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Even before this whole whooping cough thing came about I knew once I gave birth I wanted to get myself and DP a booster. Now I was thinking of asking my mum and both his parents (they'll be visiting shortly after birth, both live in different states) to have a booster also.
Am I over-reacting? I think its kinda fair, Im just trying to protect my baby and if it means them having that I dont see a huge problem?
:redface:
I don't see a problem either, you are doing what you think will protect your baby, nothing wrong with that at all! :hug:
I think in light of all the recent outbreaks you are not being unreasonable. If you just asked the family how they felt about it, and explained your reasoning, I'm sure they'd understand.
Not unreasonable at all. It was something I asked of mine.
It is actually the smartest thing to do, especially if coming from other places and you do not know what they have been exposed to. My parents insisted on it when they came to help me with DS2 when he was born. I understand if you are not for doing it, no worries at all that is your choice. But if you are all for it then absolutely yes! Most people, docs, nurses etc will recommend anyone close to you spending time with bubs should get it done....there is a poster up saying something along the lines of most babies catch it from family members such as grandparents. So it is your call, but NO you are not being silly asking them to have it done.
Completely not over-reacting. If they don't do it then they can't go near the baby - simple. Tell them to get it done now so that it has time to work before they visit.
Definitely not silly! All Grandparents got their booster here too, as well as my Brother.
Why not just ask them would they consider having a whooping cough booster as there have been a few cases in the last year and you would just feel better.. I don't think I would even hesitate now if I had a newborn.
Hope they agree without making you feel silly.. And if they do remind them it is their grandchilds health you are trying to protect
Just mention the sad case of the baby who died recently of whooping cough in Melbourne, I am sure they will understand you want to protect your little one.
A lot of places now offer free boosters for parents/ grandparents who will be spending lots of time with newborn babies.
It was recommended to us when we had DS to get all close family and friends to be sure they had a booster! They even put a sticker about it on the front of the hospital book!
Not silly at all!!
I would definitely ask them to do it.
When DD was born i was given the booster and told that my DP and grandparents should get it also. So no you aren't over reacting at all thats actually very smart thinking.
AHURANI _ When Jess was a newborn ( I think she was only 3 weeks old? ) DH's Aunty got whooping cough. Her Dr personally rang me & said "I'm Dr X, I don't want to alarm you, but your Aunty has just tested positive to whooping cough & being that you have a newborn baby, I have an isolation room on standby at Princess Margaret Hospital as if your newborn is infected (they had been in contact several times over the 3 weeks), she is going to get very ill very quickly. I need you to come to the surgery IMMEDIATELY for me to assess her & you for symptoms'. Well, the 'I don't want to alarm you' completely freaked me out. So I rang my sister because I was nervous going alone. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Jess didn't have whooping cough, he didn't put her in isolation & he vaccined both myself & my sister right there on the spot & free of charge.
Sorry, got all caught up in the 'memory' then. But what I was trying to say, is that I don't think it's unreasonable to ask, Whooping Cough is scary!!! But ultimately it's up to them to either accept or decline.
From memory, I'm pretty sure that my parents went & got the vaccine & so did MIL, but that FIL didn't? I can't remember exactly - but I remember it being a really super scary situation at the time.
Love Jayne
PS _ Guess who's coming to mine tonight? bahahah
Not at all. I"d send them the articles from the paper if you want some back up. Both sets of grandparents here see Mitchell regularly and they both had the vaccination before he was born. My parents did it without even being asked.
Not a bad idea!
I mean they wont see her alot considering they live interstate but I dont really think its the point. I talked to my mum about it just before and she actually said she was going to bring it up with me and that she is going to go and get it. DP can talk to his parents.
Jayne: mum was saying one of us got WC and it was horrible. Alas she cant remember which one of us rofl. Mmmmm Rafa *drools*
If your DP doesn't want to get it, show him a video on youtube of a baby with whooping cough.
both sets of parents live interstate and we asked them to get the vaccinations. I did have to ask the IL a few times (reminders) and ended up emailing the lastest govt health info ... so they went and got it done before coming to visit. It wasn't a problem but i got the feeling they thought WC was long gone iykwim and didn't really get what i was on about.
Tell your Dh he can think you are being silly as a four headed clown juggling monkeys but if he doesn't tell his parents to get the shots before coming (not the day before either) then they won't be seeing you or your child. better still, i'd just go over his head.
I figured we would be having more kids and all the grannies would be having contact several times a year, so better get it now and you all know it's done.
We got the vax but the grandparents didn't as they are both 2 hours plus away.
It doesn't matter where they live, they are coming to visit shortly after the birth so yes you should ask them. Honestly I can't see it being a big problem, with all the info etc I don't see why they wouldn't want to do it....
Well I asked at my appt today. And she said that Ill get the vaccine but DP will have to go to the GP. How stupid.
I don't think it matters where they live either -- one set of DD's Grandparents live in Perth (we are in Brisbane) but because they were coming to visit they would be seeing her for extended periods during that time which is enough to pass on whooping cough so they were asked to get it done and had no problem doing so.
im going to push DH into getting a whopping cough vaccination as well (when he has time out of his busy schedule :rolleyes:) he didn't believe me that it was important until it was on the 7pm project the other night. i think im going to push my parents into getting their jabs as well, cause they'll see the baby alot.....and the season is coming up and we live in a cold area. i think at the end of the day, you do what you think is important and hope DH supports you.
Honestly, they should consider having the booster for their own health as much as for your baby. They can still get whooping cough and be very sick with it. There are probably also small babies in the community that they live in that they would be helping to protect by being immunised. The booster only costs $40 each if you are not the parent of a new baby (it's free if you are). DH and I both had our booster at the GP when we took DD2 for her 10 day check.
I think it's a great idea!!
I am also thinking of doing this. I will ask my parents and sister to do it, as we see them all the time. They should be fine about it. DH's parents we don't see much, and I am worried that they will be offended - his father is a very touchy manchild who takes offence at pretty much everything. I mentioned it to DH and he thought I was overreacting. He's not close to his parents and I would feel awkward about asking them, but at the same time I am very concerned about whooping cough and my newborn. I kind of feel that they'll probably only pop into hospital when the baby is born, then we might not see them a lot after that - do people think it would still be worthwhile asking them to have it done? What have people done about aunts and uncles? I guess all the family will come when we're in hospital or in the few days afterwards at home. Perhaps I'll just breastfeed constantly and not let anyone hold the baby?
I think it's a good idea and want to do it with my family and in-laws when this bub comes.
My only problem is that there are some family members that are broke and will not be able to pay for it. I would offer to pay for them but then should I be offering to pay for everyones? Also, DH asked "what if someone has a bad reaction to it?" Now I'm torn.
I guess it's just a matter of saying to people "we are not forcing you to have it done, and will not be offended if you don't as that is your choice, but please then understand that if you don't we will choose to have you not handle the baby".
Isn't it horrible that you have to stress so much at what should be such a happy time?
You would probably find most of them have had a whooping cough vaccine sometime in their lives and if they didn't have an adverse reaction to it last time, shouldn't have one this time but talk to your health provider about it because they could give you more info about side effects than what I can.:
This is just a booster and I think everyone in the community should be encouraged to have it again for their own protection as much as anyone else's. Adults can contract whooping cough as well. Fair enough as well if people don't agree with vaccination, but there are other precautions that they can take to protect themselves - natural medicines, diet etc and everyone should be thinking about how to best protect themselves against whooping cough.
The reason for this outbreak is that people have had the vaccine and believe that they are immune for life, but the problem is that they need to be vaccinated for it every 15 years (I think). Really, I don't think it is unreasonable to ask anyone to do it - what's the hurt in asking? If they don't agree, then you have to respect their choice but you need to do what you feel necessary to protect your baby if you believe they are at risk. Really though, having the vaccine doesn't have to be just about your baby, it is about them looking after their own health and wellbeing as well. And as I said, if they chose not to vaccinate, there are other precautions that they can take and should be taking. I would hope that commonsense prevails too and anyone who has knowingly come into contact with whooping cough would stay away from you and your baby until the incubation period has passed.
The vaccine is actually free to all new mums, dads and grandparents. it includes whooping cough, diptheria and tetnus. new mum can get it at the hosptial, but yea dads and grandparents have to go to the gp.
get it, and get everyone else to get it, bub cant be vaccinated against it for a month or two, and its always everyone and babies can die from it =(
oh and it lasts for 5 years (because of the tetnus, the others last longer)
Hi hon, gosh not long now! I'll be stalking for a BA soon :)
Re the vaccination topic both dh and I decided long before even being pregnant that we wouldn't vaccinate our babies. While pregnant we considered asking the grandparents to get a booster or even us get boosters but at the end of the day we wouldn't feel right asking our family to get a shot if they didn't want to and we knew that a couple of them would not want to get it. If they don't have a problem with getting it than that's fine but if anyone doesn't want to have it then I don't think you can press the issue, you can however restrict visits. I guess what I'm saying is that you can't control what others do but you can control who sees your bub and for how long ITMS.
FWIW there are 3 main strains of whooping cough that people get and only 1 of them is covered in the vaccine. I suspect this is why WC is still out there and it has nothing to do with vaccinating or not. IMO good health is the answer and make sure no one visits who is sick.
I didn't know that Grandparents could get it free. That's great!:
I think its a good idea.
everyone who had contact with DD had a booster, except for my younger sister (she is anti vaxx) and my mil (immunocompromised due to cancer treatment)
My sister isolated herself for 3 weeks before visiting DD, my mil also limited her outside trips (which she does anyway) and was careful not to come near DD with any cold like symptoms.
I am making DH, MIL and my parents and sister get it. and I will be getting it as soon as bub is born...i copped a bit of flack from my parents about it, but once i told them they couldn't visit if they didn't have it they came around lol. even though i don't really think i would enforce that rule, but hey it worked!
I think it's a great idea, and we both had boosters when DD was born. I can't remember if any of the grandparents had it, but I'll be asking them to this time around as I have read some devastating stories on WC lately.
You do what is right for you and your bub hun!