Poll on vaccinations for the parenting forum

[Barefoot~Baker]

I'm posting it here and not in the vaccination forum because I wanted more of a general response, it seems most ppl in the vax forum either don't vax, do delayed, etc...

Anyway I'm having my 3rd baby. My 1st 2 have been fully vaccinated. My pediatrician told me that it's better to vaccinate babies because they tolerate it better than when you get older

After a lot of reading I'm still confused by a lot of the "facts" and am unsure of what to do.

So, I was wondering about you all and what you do, feel free to comment!

Thanks

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Turner

I'm posting it here and not in the vaccination forum because I wanted more of a general response, it seems most ppl in the vax forum either don't vax, do delayed, etc...

Anyway I'm having my 3rd baby. My 1st 2 have been fully vaccinated. My pediatrician told me that it's better to vaccinate babies because they tolerate it better than when you get older

After a lot of reading I'm still confused by a lot of the "facts" and am unsure of what to do.

So, I was wondering about you all and what you do, feel free to comment!

Thanks

Well, no one can tell you what to do. This is something you have to discover for yourself by reading, reading, reading.

DD will remain vaccine free for several reasons:

1. Near-fatal allergic reactions in the family
2. Lack of longitudinal, empirical research
3. Philosophical differences over the ideology of pathology and immunology
4. Human rights issues (human fetal tissue being used, testing on humans)
5. Metal toxicity and animal dna mixing
6. Lack of efficacy in the vaccines
7. Risk assessment conclusion (e.g. risk of the disease versus risk of the vaccine).
8. Lack of informed choice, restrictive freedom in this area
9. Abhorrence over the pharma industry in general

I do understand that this industry is so huge (estimated to hit 20billion by 2010) that we can't expect the government, pharma, FDA, CDC etc to just say, "oops, our bad" and eradicate vaccinations. Just like GM and the banks needing a bailout, the economic implications are big.

[AVeryGoodYear]

We've chosen to fully vaccinate our daughter at the recommended ages. We've read about the risks, and have decided that vaccinating is still the right path for our family. I respect that other families choose otherwise.

[XanaduMama]

I voted "don't vax at all," though in a perfect world I might consider doing some (if it weren't an all or nothing situation).

In any case, I would definitely delay. They may "tolerate" it better emotionally (or whatever your ped means ), but their immune systems are much better equipped to handle the severe shock of vaxes once they're older.

[lactationlady]

Infants may appear to tolerate vaccinations better emotionally, because they can't tell you how upset they are, but is there any research to show that they tolerate it better physically?

[PhoenixMommaToTwo]

We vaccinate, but we do delayed vaccinations. DD was vaccinated on schedule and ds1 received 2 month vaxes but had a reaction, so we stopped and have now resumed with him (he's 3 now) and we're doing one at a time and holding off on the dtap and until the very end. DS2 is 2 months and will not receive vaxes until I'm absolutely sure that his immune system can handle it.

[lach]

We only do one vaccine at a time, and we skipped chicken pox and another one I can't remember. However, we only space them out, which leads to some delay but kids will be caught up for preschool.

[Spring Lily]

It's too bad the poll isn't multiple choice. What if you fully vaccinate but use a delayed schedule? Or what if you delay them and don't do every vaccine?

[vegemamato]

My oldest was fully vaccinated until she turned two, my second has been given one shot (when her ped 'broke' me, but I left with her after the first injection , and my third has not recieved any vaccinations.

I am thinking about the Rubella vaccine when my girls become older though, only because I'm worried about the health of my grandchildren since Rubella can cause complications during pregnancy.

If they want, my children can make the decision to be vaccinated once they become teens.

[ann_of_loxley]

We don't vaccinate.

Well - DS had his first jabs at 3 months of age. (he was already a month overdue but we were out of town visiting the in-laws then - we got a lot of huff from the GPs about it! lol)...

Anyroad. That night he started screaming. A high pitched kind of scream. He was inconsolable. It went on for hours. To this day I will never know if that is what has caused his sensory issues, but I noticed an immediate change in him after that.

After that, I did more research and decided that we would not vaccinate any longer - ever. Two simple reasons for me: 1). The ingredients in vaccines have no safe place in the body. My DS had a bad reaction to the DTaP vaccine. The possibility of what those ingredients in vaccines can do to the body (espeically of a small infant or child) far outweight the risks of what the actual diseases can do which brings me to 2). My DS is healthy and we live in a clean hygenic society (as in, our water is clean and drinkable, we have access to medical care, etc - as in we dont live in a hut in africa and smear cow poo all over our new born babies, etc) - I am confident that any disease he will catch (that vaccines 'protect' against - and they don't even protect 100%...natural immunity for us please! hehe) will not kill him. For example, he is not going to die of measles! lol

We pick and choose our battles. No one decision is risk-free.

[phrogger]

I have a mixture. My first was fully vaccinated but had reactions. My second is now fully vaccinated but we waited until he was almost 6 or just after he was 6 (I can't remember). This new baby will not be vaccinated, and if he does end up having any, it will be after he is 5 or 6 at minimum. My step son was vaccinated on time, on schedule and has a lot of neurological problems that I still can't help but believe fully that it was a combo of genetics and the vaccines. Since this baby will share half the genetics of my step son, we want to avoid any problems at all.

[AutumnAir]

We don't vax anymore, but did.

I voted other because DD was vaxed up until 4 months. I was really ill after she was born and I hadn't really researched it before she was born because I was so busy trying to research and organise the birth. Plus I thought I was having a HB so I wouldn't have to deal with it straight away and I'd have time then to research.

Well I ended up transferring to the hospital where they gave DD the TB vax without my consent. I was really traumatised from her birth and then got bad recurring mastitis within a week. I was terribly sick for months. In that haze I allowed myself to be railroaded into vaxing without doing enough research - I simply didn't have either the time or energy to do it.

Then when she got the 4 month shot of the 6-in-1 vax she reacted very strangely. She was oddly unresponsive for some time after it and then I noticed that she had completely stopped babbling consonants. She'd started babbling sounds like 'b' and 'd' a couple of weeks before. Now they were totally gone. She didn't start babbling consonants again until another month had gone by and even now is a bit on the late side with language - 16 months and no real spoken words yet.

I brought up my concerns with the ped, who was quite dismissive. So we stopped vaxing and stopped going to the ped. I'll take her if she's really ill, of course, but we haven't needed to go to the doctor in the 12 months since.

I also got better and started to do my own research. I've decided that she won't be getting any more vaxes (for the same reasons as those already listed by PPs) - particularly since she's already had an adverse reaction. I'm just lucky it wasn't any worse, but at the same time, I guess I don't know the full extent of the damage it did to her, and probably never will.

[star*mora]

no vaxes
mostly because of the ingredients in many of them. using aborted fetal cells in several popular vaccinations, aluminum, etc. in this day and age i just don't understand how it is that these vaccines can't be manufactured with safer and more ethical excipients.

i was fully vaxed - contracted pertussis twice, and am only immune to rubella (just had my titers done). varicella immunity came with having the chicken pox, not being shot up with it.

i would agree, at least delay - a child's immune system is not fully developed until somewhere between the ages of 4 and 5. if i reconsider vaxing (and i currently can't see that happening), it will not be until that point.

[honeybee]

DS1 had most of his vaxes on time up until age 2. We refused chicken pox and flu vaccine. Ds2 was going to be delayed until at least age 2. At 2 I still hadn't decided what to give when, so he didn't get any. With ds3 I have discovered homeopathy and a whole different view of health and disease, and have had a whole paradigm shift in my thinking, so we will not be doing any vaxes at all.

[Smithie]

We vax on a standard schedule for most diseases, but have delayed/declined flu, varicella and Hep B vaxes. The flu and varicella just don't scare us given our general health and our access to modern medicine, and Hep B is a vaccine that we think is more appropriate for older kids than for newborns. My ds is about to turn 5 and just got the first Hep B shot.

I think it's a decision to take step by step. Say you are not aware of any adverse vax reactions in your family, so you decide to give your child some shots at two months - how does he/she react to the shots? It's always best to continually assess the vax process IMO. Keep reading, keep discussing and keep an eye on your kid.

For ourselves, we believe that the public health benefits of vaccination outweigh the personal risks in most cases (not all). We hope and plan to do a lot of traveling with our kids, which further predisposes us to vaccinate against diseases not yet well controlled in other countries that we think might kill or maim them. I have not yet found any reason to vaccinate against varicella, even if we planned to live for a year in Chicken Pox City, but that's just MHO

[straighthaircurly]

We fully vax'd because we did not have particular concerns about allergies or autism. We travel internationally a lot and it makes me more comfortable to have him vax'd. I have no regrets but respect and defend people who decide otherwise for their children.

But we do not vax for the flu. I did one year and then decided it was not a great idea for us. I also refused Hep A that doc recommended due to our travels to Costa Rica because the CDC has a blanket recommendation for Central America rather than a realistic risk by local area or even country.

[Devaskyla]

Then when she got the 4 month shot of the 6-in-1 vax she reacted very strangely. She was oddly unresponsive for some time after it and then I noticed that she had completely stopped babbling consonants. She'd started babbling sounds like 'b' and 'd' a couple of weeks before. Now they were totally gone. She didn't start babbling consonants again until another month had gone by and even now is a bit on the late side with language

OMG, this was ds1 too. I've never 'met' anyone else who's child stopped babbling due to vaccines before. I hope your dd catches up the way ds1 did.

I was very leery of vaccines, but was still feeling like I 'had' to do them I delayed until he was 6 months, when he was given Pentacel in one leg & a meningitis vax in the other. He completely stopped babbling for over a month & was very slow to talk. At 18 months, I had a language assessment done & he was "severely delayed". He did start picking it up around then & eventually caught up, but I wonder what else they might have affected. He has some issues; ocd type stuff, anxiety, possibly other things.

I decided he wasn't getting any more vaxes. Ds2 & ds3 are vax free. I did a lot more research after I decided not to vax anymore & it only reinforced my decision. The major factor was just looking at the ingredients in the vaccines (there's a partial list at http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html) & finding out that no vaccine is tested for carginogenity or mutagenity or effects on fertility or for how it interacts with all the other vaccines. Really, anything important in the long term.

Add that to how they're tested; the "placebo" is an already approved vaccine or a dose of everything in the shot except the virus. If there are fewer or similar reactions in the 2 groups, it's declared safe. Add to that pushing diseases that are harmless & possibly even beneficial for kids into age groups where they can cause problems.... The lack of decent science in the vaccine industry is appaling.

[funkymamajoy]

Originally Posted by AVeryGoodYear

We've chosen to fully vaccinate our daughter at the recommended ages. We've read about the risks, and have decided that vaccinating is still the right path for our family. I respect that other families choose otherwise.

:

[alekslasce]

DD is fully vaccinated and I don't regret it. I of course, respect those that choose not to vaccinate their children.

[Porcelain Interior]

Mine are fully vaccinated as of a couple years ago.

I didn't know about opting out, or why you would do that until it was too late.

We are not doing the HPV vaccine, the flu, or the pig flu one in the works.

The HPV vaccine scares the crap out of me for some reason.

I have serious life threatening allergies and looking back I think a lot of our auto immune disorders (which statistically are raging more and more) might be connected to vaccines. There's no real understanding from doctors about why I would have such severe allergies, my parents have like hayfever, but I have that plus a billion other allergies, and a few auto immune like things going on and the only thing different for me was the vaccines.

It is probably due to what they put in the vaccines rather than the viruses, but who knows.

It scares me.