Flu shot...Good or Bad??

Definitely get them. I had a horrible strain of the flu about 20 years ago (in my peak healthy years in my 20s). It was so bad I could barely breathe and had to move back in with my parents (I was single at the time) for two weeks because I could barely move. Flu is not a joke. I would never want my kids to be at risk of going through what I did. I've been vigilant about getting flu shots every since and both my kids get the flu mist.

Flu shots won't protect against every strain of the flu, but you greatly increase the odds that your child will be safe and protected from the most common flu going around.

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I have never nor will I get one for myself or my dd. Wash hands wipe down things with the sani wipes dont be around sick people, the usual. gl

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Get the second flu shot. At times children can get fever from shots. Mine do. Tylenol will help. Also, even though a person gets a flut shot they may still get another strain of the flu. However, the shot they got may protect them from a worse flu or lessen what it could have been. Definately follow through with the second shot. People still die from the flu.

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No one in my immediate family has ever had a flu shot. I think unless there are immunity problems or someone very old it's not necessary. Just one more income stream for big pharma.

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Do you realize that influenza still kills people all around there world including here in the US? Flu shots are GOOD.

Sometimes the shot will give people, including kids, a fever. A little Tylenol or Ibuprofin should do the trick.

Sometimes the shot doesn't prevent the flu all togehter but will lessen the degree to which you get the flu.

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a fever is very common with any shot. That's why they recomend you give them tylenol before going in. My son got his first shot last year and will be getting one this year. My hubby and I got the H1N1 2 years back because my son was only 2mnths old and we didnt want to get it and expose him. This year I will be getting the flu shot since I am pregnant and when I was pregnant with my son I didn't get it and ended up in the ER with the flu.

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I didn't get my son the flu shot last year and he got sick...4 times. I have it scheduled for this year, we can't afford to have a bad flu come through this house full of kids!

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My kids and I are all healthy. I figure our bodies will work the way they are suppose to in the event we get the flu so I do not vaccinate for it. My kids have all the other vaccines recommended by the docs however. I also would probably get the flu vaccine if my child had an asthma, a week immune system or some other health issue that could make the flu quite dangerous.

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Getting vaccinations can only account for a fever of up to 100.5*F. The flu vaccine does not cause the flu unless the person is receiving a live vaccine. You can get slight flu-like symptoms, but they won't be full blown. You can still get the flu down the road, as the vaccines never ever promise that you'll never get the illness that you're vaccinating against, but if you get that illness it's a much milder version of it than if you didn't have the vaccine at all.

If your daughter is having some symptoms, including a low grade fever, that could last up to three or so days and it's normal. It's not harmful. I would not skip out on her follow up shot because she won't be fully protected until she has that 2nd shot. However if you're feeling too much anxiety about this, then you need to listen to your instincts and you also need to have a very direct, blunt discussion with your daughter's doctor.

My kids always get the flu vaccinations. So do my husband and I. When I haven't had the vaccination I've gotten so sick I was nearly hospitalized from the flu. I'm immuno-compromised and can't afford to get that sick if I can prevent it. My middle daughter has Autism and seizure disorder, and she's in a very low weight percentile as it is. She's also immuno-compromised and having her get that sick wouldn't be good for her at all. It's very important in our household that everyone gets the flu vaccinations every year.

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I never bother with flu shots. A healthy person's immune system will handle the flu just fine. I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but the evolution of the flu shot population over time is a pretty stark and laughable example of the successful marketing by the pharmaceutical companies. It used to be just the elderly, immuno-compromised and infants getting the shot. Then everyone under age 2. Then more groups, and more, and more until now it's everyone. Has the illness changed? Has the vaccine actually become effective? No - they've just managed to make more of it, having more to sell. No thanks.

I don't know what to recommend to you but hope that you have some peace of mind whatever you decide.

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I don't do flu shots ever. Even during the swine flu epidemic, I was pregnant, had 4 kids and taught dance to 30 kids. I do natural preventative stuff and it works better without all the side effects. I used to do everything the doc said and the more I listened to them with the shots and meds, the sicker my kids were. I had to do my own research as far as prevention and nutrition. Good luck and I hope she feels better really soon!

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The flu shot is the one shot we never get. It always creates a fever in my kids, and with my youngest having JRA each fever can lead to further joint damage. Also, it really does not protect against anything. There are so many strains of flu, and each year they guess at which strains they think will hit based off of last years flu. It is a guess at best, and pointless, unless you have a real reason to need it like a weakened immune system.

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A flu shot doesn't prevent a person from getting the flu, it is supposed to help lessen the symptons and severity of it if by chance you do get it.

I would go back for the 2nd round.

Good luck and hope she feels better.

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Some kids are strong enough to fend off most contagious bugs, and may do just fine without vaccination. And some are not.

If my child were subject to catching every cold and flu that travels around each year, I would get her vaccinated so she can avoid catching at least the 3 most virulent viruses anticipated for that year (each vaccine protects against only the 3 virus strains most expected to be a problem in any given year). Flu can be miserable and dangerous, so fending it off seems like a reasonable thing for susceptible people or those with certain health problems.

I have had severe lung problems since infancy. I get the vaccinations without fail, because every flu I get ends up as a horrible, and horribly expensive, bronchial infection. (My insurance has a high deductible, and doesn't cover any lung problems, so I can spend $500 or more dealing with an infection.) It's wonderful that one shot makes me much less susceptible to those nasty complicatons.

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We all get our flu shots every year.
We've never had any bad reaction to them.

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My hubby gets the flu shots and every eyar gets sick, the kids and i have never and we have not gotten the flu..knock on wood!

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I've never had one nor have my kids...Never gonna do it.

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My grandmother died last year after getting violently ill directly following the flu shot. I have never gotten them, will never get them for myself or my children, and the two times my husband got them he got seriously ill. Just my two cents, even the most staunch vaccinators skip this one that I know.

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No flu shot. Me and my kids never get the shot and never get the flu. My cousins get the shot and then are sick the whole winter...no joke. Have you ever wondered why people say things like "if I hadn't gotten the shot, I would have had the flu"? No one can prove that the flu shot kept them from getting the flu. If you don't get sick, is it because of the vaccine, or could it be that your immune system was strong enough to fight it off before symptoms occured? Or, maybe it's because you just never came into contact with it. Just a thought!

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The only time my DD ever got the flu were the years she got flu mist.
Then I woke up.
No more flu shots here.
Last year my infant survived just fine w/o one.

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The flu shot still contains mercury.

I have never received a flu shot and have only had the flu twice in my 36 years...once when I was pregnant, because I let my immune system get too stressed out...so I was FORCED to slow down and take care of myself and my baby.

There is a threshold for every person. How many toxins can one body take all at once? My generation was getting about 10 vaccines up to the age of 18 and this generation is up to 84 by 18, if all the recommended ones are done, including the yearly flu shot. THAT alone scares the hell out of me.

My FIL used to get the flu shot every year and got the flu every year. I'd rather take my changes of getting a virus naturally and fighting it off with Ocsillococcinum than the certain exposure to chemicals, including mercury.

PS Many people I know, started vaccinations, including the flu vaccine and they have stopped after getting educated and weighing the risks vs. the potential benefits. If anyone tells you that once you start, you have to continue, they are lying.

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My kids get all the immunizations, but the flu shot? HELL no. The ONE TIME we all got the flu got (I was preggers with #3), we all ended up with the H1N1 flu... no thanks!!

Hope your little one feels better soon :)

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Get the flu shots, It will protect them from the strain of flu the shot is for, not every kind of flu. The stomach flu, it won't do anything for but that flu that is like a cold with high fevers and lung problems it will lesson or keep them from getting it all together. We have noticed that with my kids, if we didn't get the flu one or all of them would end up with broncitis. I also suggest flu shots and pnemonia shot for you if you haven't had one. We have a lot of asthma and lung problems in our family so it is the difference of life threatening illnesses and health.

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Your baby.... is not sick but reacting to the shot. When a person gets a shot, it takes a couple of weeks for the body to build up immunity etc.
Fever after a shot, is a common reaction. It does not mean that literally, that person is sick.
The reason that babies need 'booster' shots, is that for babies, the vaccinations are done in 'stages.'

Didn't the Pediatrician, give you an Information sheet on the Flu shots? That is SUPPOSED to happen. If you look on the info sheet... you will see what the common reactions are to the shot etc.

I got the Flu shot already. I got NO reaction. I get it because I have Asthma.
My kids get the nasal spray version. They never get a reaction to it nor do they get 'sick' after.

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My son gets them every year. For me, it has helped him to not get sick so often at school. I can't tell you how many times I have a paper of " your child may have been exposed to this and that." especially in the winter months. He has never got the worst of any cold or infection, and I believe it is from getting the flu shot. Sometimes younger children will get a fever after having a shot, but it usually will go down after a day. If you have reservations, I would let your pediatrician know about the fever, and that you are concerned. If it were me, I would go ahead with the 2nd flu shot. It probably won't result in a fever next time.

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The shot does not give people the flu. It doesn't protect them from all strains either. My husband and I get the flu shot, we do not give it to our son. I did give it to him when he was a baby at the ped's reccomendation. He said that infants are an "at risk" group from flu complications. I honestly wish I hadn't. He was breastfed and only went to a babysitter once a week. He had enough immunizations and didn't need 2 more. If your baby is not breastfed and goes to daycare then I say go ahead. Otherwise, I would pass.

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Our pediatrician has never pushed the issue with flu shots she will tell me when they begin or if we are there at the office & they are available.I have 3 kids & they are all healthy thriving children they have the other required immunizations.The last flu shot I gave my oldest was Kindergarten he did get sick but not the flu,actually none of us were classified to ever having the "flu"even if we think it was it wasn't.Your baby is considered high risk so the second dose is just the other half of the first dose they are not given the entire does at once this young.Read your handout it tells you the list of side effects & what to do.Good Luck

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We don't do flu shots.
My husband gets one every year, military.
One year the kids and I got the flu, so did he, just as bad.
They have had every other immunizatoin, my youngest has had the chicken pox shot, the others had the disease. Only one of the girls got the whole series of Gardisal.

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We do usually do the flu shots for our children. Our pediatrician suggested that we do so. We have not had any bad reactions from them...

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I only got the flue shot once and I was so sick that winter and right afterwards. Now, my dad who is prone to colds swears by them. As for my kids, I usually don't get them the flu shot. When they are infants, I have, but from 2 on, then I don't. They usually stay pretty healthy during the winter months... they all have allergies (seasonal) my daughter last year had a bad case of illness for her first semester of High School, I think she really had mono which was diagnose wrongly. Anyway, I don't, and will not again this year for my kids as well.

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I never had flu shots, we just got the flu and went on.
Last year we had the flue shots - I am never going back. No flu, no colds, great.

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I never got the flu shot until I saw my twin boys fighting H1N1 when they had just turned a year old. Nothing was so sad as seeing my little boys lying in bed, whimpering, and sleeping for five hours in the middle of the day. We all get the flu shot now. If I can prevent that for my children, I will.

I would take the shot any day over the actual flu. My husband brought it home from the office (the only year we did not get flu shots). I literally wanted to die and my husband did too. We drug ourselves to the doctor and it was the flu. Nothing they could do...we went home and I would crawl down the hall to nurse my daughter who was stuck in her crib all day because we were too weak to get her out.

It was five days of the worst sick ever. No one would come help us because they didn't want to catch it. I look forward to my shot every year, now!

I don't get them and neither do my kids. I was sick as a dog every winter AT LEAST once with the flu and bronchitis (got 'em both every winter at least once) when I was growing up. I haven't had a full blown bad flu like the ones I got as a kid in YEARS. I think getting all those flu virus' built up my immunity to them and now I rarely get more than a mild flu that if I get a couple of days of good rest pass in about 3 days.

My kids have super immune systems that they got from their dad. He doesn't get sick and never has, even as a kid. They get might get a mild flu every couple of years or so but nothing major. So we don't bother with the shots.

Hubby is in the military and they make him get one every year even though he doesn't need 'em.

I'd go ahead and get baby the second shot since you've started it this year, then follow your gut for the future. It won't hurt her to have the shots and could save her life. Just be aware of the side effects and keep an eye out for any severe reactions.

We've never gotten the flu shots and the first time my kids had the flu was this week, at ages 5, 3 and 9 months.

There is no question that the flu shot saves lives - primarily those of the elderly, immunocompromised and young children. But quite a few people will have 'minor' reactions - low grade fever, lethargy, soreness at the vaccine site for a few days. A very tiny percentage of people will have severe allergic/anaphylactic reactions which are not predictable. I vaccinate my 5 year old - and have not missed a flu shot. We are scheduled for this coming Monday. My husband and I also both get it, as do my parents.