I just got back from a pediatrician's appointment with Dominic where he got some of his vaccinations. This, plus a discussion I had been having with my friend Larissa (congrats to her and her husband on their new baby boy born last week!) about childhood vaccines started the wheels turning for me. For the record, my kids are fully vaccinated and I do believe in childhood vaccinations, BUT what is up with the urgency and overload in the US? I've now lived in two countries where the maximum they will give a kid at a visit is two shots. It makes for more visits, but I think it relieves some of the anxiety on the parent's part about the controversies swirling around the whole immunization process. Another difference I see is that there isn't such a panic about getting specific shots done at set ages. Luc ended up being way behind in Germany because I didn't know I had to be the one to bring up the subject. Still, when I figured out he was behind there was no, "oh, my Gosh, he needs 7 shots TODAY!" We just had to make a few visits for two shots at each visit.
US medicine still kicks ass in my opinion, but with so many parents afraid of vaccines these days it seems the pediatric community would be better off taking an approach other than, "We know best, now hold your baby down while I poke them 5 times." I think we'd have way more vaccinated kids if they let the parents set a (reasonable) pace. This expat experience has definitely made me a lot more involved and proactive in health care for our family.
And that's all we have to say on the subject, except Dominic would like to add that he opts for zero shots per visit. Don't you feel sorry for our waitstaff after we leave?
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