Common Immunizations for Children February 14, 2009

Immunizations are a necessary evil of childhood. As a mother, it’s heartbreaking to have your one year old begin to cry as soon as you enter the pediatrician’s building out of fear of a shot, but every time you take him to the doctor, but immunizations are the reason the death rate for infectious disease among babies and young children is so low today. Following are the immunizations your child should receive, and the approximate ages at which they will receive them.

DTP – (Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) – Your child will receive this vaccine at around two months of age, four months, six months, 12-18 months and the final dose between the ages of 4 and 6 years. The pertussis vaccine has a high risk of reaction, those most reactions are mild. However, you should ensure that your child is well at the time of the vaccine, and that you watch them closely for about 72 hours after the vaccine. Your doctor should provide you a complete list of possible reactions, and how to treat them. However, for certain, if your child runs a fever over 104°F or becomes limp or difficult to wake up, seek treatment immediately.

MMR – (Measles, mumps, rubella) – Your child will receive this vaccine between twelve and fifteen months of age, and then again sometime between the ages of 4 and 12 years old. Reactions to this vaccine are common, but mild, and don’t usually occur until about two weeks after the shot, so they are often not recognized as being associated with the vaccine. Some children have a mild rash and low grade fever, often accompanied by swelling of the glands in the neck.

VZV – (Varicella) – You probably didn’t receive this vaccine for chickenpox, but your child will receive it between 12 and 18 months of age. Reactions are few, and usually include just a mild fever.

Hib – (Hemophilus b) – This vaccine prevents a range of infections, including meningitis, caused by the hemophilus influenza b virus. Your child will receive this vaccine at two, four and six months, and then again between 12 and 15 months. Some doctors offer Hib combined with DTP in one vaccine.

Hepatitis B – Your child probably will receive the first dose of this vaccine at birth, and will get doses again between two and four months and six to 18 months. This vaccine typically causes no reactions.

OPV – This is the polio vaccine, which has been successful at all but eradicating this crippling illness. Your child will receive doses at two and four months, at eighteen months and between four and six years. Children rarely suffer any reaction to this oral vaccine, though it is typically postponed if your child is sick.

Your child’s vaccinations are typically administered at well baby care visits. This is one of the reasons it is so important to regularly attend these appointments. Receiving the right vaccines at the right time is critical to your child’s health.

 

Mass Media, MTV and Murder – Just Say No. February 12, 2009

As parents, we tend to get lazy sometimes and use the TV as a baby sitter for our kids. Plop little Johnny in front of the television set and watch him become a zombie while we tend to our chores and pretend for a while that he doesn’t exist.   Or maybe we feed him hours of banal video games as entertainment or we let him listen to the constant barrage from a radio while doing his homework. It we really thought about it, this would probably not be the kind of programming we want for our kids.

One thing we know we can count on is that the mass media is not out to educate our kids. Their job is to generate programming that will bring in advertising revenue. Period. That’s why sex, violence, and manipulative advertising fill the airwaves. Our children learn improper lessons and misguided values through TV that generally have little bearing on real life. Their life’s lessons need to come from us. We need to guide our kids by keeping them away from television and video games and getting them involved in wholesome, consciousness expanding endeavors. And if we want to help them in school we could start by helping them with their reading.

Find out what kinds of books they like and read to them. Or have them read to us. Books are available everywhere. Take them to the library, go to a used bookstore, check grandma’s attic. Anywhere it takes to find educational books that are filled with positive social messages. The more time our children spend reading, the better they get at it, and the more confidence they have in their studies. Good study habits lead to good grades.

And good grades lead to a better education, and the potential for financial freedom at the end of the road. And if little Willy needs a break from studies and begs for a videogame fix, every now and then it’s okay to give it to him. Just make sure it’s educational. Make it fun but leave the sexual and violent content for the adults. Teaching our kids the value of learning is the most important thing we can do. We should be spending quality time with our kids rather than wasting it on the bad habits we developed when we were young. Our kids deserve so much more than the mindless gratification delivered by MTV.  It’s ok to avoid the mass media, and MTV so that your mind doesn’t get murdered by the garbage out there.  Just Say No.