Checking Blood Titers in 18 Month Old

Vaccines are optional at any time!

Just keep in mind that having blood drawn from an 18 month old is not as simple as it would seem.

In an attempt to determine what odd food allergy my son had, my pediatrician and I decided to have him tested. It was highly traumatic for him (and me and my husband, too). The woman at the lab at Dell Children's was confident that she could do it with only the help of me and my husband holding our son down. After several L-O-N-G minutes of him screaming and squirming with a needle moving around in his arm, she decided that wasn't going to work. Next, she brought in an assistant and my little baby was restrained on a papoose board while she stuck him a second time so she could get enough blood.

Just something to keep in mind...

The reason for repeat boosters is b/c the initial immunities are weak and/or temporary. Since you seem to have been OK with the first rounds of shots I would strongly encourage you to continue and protect your child.
Incidence of measles were 3x higher in 2008 than in 2007, and there have also been increasing outbreaks in whooping cough, and menengitis, almost exclusively among children whose parents refused vaccinations. The complications of all of these diseases can be very serious and your child is not protected as much as possible until she is fully vaccinated.

H., you can ask your pediatrician for a lab slip. However, I probably wouldn't expect him to be okay with it. The majority of pediatricians don't like mothers going around the American Academy of Pediatrics immunization schedule. However, these are your children and ultimately, you are in charge of their health. Talk to he/she about it. I know they can't check titers on some but not others. Hopefully your pediatrian will work with you on this. Lastly, I don't know all that much about this so I'd do some more research online. I'm not sure if over the years it is possible to lose immunity to certain things since there was no booster given.

H.,

I really think it would be a good idea for you to research this further by consulting your pediatrician and reading the resources available that explain the pros and cons of having/not having your child immunized. I'm not sure what you are expecting to gain by not having your childs immunizations completed but I think you need to be completely informed before you make a decision that could impact and possibly have tragic effects on your childs life. There is not enough research out there to support abstaining from immunizations. My advice...don't gamble with your childs life.

Unless you adopted your child internationally or you suspect an immune disorder, it is not worth having your child's titers checked at 18 months. Blood draws are traumatic to any child, and the tests are expensive. If you adopted your child internationally, the titers should be tested so that your pediatrician knows what immunizations your child needs, as it is not necessarily a good idea to just immunize all over again. If you suspect an immune disorder due to family genetics or some health issue your child has that has not yet been diagnosed, then by all means tests should be run on your child's G and A immunoglobins. If you are wanting to avoid immunizing your child, you will be relying on the "herd affect", hoping that all the other children your child associates with are vaccinated and not carrying the diseases that you did not vaccinate your child against. These are all things you should weigh in making your decision to have titers measured.