LeeLee
- Wednesday, February 6 2008
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My grandmother set my views about vaccinating. She almost died of whooping cough when she was young, as well as a couple of other diseases, one of her sisters did die. I also had an aunt who survived polio, but suffered severe back pain the rest of her life. Looking at the statistics of child mortality before vaccines and after, I was convinced.
It was very hard to allow the nurse to inject an infection into my baby, but knowing what could happen if I didn't, I wasn't prepared not to. Some folks think there is no danger from these illnesses anymore, but with immigration and world travel so accessible, we are becoming vulnerable again. The germs are still there.
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fyi:
http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=679&pid=4669&st=1
Neither of my children have ever been vaccinated. I once was waiting for my son to finish a class with ~12 other random mothers - all of whom had never met. In this random sample - every mother who had vaccinated had a story of severe side effects ranging from a sudden inability to walk to asthma, to diabetes, to autism. It was shocking for all of us sitting there. Every mother had been assured that the issue wasn't related to the vaccine, and every mother knew in her heart it was.
Personally, I believe vaccines interfere with the natural immune building process and have lead to our now epidemic proportions of asthma and allergies.
My kids have never had either of these or an ear infection between them and seldom get sick.
Sorry - I could go on and on.
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I left out the 'homeschooling' part that all the mothers in the group of 12 were homeschooling - some because of issues that arose after vaccinating and some had made the decision anyway.
You could also make the argument that my kids rarely get sick because they are exposed to less - not being in school, etc.
In general, I think it's important to find out what the vaccinations are for, research (thimerosal, etc.) and make an informed decision. As we homeschool parents tend to do anyway. At the very least I think it would be best to spread out the vaccines instead of getting them all together to give the child a chance to recover from one thing before being hit with the next one.
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Thanks for chiming in ladies. I must admit, I am on the fence when it comes to vaccinations. Prior to homeschooling, we vaccinated and now...well, I'll just say that with all that I've read, it certainly has given me pause.
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LeeLee
- Thursday, February 7 2008
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Here is an article by one of the men who published the science curriculum I have used. It has many links and sources of information. He helped me to form my opinion and feel confident of my decisions to vaccinate. All of my children are healthy and have rarely had anything more serious than a cold. Anyway, if you want to learn both views, you should at least read this.
http://www.apologia.com/vaccines.htm
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The information in this link was also helpful to me a few years ago in making my decision about immunizations. I had read lots of the scary stuff out there...but had also watched other families who did NOT vaccinate go through some pretty life-threatening stuff themselves when their 6 kids contracted whooping cough. (Yes, that goes around pretty often according to our pediatrician and the CDC) It was MONTHS of illness and then ongoing issues with lungs after the whooping cough was over. I have 7 kids, all of whom have been vaccinated, and only our oldest has asthma and had ear infections as a small child...but he was born 11 weeks early which contributed to his lung issues. Our other kids have not had ear infections (I nurse). My sister has two children with autism. One she vaccinated, and the other she did not. They both have serious autism. So...I'm not sure all the hype is totally accurate. The bottom line is that God is Sovereign, whether you vaccinate or not. He is in control of your children's health. There's my two cents and I hope it is helpful! I do recommend going to this link and reading the information there.
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I do. It seems to me that you put your child at risk either way. On one hand, there's the risk of your child getting a very serious illness and potentially dying. On the other hand, there's the risk of your child having a negative side effect to the vaccination itself. Maybe some day I'll change my mind, but for now I will allow my doctor to vaccinate and continue to pray that my children remain healthy. (They, too, hardly ever get more than a cold, but I think it's mainly because we homeschool and they aren't constantly exposed to all those other kids and their germs! LOL!)
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Our doctor encouraged us to look into the anti-vax side when we nearly lost our oldest daughter to a vaccination. We since quit vaccinating. My MIL is an RN, and though she fully believes in vaccination, she also fully supports us in not vaccinating.
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This is a great topic! It is certainly a personal issue that has community-wide implications. I have two sons, 4 and 3. My first did receive two of the recommended vaccinations and my youngest has not had any as of yet. I certainly don't buy into the amount of vaccinations that our BIG BROTHER recommends but some of them are necessary depending on what type of environment your family lives/works/travels in. Some of the vaccinations are a bit overkill...when you consider the chances of a harmful side effect is greater than the odds of contracting the actual disease??? well, then it's probably in your child's best interest not to get that one! My wife was talking about this with a pediatrician who was seeing our child at the time (thankfully I wasn't there or I would have exploded!) and he made the remark that she can't pick and choose which vaccines to give and not give her OWN child!!!! This type of thinking in the majority of medical circles is what is really frightening and frankly it really ticks me off! Last time I checked my children belonged to me not the omnipotent state!
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I really appreciate your spirited response and I certainly can relate to where you are coming from. It really peeves me when others, whether they be doctors, teachers, social workers, other parents or whomever acts like they know what is best for your child.
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After much research I decided to do most vaccines (I believe we left off chicken pox and the pneumococcal which was so new at the time) BUT do it on a revised schedule.
I do believe in vaccination but I believe that infants are not the best age for vaccination. If there is a reaction they are much weaker than a healthy toddler. I think the reason most infants are vaccinated is because they are easy to manipulate. I would rather have it harder to do but a stronger child in case of a bad reaction.
Just my thoughts.
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LeeLee
- Thursday, February 14 2008
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I did not give my children the hepatitis vaccine, until my son went to Mexico that is. Now they share water and things during sports (despite my warnings), so I may rethink that one as well.
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Suni
- Wednesday, June 4 2008
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homeschool had nothing to do with my choices to delay some of the vaxes or not get them at all. we outright refused the chicken pox vax, but delayed getting other shots so that they didnt all pile up at once. i was making sure that the effect they had on him would be minimal to non-existent as far as learning disabilities and such. he isnt getting the ones that are new or unnecessary imo.
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I'm always suspicious of people who say that they know better than doctors just because they "know in their heart." What does the heart have to do with anything? Doctors, at least, have clinical trials, a solid understanding of what's in vaccines, and access to research that has been done showing that the risks of vaccinations are extremely minimal.
Like LeeLee says, the risks of not vaccinating are just too great to take chances because of something someone feels "in their heart." We've forgotten how bad things were back before vaccinations because most of the diseases we vaccinate against are so rare that most of us live our whole lives without ever seeing someone sick from them.
It scares me to death that so many people are not vaccinating nowadays. If it were just your child you were putting at risk, that'd be one thing. I'd still be very sad if your child caught polio and ended up in a wheelchair, but at least it's not my child. But the thing with vaccines is that you need what they call a "herd immunity." No vaccine makes you 100% immune, but because everyone is 99% immune, the disease never gets a foothold in the population. But if a lot of parents stop vaccinating, horrible diseases like Polio can come back and then my child (who won't be 100% immune) can catch it because the herd immunity is gone. So what would otherwise be a personal choice you are making for your own family affects me and puts MY child at risk.
I really wish people would stop listening to celebrities and start listening to what real doctors and scientists are saying. There have been NO legitimate studies whatsoever linking vaccines to autism, allergies, asthma, or any other such problem.
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I too believe it is a personal choice, but I believe one must really research everything they can before giving their children vaccines. The incidence of auto-immune diseases is on the rise--at an alarming rate--and I do see it being from an immune overload. If you do vaccinate please, please consider an extended schedule instead of the one offered by our government. It is too late for us...our youngest son was diagnosed with T1 diabetes at age 4...but for those of you still having children and want to vaccinate, please look into a less aggressive approach.
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I homeschool. I vaccinate my kids and am very thankful for the vaccinations they have available today. Homeschool or no homeschool didn't make a difference in my decision. None of them (six) ever had any type of reaction. And was happy when they came out with the chicken pox shot!!! Woo-Hoo!!!! Our parents must have felt even happier when they came out with smallpox, measles and polio shots!
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