For those who have vaccinated one child and not another...

[PuppyFluffer]

For those who have vaccinated an older sibling and decided to not vaccinate another subsequent child....do you see any differences in their overall health status?

We know that true controlled studies have not been done between vaxed and non-vaxed children and followed over years. I am just curious what differences (if any) you see between siblings of different vaccine histories.

I only have one child, a 20 month old girl, who is vaccine free. She has had three runny noses, two low grade fevers and vomited twice. She has never had any medicine (except mommy milk!).

Edited to fix spelling.

[hvl25]

Not sure if I will count but here is my situation. My oldest has a different dad, ie; different genes. He was FF and fully vaxed. As a baby he had alot of colds/ear infections but now at almost 10 he gets sick the least in the house. My middle was FF also and had all vax up until 18months. He had tons of ear infections and colds and ended up with tubes inhis ears at 3 as did the oldest.

My youngest is BF, and still BF and has had no vax. She went through a period of ear infections last year, but I think the doc was ear infection crazy and just kept diagnosing the same thing. When I finally got tired of the antibiotics and thrush and quit giving them to her, she was fine and hasn't been back to the doctor is over a year. So, for me, not sure if its the formula or the vax that was the problem, probably both.

[PuppyFluffer]

Formula verses breastfeeding is certainly a factor and I can't believe I forgot to bring that into the equation! Where is that little smacking head "duh" guy!

I would certainly think that that had to make a difference in their health outcomes. What will be interesting to notice, is how their health progresses over a long time.

Does anyone keep a journal of their kids health and development? I have kept very accurate descriptions of my dd's illnesses. If she ever gets really sick for any long time period, I think it is important to be able to have records to look back on to see turning points and find reasons. Also, any parent taking care of a sick baby can loose track of things. (I'm really not neurotic, really:LOL )

[hvl25]

Originally posted by PuppyFluffer
Formula verses breastfeeding is certainly a factor and I can't believe I forgot to bring that into the equation! Where is that little smacking head "duh" guy!

I would certainly think that that had to make a difference in their health outcomes. What will be interesting to notice, is how their health progresses over a long time.

Does anyone keep a journal of their kids health and development? I have kept very accurate descriptions of my dd's illnesses. If she ever gets really sick for any long time period, I think it is important to be able to have records to look back on to see turning points and find reasons. Also, any parent taking care of a sick baby can loose track of things. (I'm really not neurotic, really:LOL )

I thought so. I wish I would have kept records, but I am horrible with that. I am lucky to fill in the baby book for the first year, we need a bad mommy smilie I am watching the vax/ADHD thread though because I think my middle may have it Which makes me feel totally guilty for not BF and for vaxing

[Monkey]

my older son ahs been vax up to 6 mos and he was sick all the time up to 6 mos how ironic?
sinve then we have benn organic exclusiovly- execpt when we eat out of course, i did nurse him until 14 mos and he has not been on 1 antibiotic since 6 mos. since that he has been sick 2 times. now and last febuary
he was on 4 antibiotics b4 he was 6 mos and like i siad sick sick sick. he also developed ezcema and thats what led me into the whole altrenitive organic life style, so i cant really be upset bc i feel it all happend for a reason, anyhoo baby #2 almost 4 mos hasnt had 1 shot no vitk or eye crap nothing exclusivly bf and just came down with a cough/runny nose but is really handling it well, i was wondering about this to myself.
we'll see as time goes by.

ugh sorry my post is so sloppy im tierd!
lol:LOL

[suschi]

I have 5 children, all 5 b/f anywhere from 1.5 yrs to 4 yrs of age. The youngest still nursing at the age of 17 mos.

My first 3 for the most part can be considered "fully vaxed", my fourth, had 3 rounds and no more, my youngest, none at all.

The first two have a diff dad, overall health ok, both had chix pox and nothing outstanding in the way of illness.

My 3rd is hyper as can be, wasn't sure if it was vaccines or vacc_genes

My 4th is not hyper, but had heart/lung defects at birth and had open heart surgery at 6 wks of age to repair two holes in his heart and his right lung was removed. In spite of those problems, he was healthy and gained weight and recovered wonderfully from surgery. He didn't have any health problems until after his 3rd round of vaccines, that started a string of respiratory issues/sweating, and that lasted for up to 2 years. He is 5 yrs old now and gets about 1 bad cold a year and that's it. Even in his altered state, he seems to be healthier than my others, and my 3rd child seems to get sick more often than any of them. (and surprise surprise, he is the one who had more doses of more vaccines than all the others). My youngest seems to be the healthiest by far. He's only had 1 fever since he was born, and most everyone in the family was sick and miserable, but my youngest had a fever, a cough, and by day 3, was back to normal. His immune system seems to be operating quickly and efficiently.

C.

[hnybee]

I have 3: 1st born complete set of vacinations. She was breastfed until 5 months. She has learning disablities and ADD. She has asthma and some sort of problem (maybe slightly autistic...haven't tested her for that yet). She does have tendancies toward certain ilnesses and she does seem to have a "weak" constitution.

2nd born: Breastfed to 1 yr. vaxed up to 9 month dr apt. then we decided to stop vaccinated due to all of the scary things i had learned about vaccinations and the link to ADD and Autism (both of which we are dealing with in her older sister). #2 doesn't get sick too much. And even when she is ill, it doesn't slow her down. I swear, somedays i think God didnt give her very many pain receptors. She has a VERY HIGH pain threshhold. Many bumps and bruises and rarely ever tears!

baby #3 no vaccinations what so ever and he is as healthy as a horse. he is about to turn 1. He is breastfed and happy. I think he started to get sick 2 times in his whole life and his immune system fought it off pretty quickly. He's been set up for a great like (in my humble opinion! )

[willowsmama]

My older dd has a different bio dad too. But she was formula fed and vax'ed. I didn't know any better at 15, I still feel guilty. While she was and infant/ young toddler she was sick quite a bit. Now she doesn't get sick often but when she does it's usually bad. She also seems pretty forgetful( could her age ~ she's a preteen lol)

my youngest was breastfeed till 15 months or so. We stopped vax'ing somewhere around 6 mos. She's had the occasinal sniffle and a bout of croup last winter but that's it.

[Jazmommie]

Well ,
When we stopped vaxing --we also went on a MUCH healthier organic foods diet.
We all are alot healthier now.

My child with the least toxins has been the healthiest-No ear Infections ever!!
We have had roseolla,chicken pox ,viral pneumonia,3 stomach viruses,a very few colds.That is in almost 5 years!

[DreamsInDigital]

My older, fully-vaxed and mostly formula fed son has no allergies, no major illnesses and is generally pretty healthy.
My younger, 100% unvaxed, 100% breastfed baby has eczema sooooooooo bad it would make you
Figures!

[Brayg]

My 8 year old was fully vaxed (we didn't start them, though, till 3 months and he didn't get Hep. B till he was over 4) and was only breastfed for 3 days. He was relatively healthy his first year--got the chicken pox on his first bday--but it was about 18 months or so, he started getting ear infections. He had a TON of them. He also had lots of croup and has had chronic, lingering coughs. I think his immune system is pretty strong these days because he's one of the healthiest in the house. I'm very interested in seeing what my 14 month olds immune system will do in the next few months. I feel bad comparing them sometimes, though...like they are science experiments, kwim? Wish I knew more when ds #1 was born.

eta: my 14 month old is still breastfed and has had no vaxes at all.

[youngnhappymamma]

My oldest is fully vaxed (except for the four year old boosters which he will not recieve .....he is five and a half) and nursed for 14 months. He is very healthy and very bright. My next ds (who is almost 4) is vaxed through about 9 months and nursed for 18 months. He has been very healthy too, although he gets sickest when everyone gets sick. He is also very bright. My dd (who is almost 2) has had no vaxes and was bf for 20 months. She is just as healthy as my oldest. (and very bright) So for my kids, there seems to be no corelation between vaxes and health. Each child has been anitbiotics once in their lives.

[menudo]

My DD (now 6) was vaxed til 4yo boosters. She was breastfed til age 2 but also had early lead exposure. She had chronic ear infections, roseola, etc. And even had HSP, a rare auto immune disease. We are now working on helping her in school as something is very wrong. She still gets sick alot and seems very susceptible to everything. She also always had high fevers.

DS is 2yo and had one vax. He has been rarely ill and never a high fever. We beleive he had measles but it didn't phase him. We still live in a polluted area but it seems less vaxes, less antibiotics (DD had tons-dumb me!!) make a huge difference so far. We are workign on diet now, very hard when DH and I grew up on JUNK...we do pretty good!

[hnybee]

Originally posted by DreamsInDigital
My younger, 100% unvaxed, 100% breastfed baby has eczema sooooooooo bad it would make you
Figures!

Breastfed babies that have eczema usually means that the mom is eating something that is causing a food allergy in baby. The two most common are dairy products and wheat products. You should try to eliminate dairy for awhile and see if baby's eczema clears up. If not then take wheat out. It might just be a food allergy. Mothering magazine has some GREAT articles on food allergies. Give it a try and let me know what happens!

[Deborah]

My mother told me that she stopped breastfeeding me at three months old because my skin was breaking out (this was in 1950). Turned out that she shouldn't have been eating oranges, but by the time she figured this out it was too late. [although, here I am, almost 54, and reasonably healthy, so the formula feeding did not do me in] :LOL

So, yes, something in your diet could be causing the eczema. I've also heard of prenatal exposure to toxins causing problems. You might want to look into it. Good luck! Poor baby!

Nana

[muldey]

I have a 5yo dd who was vaxed until 2.5,and a 2 yo ds who has only had one hep b vax.My 2yo has had open heart surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot,where they patched a hole,removed excess muscle that was blocking his valves,and also removed his pulmunary valve.Both of my children are very healthy.Dd has never had an antibiotic,no ear infections,just a few colds.Ds has had one course of IV antibiotics,while he was in the hospital after the surgery.They thought he had an ear infection,but when his ped examined him,he found no evidence of one.He's had a couple of colds,one nasty case of the flu,but that's about it.He may have had an ear infection during that,since he was telling me his ear hurt,but his ped is homeopathic and doesn't give antibiotics unless absolutley necessary.
They were both formula fed.With dd I didn't know better,and ds at least did get colostrum.I wish both had been fully bf.
We use homeopathic and herbal meds,and also take a lot of vit c.We use the little packets called emergenC,and the kids love them.We also don't have very good diets,but I am working on that.

[pilesoflaundry]

I have 3 kids, our diet is ok but can be a ton better. Dh and I both grew up on junk so it's what we know and hard to change kwim?

Oldest is 5, he had all vax up to 4 yr (kinder) boosters. Runs high fevers for everything including colds but doesn't get sick often and if he catchs something he gets rid of it quick. He was formula fed after a week old . He was very healthy his first year no illness, no allergies etc. He was in daycare for 6 months from 1yr-18 months was sick the entire time got better as soon as I pulled him out-probably was situation. Since then occassionally picks up a cold or something but not much.

DD1 just turned 2, formula fed. Vaxed until 15 months when she had reaction. Allergic to cow's milk, we think soy, has eczema (mostly related to milk intake though)Had cradle cap. She catches everything and it takes forever to get rid of a cold etc.Also runs high fevers. She has had roseola, streph throat, tonsilitis and runny noses. I think her brother is a good carrier of stuff since he started school she is always sick but somehow he isn't, guess he is a bad host :LOL.

DD2, will be 5 months next week. Formula fed, only had 1 hepB shot nothing else. No fevers, not sick. But we think she has some kind of allergy, has sniffly nose (but not cold I'm sure of this), red rashy bum sometimes and the 'allergy shiners' under her eyes and runny eyes at times but that is getting better. I think it might be the formula since she is not on solids. She is on the lipil stuff neither of the other kids were, wonder if it's that? Has cradle cap also. Allergy possiblity aside seems very healthy.

Ds (5yr old)seems healthiest of all besides high fevers when he is sick and his hyperness at times.

[luvmytwo]

My oldest is vaxed up to 12 months (she is 4 1/2 now) and my youngest (who is 2 now) has only had the DTaP. Trying to cram all the info in my head to make an informed decision and given his age at the time; I felt pertussis was my biggest concern.
As for their health; my dd had colds, runny noses and a few viral fevers but no ear infections growing up; she weaned herself at 25 months as well. Ironically, my son's only colds were during time period where he was recieving his 3 shots. I started at 7 months and went every other until I stopped before he turned one. He also started getting stomach bugs that would make him throw-up. Looking back at both of my childrens health; I feel my son was the healthiest with fewer colds and runny noses. I was blessed not to have to take them in for antibiotics or other prescription meds.

Oh, and my dd also fought small eczema breakouts until after age 1. My son had one eczema patch behind his knee during the time he was being given vaccines. Hmmmm. Coincidence; I don't know.

[Peppamint]

Hmmm, let's see:

DD was breastfed until 20 months. She started solids at 6.5 months and was fully vax'd. She has had antibiotics twice in her life. She is very healthy I think, especially compared to a family friend's baby who was ff, fully vax'd and f/t daycare who is sick on a regular basis!

DS is breastfed and we started solids at 7 months. He snacks on purely o's and eats a 1/2 jar of organic baby food or table food each day. He has not received a single vax. He is very healthy although he does seem prone to getting the sniffles after being outside if it's breezy even if he is bundled well (dd suddenly is too though : ).

So far their health is similar I think. I am very healthy, but dh's family is not. They have family history of high bp, hemmroids, upset stomach, acid reflux etc. That's why we didn't start solids until after six months and took things really slow.

DH, DD and myself had the flu this year and were sick. I was the sickest, but dh took the longest to heal completely (a month!). Dd took a few weeks to get back to her firecracker self, but ds was fine within 24 hours of being sick (he only acted like he didn't feel good and his temp was 99*F).

Sorry to have rambled!