Vaxing, what are you planning to do?

[sewaneecook]

I'm in the midst of doing my vaxing research and I wondered what others are doing. I know I want to delay and be selective, but I'm not sure how long I'm going to delay or which vaxes I'm going to select.

It is so much easier to make decisions that only affect me, but this is completely a decision for someone else ... much more difficult.

[SabbathD]

Not vaxing at all. Sorry, I can't be of more help!!

[broodymama]

None here, either.

[Max'sMama]

Currently none for either kid, but eventually (like after 4 years old) we may be selectively vaxing, but that's not a positive! Have you checked out the information on the Mercola website? Sorry I don't have a link.

[Yin Yang]

Not vaxing at all and I have to say that for us it was very easy decision.
We believe everything is treatable. AS a homeopathy "freak" I will always refer to it for help.
Interesting link: http://www.tinussmits.com/english/

[~pi]

Laura, I answered you already in the Life With A Babe thread, but I just wanted to point out (in case you didn't know and no one has mentioned) that there is a whole forum about vax decisions at MDC, and there is a subforum about delayed/selective vaxes. Here is the link.

[ashtree]

Originally Posted by Yin Yang

Not vaxing at all and I have to say that for us it was very easy decision.
We believe everything is treatable. AS a homeopathy "freak" I will always refer to it for help.
Interesting link: http://www.tinussmits.com/english/

That sounds like us! Love the link!

[vanilla]

we've never vaxed...it is a subject you could research for the rest of your life, I'm sure

My kids have picked up some interesting things. Two of them had whooping cough last winter. I decided the flu was worse. My dd who was 20 months at the time didn't get it, despite sleeping with her sis who had it.....and getting coughed all over ....yay for breastmilk

[TanyaS]

We don't vax. I have to second the MDC vax forum for a wealth of information.

[birthdancedoula]

I've got 4 unvax'd kids. The known risks outweigh the potential benefits, IMO.

[carliec76]

we don't vax...do lots of research I just posted on another board but to put it short your child will live a long life without vaccines! Don't let it terrify you it is more dangerous to vax then not.

[Miss Juice]

We don't vax at all, and I'm blissfully comfortable with our decision.

That said, I'll add that when DD1 was new and we were considering the vax issue for the first time, it was awful. I felt like I couldn't win. I could say it was the most difficult parenting decision I've ever made. I was scared - scared that if I vaxed they would have a reaction, and scared that if I didn't vax they might get sick. And the only thing I really knew was that I didn't want to make a big decision like this based on the FEAR of anything. So I started with researching the diseases, how you get them, what the process is, how you treat it, etc. That made me a lot less afraid of them getting sick. I wouldn't want my child to suffer, but I know we could get through it. And vaccination is way too much of an unknown, IMO. We really don't understand all of the things that happen to the immune system as a result. When it came down to it, I knew that if I didn't vax and my kids got sick, we'd manage. And if I did vax and my kids got sick or had a reaction, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

[lotus.blossom]

Our ped is really laid back about vax's and we still haven't decided. Thinking about the dtap because of the whole whooping cough thing and how they are most at risk as newborns. However......I just don't want to do it! My gut tells me no.

[Yin Yang]

Originally Posted by lotus.blossom

Our ped is really laid back about vax's and we still haven't decided. Thinking about the dtap because of the whole whooping cough thing and how they are most at risk as newborns. However......I just don't want to do it! My gut tells me no.

April - check this site out: http://www.whoopingcough.net/welcome.htm

[TanyaS]

Originally Posted by lotus.blossom

Our ped is really laid back about vax's and we still haven't decided. Thinking about the dtap because of the whole whooping cough thing and how they are most at risk as newborns. However......I just don't want to do it! My gut tells me no.

Pertussis was my big concern as well. What I learned was the age of greatest risk is from 0-6 months old. The third dose isn't done until 6 months, meaning if it were to protect my child from pertussis it wouldn't even do it until after they were already older than the high risk age. It also has a very low efficiency rate, and is what made me question the reasoning behind it. Anectodally, I think it is one of the vaccines that has a high rate of adverse events. Because of a significant family history of autoimmune disorders and the fact that it isn't very effective and highly reactive, I decided that for my family it wasn't worth the risk.

I'd highly recommend reading the dtap archives from the vax forum:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...play.php?f=112

[birthdancedoula]

3 of my kids have had pertussis...the youngest of whom was 9 mos at the time. They all did great. The scariest thing was the post-cough vominting in the middle of the night. Other than that it really wasn't a major deal. I have known kids who have had really bad reactions to the pertussis portion of the vaccine...far riskier than having pertussis itself IMO.

[Yin Yang]

DS1 had is this past May and he had it very very mild. Only threw up twice and had max of 2 episodes a night. It did lasted for about 8 weeks though, but he was not really bothered by it.

[sewaneecook]

Originally Posted by Miss Juice

DD1 was new and we were considering the vax issue for the first time, it was awful. I felt like I couldn't win. I could say it was the most difficult parenting decision I've ever made. I was scared - scared that if I vaxed they would have a reaction, and scared that if I didn't vax they might get sick. And the only thing I really knew was that I didn't want to make a big decision like this based on the FEAR of anything. So I started with researching the diseases, how you get them, what the process is, how you treat it, etc. That made me a lot less afraid of them getting sick.

Jessica, I could have written this! I don't want to be scared in to or out of the decision to vax. That's one reason I'm staying away from the vaxing forum. Most of the time I get scared by a lot of the posted info. I feel like a lot of people want to scare others from vaxing rather than educate them about it. I'm reading Aviva Jill Romm's book and it is the most unbiased info I've seen. Luckily DS's doc is great with my decision either way.

By far it is the hardest decision I've had to make as a parent. I wish DH were more proactive with researching. He trusts me to make the best decision based on my research, but I don't want him to blame me for a sickness or a reaction. My head spins when I think of all the issues involved!

[Jish]

All of my children are vaxed on schedule with some exceptions (like hep B at birth.) I vaxed my first child without really thinking that I had a choice, then I came here and thought twice about vaxing my second after he arrived. The thing that made my decision for me was reading the vaxing section in Peggy O'Mara's [U]Natural Family Living.[U] After reading that I decided to continue vaxing my children and they are all vaccinated and on schedule.

I think that there are two very strong sides to this subject and it's hard to get definite inpartial information. Even here on MDC everyone is so passionate about not vaxing that there is no way to get information and not feel that bias. No one is going to give you a website about the possitives of vaxing if they believe that vaxing is harmful. There are risks and benefits either way. You just have to decide which is the riskier option for your family.

Whatever you do, please don't flame me for my choice. I have vaccine injury in my family and didn't take the decision lightly. Like I said, it was actually Peggy O'Mara's book that swayed me in the direction I chose.

That being said, Q goes in for his two month appt, complete with shots, tomorrow and it will break my heart to hear him cry.

[writermommy]

All of mine are vaxed too. I also didn't think twice about it with my first two. This one will most likely be vaxed, at least eventually. I've been reading about it and am thinking about delaying some until the thimerisol is removed in 2008. It is a really hard decision and hard to get unbiased information either way.