The Green Parent

All this week we have been focusing on vaccinations…the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to wade through the information and form your own opinion on the issue.  And you may be happy to know that you don’t necessarily have to choose one side or another.

In the past, many parents felt they had to make a black or white decision when it came to vaccinations.  Either vaccinate or don’t vaccinate.  But there may be a middle ground that eases the fears of parents concerned about the number vaccinations given to children with the fears of parents who don’t want to see there children go unvaccinated.

The current vaccination schedule recommended by most medical professionals is set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) According to the CDC’s vaccinate schedule, babies should receive as many as 25 immunizations by the time they are 18 months old.

What if there were a way to reduce the frequency and/or number of these vaccinations while still ensuring that your child receives the appropriate immunizations?  Take a look at some of these alternatives to the traditional vaccination schedule.

The Sears Schedule: Dr. Robert Sears, a world renowned pediatrician and author of The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child, has developed an alternative vaccine schedule dubbed “The Sears Schedule” that encourages parents and health care providers to give babies all of the shots they need, but spread out over the first few years of life, instead of bunching them all up in the first 18 months. Following The Sears Schedule, babies receive fewer vaccines at a time, concentrating on the most important vaccines first, and slightly delaying the less important vaccines.

Checking “Titers:” According to the CDC schedule, children should receive “boosters” to certain vaccines, such as the chicken pox vaccine, to boost the baby’s immunity received from a previous shot. Some children, however, may have received adequate immune system protection from the first shot and therefore would not need this additional booster.

If you are concerned about the number of boosters your child is slated to receive, talk with your health care provider about performing a blood test to check a child’s titers. By “checking titers” the pediatrician can measure the amount of antibodies in your child’s blood, giving an indication of whether or not your baby is immune to the disease. If enough antibodies are present, you child will not need additional boosters for that vaccine. If you do decide to go this route, be sure to find out in advance if the “titers” test will be covered by your health insurance plan.