clear on their contract that if for any reason there was even a hint of an outbreak in the city of a disease they were not immunized from that they would be excluded from care but that fees would still be due since it was the parent's choice to take the risk not mine. I am thinking here of things like measles and whooping cough. The same would apply to a child that had special needs and was not allowed immunizations such as an egg allergy. The same potential exclusion would apply at my discretion.

[Judy Trickett]

My own kids are not vaccinated. I don't really care if the kids in care are vaccinated or not. It's NOT my business and it has absolutely NO impact on my daycare. It wouldn't matter if a child was vaccinated or not - if a "serious" (and I use that term lightly) illness were to crop up I would have informed all parents anyway.

Lots of the kids I have in care are NOT vaccinated and to be honest, this is the healthiest bunch of kids I have EVER had.

[giraffe]

it doesnt matter to me if the children are vaccinated either. But i do like to know either way. for example, In the case of the chicken pox vaccine if it is going around our local playgroup I can then warn the parents.

[fruitloop]

It doesn't matter to me if they're vaccinated or not. My kids are only vaccinated for certain things. Vaccinations aren't 100% anyway.