I know this isn't the vaccination forum, but...

[curlyfry]

I feel like I know you girls, so maybe you could help me out with this...

(and let me preface this by saying that I understand my postpartum emotions are in full swing right now, so maybe this is heightened because of that?)

I've cried a couple of times because I'm faced with this huge responsibility and all of these decisions that I have to make. The one that's killing me right now is the vaccinations. I know we're not getting the Hep B, and everything that I've read on every other one is making me say "no, no, no". I mean, before Meilana was born, I was dead set against them. But, now there's this little voice in my head that's saying "Why do ALL of the Dr's push this issue? Even so-called AP Dr's will want you to vaccinate and most even vaccinate their own kids. Do they know something we don't know?" I mean all logic in my head says that I do not want to put these diseases in my perfect little daughter. But, it's so NOT mainstream, and I have to continually question my stance on this. What if she does contract one of these diseases? What kind of treatment options would I have, if most Docs are not used to treating them, just vaccinating against them. I know I don't have to make this decision right this second, but I can't help but think about it already. I want to do what's right for her.

I have to do more research on this. I attended a non-vax seminar, and got a lot of good information there. I've also been looking at 909shot.com (I admit, I have to spend a bit more time there) and the vax forum on this site. So, any info that you could share here, esp. the moms who haven't vax'd their other children, would be helpful. I know that nobody else can make this decision for me, whether to delay/selective/or non-vax...it's my decision to make...but wow...what a decision!

[Galatea]

It is huge and tough. Ds wants to nurse so I have to be quick. I vaxxed ds1 at 2 months and he was sick for a week. I didn't want to go for the 4 month shots but dh really wanted to. Then he saw how sick and not right ds1 was for another week. Then my dad volunteered that he knew people who had autistic kids b/c of vaxxing and that he himself only had 1 vaxx (smallpox) and he is very healthy from getting all sorts of childhood diseases. So no vaxxes since, and none for ds2 for awhile. Maybe they will be delayed vaxx. I don't know yet. But anyway, you know the answer - you have to weigh in your own mind how you would feel if the worst happened in either direction - if she became autistic or died from a vaxx, or if she got sick or died from a disease. My thought is that we all got chickenpox and now they vaxx for that, just like our parents all got measles and mumps and now they vaxx for that. Lots of thinking. Good luck!

[Autumn Breeze]

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[Full Heart]

You aren't being hormonal, just a good mother. Every parent has ideas and convictions before their babies are born and then they question those when their child is here. That never goes away. Ideas you have now about when your child is 5 will be questioned when you child is actually 5...and 10 and 15. Secondly , questioning is good because that means you want answers. You are right to do tons of research. Not just here or 909shot but the CDC and state health department websites. I got some of my best info from those sites. Write down what scares you about each disease and vax and set out to rid yourself of those fears.

As far as treating a disease if a child gets it, even if you decide to vax I think its important to know what the symptoms are and how to treat the disease. No vax is 100% effective and no one can advocate for your child like you can.

All my kids, except the new baby, have had whopping cough. You can read my story over on the vax board. Look for the post - My whopping cough saga.

Michelle

[wendy1221]

I do believe vaxes work, but I don't think we should vax kids for every little thing. Measles and mumps were nothing to worry about when my dad was a kid, so he tells me. Just like chicken pox, everyone got them and unless you were already sickly, it was no big deal. My 2 older kids have most of their vaxes, but my dh and I want to delay and selectively vax Liam. 12 vaccines is just ridiculous! THey have no idea what all of these unnecessary vaxes are doing to our kids. I can understand vaxing against tetanus and polio, cuz they can cause damage to even healthy kids, but varicella? No way! My ds1 is the only one of my kids who ever received a dose of varicella and that's only cuz they vaxed him w/out my consent. Anyway, I think it's normal to question things. And I think I may be very lucky. When I had Liam in for his first ped visit on Monday, my ped let slip that he had no problem w/ people who don't vax. He was trying to convince to me to do vit K. In his argument for, he stated that he had no problem w/ the parents who didn't vaccinate, but he thought vit K was proven to be very important, and he really felt we should do vitK even if we refuse everything else. It really made me say hmmmmm... to the vitK, cuz I really like and trust my ped.

[curlyfry]

Thank you guys... I have a lot to think about here but right now I feel like it's robbing me of a little bit of my joy, so I might put this off for now. I know I'll come back to it and make a final decision that I'm comfortable with, but I need to enjoy my litle one for now.

thanks again, and I welcome more info!

[shell024]

Originally Posted by curlyfry

What if she does contract one of these diseases? What kind of treatment options would I have, if most Docs are not used to treating them, just vaccinating against them.

there's that one book "How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor" by Robert Mendelsohn. I haven't actually read it myself, but have heard very good things about it. May be worth checking out? I'm reading "What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Children's Vaccinations" right now...and I am also torn by this issue. The more I read, the more my mind says "NO NO NO" too to all vaccines... but there is SO MUCH PRESSURE!! I have already been getting many of the question "So, when are you going to get him immunized?" When I barely suggested to my sister that I may not get him vaxxed, or possibly delayed/selective vaxxed...she freaked and said something along the lines of "don't be so irrisponsible. Why are you always trying to be a hippy?" I know I will do the right thing in the end... as long as I listen to my instincts and my child... and NOT everyone else.

[NowOrNever]

They've already given you some good advice so I'll just say that knowledge is power. Learn about each disease and how to treat it. That alone makes them much less scary.

And the best piece of advice I ever got about vaccines was wait until you're sure. You have time to make your choices and once you've done it, you can't undo it. Make sure you're comfortable before you make a decision you might regret.

[wendy1221]

I just gor a book off Amazon. I haven't been able to read much yet, but it looks like a good one. It's called the Vaccine Guide. I would offer to let you know how it is, but at the rae I'm going lately, you'd probably better get your own book. LOL! Good luck w/ the decision. Dh and I haven't discussed it in months, but I have a feeling it's going to be about 2 years before Liam gets any shots, and he definitely won't be getting all of them.

[hollyhobbie]

i'll be really quick b/c i've got things going on but yeah i have not vaccinated my dtr who is about 30 months and i have absolutely no regrets! dr's always give us poop when we go to walk in clinics then in the next breath they are amazed at her abilities etc. they ALWAYS praise her?????? huh?? makes you kinda wonder.

the big thing is to find out how many kids are actually getting these diseases they are trying to get you to vaccinate against. most of the #s are small OR the vaccination does not seem to provide that much protection anyways ie whooping cough where the huge majority of kids getting it here where i live are vaccinated!!!!!!! not too effective! so slowly do your research so you can feel confident b/c you will be attacked/harassed if you decide not to vaccinate.

there is an american website that has all the stats uh is it called centre for disease control or sumthin? i am a canadian so i am not real familiar with it but i am sure other mommas are. it tells you about reactions to vaccinations and how many ppl get the diseases etc. good luck with your decision!! i felt the same way but i just kept telling ppl we were delaying due to allergies then slowly i realised i definitely did not want to do it at all!!

[meowee]

While my gut tells me not to vaccinate, I do vaccinate, because I know more than one person who is mentally retarded from having had measles as a child. I know that might not be a good reason but it always pushes me to do it when I'm in doubt. I do believe that too many vaccines are given too early to a fragile baby. One of my DDs had a very bad reaction to DTP (she was not given DTaP) and when shen was later given DTaP, she had no reaction, so make sure if you do vaccinate your DC is given DTaP (maybe that is all they give these days, I don't know).

My siggestion if you are in the middle of the road is to delay and selectively vaccinate. We delay vaccinate.

[phathui5]

Go ahead and put it off if it's really bugging you. When your doctor asks about it, say that you're delaying it until she's older. Point out the Japanese studies that said vaccines are more effective if you wait until they're two to start them.