What convinced youto vax/not vax? - Page 3

[lifeguard]

A visa is different then a passport. A passport is issued from your country of citizenship. A visa is permission from the country you wish to enter for you to visit their country. They can allow/disallow people on whatever basis they wish.

[Elijahs Momma]

I didn't vax b/c something about it just doesn't seem right, I mean really, all those vaccines at such a young age. Just something about it is so unsettling to me. We also researched it and weighed the pros and cons (it seemed to us that some of the reactions/side effects of vaccines are sometimes worse than the actual thing they're vaccinating for). Plus, even kids that get vaccinated still contract the disease they were vaccinated for. I don't think we every even really discussed vaccinating ds and out future children, we just knew we weren't going to.

[cjbeach]

We only came to that conclusion after our son was vax injured. Now we have 2 younger ones who aren't vaxed and NO ONE has pushed me to vax my other 2. My oldest son now has an autism diagnosis. When we relay what happened with DS#1 no doc has pushed me to get my other 2 vax'd. The most I've had another doc say to me was "...welll the literature doesn't reflect..." and that came from a child psychologist. Three different pediatricians have been very hands-off not pushing.

My oldest had a severe reaction at his 18 mo WBV and actually had full blown measles develop 4 days after that series of shots. It was also the last time he spoke for almost 6 mos. By 19 mos he was in Early Intervention. By his 3rd birthday he was dianosed pdd-nos.

[paphia]

DH looked into it more because he thinks he may be on the autism spectrum - with mild Asperger's type symptoms. We let dd get the hospital nb vaxes (ugh) because I hadn't done any research at that point, and her vaxes at (I think) 1 month and 2 months? But I was scared that she was going to die in her sleep, she seemed feverish and fussy and had these weird green juicy gassy poops the day of and next day after the vaxes. When I talked to the ped's nurse she just said "oh, that's normal". Well, it might be typical but it didn't seem normal to me!

Then I started researching. And at three months I said I wan to delay. Why? they asked. I said I had some concerns about metals in the vaxes such as aluminum. The nurse said Oh, I don't think there's any aluminum in these vaccines. And she told me how she had worked for the health dept.'s vax office or whatever it is called, before she worked for the ped. That's nice,, I said, but I still want the vax pamphlets to read before I decide to continue. There was aluminum in almost every single vax. How could she not know?

So things that cemented it for me were:
1. Risk vs. benefit was higher than I was comfortable with
2. Lack of education in the professionals supposed to be in charge of administering them
3. Ingredients - reading about everything the vaxes are grown in and can be contaminated with are disgusting, not to mention the preservatives and additives used to make vaxes more effective
4. Lack of safety studies
5. Lack of oversight/accountability on the manufacturers and their close ties to the government which result in this whole "mandatory" vaxing business.

[rightkindofme]

We haven't done any vaccines at this point and we don't plan to on anything resembling a normal schedule. I feel comfortable with this decision (which we made after extensive research) because I am staying home with her and we plan to homeschool. We will probably vax when our kids are noticeably older because we would like to do international travel.

I know that vaccines have terrible side effects and I consider myself lucky that I can forgo them for my child due to herd immunity. We live in a place where she is unlikely to be exposed to most serious diseases. If I lived in a different place I would probably make a different decision.

[EarthMommy80]

DD1 has been totaly vaccinated, I never thought anything of it to be completely honest
DD2 got all her shots up untill she was 12 months old when I realized that something was "off". I suspected autism, researched and discovered some info linking vaccines and autism, quit vaccinating her. She was diagnosed with ASD FINALLY at 4 years old. She will not recieve the rest of the vaccinations.
DS has had no vaccinations!!!

I do have a lot of problems with the doctors in my area even when I specify that I have a child with ASD. They roll thier eyes and tell me there's no proof, and I roll my eyes and tell THEM there's no proof

[APMomOfKimmyN-Maya]

3 years ago my friends 1st baby girl died less than 48 hours after receiving Hep B vaccine. That was what prompted me to start researching vaccines and I haven't stopped researching them since then-- the more information I discover the more I feel confident in my decision to not vaccinate. I read a lot about vaccines,biology,evolution and disease on googlebooks to take away worries of the unknown.


Googlebooks is a free feature that allows you to read books online. If the book is older and has an expired copyright it is scanned in in it's entirety. There are many many books there on the subject of vaccines and their history as well as books to help you understand how disease has evolved over the years.

[wallacesmum]

I wouldn't say there is any one thing. We decided to delay because we weren't sure that it made intuitive sense to try to induce artificial immunity, and I read an article about the bbb. Then, once I started really researching, it started to appear to me that the momentum of the current program is entirely political. The early vaccine trials were very bad, or seemed okay and then fell apart. At some point, the vaccine program started building on deeply flawed data, and the practitioners and politicos involved completely stopped making any real effort to correct it, IMO. Early on, there was dissension, and then expediency took over, the pharmas got their legal immunity, and we became the guinea pigs. Yuck. There might be a spoonful of wine in this barrel of sewerage, but that isn't enough.

[wunderbubble]

Originally Posted by rightkindofme

I know that vaccines have terrible side effects and I consider myself lucky that I can forgo them for my child due to herd immunity. We live in a place where she is unlikely to be exposed to most serious diseases. If I lived in a different place I would probably make a different decision.

your child can still contract chicken pox, pertussis the flu...many of the disease they vaccinate for. many disease are becoming vaccine resisitant. this is why they keep adding boosters, but even then boosters don't guarantee immunity

the herd immunity idea doesn't make any sense at all. < it's more about health diet and overall individual suceptability

i have traveled across the globe been to museums in NYC , dirty playgrounds...etc etc... my child has been sick twice, and i believe caught rotavirus from the kids next door and possibly pertussis, my son coughed heavily for 2 weeks, and had a 24 hour rota bug.... the kids next door still cough and are ALWAYS sick, they live on Pizza and Mcdonalds...and one has autism, and one chronic allergies

[Blueena]

Originally Posted by Kiddoson

is this the same as a passport? isn't that forcing you?

It is not the same as a passport, its permission from the country we are entering and we are planning on taking my son to Africa in the summer of 2009 and he can't go unless he's vaccinated for yellow fever for example. It is forced, but its simple, either you fulfill the requirements or you don't get a Visa. And you don't HAVE to travel to Nigeria so if you WANT to like we do we have to fulfill the requirements. Anyway, that's one of the reasons we vaccinate, but I don't think the average person in the US needs to.

[Fyrestorm]

Nigeria does not have a Yellow Fever or any other vaccine requirement.

http://www.abriggs.com/high_level/FER_N/Nigeria_FER.php

I took a quick look and could not find any areas of Africa that require vaccination for entry.

I might have missed one...

[wytchywoman]

I made the choice to stop vaxxing my kids when my 7 yo suffered a very serious neurological injury from a flu shot ( he was almost 5 at the time). No more shots and no regrets.

[Blueena]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm

Nigeria does not have a Yellow Fever or any other vaccine requirement.

http://www.abriggs.com/high_level/FER_N/Nigeria_FER.php

I took a quick look and could not find any areas of Africa that require vaccination for entry.

I might have missed one...

We were told by the Nigerian consulate since we are in the process of applying for a Visa that it is required for approval, they were quite frank about it. So maybe you should call and go thru the six month process we are in the midst of before you just post a link

http://www.passportsandvisas.com/vis...urisdictional=

So I am not just making it up to make a point, I was giving my own reasons for vaccinating.

here's the requirements for guinea where my hubby is going in two months:

http://www.traveldocs.com/gn/er.htm

[Fyrestorm]

Originally Posted by Blueena

So I am not just making it up to make a point, I was giving my own reasons for vaccinating.

It is a total pain...I just went through a 3 month process for a visa for China...same 'requirements. There are ways around it. If you feel that getting the vaccine is best, I have no problem at all with that. It's totally a personal choice. I was just pointing out that 'requirements' are not necessarily absolute.

We are heading to China vaccine free.

[amnesiac]

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[ema-adama]

I was not a fully vaccinated child, with my parents going against the norm in the UK... and I got sick with pretty much all the childhood illnesses. Now I am so grateful to have natural immunity that I am passing on to my DS, at a time in his life when he does need it.

I received polio and tetanus (I guess diphtheria as well) but had all the "childhood illnesses" and just thought that would be how I would do it with my family! Welcome in laws with their western medicine authoritarian views.... so, some research later (mostly thanks to MDC) I am now not even sure I want polio and tetanus, but have managed to keep everyone off my back by saying there is will be no needles until DS is 1, at least!

To me it just does not make sense to circumvent how our immune systems were designed to work, and now there are too many unanswered questions for me. The more I learn, the more I am sure that we are a ways off from having the whole picture.

I am confident in my decision as I am BFing and at home and have consistently found this to be important in protecting my LO at this tender age.

[KingsDaughter76]

Originally Posted by paphia

So things that cemented it for me were:
1. Risk vs. benefit was higher than I was comfortable with
2. Lack of education in the professionals supposed to be in charge of administering them
3. Ingredients - reading about everything the vaxes are grown in and can be contaminated with are disgusting, not to mention the preservatives and additives used to make vaxes more effective
4. Lack of safety studies
5. Lack of oversight/accountability on the manufacturers and their close ties to the government which result in this whole "mandatory" vaxing business.

Yup- all of these reasons and a couple more for us:

1.) 2 of my boys had damage from the vaccines- one is now diagnosed with Sensory Integration disfuction which has improved a great deal with LOTS of therapy over several years although he will never be "normal"- the other was pulled back from the brink of autism with LOTS of therapy- he is pretty much normal now. They will never recieve another shot- period..I am thankful we stopped their vaccinations before they got worse- although they still are damaged forever.

2.) Personal experience and TONS and TONS of research coupled with watching my non-vaxxed children be SOOOOOOOOO much healthier overall and more calm etc than my full vaxxed oldest DD and my partially vaxx'd oldest 2 DS's. It is just a night and day difference in healthiness- it is so obvious!

[AutumnNoelle]

What first sparked my interest was I overheard a nurse quietly telling someone else behind the desk in the waiting room, "you know in Ohio, you don't have to have your child vaccinated in order to attend public schools.. they don't want you to know that though." I couldn't believe it!
I think a few days later, hubby was online looking at *strange facts* and one was that vaccines contain formaldehyde. That was enough for us. From there, I went to www.vaclib.org and then found Dr. Sherri Tenpenny.

www.myspace.com/parentsagainstvax

[knowerofnada]

The Pink Book, for one.

[Liberty5_3000]

My parents did tons of research and stopped vaccinating us when a) a friends little girl got polio from the live vaccine and b) my brother had a bad reaction to the pertussis part of the vaccination. So I always just assumed it was something I would never do. Once I was pregnant though, I had to convince my husband, which required a lot of research and then I really didn't want to vaccinate.