US Japan Fam
  • Blog
  • About Me
    • Contact
    • Subscribe to our List Serves!
    • Press Page - Travel
    • Hire Me!
    • DIY Hair Inspo!
    • Privacy Policy & Disclaimers
  • Family Travel + Momcations
  • Membership
  • NJ / NY Guides
    • Day Trips & Weekend Getaways from NYC
    • Hudson Valley >
      • Day Trips & Activities
    • Bay Ridge Families >
      • Life in NYC >
        • Brooklyn
        • Bronx
        • Manhattan
        • Queens
        • Staten Island
      • Summer Camp Guide
      • Birthday Party Guide
      • Classes & Activities for Babies & Toddlers
      • Halloween Guide
      • Holiday Guide
      • Scavenger Hunt
      • Advertising
      • Submit Your Event
  • Blog
  • About Me
    • Contact
    • Subscribe to our List Serves!
    • Press Page - Travel
    • Hire Me!
    • DIY Hair Inspo!
    • Privacy Policy & Disclaimers
  • Family Travel + Momcations
  • Membership
  • NJ / NY Guides
    • Day Trips & Weekend Getaways from NYC
    • Hudson Valley >
      • Day Trips & Activities
    • Bay Ridge Families >
      • Life in NYC >
        • Brooklyn
        • Bronx
        • Manhattan
        • Queens
        • Staten Island
      • Summer Camp Guide
      • Birthday Party Guide
      • Classes & Activities for Babies & Toddlers
      • Halloween Guide
      • Holiday Guide
      • Scavenger Hunt
      • Advertising
      • Submit Your Event

Vaccinations, Pox Parties, & Mom Guilt - Oh My!

3/31/2014

5 Comments

 
Originally posted on Mommy Nearest.
Picture
You had chicken pox when you were a child and it was no big thing, right? That’s what I thought till I started researching. In mild cases it is really just an inconvenience – your child is uncomfortable and has to stay home from school, which means you have to stay home from work or arrange for child care. But did you know 1 in 80,000 healthy children who get chicken pox will die from it?

In 1995 they came out with a vaccine, but unfortunately it’s only 90% effective in preventing chicken pox, and because it’s so new we don’t yet know how long the vaccine is good for. On the other hand it’s 100% effective in preventing severe cases. For this reason it has become a standard vaccine given at between 12-15 months. To enter school you have to prove your child has immunity through the vaccine or having had the illness. Because many people are wary of vaccines, and probably had such mild cases of chicken pox themselves, they would rather their children gain immunity through the illness. And thus we have the introduction of the Pox Party. Say what!?!?!

Yep, Pox Party

You want your kid to get chicken pox? Take them to a pox party where one of the children has chicken pox! It’s highly contagious, you know.

I’m not endorsing pox parties by any means, but I can see why some might find then enticing. While I’m definitely wary of vaccines, I have decided to vaccinate my child for all standard ones, on an alternative spread out schedule. Most recently, he just got his first MMR (which is what he was waiting for in the above photo), and we'll be back in a month for his chick pox vaccine. This is for the sake of my child as well as the community. Having a high enough percentage of people vaccinated in a population helps prevent outbreaks (and we are in the middle of an "outbreak" of measles here in NYC - there were 21 cases as of last week).

Think about all the babies and pregnant women and other immunocompromised people out there. I see vaccines as taking one for the team. But, to each her own and I don’t judge anyone on their decision to vaccinate or not, as long as they’ve done their research!

It also comes down to which kind of guilt I would feel less guilty about, in a worst possible case scenario. Frankly, I would feel worse if my unvaccinated kid spread a terrible illness to an itty bitty baby (perhaps his own sibling or that of a friend), than if a vaccination caused him to have a nasty reaction. Of course, both of these scenarios suck, you just have to decide which is the lesser of two evils for you, make your decision, and hope for the best!

Related: Cuddling Through Vaccines

So, how do you feel about vaccines? Comment below!

5 Comments
Veronica Bohan
1/28/2015 02:07:51 pm

I am all for the pox party and hope I can find one when my son is around 5 or 6 so we can get that out of the way!

Reply
Leah
1/29/2015 04:33:06 am

Vaccines have been proven safe and effective. Herd immunity is so important for everyone, especially children that are too young to vaccinate and those that cannot receive vaccinations due to health reasons. I remember having chicken pox as a child and being miserable. I had a friend who was a normal, healthy child that ended up hospitalized with it when we were in kindergarten and it was a terrible ordeal.

Reply
Joan
1/29/2019 10:18:35 pm

Doesn't "herd immunity" have to take into account the entire herd? No one has any idea how many adults have immunity to the illnesses we vaccinate children for and they are a huge part of such a herd. In a cosmopolitan city where people come from all sorts of environments, who's checking? And if you had vaccinations years ago and are of a certain age, some of them are no longer effective. People at your school, your daycare, etc. -- their status is unknown. So forget the whole herd immunity thing. You can't possibly determine that without knowing the status of everyone in the herd, not just the kids.

Reply
Baifern link
8/19/2024 02:25:18 am

wOW!

Reply
Baifern link
8/19/2024 02:25:38 am

Nice!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    US Japan Fam on Facebook
    US Japan Fam on Instagram
    US Japan Fam on Twitter
    US Japan Fam on YouTube
    US Japan Fam on Pinterest
    Picture
    My Amazon Storefront
    US Japan Fam on TikTok
    Follow on Bloglovin
    Contact Me!
    Picture
    shop my Amazon storefront

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    About  ME:

    I'm a NYC metro area mom blogger living in NJ with my Japanese husband & our 3 kids (twins + 1), focusing on fun and honest product and travel reviews, helping busy parents find the best for their families! Find what you need in the menu bar or search section above!

    Legit Ways To Make Money From Home - a stay at home mom's guide to working from home

    USFamilyGuide.com

    Parent Reviewers Directory Listing

    Categories

    All
    All Inclusive Resorts
    Baby
    Babywearing
    Babywise
    Bay Ridge
    Bilingual
    Birth Story
    Breastfeeding
    Childbirth
    Cleaning
    Co-sleeping
    Crystal Springs Resort
    Family Friendly Hotels
    Fashion
    Female Solo Travel
    Fitness
    Giveaway
    Guest Post
    Hair Dye
    Healthy Living
    Home
    Hudson Valley
    Hypnobabies
    International Family Vacations
    Interracial Marriage
    Japan
    Japan Travel
    Jet Programme
    Kids Activities
    Lancaster
    Learn Japanese
    Long Haul Flights
    Maternity Leave
    Mexico Vacation
    Momcation
    Mommy Nearest
    Motherhood
    Multigenerational Family Vacations
    Multingenerational Travel
    New Jersey
    New York
    Pregnancy
    Review
    Road Trips
    School
    Sleep Training
    Sponsored Post
    Stay At Home Mother
    Technology
    Theater
    Theme Parks
    Toddler Faves
    Toddlers
    Toys
    Travel
    Tri State Area Travel
    Twin Pregnancy
    Twins
    Unique Accommodations
    Vaccination
    Vlog
    Weaning
    Weightloss
    Woodloch
    YouTube / Social

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012

Proudly powered by Weebly