Shots?

[daycaremom9]

When I first opened my daycare I wasn't that concerned about unimmunized children as I had older children but 8 years later have become a germophobe. That tends to happen in daycare, doesn't it?lol I've become more concerned about the issue since. I currently have one 4 yo that is unimmunized but will not accept any more. I now accept children as young as 12 months and I worry about them contracting a disease.

[playandlearnhere]

I am with you! If you have at risk children (ie - small babies or pregnant mom's), then you should not accept un-vaccinated kids. I just accepted a family of un-vaccinated kids, but only after my 12 month old had his shots. Now, I believe he has had his first round of shots for everything, and I don't have any other kids beyond this current sibling group and my own. It is a touchy subject but you have every right to have that policy in place.

[blackcomb]

Totally with you on this one, it is not just protecting other children it's protecting society and more than that, globally too, by not vaccinating it puts everyone at higher risk for certain diseases re-occurring now, and if not now again in the future. Personally I'd not have non-vaccinated children in my home either.

Personally, I am with you madmom. I wouldn't accept a child who wasn't vaccinated either. My youngest was 8 months old when I opened, so I especially wanted to know that all my daycare children were up-to-date, as she was still somewhat vulnerable. Opinions differ widely, I believe that it is extremely irresponsible of parents to put their child and possibly other children at risk. I understand that not everyone agrees with me, and that is fine, but people have to understand that if they don't vaccinate, their child may not be allowed to go to certain daycares, travel to certain places, etc. When my older 2 children were younger and going to daycare, I had to provide proof of immunization for them to be accepted, and it was a private home daycare through an agency. I didn't think that was extreme at all, and honestly was glad that all the children HAD to be up-to-date to be allowed to attend.

I don't think you overstepped at all; I would have done exactly the same thing. If people choose not to vaccinate, I hope they have researched and become informed on the pros and cons of each side, and are not just listening to silly celebrity opinions, and I hope that they will accept that their child may not be allowed to go or participate in certain things, as that's the choice they made.

[Montessori-Mom]

Hi everyone and happy Friday (finally) I am wondering if anyone on this forum is concerned with whether or not a new dc child is vaccinated? I got a call yesterday for a client interested in starting in Sept,( and my calls are few and far between), and it came up that they have chosen not to inoculate their child. I then said I wasn't interested as I have parents with new babies with big kids in my care and I would worry that the babies wouldn't have been vaccinated yet. I feel a real responsibility to all involved with my daycare but for some strange reason the conversation is not sitting well with me. Am I wrong for my feelings? I think I'm looking for a little validation. Thoughts anyone

Yes I would say you are dated in your knowledge on vaccines. We selectively vaccinate as my son has had life threatening reactions to vaccines, my middle child has also had serious life threatening reactions to vaccines and my oldest daughter has autism. she is the only one in our family. The vaccination rate in my community is less than 40% and yet we do not have outbreaks of horrible diseases. Parents of children who are vaccinated should not worry as their child is protected. Where I live you actually can't discriminate based on a persons medical choices. I understand you not wanting to expose those who for age or other reason can not be vaccinated but once those kids go to school I garuntee there will be dozens of children who are also not vaccinated.

[tatania199]

I asked about this specifically with my licensing advisor. She said that we cannot discriminate against unvaccinated children, however, we can ask for vaccination info (at which point we could choose whether or not to take a child) prior to accepting them, if that makes sense.

I absolutely think it's important because when you have a group of children, including young children that aren't fully vaccinated yet, it's not a personal choice anymore but a public health choice. I worry, personally, about my responsibility for the health of those immuno-compromised or too young for all recommended vaccinations if I were to include unvaccinated children, particularly given recent outbreaks. I think we've chosen to err on the side of science, not personal preference for those reasons.