Yesterday my dd had her 15 month well baby visit. At first, my husband and I had discussed selective and delayed vaxes. I was scared into doing DTaP by her pediatrician. She had the shot twice- 4 and 6 months. Then I started researching and reading more. It never felt right for us. We were using all natural food-grade shampoo, lotion and diaper rash cream. When she hit 6 months I was steaming and pureeing all of her organic fruits and vegetables; yet we allowed her to have two needles full of chemicals and toxins injected into her tiny little body. Didn't make sense so we stopped.
She has never been sick. The only time she sees the doctor is for her wb visits. I really do like and respect her doctor. At the end of each visit though I am always made to feel awkward, because she'll ask which vaccines I am allowing at that visit and I always say were not doing any. At least not for now. She gets visibly irritated and throws in some little tid bit about this disease or that and how dd needs to be protected from it.
Yesterday at her 15 month appt the doc asked if I had planned on any vaccines for that visit and I said no, that we weren't considering any until sometime after 2. (Which isn't a complete lie. We're not 100 percent sure yet that we will never allow her to get any. Definitely not now though). Anyway, she interrupted me and cut me off and said, "You know what, at this point I'm just going to have you sign a waiver!" She threw up her hands and marched out of the office to get a waiver. She brought it back. It was a paper from the AAP that she had checked off all of the vaccines that she had recommended and I refused. It stated that she had suggested and explained these vaccines and I was responsible if my child developed a vpd and/or infected any other person! I was so caught off guard and I'm not a confrontational person. Is that normal? Have any of you been asked to sign something like that?
She left the room for me to look over it. When she came back in she said, "I just want you to know that I hope to continue to see your glorious little girl as my patient." She also said, "Keep an eye on the news. There have been some measles outbreaks and some children are now blind or retarded because their parents decided not to vaccinate!" She also said that I was needlessly worrying about the toxins and chemicals when I should be worried about the disease. It was strange. I don't know if I should look for a different doctor or keep seeing her, but skip out on wb visits since there are no problems and she's not getting any vaccines?
I do have a few questions that I don't feel like I can ask her and feel confident that most of you on this forum would be more knowledgeable than her about anyway.
- If you're not vaccinating for certain diseases (i.e. measels, chickenpox) that used to be a normal part of childhood, but are now rare, what do you intend to do if your child hasn't caught them by their late teens? Do you talk it over with your child and decide to get/or not get the vaccine at that time. I know things like measels and chicken pox can be much more serious for adults than for children so I want to know if she doesn't happen upon the virus naturally, is there ever a "good" time to vaccinate? I've heard about chicken pox and measels parties too, but I'm still wondering what if she doesn't get these naturally...
I still get nervous as to whether or not we've made the right decisions for her sometimes, but I feel more empowered when I have a few minutes and can jump on this forum and read the things that all of you have to say. I appreciate your comments and advice.
She has never been sick. The only time she sees the doctor is for her wb visits. I really do like and respect her doctor. At the end of each visit though I am always made to feel awkward, because she'll ask which vaccines I am allowing at that visit and I always say were not doing any. At least not for now. She gets visibly irritated and throws in some little tid bit about this disease or that and how dd needs to be protected from it.
Yesterday at her 15 month appt the doc asked if I had planned on any vaccines for that visit and I said no, that we weren't considering any until sometime after 2. (Which isn't a complete lie. We're not 100 percent sure yet that we will never allow her to get any. Definitely not now though). Anyway, she interrupted me and cut me off and said, "You know what, at this point I'm just going to have you sign a waiver!" She threw up her hands and marched out of the office to get a waiver. She brought it back. It was a paper from the AAP that she had checked off all of the vaccines that she had recommended and I refused. It stated that she had suggested and explained these vaccines and I was responsible if my child developed a vpd and/or infected any other person! I was so caught off guard and I'm not a confrontational person. Is that normal? Have any of you been asked to sign something like that?
She left the room for me to look over it. When she came back in she said, "I just want you to know that I hope to continue to see your glorious little girl as my patient." She also said, "Keep an eye on the news. There have been some measles outbreaks and some children are now blind or retarded because their parents decided not to vaccinate!" She also said that I was needlessly worrying about the toxins and chemicals when I should be worried about the disease. It was strange. I don't know if I should look for a different doctor or keep seeing her, but skip out on wb visits since there are no problems and she's not getting any vaccines?
I do have a few questions that I don't feel like I can ask her and feel confident that most of you on this forum would be more knowledgeable than her about anyway.
- If you're not vaccinating for certain diseases (i.e. measels, chickenpox) that used to be a normal part of childhood, but are now rare, what do you intend to do if your child hasn't caught them by their late teens? Do you talk it over with your child and decide to get/or not get the vaccine at that time. I know things like measels and chicken pox can be much more serious for adults than for children so I want to know if she doesn't happen upon the virus naturally, is there ever a "good" time to vaccinate? I've heard about chicken pox and measels parties too, but I'm still wondering what if she doesn't get these naturally...
I still get nervous as to whether or not we've made the right decisions for her sometimes, but I feel more empowered when I have a few minutes and can jump on this forum and read the things that all of you have to say. I appreciate your comments and advice.
There actually was a thread recently in the Special Needs forum about this. None of us are offended by the word when used appropriately.
