To vaccinate or not to vaccinate???

So my boy is almost 10 months old. I didn't vaccinate him, not because I strictly don't believe in vaccination, but just because I didn't want any crap put into his teeny tiny body.

But now he's like 3 times his birth size and I am starting to consider vaccination more closely, especially since he will be going to day care soon.

I feel like all arguments and information are biased to one side or the other. Can anyone give me some kind of insight?

 

Your kid is more likely to suffer from disease than from the vaccination.

 

Be more specific? What diseases are un-vaccinated kids at high risk for? Do you even know?

From what I know, the vaccines don't really prevent children from catching the disease and they can cause severe reactions, brain swelling, permanent handicaps, even death.

Anyway, I actually am leaning towards vaccinating. My friend says I'm being an idiot she sends me stuff like this (attached)

I just don't know where to find good, unbiased information.

 

A lot of vaccines you can request (and sometimes they cost more but so what) a mercury-free version of the test and (as you've already been doing), you can do an alternative schedule of the vaccines, where they don't get them so young and also where they never get soooo many at one time.(So, if you do decide to go that route make sure you only allow 1 or 2 at a time)....also look up which vaccines are most likely to cause problems-I believe on them is the MMR, and I also believe mostly it's because the way it's typically given.
Also you can avoid certain vaccines like chicken pox...many of them are just ridiculous and unnecessary.
In addition to that parents need to know right away (the hospital)---and no, this is not geared towards you as yours is older... but standardly giving a NEWBORN-just born newborn a hep B vaccine is ridiculous and totally unnecessary and babies that little should never get that one (unless say the mother has hep B and plans to breastfeed or something like that) and even CONVENSIONAL doctors like dr oz agree with that one..

 

Unvaccinated people really put those with compromised immune systems who absolutely cannot get vaccinated at risk. Those people depend on herd immunity. That's my biggest argument for vaccination. Herd immunity is important.

i suggest you look into each vaccine individually. There may be some where the risks outweigh the benefits.....for example, if you choose not to vaccinate for chicken pox is it really going to be the end of the world your child eventually catches chicken pox? Whereas something like polio really would be the end of your child's life as you know it.

Definitely talk to your pediatrician about a more staggered schedule too. I believe in vaccines but I don't really like the current vaccine schedule.

Just as a side note, an unvaccinated person will also have difficulty traveling to places where vaccinations are not as common later in life.

 

"dr oz" is not what i would call a conventional doctor.

get your kid vaccinated.
your friend is wrong.

i'll write more later

 

Well, I may or may not have used the correct word for him... but I meant he's not some conspiracy-theorist on vaccines and even he says that about that particular vaccine at that particular age (the day babies are born). But that's neither here nor there... I thought the same thing myself when I had my first kid but went ahead and did it because I was exhausted from giving birth and didn't really feel I was given a choice. With my next child in 7 months or so I will hold off on that one...

 

The only reason that we have eradicated many diseases that two generations ago killed children and were considered plagues is because we do immunize. People in third world countries are still dying from these diseases as they do not have access to immunization. WHO actually has stated strong concern that if we do not change this situation it could at some point in time cause a large scale reoccurrence of diseases that we have not seen for more than two generations as we are far more global than in the past.

The risks are very low for adverse reactions but the risk of death if they do happen to get infected are high, especially in children, elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

Schools are becoming far more militant about students who are not immunized as the environment of a school is ripe for a situation of a massive amount of children being exposed by those who are not immunized. Even sport groups and after care facilities request proof of immunization. Most OBGYN's recommend that those who are pregnant or thinking of becoming so, avoid those who are not immunized due to the risk.

Risk from immunization is low, risk from exposure if not immunized is not.

 

Funny we always hear about how great and necessary vaccines are, but we never hear about the children whose lives have been ruined because of them. The people who say "vaccines are safe" or "the risk is low" really piss me off, because I know they haven't done the research and rely simply on what they've heard on the television, from pharmaceutical company funded propaganda.

Also, I am not 100% anti-vaccine as some might think. I just feel that many of them are unnecessary and pose the risk for more harm than good.

Generally speaking, the people who are quick to vaccinate their kids as the same people who are quick to run out and get the flu shot every year because some talking head on TV told them to. They haven't a clue about natural immunity and are content eating sugary foods and other garbage which destroy natural immunity.

 

take it from a scientist.

vaccinate your kids against deadly diseases.

i don't get a flu shot though.

 

which vaccines?

 

I vaccinate both of my small children. It's required by all the schools here, and it's also required by the pediatrician I go to. ANY medication or procedure has risks of complications. As a parent, you always have to consider if the benefits outweigh the risks. In my opinion, for my children, the benefits do in fact outweigh the risks.

That being said, my 16 month old daughter had her scheduled round of vaccinations two days ago, and had a bit of a reaction that scared the daylights out of me. She was having labored breathing, a slight rash around her mouth, and her limbs were shivering. I was terrified and almost took her to the emergency room. After I had her all packed up, and her things gathered, she all of a sudden went back to normal.

 

Two right off that bat are the MMR and the Hepatitis B (linked to neurological problems and MS) vaccine.

The fact is there are plenty of parents who choose not to vaccinate their kids, and most of them are not going to come down with any of these diseases, especially if they're fed a proper diet.

 

Vaccinate

 

Severe reactions from HepB vaccine is one in 1.1 million doses.
Severe reactions from MMR vaccine is less than 1 in 1 million doses.

Source CDC 2012

So while there are risks, they are clinically minimal.

 

They aren't going to come down with any diseases due to herd immunity, which is being compromised because so many parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children.

If these children ever went to a country where vaccinations are not routine they would be at serious risk of catching very life threatening diseases.

With that said, the mmr vaccine is something I fretted over for months but like mama I eventually decided the benefits outweigh the risks.

 

:iagree:

:smash: jury has spoken baby

:cheers2:

 

The safety of the Hep B vaccine not-withstanding you get Hep B by these ways-

The main ways of getting infected with HBV are:

• perinatal (from mother to baby at the birth)
• child-to-child transmission
• unsafe injections and transfusions
• sexual contact.

So, when they routinely give a child who is less than one day old this vaccine I'm just wondering which of these things the child is supposed to be doing. I do agree if a parent (esp. the mother) has Hep B, yes, vaccine right away... but if the parents don't have and don't have risk factors and you don't plan on hanging out with your newborn in crackhouses, you should be okay to go ahead and skip this one at least for the time being until the child is bigger.

 

I would have been freaking out. Really bad.

And btw, Someone listed stats on the risk of serious side effects being something like 1 in 1 million. I have the papers from my son's pediatrician about vaccines and the risk of pretty damn bad side effects are much, much, MUCH higher for most vaccines... I mean, I guess it depends what you call "serious"... but some pretty nasty side effects happen more like 2 or 3 in a thousand. I'm not saying that to say I'm against vaccines- I'm not. I am more for what I mentioned on the first page- never getting so many at one time(the standard schedule), requesting mercury-free vaccines and doing research before deciding anything.

 

i don't think that the amount of mercury in a vaccine is THAT bad. zero mercury would be preferred, but the mercury containing compound is used as a preservative to prevent bacterial infection of the vaccine.
also, mercury is in the air you breathe, and probably the water you drink. but i agree that mercury exposure is a valid concern.

http://www.immunizationinfo.org/issues/thimerosal-mercury/mercury-vaccines

the amount of mercury in a vaccine is about the same as in a serving of fish.