Question?

I am up for EVERY opinion or whatever it is that you would like to share. Even when I do not agree I NEVER discriminate. I am asking because I am honestly curious.

I am a non-vax Mamma. I do not agree with the chemicals put into their little bodies and I am not ok that there is no guarantee that a child can and will fight it off, etc. I get some positive and some negative responses about this.

What are your thoughts? Do you vax? If you do, why? If not, why?

People look at me like I am insane, and I dont think I am.

[joonzgurl]

So far we have (2 month, 4 month, 6 month) however the Canadian vac schedule is different than the one in the USA.

I am not sure if I want to continue. DH is ultra conservative though and feels as though she should be vaccinated. It is really tough.

I ordered the Vaccination Book by Dr. Sears from the library to allow myself to make a more educated decision. Her next shots are not until 12 months... so I have some time to figure it out!

[Jule'sMomInOR]

I do a delayed and selective vax schedule.

I will not allow more than 2 shots at one time, to avoid overwhelming Juliana's immune system. That puts us as a delay.

I also have chosen to skip chicken pox altogether and a few others that I deem unnecessary unless we decide to visit certain 3rd world countries.

Drake got Hep B when he was born because I did not know they even did that. Stupid me I know. Then for his 2 month visit, err 1 month visit he got his second hep B because I was unsure at the time as to what I wanted to do. DH is very supportive and does not want Drake to be vaxed either so the decision became wasier for me as I became more educated.

Here is why I even "question" myself and I KNOW I should not, but thats easier said then done sometimes.

I have so called "friends" that say things to me like "Its stupid parents like you that dont vax and their kids get sick." Ok, for one, I am not stupid and two a vax is NOT a guarantee that your child will NOT get that disease. Its amazing how MY parenting decisions cause other people to question me. Like what the heck?!

I ask on here because I know I can get opinions / advice and not feel looked down upon.

What ever happened to me good hygiene? Look at 100 years ago or more, yes some people got sick and died, but some didnt. The same for today. I am sure that has nothing to do with being vaxed or not.

So on my facebook when this "friend" told me how stupid I was I just had to come up with something smart. lol So this is what I wrote.

All of these are in vaccines. Just saying; -- 25 micrograms of mercury (thimerosal), a known neurotoxin; one microgram is considered toxic; according to the NIH, "mercury and all of its compounds are toxic, exposure to excessive levels can permanently damage or fatally injure the brain and kidneys;" even "exposures to very small amounts" can also cause "allergic reactions, neurological damage and death;" it's also linked to autism;

-- aluminum hydroxide and phosphate, known to be linked to some neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease; the Office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports x-ray evidence of pulmonary fibrosis among workers studied; it also reports that patients undergoing long-term kidney dialysis develop speech disorders, dementia, or convulsions;

-- formaldehyde, a known carcinogen according to the National Cancer Institute; it's also linked to upper respiratory tract problems and effects on lymphatic and hematopoietic systems (relating to human blood cells);

-- gelatin, polysorbate 80 and resin - ingredients causing severe allergic reactions;

-- ammonium sulfate, a suspected gastrointestinal, liver, and respiratory toxicant and neurotoxicant;

-- sorbitol, a suspected gastrointestinal and liver toxicant;

-- phenoxyethanol (antifreeze), a suspected developmental and reproductive toxicant;

-- beta-propiolactone, a known carcinogen and suspected gastrointestinal, liver, respiratory, skin and sense organ toxicant;

-- gentamycin, an antibiotic;

-- triton X100, a strong detergent;

-- animal tissues and fluids, including potentially contaminated horse blood, rabbit brain, dog kidney, monkey kidney, chick embryo, chicken egg, duck egg, pig blood, and porcine (pig) protein/tissue;

-- calf and fetal bovine serum;

-- macerated cancer cells;

-- diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue

If a neighbor offered you a cocktail containing the above ingredients at a party would you drink it?

Of course not.

So why would you let anybody inject it into your body?

Why would you let anybody inject it into your children?

The truth is that vaccines are bad for you. They mess with your immune system and provide openings for other diseases to invade your body. In fact, in one recent study researchers found that children who had gotten the seasonal flu vaccine were three times as likely to be hospitalized during the time frame of the study compared to children who had not received the vaccine.

Now more than ever it is time to think for yourself. Don't just blindly accept what anyone tells you. Do the research for yourself. After all, it is you and your family that will bear the consequences for whatever choices that you ultimately make
.

And after reading Ians story which broke my heart, I think I made the right decision. I just hate when people have an opinion that is really not an opinion, kwim? They are right and you are wrong.

[HappyHippy]

We do not vaccinate. We vaccinated ds1 up until 18 months. He had some seizures after vaccines, and some were not due to a fever. He also had rashes and other side effects. The Doctor told us it was normal, but I'm sorry, there is nothing normal with having seizures (the very definition of a seizure is connections in the brain not going correctly, hello, not normal). We stopped all vaccines at that time and he's only been sick once, which was this year with a mild flu that didn't slow him down.

ds2 has not had any vaccines, not even at birth (we had him at home). He has only been sick once as well, with the same mild flu that did not slow him down.

Both my kids seem to be way healthier than my friends who do vaccinate. Their kids get the cold, cough, runny nose stuff all the time. And almost half of my friends have had kids with tubes in their ears and/or surgeries due to chronic ear infections.

I have heard soo many stories of women saying non vax children dont get sick as much as children that do Vax. I agree with not vaxing, but the women that DO I am not against them. Each parent knows what is best for their kids.

My friend (actual friend, lol) has 2 cousins that are in their late teens now and they were both not vaxed and they have never been sick. Not even the flu. Thats gotta mean something.

I also agree with you. A seizure...im sorry, not normal. Not at all.

[laurhob]

We have chosen to not give DS any vaccines until he is two. We knew he would not be in daycare so we figured he'd be relatively low risk for contracting many of the things they vaccinate for nowadays. Some shots he won't get at all, like hep b. The reason why we decided to delay vaxing for two years is because the risk of severe side effects from most vaccinations goes down at that point.

So, in your opinion. Do kids get those diseases because they do NOT vax?

[laurhob]

From my observation, unvaxed kids (I know quite a few of them) do not seem to get sick more frequently than vaxed kids. My fear with daycare was primarily concerning pertussis, which is known to cause break thru infection in vaxed kids.

[laurhob]

Weird, most of my last post got eaten, that's been happening a lot lately. I would type it all out again but I don't remember all I wrote and I'm tired lol!

[lrowe70]

I haven't noticed un vaxed vs. vaxed kids getting more or less sick. I do notice kids with germaphobic parents seem to get sick a lot.

I wanted to delay our babe's vaxes until he was 2 but my husband wanted to do everything "on schedule". He got his 2 month about 3 weeks late, 4 month was 2 months late and he has yet to get 6 month(I'm hoping to wait until he is 1).

[Cruiser]

We vaccinate, but somewhat delayed as I won't do more than 2 at a time. with DD I didn't do more than 1 at a time, but since I opted to do Hep B with DS this time, it would have been really confusing.

I also delayed MMR with my daughter until she was over 2. It not comes with varicella so while I had been going to opt out of chicken pox, it wasn't an option so she's vaxed for that too.

I think it's one of those things that you are either WAYYYYYYYY over on the "I'll never vaccinate my child" side, or the "yup I think it's safe" side. There never seems to be much middle ground on this one.

Thank you ladies for all your opinions / input.

I do agree that if a child is "too clean" they will get sick. We need germs to have a healthy immune system.

Ya know, when I was pregnant I didnt know too much about vaccinations. Since this was my first I had always assumed I would just do it until I started to do some research and I decided otherwise. But no where did I see anything about a newborn getting the hep B shot unless I forgot or just dont remember. But when it was time for him to get the second hep B shot I went ahead and had him get it. He let out those silent cries and I swear not only did my heart break, but my soul did too. So I said to myself "why? Why do we do this to our kids?" I went home and did even more research and decided no, this is not for me. Luckily DH ageed. We didnt even get him circumsized. We dont find it medically necessary and DH is not and we clearly have no trouble in that department! Well anyways, I hear alot of Moms saying they refuse to vax for Hep B but will for others. Why?

[angelsailor288]

I vaccinate on time and on schedule.

I'm hesitant at this point to take him to the park in fear someone didnt vaccinate and he is not fully vaccinated yet. The diseases scare me much more than the chemicals.

[joonzgurl]

I highly recommend The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. He has each vaccine broken down, info on it, reasons parents choose to vaccinate, and reasons parents choose not to, for each one.

The USA has one of the highest immunization rates in the world, it is much much lower in most of Europe, and there are not notable differences in the amount that children get sick/diseases. Read that in his book (I think? It might have been online).

The only thing I disagree with is that your child will get sick by a non vax child. Thats now how illnesses work. A vax is not a preventative like most people are told. But I do not think you are a bad parent because you vax. You know what is best for your child and I respect that.

Thank you for that book reccomendation.

[ashj_1218]

I vaccinate on a mostly normal schedule. We chose to delay the hep at birth because I don't want someone sticking my newborn with something to prevent a disease possible 18 years down the line. The logic did not appeal to me.

But here is why I DO vaccinate on schedule. Not for debate, just for the opposite side of the fence. I did a one-year research project on it when i was in school for early childhood education. We had to pick a topic of interest and it was one i happened to know i would encounter in my parenting days and wanted more information on. So here we go....

Vaccines DO contain chemicals. So does the air (some you listed), so does food (again, some you listed). So does water. So does shampoo, lotion, medication, and disposable diapers. We have been in contact with chemicals from the moment of conception. 98% (not an exact number...I would have to go get my research paper for an exact number) of them are harmless and able to be managed by our bodies immune system. They don't cause more than a blip in the radar. Our bodies have been conditioned, over time, to handle the chemicals of modern life. Yes, it can cause problems later in life. But the same problems are likely to occur from air or water exposure as vaccine exposure. You can find studies on it if you wish to sort through yrs of research. The amount of chemicals in vaccines are small compared to the chemicals we come in contact with on a weekly basis. And I do understand the delayed, two shots at a time, schedule for the very reason I just said. If you get all the shots at once, it can be a little overwhelming to the system. So spreading them out a little makes sense to me. We just chose not to on a regular basis (although Liam's were more spread because of his ear infection issues).

The vast majority of the population can be vaccinated with no Ill effects. There are children who can not be vaccinated and they rely on "herd immunity" to prevent them from encountering deadly diseases. Herd immunity is just what it sounds like. If 98% of the school is vaccinated, the chances of the disease breaking through and infecting the 2% who can not be is slim. The diseases the vaccines help prevent are not extinct and can still kill children if they come around. Or cause serious damage. If more people continue to chose not to vaccinate, we are going to see a surge in the diseases the vaccines are currently keeping at bay. Heck, there was a measles outbreak in Maryland last year. It caused quite a stir among parents whose kids were too little to have the full course. But from what I know of the outbreak (which was not much, I was busy having a baby), it came from a foreign country (the adult brought it back from a trip) and it only affected children who did not have the full measles course in their system and unvaccinated children, and thankfully not many at that. Now vaccines will not prevent all diseases, by a long shot. It depends how personally effective they are for each child. Hence why herd immunity works.

So here is how I made my decision (along with way more research): I can handle if my child has autism (i believe autism is genetic or caused by mutations during conception, not outside toxins...personal belief). I can handle a negative reaction from shots, at least the typical ones (I would have to re-evaluate if my child had serious reactions). I can change my mind about shots down the line and stop vaccinating. BUT I CAN'T handle if my child contracts a deadly disease because I did not protect them. I also really can't handle if my child gave an immunologically compromised child a disease because my child was not vaccinated and caused a break in the herd immunity. It IS how diseases and vaccines work. A non-vaccinated child is protected because my child is vaccinated. Yes, hanging out with a non-vaxed child will not cause my child to have a disease.

To me it is like rear-facing in the car (in the simplest comparison). By extended rear-facing, I cut down drastically the chances of my child having a broken neck or dying in a bad car accident, as rare as the chances may be of my getting in a bad car accident during my child's two years of extended rear facing. By extended rear-facing I MAY increase my child's chances of breaking his legs in the same bad car accident. But I can emotionally handle causing broken legs...while I can't the broken neck or dying. To me it relates to vaccines, however rare the chances of my child contracting the illness, I take the precautions to prevent it from happening. The prevention is not perfect. But I can accept the possible consequences, as they are minor in comparison.

So there ya go. Lol. I have no issue with those who chose not to vaccinate. I won't get my attitude on or anything about it. I gnerally can respect all parenting decisions if they are made in education, not ignorance. But I can say, if there is an outbreak of any illness in the area and I know of unvaccinated children...we will be avoiding them. Especially my children who have not been vaccinated fully. It's not worth the risk. I disagree that vaccinated children get sick more often. Sme kids do get sick more often. Some kids less. It is all about their body chemistry. You can't mete out whether the vaccines were to blame for a flu bug. Plus, again, I can deal with the flu (which, for record, no one has had in this house for 7 years...I had it 7 years ago). I can deal with colds. Not whooping cough or polio.

Again...I am absolutely not debating anything. I just wanted you to have a logical opinion from the other side of the tracks Your choice is fine with me. And just as valid as my choice

I edited a couple areas that didn't make sense or used words I felt too strong (just FYI)

[breathing for two]

I do delayed and selective vax, but we haven't started yet. I'm trying to be well informed before starting it, but it's so difficult with all the varied and contradictory information flying around.
I even went to see a doctor to discuss it and write up a good schedule and she just shoved a catch-up schedule at me.
I'll have to make sure and get the Dr. Sears book, I'm making my husband research with me too, and we're deciding which ones we should do and should not do.

[Purrrrrrr]

I agree with the PP.

The only other thing I'd like to reiterate is that the doctor who put forth the study that vaccines are linked to autism has since had is medical license taken away.

I have some very close friends whose children have diseases on the autism spectrum (one who is a teenager and nonverbal) who have raged about this so-called study and the lasting effects it's had on their community.

I vaccinate because the benefits outweigh the risk. I buckle up because even though there's a slim possibility I could be disemboweled, the chances are better that it'll save my life.

[laurhob]

Ditto to everything that ashj_1218 wrote. Only difference for me is I really am only comfortable vaccinating my child after the age of two. For me it is worth it to hold out for a couple years and have less risk associated with the shots.