I’m a few months behind on vaccines and visits and I feel embarrassed to go back to the doctor…

[sachin0990]

I’m moderately granola. An area I struggled with is vaccines but at the end of the day, I want my children fully vaccinated. I was back and forth and now I ultimately am fully on board with getting my 9 month old vaccinated. I guess im an ex-anti-vaxer even though I never really considered myself anti-vax. I’m really afraid what they’re going to say to me when I show up with a 9 month old who only has one set of shots and hasn’t been since her 5 month checkup.

Please no shaming. I just really need support.

Update: all of these responses mean more than you know!! I feel so energized and thankful for this group!!

 

[more2much]

@sachin0990 They’ll be so happy to see you both! And if they’re not, find a provider who is.

 

[allaneparker]

@sachin0990 I think the vast majority of health professionals will just be pleased you’re there now. Yes you’re behind but really just a few months! If they bring it up at all it doesn’t hurt to just say “I was on the fence/nervous but now I’d like them fully vaccinated” and I’m sure that’ll be end of discussion. You got this!!

 

[jomary]

@sachin0990 Pediatrician here - don’t stress at all! Happy you have decided to vaccinate your kiddo. The CDC publishes catch up vaccine schedules for situations just like this. And if you’ve only missed between 5 to 9 months, you are really not very behind at all.

 

[grandpa4]

@sachin0990 You’ll be fine. I think the visit schedule is at six months and then not again until nine anyway, so it’s really only one appointment that you’ve missed. I doubt they’ll even bring it up and if they do just say “yep, but we’re here now!”

 

[iceicalla]

@sachin0990 They won't say anything. I didn't take either of my kids to the Dr for a year and a half during COVID because I didn't see the benefit in taking a healthy child to germ central just for them to tell me they are healthy. When we finally returned and had to catch up on things no one said anything. It was just ok let's see what you need, let's do that. I had the same anxiety and it was totally not an issue.

 

[juliaopal]

@sachin0990 They will welcome you with open arms.

 

[arianwen]

@sachin0990 I had fears about getting my kiddo vaccinated too, because I had a bad reaction as an infant. The doctor was very patient and explained everything to me, including what likely happened to me as a baby (febrile seizure, which sounds scary but is harmless)

 

[mackied]

@arianwen You’re right they’re considered harmless, but a 2019 Danish study found high correlation between febrile seizures and later epilepsy/cognitive issues. More study needs to be done for causation, but I just wanted to put this out there in case any other parents are dealing with febrile seizures

 

[zhekapr]

@mackied There was a large study published in 2022 showing gene ties to febrile seizures, many of which were also known gene markers for epilepsy. So it's potentially an early sign.

 

[mackied]

@zhekapr Yeah, exactly. Maybe people who have epilepsy are more likely to have febrile seizures as a kid. Maybe the same is true for people with cognitive dysfunction. It’s too early in the research to say for sure. I know I’ve been really careful with my kid (the risk is 7x for two fever seizures and 42x for three), but I had two as a youngster and I’m ok

 

[arianwen]

@mackied That’s interesting! I had a childhood epilepsy condition and I think my moms fear was that the vaccine “caused it”

 

[yazzy]

@sachin0990 There a dozen reasons why someone might have missed their child’s vaccines, even parents who wanted their children on a standard vaccination schedule. Life happens. Call and explain that you are behind, and your pediatrician can walk you through the catch-up schedule and answer any other vaccine related questions you have. If they can’t, then try to find a new pediatrician.

Don’t let your embarrassment get in the way of your child’s health. I promise you it’s not the wildest thing they’ve dealt with that week, and they’ll be happy you are taking the steps to get caught up.

 

[lukewarmlex]

@yazzy I had extreme scatter brain in the early days of motherhood and I missed one of my baby’s apts which put us a month behind schedule for all future apts. Then at another apt I showed up the next day instead of the day of. Shit indeed happens

 

[san76]

@sachin0990 I was a few months behind with my second born as well. He’s a September baby and big brother kept bringing every single daycare cold home and this poor baby got them all back to back. So I had to cancel appointments all the time and it took forever to find an appointment where baby was decently healthy enough to receive a vaccine. One thing I noticed was not once did we get questioned, the health care providers were just happy to have us and were even giving us the option to reach out to specific nurses to work around our schedule to accommodate when baby is feeling well enough. (Canada here and pubic health/vaccine appointments can book a few weeks out where I am). Important is that you get there eventually

 

[zastari]

@sachin0990 The area I’m in is really heavily antivaxx and friends who were in the same position as you said the nurses were just happy to see them there once they explained. Your paediatrician might pry a bit more into why you were hesitant but I think he would also just feel happy and relieved for you and LO.

 

[lecraefan116]

@sachin0990 Doctors understand and they understand especially when you wanna get back on schedule and if they give you a hard time they’re the wrong doctor

 

[sferber]

@sachin0990 Hi! Also ex anti vaccer (babysat for a massive family of quack chiropractors as a teen). Just go! They’ll be so happy to take care of your baby. I doubt they’ll mention it, if they don’t can just say life got busy and it was too easy to push out, but that its a new year and you’re making an effort to prioritize your family’s health again.

Happy to chat if you need, and cheers to you for coming through to the other side. It’s a hard rabbit hole to climb out of.

 

[sabresong]

@sachin0990 I think if you just say you're behind and want to catch up they'll be cool because you're on the same page.

 

[justintime25]

@sachin0990 OP, I was late on vaccines growing up and my dad is a literal doctor. No vaccine skepticism in my family growing up—my mom just had 3 under 4!