Most doctors and parents recommend that young children be given the chicken pox vaccination. Months ago, I too was for this vaccination. But since the last two vaccinations that my little boy underwent, I really dread and ache having to bring him in to the paed for yet another injection. Even he himself is quite paranoid about seeing a doctor these days, even when it does not involve any injections. A basic check of temperature and just a gentle touch of his head by the doctor will provoke fearful tears in him. For this reason, I am reluctant to bring him in for his scheduled chicken pox vaccination next month. My question then is how important is the chicken pox vaccination and is it really important and absolutely necessary?
Many have said it is good to take it so that the child is prevented from developing chicken pox at a young age. You know how terrible the itch can get, and they may just scratch and scar themselves. On top of that, there’s the discomfort and fever to deal with too. Whilst I nod along and agree with all that, I also wonder how long the vaccination is able to protect a person from developing chicken pox.
From what I heard, when the vaccination was first found, it did not fully protect against chicken pox and some people despite having been vaccinated still developed it. Then upon improvements, the newer generation of this vaccination is supposed to protect a person for life from ever developing chicken pox. I have no idea if this is really a true claim. I did not check with the paed on this, perhaps I should.
But I still remain heavy hearted to bring the boy for the jab. He is now 15 months old. Could I possibly delay it, maybe to a stage when he might be braver to confront his fear of the needle?
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I am not sure, but I guess better let the boy have the vaccination.
I would love to know the answer too. Hayley is having her 2nd pneumococal jab tomorrow and I dread on how she would react since she is now more aware of her surroundings. If given a choice, I would choose not to. My mom said I had chicken pox when I was a baby too and I grew up fine and had no scars…
. Let me know what your ultimate decision is..
Irene, you reckon so too huh…
Amy, I’m still undecided. I still have a month to go before the jab so I’ll continue to think through this and ask more questions from more experienced mothers. I’ll update whether I’ll bring him in to the paed.