Flu Shot
It’s that time of year again, influenza vaccination time (more commonly known as flu shot time).
Baby MPB was not protected against influenza last year as he wasn’t born in time to have the shot, was too young to get it and his birth mother did not get it while she was pregnant. So, last year, we took every precaution practical to keep Baby MPB away from anyone who wasn’t vaccinated.
For us, vaccinations are a simple decision.
So after Baby MPB was born, our rule was simple: No matter who you are, if you don’t have your flu shot, you are not welcome to visit until Baby MPB turns 6 months old and can get his own vaccination.
This meant massive arguments with some family members. Which at the time I was horribly disappointed by, and truthfully still am. I just cannot understand why they wouldn’t want to help protect our child (and their grandchild). And I do realize at some point I should probably just get over it (and I was over it until I read my post from last year when family members refused to get vaccinated). Anyways, I’m starting to go on a tangent/rant. That’s not the point, at least not today’s point.
The point is, now that Baby MPB is old enough we are doing what we can to protect him. Mr. MPB and I stopped working early (well, I am still not really working as I’m still sick) and we went to get our vaccinations. We stood dutifully in line, then we all got our shots and waited for a full 15 minutes to make sure there were no immediate reactions. I must say, I handled it the best – shots just don’t bother me and never have. While we get our shots every year, Mr. MPB and I haven’t always gone together and when we have it turns out I’ve never paid much attention before – Mr. MPB really doesn’t like needles. He toughs it out, but clearly he’s not a fan. And Baby MPB, he was playing with the nurse and having a great time until she jabbed him, then all bets were off as the crocodile tears rolled down his cheeks. Clearly he was no longer her friend.
But we all survived and so far we are all reaction free.
And so this year, I’m relieved to know that Baby MPB has his vaccination – he should be protected. Honestly, I’m also relieved to know that we aren’t begging/arguing with people to get their vaccinations to protect our child.
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My Perfect Breakdown 
I was JUST about to make a post with the same title!
Just got mine this morning as well. I’m glad Mr. MPB thoughed it out. Convincing B has been a struggle, I don’t know if it is the needles or what? I must say, I didn’t even know she jabbed me, she put the band-aid on and I was like “Did you even give me the shot?” lol
And the battles continue for me of course. I KNOW B hasn’t told his family yet that they need to be vaccinated to be around baby. And my Dad still hasn’t put on his big girl panties and gotten it. 5 weeks til EDD, and it takes 2 weeks for these vaccines to become effective… so if we have an early bird and people have slacked, well, they will be pretty bummed to not be around baby B.
But… I am not making anyone do anything. It is their choice, and choices have consequences.
Really glad baby MPB took it well. And the battles can stop and people can make their choices about their own health and baby is protected.
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I have no idea what’s with men and needles? They really aren’t scary. 🙂
We really ended up only making a big deal about people who were going to spend a lot of time in our house with Baby MPB. So, anyone who stayed over night or visited a lot. As it turned out almost all of our friends and our family actually get vaccinated. But, of course, those who refuse their vaccinations were the problem. Like you, we took the same approach – it’s their choice, and their choice will have consequences. Ultimately my in-laws got their shots, but it was a ridiculous battle to get them to.
I hope your family also gets them in time!
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We are getting ours today. Hubby refuses to get one, he is a baby about needles, so am going to ask thr Dr about the nasal spray. A caught something last night, high fever, so he is going to have to visit the dr again for the flu shot. I
hope they get the strain right this year for the flu shot. The weather is just perfect for flu! Blowing hot and cold here in southern ontario.
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Oh no, I hope A feels better asap! Sick children is the absolute worst!
And I too really hope they get the strain right this year too!
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Does Baby MPB have to get a second round in a couple of weeks or a month? Miss O hasn’t gotten hers yet but I read something about the first time babies get the flu shot they need two doses? I was planning on asking in a couple weeks at her next ped appointment.
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Yes he does!!! I was shocked as I had no idea the first time they get one they need a booster. The second shot is in 4 weeks. So I’m wondering what that means for his immunity between now and the second shot?
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Yes I was wondering too. Makes me want to see about getting in sooner for Miss O to have her first shot. Though will have to wait for her to feel healthy again first.
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Our baby girl is getting hers in a couple days (the first one). With her recent vaccinations she has done just fine. She finished crying pretty quickly so hopefully it won’t be much different this time.
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It was pretty much the exact same as his normal vaccinations. I hope it’s the same for your little girl.
That said, I do find his reactions are becoming more exaggerated the older he gets. But something tells me that’s pretty normal.
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Aw, yay! We are going through the same thing this year. Except that S cried for about half a second and then as soon as I picked him up he was flirting with the nurse again. 🙂 Little drama queens, our boys!
Yes, I also wonder about immunity between first and second shot. We’re just trying to do the best we can with hand-washing, but daycare tends to throw all that out the window. All the kids at daycare are required to be vaccinated, but not until December.
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Baby MPB hold’s a tiny grudge against individuals who give him needles! It’s actually pretty funny because he’ll smile and play with them before the needle and after the needle he looks away from them and even scowls a little bit. Total drama queen!
Another person posted that apparently their immunity doesn’t kick in until after the second shot! I was hoping they at least had some immunity from the first shot. 😦
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Yay for vaccinations!! And isn’t it funny how much more women can tolerate than men?!
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Yup, totally funny! 🙂
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I’ve never gotten the flu shot before, because I’ve never been high risk or around high risk people and had an iron immune system. This year I have to get it, and I had totally forgotten about it because it had never been on my radar before. Thanks for the reminder!
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Glad I was able to remind you.
It takes 2 weeks to be effective so if you plan to get one, I suggest going right away. 🙂
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Our doctor told us that kids aren’t really covered until they get that second booster shot.
Glad everyone took it fairly well.
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Oh no, I was hoping that he’d at least have some immunity in 2 weeks time. I’m so disappointed to hear this. 😦
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I never get one, neither do our kids. My mom’s neurologist wants none of her bloodline getting it because of his research and experience. So the husbands all get them to protect the herd.
The shot is a choice and not one to get upset over if someone else doesn’t get it. Our friends had a baby at the time the flu was bad and I couldn’t see the baby – no biggie. They were offended that I wouldn’t get the shot for THEIR Childs safety. Good lord. Even after explaining why I don’t get it (dr orders), they were still upset with me. If we would all just focus on the things we have direct control over. 😉
I never get the flu. Haven’t since third grade. That said, I’d get the shot if I could.
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First let me say that I completely respect that not everyone can get it for medical reasons, such is your situation. Also, I respect your approach – follow dr’s orders, that just makes basic sense to me! I firmly believe if we had a friend with a similar situation we’d be fine with them visiting if they weren’t sick.
Second, which makes your situation incredibly different, is that my in-laws never get it because they don’t believe in doctors/illness and every single year they both get the flu. Add that to the fact that they were spending spending 5 days/nights in our home with our baby, so we decided that we needed them to vaccinated for our piece of mind.
All this said, others who stopped by for quick visits (i.e. a few hours here and there) we didn’t freak out over, and didn’t even ask if they were vaccinated. It seemed as though everyone else was polite enough not to visit if they were sick – we had multiple people cancel at the last minute because they didn’t feel well – which is something I have also done when I’ve been sick and supposed to meet friends new babies. To me that is just common sense and polite. So, we didn’t post a sign on the door or give everyone a lecture about flu shots. I do understand individual choice (even if the choice is one we wouldn’t make). But, we drew the line with people who were staying in our home for multiple nights – we simply were not willing to let people stay in our home for multiple days/nights without getting their flu shot.
And honestly, I’m just thrilled that this year we are able to avoid the entire conversation because Baby MPB is old enough to have his own shot. 🙂
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I’m not criticizing you, just saying I would not let their choice bother me. I wouldn’t let them near my baby either, no way. And I wouldn’t expect someone to want me around their newborn. I totally get it. I just wouldn’t let them bother me. I’m in a new space of stepping back and not getting worked up over others idiotic or hurtful choices. I’m much happier this way!
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I didn’t think you were criticizing, but did want to explain for others who might be reading. 😊
I really truly need to learn the ways of your new space!!!
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Learning about narcissistic personality disorder and how my dad is textbook got me to where I need to be with him and my mom. As for everything else… I just don’t have any shits to give. I save my shits for my kids, Husband, sisters, and closest friends. That said, I gave a lot of shits over all of this Trump assaulting women business. 😒
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To be honest, I never got mine ever and then once I thought I had sniffles and it was all normal and I was hospitalised for flu. Ever since I do my shot and send a silent prayer that they get the strain right. Year before last, I took the shot and stillgot the flu!
I understand medical reasons, my brother is not allowed to take one and every flu season, he is literally walking on egg shells around people.
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don’t forget he needs a second dose in 4 weeks if this was his first season to get it! great job protecting yourselves!
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I had no idea that they needed a second shot! Thankfully the nurse told us and gave us a reminder card too. And now I’ve added it to our calenders so we will remember. 😊
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Glad he can get the shot this year to decrease the conflicts. People and their vaccine opinions are too much for me. I just don’t get why it’s such an issue when the research and evidence is there in support of getting them.
Anyway, off the soapbox…hope you feel better soon!
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And after reading the comments I add to my post that if there is a medical reason not to get vaccinated I completely respect that. There are several reasons to not get vaccinated!
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We get ours free through work which is awesome, I am 36 weeks and had my flu shot in my second trimester (Australia, so our flu season is opposite to yours!). I have also recieved my whooping cough booster. I have asked that those visiting in the early weeks have their immunisations just to be sure. All the grandparents went and got their shots without a fuss, so I guess I am lucky!
Hoping you have a flu free season!
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I really hadn’t heard much about anti vaxxers until a few years ago. In the UK – aside from the Wakefield (autism MMR link – since disproven) thing, nobody seems to question getting vaccines. But maybe that’s just my friends/family, and I don’t have kids so I don’t know these things.
I got my flu and whooping cough a couple of weeks ago. It’s offered to pregnant women here as a matter of routine. I got it without thinking, but actually had a bad reaction to it (lots of pain), which I hadn’t expected. It took a few days to go away. I still don’t regret getting it, but I would have rather had it another time when I didn’t have to travel for work.
As for visitors, I really had never considered it until you mentioned it. Like here nobody would dream of asking about vaccination status. It’s just assumed people are vaccinated. People don’t visit with pregnant people or babies if they’re ill, but other than that, I’ve never been asked if I was vaccinated or not. The closest would be if someone has chickenpox, they’d ask if you had had it as a child. But that’s it!
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