Letting your vaccinated kids play with unvaccinated kids?

Your pediatrician can help you.

But me? i am pretty sure the only way to know for sure if your kids' own vaccines are effective is through blood tests. No vaccine is 100 percent effective in the population, so there is a slim chance the vaccinated ones are not fully protected. That's partly why herd immunity is important. We do not do blood tests on everyone.

And your husband is right about the youngest. A full series is usually needed and that takes several years. Even the older one may not have had the full series.

I would listen to my pediatrician but I would be inclined to restrict knowingly exposing my kids to unvaccinated kids if I could.

If my children (or someone else they are regularly around) is immuno-suppressed or otherwise at higher risk of complications from one of diseases covered by vaccines, then I would be MUCH more cautious

However, since that isn't the case for my family - it's not something I really stress about. Generally speaking, I don't know the vaccine status of other people - I can assume that if they are attending school or daycare in my area, they are probably up to date on shots but even there, exemptions exist.

An 18m old hasn't yet had the full range of vaccines so would be more likely to catch something than an older child - but unvaxed kids only share diseases that they've caught - if they don't catch _____ then they can't share it with your kids. Obviously if something is going around, be more cautious.

FWIW

My oldest was vaxxed on schedule (but there were less shots back then). My middle was on schedule but we skipped a couple (rotovirus and now the hpv one because they were too new for our comfort level and chicken pox because she had it naturally). My youngest is NOW up to date on shots (since starting school) but we played catchup that last summer before K because her doctor was an idiot and she hadn't had any shots since the first round as a newborn. She ended up missing some because they weren't needed anymore due to her age.

One thing to consider is herd immunity - the higher percentage of a population that is vaccinated, the more protected the population as a whole is against that disease because less people are available to host it and pass it along - even when some aren't vaxed (either by choice or because they have medical reasons not to) and even though the vax doesn't work on all. And of course the flip side to that is that if a disease does go through a community, while the non-vaxxed part of the population is most likely to get it, the more people with the disease, the more likely that people who are vaxed will ALSO get it if the vaccine was only partially effective (which does happen). I've had mumps (as an adult) and whooping cough (as a child) and I'm fully vaxed against both

good luck with your discernment.

I understand why you are asking and I understand the concern for your 18 month old.  I would worry about the 18 month old because he/she hasn't had the full round of immunizations.  

When my youngest was born, whooping cough was going around.  My dd's pediatrician told me and dh to go and get a pertussis vax ASAP, and we did because we knew the baby would not be immune if we caught it and she could easily get it from us.

As for how to handle playdates with the non vaxxed kids?  IDK.  I would be hesitant to continue them.  And yes, I get that your kids are going to school with non vaxxed - you don't know who these kids are.  Frankly, just being out at stores and parks, etc. could put your 18 month old at risk.  In this case though, you do know they aren't Vaxxed.  I'm rambling now, but yes, I get your hesitation.

Some people never develop the immunity to the disease from the vaccine. My Mom is one who doesn't for several disease for some reason. You can ask your doctor to run a titer for the diseases and see if the immunity is present in the bloodstream.

You can't prevent your child being coughed and sneezed upon by an unvaccinated child in a shop orr on public transport, so I would guess that it is a waste of time avoiding unvaccinated children on play dates etc.

It's not something I'm concerned about.

If you're worried about your 18 month old.. do you let her play with your older children who may not be fully immune yet? Go out in public?
I sort of don't get this whole thing.

No, I wouldn't believe that they are protected. Because no vaccine is 100% effective and having an unvaccinated child in any given population increases the chances of your vaccinated child becoming infected.

as far as I know, you have approx 90% of the antibodies with in two weeks of the first in the series of a vaccine.

I would feel comfortable with my toddler playing with a non vaccinated child

There's already a petition drive to overturn it. The crazy is well underway.

We chose a delayed vac schedule. That said, we have to careful since 15yo dd and I both take medication to suppress our immune systems. When flu was at its highest levels last year, she and I stayed home from church to try to avoid exposure. We were both vaxed, but we were advised to be cautious.

This is my feeling as well. I've never asked and wouldn't necessarily know who's vaccinated and who isn't. But if I did become aware someone was deliberately not vaccinating their kids (for non medically required reasons), I doubt we'd have much else in common and I wouldn't want to hang out with them, anyway. Okay, maybe we would have things in common, but I'd be so pissed off, I wouldn't care.

I looked up the vaccination rates in my town, and fortunately we have a high vax rate. Which surprised me, as close to Berkeley and Marin county as we are.

This is me as well. I never made it a point to ask when I babysat as a teen. I don't remember the topic of conversation every coming up. I didn't even have my full round of vaccinations as a child, I didn't get the MMR until I went to college. It's just something we never thought about or discussed from what I remember.