How do you handle books/shows for kids that address vaxing as a good thing?

[Anglyn]

My kids LOVE the magic school bus and so do I. They really love "Inside Ralphy" and so do I, right up til the end where they talk about all the things you should do to stay healthy, including vaxing.

Last week my dd brings me a book in the docs waiting room, thats normal. I read it to her. It was all about Pooh and his friends getting thier vaccinations and how it barely hurts and is good for you. When I hit the moment I realized where it was going, my voice kinda caught and another parnet giggled, I think she recognized the issue and sympathized! I kinda stumbled through the rest, trying to NOT read the vax parts but that seemed to be the main thrust of the book.

Not that my kids WANT shots, but Im wondering if they will ever question this decision. Any thoughts?

[Ophelia]

I'm certainly no expert, but I wonder if you could treat it just as any other delicate subject, such as circ or sex. Meaning, just give them very basic info to begin with, general statements "your dad and I have decided that at this time [no shots for you because we have questions about them]...." and then as they get older/ask more questions you can go into more detail. Or maybe for things like the book you could say "your dad and I don't agree with...." and just make it a general statement? I don't know, do you think that would work?

[DahliaRW]

I agree with Ophelia. Just explain in an age appropriate way that lots of doctors think that vaxes are good, but you have done a lot of research and don't feel that they are safe enough/work/ or whatever your reasoning is. You can go more into detail as your kiddos get older.

[Anglyn]

Thats pretty much what we've done. Dd asked why docs give kids shots and I said because they think it will help them not get sick. she quickly said, but it doesnt, right? right? Right now, she just wants to avoid a shot! So until she is older, this will do. I guess Ill use that same basic idea for explaining homeschool too! (when other kids cant come over cuz thier in school, she wants to know"why?")

[chelsmm]

My dd has a book about Elmo going to the doctor. We read the book, but skip the vaccination parts. As she gets older and asks questions, I'll treat it like anything else. I'll tell her the truth about why we don't vaccinate.

[Debnicolai]

I treat it the same way I treat commercials for McDonald's and other products we as a family find unacceptable. I let him know that some people feel this is good for you, and our family feels they are bad for you.

As he grows, there will be ample proof and reading material for him to see and understand why we made the decisions we have.

[usandthegirls]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW

I agree with Ophelia. Just explain in an age appropriate way that lots of doctors think that vaxes are good, but you have done a lot of research and don't feel that they are safe enough/work/ or whatever your reasoning is. You can go more into detail as your kiddos get older.

Yep, that is basically what I do/did with DD. However, after our little chat about shots, she went to school and tried to tell all of her "kindergarden friends" that they shouldn't get shots because they were unhealthy for their bodies. In her words she "tried to tell them but they wouldn't listen!!!"

Then we had a talk about personal choices. LOL.

[EVC]

Fortunately we haven't had to deal with this yet, but I know the exact Pooh book you are talking about! We actually have it at home

You know, it's actually not the books that worry me, it's all the "public service message" type campaigns where they say horrendous things like "My mommy got me vaxx'ed becuase she loves me"

[Arduinna]

IIRC I usually just skipped over the worst propaganda and the stuff she was exposed to I would how we don't believe that, or we know better than that ect.

[Fyrestorm]

We treat the "if you love me" propaganda, the same way we treat all the other ads on TV and such...It's all advertising and they are just looking to make $$. Just like the crappy breakfast cereals..and the stupid plastic toys.

[applejuice]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm

We treat the "if you love me" propaganda, the same way we treat all the other ads on TV and such...It's all advertising and they are just looking to make $$. Just like the crappy breakfast cereals..and the stupid plastic toys.

Quite true and a very good analogy.

Having grown up vax free myself and sitting, biting my tongue through science and health classes all through school, I have learned to keep my big mouth shut.

The thing that always bothered me growing up was the baby book memorabilia things that had a page for vaccination records. My mom always drew a big black X through the page and was done with it.

[anniedare]

We haven't had this problem until today on Sesame Street one of the humans is studying to be a vet. She told Big Bird that "pets need to get shots just like people so that they don't get sick."

I just screamed, "Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!" and scared the heck out of my 2 and 1 year-olds. Gut reaction. But I guess I believe they should approach the propaganda with the same force as an attacker from behind, lol. Kick and scream loudly and don't take it!

[Plummeting]

DD knows that some people think they need vaccines keep to keep their body healthy, but that we think they don't actually keep people healthy most of the time. ("Most" because we reserve the right to change our minds in the future should something change and we don't want DD to have to be confused if we've told her they were always bad, always unnecessary, etc.) We do get keep our animals rabies vaxed, because I don't ever want to have to worry about that in the unlikely event one of them ever bites someone. DD knows we vaccinate the animals for rabies "so they can't ever give it to people".

I think it's like any other thing that people disagree with us about. I just explain that we disagre and tell her why. It's working so far. She's 4.