How did you decide about vaccinating?

[krfounta]

melzie771:
Which information did your chiropractor give you? I am very interested in why he chose not to vaccinate his children.

[yolandagordon]

I am a parent to two children on the Autism Spectrum. I am pro-vaccine, but not pro-booster. I feel that once our kids get their first dose, doctors should offer the chance to every parent before they offer a booster to that child to see if the child is immune. I do not think that many parents realize that after that first set of shots your child gets and you have to go back and have to get more shots, those are boosters. Your child can be exempt from getting those boosters if they get a titer and find out if their child is immune and can get the necessary paperwork to probe such. This is my decision for my children. I do not give my children the flu vaccinations and I refuse to give them the H1N1 when you think about giving your child small doses of mercury, formaldehyde, and anti-freeze to prevent a disease that if its meant for them to have or stronger than the vaccine, your child will get it. What further disturbed me is the amount of time used to make the H1N1 vaccine and that children were required to get a booster after having the vaccine.

I believe in vaccines, but I do not believe that we need to give our children boosters when we can make informed choices for our children.

[melzie771]

well my memory is not the greatest but he did give me some specifics that i remember. one of them being that in any documented cases of polio since the 70's it has been an unvaccinated child or one with a compromised immune system who had been in close contact with a baby who had just received vaccinations. there fore the act of getting vaccinations has been spreading this disease to the few people who have had since that era. he had also told me that many people believe the vaccines eradicated many child hood disease when in fact it is due to better hygiene standards. when some of these diseases were rampant indoor plumbing was scarce and frequent hand-washing was unheard of. he also told me that the only time either of his own children were sick was when he had them exposed to chicken pox to get it naturally the way we did as kids. Sorry if any of this offends anyone elses point of view these are the things a trusted dr. had told me and i relate to his point of view. Its not that i don't trust the other dr.'s but rather i don't trust the information they have been given.

[craftyashley]

I know this is a "hot-button" mom issue, but here's how I decided. I listened to my doctor, I looked at these internet campaigns against vaccinations, and you can literally find such contrary opinions that it kind of cancels it all out. I vaccinate my kids. And frankly, I feel really annoyed when the anti-vaccine people judge me (openly much of the time!) I hate to be rude- but it is because I vaccinate my kids that gives you the "option" to vaccinate your children. Things like polio are real. My great grandfather got polio when he was young, and I have seen pictures (I've been doing a bit of family research since that "Who Do You Think You Are" show started) of how crippled and sickly he looked. He was a burden on his family who had to care for him most of his life. Seeing that validated my choice to vaccinate.

[AlexandraKate]

Let me start this off by saying I am Anti-Vaccine. I just had my first child in Oct. 2009 and she had one vaccine right after she was born because they just did it without even consulting/asking me, but none since then. The reason for this is I just really feel that if real people are saying they noticed changes in their children right after vaccinations, then that's what I should listen to, not our secretive and manipulating government. Everyone here should look the word "squalene" and see what they find. Bascially, if you read the ingredients for vaccines and you see "preservatives," squalene is one of those "preservatives" but that's not actually what it is, the government just needs a place to hide the ingredient from you so that's what they call it. Squalene is just one of many things that has been put in vaccines in the last few years that basically deteorates your body over time. Squalene and things like it are being put in baby food/products more and more. I know it sounds like a conspiracy and I was skeptical too, but if you're not a drone and you actually believe that your government could be corrupt (which it absolutely could/is in my opinion), take it into consideration. It sounds outlandish but the government (actually people higher up than them that we don't really know about) are desperately trying to decrease the population and I've read several articles about people in power who are obviously in on things we know nothing of, don't vaccinate their children. Hmm... wonder why.. Anyways, anyone curious should visit www.conspiracytheoryjesseventura.com and watch his videos, a few of them discuss these things in depth and are very compelling for a person who's not afraid to question their government.

[MayasMama88]

This is a very controversial subject, indeed! I would never say that vaccination is right or wrong, merely it is a choice which every parent must be comfortable with, and which potentially carries risks no matter which path you choose. We stopped vaccinating our daughter when she was 4 months old, and feel wonderful about that choice (and she has never been sick!).
Probably the best source of information, which gives you the pros and cons on BOTH SIDES of this issue in a way that is meant to empower, not frighten, is in the book "Vaccination: A Thoughtful Parent's Guide: How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions About the RISKS, BENEFITS, and ALTERNATIVES" by Aviva Jill Romm. I encourage every parent who is stuck on this issue to read this book!!

[ewoods]

Wow, I had no idea that vaccinations were such a big source of controversy. My ex-wife and I didn't even consider not vaccinating our son. It didn't even feel like an option. We didn't want our son to catch someone else's diseases, so we got him his shots, and still do.

As a former member of the military, I've been vaccinated for everything from smallpox to anthrax. I received all of my shots growing up, as did my ex-wife, and both of us are perfectly healthy and rarely get sick. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been sick with something other than a common cold. My son is two-and-a-half and he's the same way. Not including the occasional runny nose, he's only been really sick one time, for two days.

[amandapace]

My husband is in the United States Navy and next year we face a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) move that has a high liklihood of taking us oversees...

...therefore, we have decided to fully vaccinate.

I realize that there is much controversy regarding vaccinations, and honestly, if we were to stay in the United States I may be hesitant about certain vaccinations (Chicken Pox, for example)...but the diseases that are all but no-existent in the U.S. are alive and well in other countries or the countries that surround the place the Navy may station us.

For us, the risk of not vaccinating is scarier than the risk of vaccinating.

[jill456]

I registered just to say how disappointed I was in the April 2011 article regarding vaccinations because it had some false information. One...mercury is still in vaccines to this day, and not just the flu vaccines. You can even find this information on the CDC website...just google "vaccine ingredients". It will have a * next to it saying it's only in trace amounts...but trace amounts of mercury build up...and is there really any safe level.

And vaccines aren't safe. There is still so much research that needs to be done. There was a very interesting study done a few years back that showed how spacing out certain vaccines can reduce the child's chance of having asthma later...

Here is the study:
http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0...379-2/abstract

As for my children...my daughter was vaccinated until the age of 18 months. Since then, she has not received any more. She had a bad reaction and I do blame the vaccines for her issues (eczema, food allergies, asthma). My son is 100% vaccine free, and the healthiest kid in his daycare. No allergies, no illness, no ear infections. Never been to the doctor for anything other than well baby check ups and thrush in his mouth as an infant.

I don't regret not vaccinating. I was extremely stressed and nervous at first, but as time goes on, I am confident in my decisions.

[jill456]

Hi amandapace,

I understand your concerns. My husband is also in the Navy and we were faced with that issue several years ago. My daughter did have issues after her vaccinations and it took awhile for me to believe that it was the vaccines, but after doing research, it could only be the vaccines that caused this.

I told my husband to make sure he didn't get orders overseas. We even talked about what would happen if for some reason, he had no choice. Its a hard choice to make, but not one that I regret whatsoever.

My daughter attends public schools and my son is in daycare. Never had a problem with the paperwork. I am using the religious exemption. A one page piece of paper to be signed, notarized...so simple. I look back and laugh at how stressed I was about it.