TDaP for grandparents?

@hosee I am from the US and didn’t even think of asking for vaccinations or anything but I just didn’t know it was a thing not against anyone. there’s 7 people living in my house and it was just a matter of everyone just washing their hands. Idks.
 
@heavensdaughter Absolutely. With #1, I told my parents, in laws, and my siblings that the dr said they need to make sure their tdap boosters are up to date before baby arrives. Only some of them needed boosters, others had their boosters recently enough that they didn’t need it. If anyone else had been around baby a lot I would’ve asked them for the same. Babies die from whooping cough so I wasn’t going to allow anyone near him without an up-to-date tdap. I didn’t bother asking people about the flu shot. My first was a summer baby so it wasn’t exactly flu season. #2 is due in October and I might ask people for flu shots this time, but haven’t decided yet. I will be requiring everyone to be COVID vaxxed and wear masks around him for the first 6-8 weeks anyways but since the flu shot is less effective, it’s less of a priority for me.
 
@heavensdaughter We are requiring for anyone that will be regularly around our newborn in her first year of life. This includes grandparents, siblings and great grandparents. Luckily has been no issue with asking people to get this. My 90+ year old grandmothers (babies great grandmothers) were actually the first to get it. We just told family that the OB strongly recommend it and no one has questioned.
 
@heavensdaughter I don't require that anyone in contact with my baby be vaccinated but the grandparents who want to visit regularly and babysit absolutely need to be vaccinated. My family had no problem with this and wanted to help protect the baby.
 
@heavensdaughter Yes. It’s recommended that anyone that will be in contact with your baby should get vaccinated with Tdap. Make sure they get the Tdap and not the Td booster which doesn’t contain pertussis.
I already told everyone I know that if they want to see my baby, they best be vaccinated. Everyone has agreed so far. I thought about asking for covid too but I guess that’s a little too much.
 
@heavensdaughter I decided against it because I can’t make other people do anything, but I know my mom is up to date because she works in a medical facility and gets the flu shot annually and tdap when she needs it (which is every ten years). My MIL refuses to get a flu shot, but has had health issues and visits a doctor often, so I am sure she is up to date on her vaccines, but again she doesn’t get the flu shot. I also don’t get the flu shot unless I’m due during the winter. I’m pretty strict on visitors with asking if they’ve been around sick people/hand washing/not having tons of people around.
 
@heavensdaughter I am super lucky that my MIL asked her son what vaccines we would like them to get before they come visit since it had been awhile since she had visited a baby. We knew she already had gotten the covid vaccine like us and just mentioned we would appreciate flu and tdap. Luckily in my family everyone already has gotten their covid shot or tdap in last few years as well, the only tough one will be talking to my dad about getting his, not that I expect him to be around the baby besides a visit. He went from being a denier of covid, to super militant about it being real (I did his shopping and had to wipe/disinfect things), to jumping on the anti Vax denier train again.
 
@heavensdaughter Yep! We talked to them individually, but I also sent a group text to all the grandparents so they knew the rules were consistent.

My MIL is a paediatrician and sent some links to bolster my request too.

Luckily all our parents are sane and complied readily.
 
@heavensdaughter Due in August and I just straight up told my parents they needed to be up to date on their TDaP vaccine (& then get the flu shot later in the fall). They both had no issue with it (this is their first grandchild and they live nearby). I also asked my sister and her husband to make sure they were up to date as well (which they were also totally fine to do). My husband’s side is also local but his family already has multiple kids under 10 so they had their boosters done previously for other births and were all still up to date (I believe they are good for 10 years or so in adults). I assume I got off super easy since both sides of the family are relatively sane and reasonable when it comes to stuff like this so there wasn’t any drama.
 
@heavensdaughter We only asked my parents with the first baby since they were always around and more likely to be an exposure source. They’ve been within the guidelines for protecting each other the other kids since. The pregnant woman gets the TDaP in each pregnancy to pass pertussis antibodies across the placenta prior to delivery, it’s not really necessary for everyone else to get boosters for each and every child. The first it’s helpful because pertussis is bad. News. For infants.
 
@heavensdaughter Yes we required it for anyone doing more than a quick stop by visit in the first 2 months. It was a non-issue and everyone who was planning to stay over (essentially grandparents) were more than happy to do it.
 
@heavensdaughter I’ve only talked to my family so far—asked for TDaP, flu, and Covid vaccines. This is grandkid/nibling number 6 in the last 8 years, so everybody actually already has TDaP, we’re all regular flu shot getters, and my one sister who is concerned about the Covid vaccine offered to test and mask up—she’s also a SAHM from an area with very few cases.

My in laws live across the country and don’t travel, so we’ll be waiting to visit them until baby’s is about 6 months old.
 
@heavensdaughter I told my MIL and FIL they would need to check their TDaP status before meeting our baby and best to do it then (in December) because their first grandchild (daughter of my SIL) had just been born and she definitely would also require it.

My MIL was taken aback for a minute, but then looked into it herself and saw it was recommended by pediatricians etc and then everything was fine. They're also fully COVID vaccinated, in part due to me being pregnant.
 
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