I have been researching this for awhile too.I think some vaccines could be helpful while others are NOT useful at all and shouldn’t even be done or considered.Back when we would got our vaccines as a child,A lot of them contained Mercury and other harmful things in them.Some still contain Mercury like the H1NI. I never got that shot thnakfully and I also stopped getting my flu shot.My Dr looks down upon me for that but its more junk I don’t need in my body and it interacts with my autoimmune disease (diabetes and hashimotos thyroiditis).
This is a great book to read of all the pro’s and con’s and schedules and such http://www.amazon.com/Vaccine-Book-Decision-Parenting-Library/dp/0316017507 . Chris and I have not decided on if we would vaccinate or not when we become pregnant but we are leaning more towards not.I need to do more research on it though.
Thanks for the link. Most of the article pertained to conditions / diseases / sicknesses that I’m not concerned with. For example, the flu, chicken pox, measles, were all sicknesses that I myself have been exposed to. So, why are we now vaccinating children so they don’t get these sicknesses?
It used to be taught that if you have multiple children and one gets the chicken pox, put them all in the same room so they all get it at the same time and they all deal with it at the same time… and then get rid of it. Because once your immune system is exposed to it, it learns how to fight it off and you won’t contract the sickness again. But, now we are vaccinating our children to not be exposed to the sickness anymore. I know that vaccinations have a small string of the sickness threaded in it so the child is basically injected with chicken pox in order to teach their immune system to fight it off… by why are we forcing it now instead of letting it go naturally? And what other side effects are our children being exposed to due to injecting the diseases versus simply letting them catch the sicknesses as they grow naturally? Now it’s not even being shown as for “our own children’s safety.” Now, it’s being told that we should get our kids vaccinated because it decreases the risk to OTHER children’s immune systems if they have not yet been exposed to it. It just seems like the lesser of two evils is to let things go naturally for this case.
Same with the measles. Same with whooping cough. And goddamit the same with the flu. Since when did having the flu make it a life threatening condition? I’ve had the flu hundreds of times over my life. I’ve NEVER gotten the flu shot. Last year, everyone I knew who got the flu shot was sick for a week and got sick AGAIN mid year. I DIDN’T get the flu shot and wasn’t sick for the entire year. So, where’s the logic on that one?
I dunno. I’m not aiming any of these arguments at you specifically awillie. Just responding to the article link that you posted.
I feel like the world, especially the US, is being bullied into taking these vaccines. And if you DON’T vaccinate, then you’re a bad mother, or a bad person. That’s the way it’s portrayed to the public. It just doesn’t make sense. Like the new Type 1 vaccine that was released in Australia. They dont even know what CAUSES Type 1 diabetes. So, how can they possibly have a vaccine to protect people against contracting it?
I’m not saying these sicknesses are rare, like the article says in multiple places. I’m saying these sicknesses are necessary for building our immune systems.
I agree that it’s a public health issue. I have trouble accepting people’s decision not to vaccinate. I’m fine with an altered schedule, but it breaks my heart that children with compromised immune systems cannot attend daycares or public schools because some students in the class are unvaccinated. Those children - kids perhaps with chronic illnesses more challenging than our own - depend on herd immunity because their own systems cannot fight off diseases we’ve otherwise held at bay.
You know, those kids with compromised immune systems are often the ones not fully vaccinated in a classroom. They’re living proof of why there are exceptions. There are undisputed health reasons for some people not to receive certain vaccinations, and then there’s a lot of “gray area” where people are concerned about their kids’ chances of being hurt by vaccines. I don’t think we get to draw lines in the sand and decide who is right and who is wrong for choosing not to vaccinate.
I personally really respected the person I know who chose not to have his son vaccinated because both his father and uncle went deaf days after vaccination. Do I think his son would have gone deaf? No, I really don’t. I think his father and uncle got a bad batch of vaccine and that vaccines are probably a thousand times safer now than they were 50+ years ago. But I don’t blame him for fearing that there could be some genetic component making his family prone to that “reaction” to vaccines, then deciding that he’d like to avoid what he perceived as a higher risk to his son. Similarly, if someone genuinely fears that vacinations might trigger diabetes or autism in their child, I’m going to respect that even if I think there’s not enough evidence to support that fear and decision. Just like I respect the parents who don’t get certain vaccinations for their children with compromised immune systems.
I see what you’re saying regarding specific exceptions and wouldn’t blame that person with the deaf relatives either. I do think there is gray area in exceptional situations and that that’s why the AAP has taken a pretty firm stance yet still allows pediatricians to accept alternate schedules.
But my opinion was swayed a couple of years ago by this article: http://www.slate.com/id/2232977/. And any time there is an outbreak of some preventable disease that takes the lives of unvaccinated kids - like Hib in 2008.
I don’t know anything about the diabetes connection that’s being discussed in this thread, so I won’t speak to that, but the bunk autism connection and religious reasons I find to be the most common reasons people cite for anti-vaccination and that goes all over me for some reason.
Hi Marps. I am not PO’d (personally offended) in the least. it is a great topic for discussion and I enjoy hearing from others. I am not a mother, but hope to be someday in the future. I am also planning to do research in the field of reproductive endocrinology as a career, and hearing first hand from mommies and daddies who have diabetes (of any variety) is so fascinating to me. It also shows that it’s not just the diabetes that makes having kids/raising kids difficult… it is the intersection of all sorts of issues, diseases, and public health topics that parents have to face.
I too thought about going into the medical field. There’s just so much contraversy surrounding these topics that it’s hard to muddle through all of it. Which is why I posted this topic. I like to hear different viewpoints as well. Because maybe the view I have isn’t the best one. Maybe I need to learn something. But, I’m the type who needs to research before I will make up my mind in either direction. Thanks for your post.
One thing to ask your future pediatrician is their stance on vaccines. Some doctors will not treat children who have not been vaccinated. Others are okay with a modified vaccination schedule but require you to tell them what vaccine you want and when you want it.
Personally, I was considering a modified schedule for my daughter until I talked to several nurses who are friends of mine with their own children. They each stated that they followed the standard vaccination schedule for their children. And that even in the 3rd month when babies get 5 separate vaccinations that the impact to their immune system was less than the common cold. I decided that it was worth it for me to put my daughter on the standard schedule. But that was based on some serious gut checking and realizing some important potential risk factors for our family. My husband is a jr high teacher so he’s constantly bringing home germs and recently a student at his school came down with measles. Plus, my best friend’s family travels back and forth between here and Nigeria frequently. Diseases that aren’t typical here occur in Nigeria with much more frequency. I decided that for our family, it was less of a risk to get my daughter immunized.
You might want to just consider vaccines that would offer the most bang for your buck. Like the Rota virus vaccine. It protects against most common viruses that cause severe diarrhea in children.(It’s also an oral vaccine so it won’t hurt when its delivered) Or the Hib, which protects against meningitis and can be fatal in young kids. You might also want to check the CDC website and see if there have been outbreaks of anything recently. (Whooping cough in California for example)
Just know that deciding to vaccinate or not vaccinate is a personal choice. It’s the 1st of many decisions you’ll make as a parent that you’ll be judged by. Similar to be a stay at home mom or choosing to keep working; public school vs private school vs charter school vs home school; organic vs fast-food.
The only ones that need to be comfortable with your choice are you and your husband.
