What do you tell your 2-3 yr old about vaccines?

[leila1213]

The little girl (8 mo) I babysit had a bandaid where she had a shot the other day, so the subject came up with my almost 3 yo DD. The baby's mom was right in the next room, so I didn't want to say anything that might sound judgmental. I told her the dr gave her a shot, and of course she wanted to know why, and all about how, etc. I told her that they put medicine in a needle and have to poke it through the skin to get it into her body. When she wanted to know why, I said that they are "supposed to keep you from getting certain 'bugs' (illnesses)." It didn't get much farther than that, but then a song came on a kids' CD we were listening to about a kid at the dr wanting to know if they were going to give him a shot. Maybe I am just paranoid because I don't know how to answer her questions, but I could have sworn she was picking up on that as well. I managed to divert her attention back to the puzzle we were working on, but I'd like to have some better things to say to her.

Oh and BTW, DD hasn't had any shots since she was 10 weeks old, although she did have her blood drawn and some finger pricks that I don't even think she remembers.

[emma1325]

I tell my children that "Many parents think it's best for their families to do shots, and we believe it's best for our family not to." I keep it pretty simple.

I've had to have this conversation with my 5 year old a few times, because she doesn't understand why she can't go to school. (We live in good Ole' Mississippi.)

[Gitti]

I've heard dd tell her kids "some parents believe their children 'need' shots to keep healthy but we are so super healthy already because of all the organic fruits and vegetables we eat, that we don't need any medicine at all".

She never misses a chance to remind them how healthy they eat. :