I'm looking for some support - Page 2

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by alegna

Why would I? I'm not concerned about the vax-available diseases. We don't avoid anything.

The only vaxes that shed are:
rotavirus, MMR, chickenpox, flumist.

Rotavirus is everywhere anyway

I'd like natural immunity for my kids to M M and R and chickenpox

no real way to avoid flumist.

-Angela

I agree and I don't lol. I mean, sure, there is no fear of these diseases. But are you really saying it's questionable to attempt to avoid disease? If relatives have a stomach bug, we avoid them. If someone is coughing and sneezing up a storm, you don't breathe deeply.

I also do believe there is some justifiable concern for pregnant women. And seeing as how my mom had 11 kids...she was basically pregnant for 20 years.

[JesiLynne]

Originally Posted by applejuice

s

You have come to the right place.

I was not vaxed as a child. My dad was a DC. I grew up in the era of leg braces and lining up at the nurse's office to get vaccinated. It was painfully obvious that I was not vaccinated since I never got in that line. I had classmates who had leg braces from polio. I had whopping cough, chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, the flu and I am still here.

Even as a mom I almost vaxed my own children, except my own dh said that he was always so very sick after his vaccinations that he did not want to vaccinate our children if he did not have to. And we did not.

When I was in my senior year of college, 1976, I read a syndicated column by pediatrician, Dr. Robert Mendelsohn advocating against childhood vaccinations. His column was dropped within a week by half of the newspapers that carried his column. He went on to write four books and lecture across the country against the religion of modern medicine and its holy waters, one of which is vaccination.

My advice is to keep researching, quietly. Do not discuss this subject with anyone. However, you may be surprised to find others who do not. Remember that I grew up in the 1950s, and there were few people who would speak up then against vaccinations; there are far more now. Someone mainstream like Jenny McCarthy coming out against mercury in vaccinations and saying that it caused her son's autism was unheard of.

I must say I envy you. I know it sounds terrible of me to say, but I wish my kids could get sick with 1/2 of what you have had. In the long run, it is safer. I have been trying to get my kids exposed to chicken pox for years and can not seem to get it.

I have a friend in his 40's who has never had chicken pox, and it freaks me out b/c getting it as a child is so MUCH safer!

Secondly, I love Dr. Mendelsohn !!!!! His book changed my thinking on so many issues.



I also advice staying quiet. Very quiet. Most of the ppl I know have not a clue about my vax stance. It is alot better that way. For now. I truly hold hope that the view on vax is changing throughout this world, and someday we can be more open to everyone.

[EVC]

I thought it was just a basic idea for non-vaxers to avoid certain places at certain times? For example, the mall playplace, playgrounds, etc were also avoided during BTS times by my family b/c that's when a massive number of children are vaccinated.

Nah, doesn't bother me at all. But then again dd has been in daycare since she was 10 months old, and now goes to pre-school, so she has been around recently vax'ed and shedding kiddos most of her life. I don't really see anyway to avoid it, really. There is NO WAY to know who around you may be coming down with something, or who has been recently vax'ed for something, so I'm not going to live in fear of it

[mama2peyton]

Originally Posted by claddaghmom

I agree and I don't lol. I mean, sure, there is no fear of these diseases. But are you really saying it's questionable to attempt to avoid disease? If relatives have a stomach bug, we avoid them. If someone is coughing and sneezing up a storm, you don't breathe deeply.

I also do believe there is some justifiable concern for pregnant women. And seeing as how my mom had 11 kids...she was basically pregnant for 20 years.

I get what you're saying, but I think there's a difference between staying away from someone you know is sick, and avoiding the general public because they might be sick/shedding. If we avoided going to places where there might be sick or shedding people, we'd never leave the house. JMHO

I'm not saying there's anything wrong if the OP wants to be extra cautious and avoid the mall...I just don't want her to feel like because she chooses not to vax she has to become a recluse.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by mama2peyton

I get what you're saying, but I think there's a difference between staying away from someone you know is sick, and avoiding the general public because they might be sick/shedding. If we avoided going to places where there might be sick or shedding people, we'd never leave the house. JMHO

Right. I don't go over and hang out with people in bed with the flu, but I don't stay home or wipe every surface down in public either.

-Angela

[Ophelia]

You said you don't have support besides your DH. Do you have a local API group that you can join?

http://attachmentparenting.org/

Also, some states have vaccine awareness organizations, you could check into that.

[sahmama_12]

Originally Posted by alegna

Right. I don't go over and hang out with people in bed with the flu, but I don't stay home or wipe every surface down in public either.

-Angela

Exactly. I view VPDs the same way I view other bugs, we don't go out of our way but incidental exposure just strengthens my kids immune system that much more. And shedding vax IMO, give us opportunities to get some immunity to those VPDs even if its just passive.

[EVC]

Originally Posted by sahmama_12

Exactly. I view VPDs the same way I view other bugs, we don't go out of our way but incidental exposure just strengthens my kids immune system that much more. And shedding vax IMO, give us opportunities to get some immunity to those VPDs even if its just passive.

You know, I've often wondered about this. If an unvax'ed child is exposed to vax shedding, but does not become actively infected with the disease, is there any chance that some immunity still gets built up? Or does that mean that the exposure was so minimal, that it has no effect at all?

[MadziesMom]

Hugs!

You know your baby best! Sending you hugs and reassurance taht there are a lot of us out here supporting you and along for the same ride! I mnight sound like a broken record here, bc I posted this before, but a great book is Raising a vaccine free child by wendy lydall. I am really enjoying it. have not done extensive reearch into who she is, but her book is full of fantastic info and a very long refernces section..
Blessings,
Sarah

[peainthepod]

Do you live in fear of roseola or scarlet fever? Your babies could get those at any time. But we don't have vaxes for those, so I bet you don't even think about it. And that's because no one ever told you to live in fear of those diseases. But if the pharmaceutical cartel ever develops a vaccine for those, I assure you that people will begin to dread them and talk about how dangerous they are.

In 20 years I bet people will be sufficiently scared of chicken pox to believe that there were once chicken pox "epidemics", with all those poor little babies who lost limbs and died of complications...because enough people will have reached adulthood without having contracted this mild, important childhood illness. Misinformation + fearmongering = effective marketing.

Be strong and confident in your decision, mama. Not vaxing takes guts and some basic knowledge about how to recognize and treat the vaccine-available diseases, but it's healthier for your child in the long run.

[kiwiva]

I have found that as time passes I have fewer fearful moments. DD is 27 mos now and I really don't worry about VPDs. When she was younger, of course, as secure as I was with my decision not to vax, I did have my moments of fear. But I tried to put it into perspective. I wasn't running around worrying about her getting necrotizing fasciitis or some other disease going around for which there is no vax available. I just practiced reasonable disease prevention and didn't go out of my way to share space with someone coughing allover the place or something. I never stayed home from the mall, music class or anywhere else. Well I have never been a fan of public restaurant surfaces, but I'm not worrying about a VAD there, just the usual icy annoying viruses I don't have time for!

When she was littler I would avoid closely hanging with a kid who just had a cp vax, but that's more bc I've never had it so we might be getting it together and I though if she were a little older and more verbal it'd be easier on me.

So do more research and try to keep yourself calm. In those big-fear moments, take a deep breath and jump on this forum.

[PaigeC]

I'm sensitive too. I have fled many forums after feeling wounded by words. I haven't had that happen here yet. So, we are happy to have you If you don't want to discuss it on WW, tell them so. Don't let them get off topic. Tell them you don't use WW for vaccine information.

I also think vaccine available illness aren't as scary as you might think! Watch Sherri Tenpenny's video on google! It helped me a lot.

[BetsyPage]

My 2 yo (who was then a 1 yo) had Rubella last Thanksgiving. I have no doubt that it was likely something she picked up from a recently vaxed child shedding it. I know she had it because she was a little under the weather AND we saw the rash passing. (We thought she had a food allergy at the time, though we could not figure out the source.)

My dh is completely unvaxed, and pretty much was at home with his family until he went to kindy, just played with his 3 older sibs and neighborhood kids. Well, he contracted (we strongly feel though it was not verified by a test b/c of our desire for personal privacy) Rubella from my dd. It was no fun at all, he was out of work for a week, and a month later developed pnuemonia as a complication. (which he was treated for.)

Seeing the difference in the illnesses... I'm almost shocked they vaccinate for rubella b/c it is sooooo mild in kids, or was in my dd. And if it was common and women were given a chance to gain natural immunity, then the pregnancy concerns would not be as great, right? We would not have known my dd even had it, if not for seeing the symptoms greatly amplified in my dh. Our thought is that he was isolated from same-age peers during the time when they would have been given the MMR and he might have gained immunity from exposure to shed viruses, so to me the isolation was a negative thing for him.

So I'm praying my girls will gain natural immunity as kids- at least I'm quite confident that they are probably immune to Rubella, which will be great for their childbearing years! If not naturally immune to things like the other measles and chicken pox ummm not sure what else really worries me, pretty much that, we will cross that bridge together when we get to it.

[applejuice]

Thank you, BetsyPage, for sharing your story.

I have been quite concerned about women who do not develop rubella immunity as children and then are exposed as adults to rubella after the vaccine has worn off.

I worked as a nanny for a prominent attorney family in Los Angeles in the 1970s. The SIL of this attorney, born in 1946, was an only child and was never exposed to chicken pox as a child because in her upper class neighborhood, quarantine was practiced to wipe out all childhood diseases in one generation. That worked for her until she married and had two little girls who brought chicken pox home to her in the 1970s. Her daughters got over the chicken pox within a week, but she was down for over two weeks because she was quite miserable and sick.

She said she wished she could have had it as a child since it appeared that they did not suffer so much.

[FernG]

Originally Posted by Lunasophia

S...I cannot go to the mall to walk around because I don't vaccinate and I like to avoid risk this time of year.

I'm sorry that the WW forum was so mean to you. We avoid telling most people about DD's non-vax status because we don't want her to be discriminated against.

However, we do take her everywhere - inner city, dirty playgrounds, I mean everywhere. I think the Sears' vaccine book spreads the fear that unvaccinated children should be kept at home. I appreciate that Dr. Sears admits there are problems with vaccines, but I don't like the way he spreads fear. I'm not worried about any of the diseases for which vaccines are available. I hope DD catch CP, M,M, and R.

I think DD's strong, natural immune system will protect her from NORMAL bacteria and viruses causing meningitis. Meningitis is serious, but it isn't caused directly by exposure to bacteria or viruses: It's caused by the immune system failing and allowing normal bacteria/viruses to get out of control and cause an infection. If meningitis was caused by bacteria exposure, then we would all have it right this second because our bodies are crawling with "dangerous" bacterias.

[FernG]

Originally Posted by BetsyPage

I'm almost shocked they vaccinate for rubella b/c it is sooooo mild in kids, or was in my dd. And if it was common and women were given a chance to gain natural immunity, then the pregnancy concerns would not be as great, right?

From what I've read, rubella isn't as contagious as other childhood diseases, so there were always many women who reached adulthood without immunity. "They" thought that a vaccine would give everyone immunity in adulthood. Unfortunately, the vaccine offers very short-lasting immunity. I think it would be much better for many women to have natural, long-lasting immunity than for most women to have no immunity.

I'm hoping there is some what to expose DD to natural rubella, and maybe I'll finally get some immunity, too.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by Lunasophia

I am just looking for some support. First, I was on Weight Watchers forum for weight loss support and mentioned that I don't vaccinate. It was a big mistake. I simply should have asked for fitness advice instead of mentioning how hard it was to schedule fitness into my day and I prefaced by saying that I cannot go to the mall to walk around because I don't vaccinate and I like to avoid risk this time of year.

I took my unvaxed newborn to Walmart at four days old, to the zoo at a couple months, and to the germ factory (aka children's museum) at about 15months. I would not hesitate to sling or stroll with a baby at the mall; it's no different than any other place. In any case, anyone leaving the home can bring germs back into the home too. You do not need to treat an unvaxed babe any differently.

I wouldn't mention not vaxing on non-crunch boards or boards that do not specifically support non-vaccination; you are just "asking" for a beat-down.

Read my siggy:.