Immunization

[Shannon]

My husband and I are 8 years apart in age. He has 2 adult children from a previous relationship. His oldest daughter has an 18 month old son and his son has a 1 year old son. We now have a beautiful 2 month old daughter. I just recently found out that his oldest daugter refuses to get her son (18 month old) any immunizations. My daughter just had her first round of shots 2 days ago. All this time, she has been bringing her son over to our house and I never knew that he hadn't had any vaccinations. Her pediatrician told her that she will need to find another doctor because he refuses to care for her son if she will not allow him to have vaccinations. I asked my pediatrician if I should be concerned about this and she told me that I need to take this very seriously and to do my best at keeping my daughter away from her son. She explained to me how dangerous it is to my baby to be around him. She told me that all of the doctors in her office would refuse care for any child who has not had their immunizations because they don't want these children in their waiting rooms to potentially infect other children. My stepdaughter is a very irresponsible and lazy person. She is not well kempt and she really does not take care of her son. I am not saying this to put her down, I am simply stating a fact. My husband would say the same thing. She is on government assistance and all of her sons medical bills are paid for by the government so it's not that she can't afford them. It's also not against her religion to get the immunizations. She's just the type that thinks she knows it all and there is no talking to her about it because in her mind she's always right. Her son is also a biter and I am concerned that he may infect not only my child but someone else's. This obviously is not something she tells people about. She is planning on getting pregnant again soon so that she can stay on government assistance and not have to get a job. My problem is that I don't know how to keep my baby away from hers. And if she has another baby soon, then I'll have an even bigger problem. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know that not everyone agrees with getting the immunizations but they are important to me. Brain damage or death of my baby is not an option if this can be avoided.

[shaelene bremer]

I choose to immunize my son but that was due to the fact that neither me or his father where vaccinated until we were older and made the decision ourselves and if we potentially carry any deseases that are vaccinated for he could in fact get those deseases because we don't have the antibodies for them, that has been proven that if you don't carry the measles antibodies your child could contract it from you with out you even showing signs, we didn't do all vaccines only ones that we thought he should be vaccinated for like mmr and the pnumonalcacal, sorry can't spell that, and rota as well as whooping cough due to that we live in california and there is an outbreak. So I think you should educate yourself about what your giving your child then you shouldn't worry about what others think