Why vaccinate? Well, that's an easy question to answer!
We vaccinated. Never thought twice about it. Anybody that didn't was (obviously) a crunchy granola-type that didn't give a rat's a$$ about their own child's health, or anybody else's either. Vaccines are perfectly safe, the government wouldn't allow them to be administered if they weren't (just like Fluoride and "silver" fillings!). It is the LAW, you HAVE to vaccinate. You aren't required to sign anything at the doctor's office beforehand, and the doctors all know best. THEY love your children, and wouldn't cause them any harm. Vaccines ARE effective, look at how diseases have fallen by the wayside since they've had them. Anybody that doesn't vaccinate is causing harm to the rest of us by putting our health at risk just for their own twisted, uneducated fears. They aren't part of the rest of "us". Probably don't shave and eat organic tofu...UGH...
Sadly, this IS the view we used to hold.
We researched LOTS of stuff prior to ds birth. Breastfeeding (he did this until he was 4.5 years old!). Carseats. Birthing "methods" (we went Bradley and had a totally unmedicated birth, even w/o anesthetic for the episiotomy stitching!). We read all the pregnancy books and I ate better (nutritionally) then I'd ever eaten before! Dh rubbed my tummy with cocoa butter everynight of the pregnancy, and I haven't any stretchmarks. We did everything right.
BUT, the pregnancy books and (most) of the childrearing books tell you nothing about vaccinating, or devote a small area to the subject and the popular books are all pro-vax. The birthing classes tell you about circ and eyedrops and Vit K, diapers and birth plans, but not one word about vaccines.
We had a wonderful birth in the hospital. 5 hour labour (only 20 minutes of pushing!). We didn't know that ds didn't HAVE to have the eyedrops (fortunately, they didn't appear to bother him, no redness or anything). On Day 2, the nurse came in with a paper and pen and SAID (not asked) to sign the consent for his HepB shot, said it was our state law that all babies have it. Oh, okay, I signed. Honestly, I never thought twice about it. She said NOTHING about risks or WHY or anything. No, I didn't ask either, much to my later guilty feelings.
We went for those well-baby checks (of COURSE babies NEED them, how do we know their healthy?). He had his shots at 2, 4 and 7 months. Multiple shots at each visit. I was never asked to sign anything, never handed a VIS, never had risks explained. And, again, I didn't ask. I bought into the "the doctor knows all" line of thinking. I filled-in the sheet of "Is your child doing this?", proud that he was ahead of the written schedule of development. Never questioned why on earth doesn't the doctor ASK about this stuff. Of course, I knew, he is a very busy guy, can't take the time to actuall talk to the parents at all the well-baby checks. That would take too much time. Easier to just have them answer the yes/no questions on the paper and stick it in the file (I never did hear if they ever actually read those papers!).
For those 7-months vaccinations, he received 6 vaccines (HepB, Hib, OPV, DTP). Within 30 seconds, he lost consciousness and came damned near death. That routine well-baby check went from the usual 15 minutes to over 3 hours. He recovered completely, with no lasting effects. He has not been vaxxed since! The doctor never even noted this in ds medical file.
Well, this scared us into action. A dear friend, on hearing about what happened, casually mentioned vaccine reactions and having some information on vaccination, would we be interested in seeing any of it? We did, and have been researching ever since.
I think lots of people that say they've done the research and still vaccinate are just lying. They don't want to admit that we have and they haven't. They don't want to go against the tide. They don't want to be different (or have their children be different). They WANT to accept the line about vaccines (or ANYTHING) being safe.
Dh has a co-worker with a child 6 months younger than our ds and she is a die-hard "I-believe-everything-the-doctor-says". When I was quoted in a newspaper (the Washington Post) article on vaccination (I was in the "we-used-to-but-having-learned-the-truth-won't-anymore" section!), I emailed the article to everyone we knew (I was so excited!).
Co-worker's reply: "Interesting. Isn't it wonderful to live in a country that allows people to do this kind of thing."
I sensed a bit of sarcasm, don't you?
{{Interestingly, both her kids are in daycare situation, are fully vaxxed and I've yet to hear of them being healthy at any given time. They are always sick!}}
So, I DO understand why people choose to vaccinate. For all those reasons in the above first paragraph. People want to be accepted by their peers. We all want to be liked and respected for our decisions. They don't want to be different. They know that authority doesn't like to be questioned, so they don't. It's easier, safer, not upsetting.
It's easier to be a sheep than a shepherd. That is, until it's time for a mutton dinner.
Follow the current with the rest of the fish, and you get swept out to sea. Go the opposite way, and you'll see the headwaters instead!
People remember people that stand out, that make a stand for what they believe in. Raise your children to be leaders, not followers.
Leslie
and her response was that she talked with her pediatricians and read the information on the CDC website about the risks of the diseases the vaccinations are supposed to protect against. 
:
: Now I know his first round affected his immune system. I can see it. He is not as healthy as he could be. 
I knew whenever I quit my job that I would not vax. I was *pretty* sure of it. When his WBV came up again and it was time for more vaxes, I stood my ground but my ped berated me once again. It took really researching the subject to get comfortable with my decision. Thats my point. I knew vaxes were dangerous before the research, but once I spent days reading books and the archives to this forum, I felt *ABSOLUTELY* sure that we would not be vaccinating. I wasn't wishy washy about it once I did real research.
