Mom science

As a hippie-dippie but also non-stupid mom, I struggle with many of the baby-related choices I have to make on a daily basis. The most difficult choices, for me, are those related to vaccines and vitamins. Other choices I refused to spend time on are diapers (I was set on cloth, yes, but are PVCs in diaper covers bad? they sure make the diapers not leak--yay BumGenius! so screw it-I'll try to keep the babies from chewing on their diapers), food (I was resigned to use formula if I had to, but luckily the boys are good suckers and I make puh-lenty of milk), and circumcision (you want to do WHAT to my sons' penises? i don't think so).

Vaccines. I just received this book in the mail last week, and I have been hungrily reading it ever since. I feel instinctively suspicious of all the new vaccines we are encouraged (bullied) into giving our kids. In fact, the culture at the pediatrician's office is, "These are the vaccines we are giving your children this visit," rather than "These are the vaccines we have to offer, along with information about them, and a proposed schedule we have devised. Please consider it and let us know your decision." At the hospital the boys were given the first dose of Hepatitis B vaccine, which struck me as weird because Hep B is a sexually transmitted disease, and, um, they are newborns. Is this really the first vaccine they need to get? At their two-month visit they got their first shot of Pentacel, the vaccine for polio, tetanus, diptheria, pertussis, and HiB. That's a no-brainer, in my opinion. They were "supposed" to also get three more: the first Rotavirus, pneumococcal, and the next Hep B shot. I agreed to the Rotavirus because our ped really pushed it, and made an appointment for 4 weeks later to get the other two.

Now that I've read the book, I canceled the next appointment. I'm going to delay the Hep B series until they are older (probably at least 10), skip the pneumococcal (Prevnar) altogether and instead have them get the adult pneumococcal vaccine after they are 2, and skip the rest of the rotavirus series. The adult pneumococcal vaccine is protective against 23 strains, whereas Prevnar, the infant pneumococcal vaccine, is protective against only 13.The thing no one really talks about is how much less likely breastfed babies are to get both respiratory and digestive problems. Kelly, the woman I walk with regularly, put it this way: "I wish they'd push breastfeeding at the beginning like they push the vaccines later on!" True that. The thing with rotavirus is that all children are exposed to it by the time they are 5, and most cases result in diarrhea that lasts a few days. But the vaccine itself causes diarrhea in an alarmingly high number of cases, which is stupid. And as Kelly pointed out, breastfed babies are at less risk of the dehydration that often comes with diarrhea, because they will nurse for comfort even if they do not want to eat.

When I called the pediatrician's office to cancel our vaccination appointment, I spoke to a nurse who was disapproving but didn't know the answers to the questions I had--like whether there was any danger (besides being at risk for getting the diseases) in not continuing the vaccinations of which they had received one dose. I then got a call from our pediatrician herself, questioning why I had decided not to vaccinate, and what other vaccinations I was going to choose not to get. I still think I will catch some hell at our next visit, at 4 months in October, but for now I think I convinced her that I have done my homework and that I am aware of the risks and benefits of vaccinations. She suggested the websites for the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania and the CDC to get more information. Before our next visit I'm going to need to find out what vaccinations are required for elementary school, because I know they are different depending on the district and I want to devise a schedule that accommodates whatever vaccines are required.

Vitamins. At our first office visit, the pediatrician gave us a sample of Enfamil D-Vi-Sol, which is a vitamin D supplement for breastfed infants. I was skeptical that a company that makes formula would make a supposedly essential supplement for breastfed babies but the pediatrician endorsed it and we have been giving it to the boys since they were born. I had wondered about whether maternal supplementation could somehow obviate the need for giving the boys a vitamin supplement. I read this article yesterday because I am intrigued by the idea that I can take enough vitamin D that I don't have to give the boys a supplement. It sounds like there is still a possibility that maternal supplementation could lead to toxicity, and it's unclear how much I would have to take to give enough to each of my babies, but I will keep looking into it. For now I have switched to this instead of the Enfamil stuff, because I only have to put a drop on a pacifier or nipple for them to get enough, rather than a huge mouthful of yucky brown syrupy stuff. My mom never gave me any vitamins, either as an infant or a child, and I don't think I ever had any deficiencies. OR, as I told her, imagine how much better a person I would be today had I had vitamins.

If anyone else has additional vaccine or vitamin resources they would like to share or suggest, I would love to hear them!