That website is a load of crap! Small pox didn't kill the Native Americans? The Bubonic plague was a state of mind? Give me a break! That guy's the type of person that gives all liberals a bad name. Yes, you inject WEAKENED forms of viruses into your system so your body can recognize them and defend against them later. So what? It's been proven effective (or wait, is that just another lie by the evil white man?) Yeah, some people react poorly to it, but as I said before, the majority of them don't. If you don't want to vaccinate your kids, then don't. But don't act like people who do are poisoning their kids. I was vaccinated, and guess what? I'M STILL HERE!!!!
Wow~all i was really asking for was a poll of who did or who didn't. I'm not being critical of anybody ~ i was only curious. It isn't all that uncommon for people not to vaccinate these days. I feel many people are misinformed about the consequences. I'm not in any way giving suggestions ~ I'm only stating an opinion Why are you so defensive about the issue when you don't have children and are planning on adopting anyways?
Okay, so I took it the wrong way. I was bothered by the website you gave for the given reasons. But... What do you mean "Planning on adopting anyways?" Like if I adopt and they aren't my "real" kids I must not really care? For your information, I AM a mother--I have a spiritual connection with an orphan I took care of in Tanzania. That little girl is my daughter, regardless of whether or not she lives half way around the world. I may not have experienced the constant 24/7 demands of parenthood, but I am planning on sending her to school when she's older and I will see her again and remain a consant influence in her life. By the way, I got defensive at the website you reccomended more than the topic itself. I am skeptical of this "natural" parenting business, as the definition of "natural" is so relative. And yes, as you've just read, I do get defensive on the issue of adoption. It's a personal passion of mine, that's all.
This is my personal choice based on what I felt was necessary for my family and is not intended to influence any one else's decisions. I selectively vaccinated my children, not starting until they were over a year old with the exception of the BCG vaccine at 6 weeks, which is not even given in the States. Things I took into consideration; First of all, my children were born in a rural area of a Developing Nation, where physicians, medicines, and hospitals were few and far between. Secondly, most infections can be prevented or minimized by good hand washing and hygeine practices, good nutrition, prompt attention (not necessarily medical) and appropriate care. Third, most diseases in childhood are relatively harmless, although if contracted in adulthood may be quite deadly, and contracting the disease gives one lifelong immunity. Tetenus; My children were born and raised in a rural area with lots of free roaming animals. They also walked barefoot a lot, which is not uncommon. Shoes are expensive and must be saved for school! They got immunized for tetanus when they began walking. BCG; the vaccine for tuberculosis. TB is a very real threat in the Third World as appropriate treatment may not be readily available, and it is highly contagious. It is deadly for babies and young children. They were vaccinated at 6 weeks. MMR; Measles is relatively harmless for young children. Reduce the fever, keep in a darkened room, and give lots of vitamin C. My kids actually had measles and had cold like symptoms for 3 days, a rash for a few days, and recovered within a week with no problems. They are now immune for life. Mumps; Same thing, they had mumps in childhood and were a bit uncomfortable for a few days, but recovered in no time with home remedies, hydration, and Tylenol. My son, who was about seven, did NOT contract it, so he was immunized at 12, when the risks from having mumps increases. Rubella; is very mild and can often go unnoticed. However, if a girl has not had mumps by the time she reaches puberty, a vaccine is a good idea to protect any future children she may have. My girls were immunized/ will be immunized at 12 for rubella. Hep B; the risks of a week old infant having unprotected sex, sharing needles, or getting a jailhouse tattoo at a frat party are non-existant. However, when the child becomes a teen, it is much more difficult to control his behavior. They have been/will be immunized at 12 or 13 for Hep.B. Chicken Pox; Again, harmless, albiet uncomfortable. However, the risk of death increases with age, so if they don't/didn't have it by 12, they will be immunized. (I remember a time when if "Little Johnny" down the road had chicken pox, all the kids in the neighborhood were sent over to play with him!) Polio; Yes, I would not risk a polio infection, they were immunized on schedule. Whooping cough (pertussis); My youngest brother nearly died from it, so my kids were vaccinated around a year old. Diptheria; yes, at a year old. Altough it's a bacterium and may be treated with antibiotics, it can become fatal rather quickly. I chose to wait until they were a year old because their immune systems would have time to mature, they were better able to handle the stress of the vaccines, the risks of contracting an illness became greater as they became more exposed to others and got older, and they were breastfed a year. Good to note: If you choose not to vaccinate with standard vaccines, your homeopathic pediatrician may administer a regime of homeopathic vaccines called No-Zodes, which are acceptable for all public school records.
I live in Ontario too and received the same letter. It stated that you must present either you records of immunization or your letter of exemption to the public health nurse. In Ontario you do not need to vaccinate your children for them to attend school. You just need to give the public health nurse your proper paperwork. My sons best friend goes to the same school, is in the same class and has never had any vaccinations in his life. Another friend of mine decided not to present her immunization records even though her children are vaccinated because she felt that it was private information. She got her letter signed by the town commisioner and so she was exempt from having to present her records to the public health nurse. She faxed her letter of exemption instead. I would do the DPT shot for this baby, but not until he/she is 2 years old with a more mature immune system. I will also be breastfeeding until this baby is 2 or so. I feel that babies who are not breastfed should probably be fully vaccinated. I agree that measles, mumps and rubella are not too serious for children. Mumps and rubella can cause fertility problems if acquired as an adult, so I can see getting it done in the early teens. I'm not doing this because I'm trying to be a stereotype "natural parent". I'm more affected by the the thought that my son might never be able to be whatever he wants to be when he grows up because of autism spectrum disorder. His hemotologist has taken my concerns seriously. My boy also has a bleeding disorder and his Dr wants him to get the Hep A and B vax since his treatment is a blood product. I told him how worried I was about the vax-autism connection and he was very understanding and respected my need to think it over. They looked it up for me and let me know that the vax didn't contain thimeresol so we have decided to get that one. I really appreciated the way they handled my worries. Kathy
Kyndmama, I'm afraid I also have to take offense with this statement. It implies that I have less love or less at stake with my adopted son than I had with my bio children. Let me tell you something, all six of my children are my children 100%. If anything, I am more careful with my adopted son. Not because he's adopted but because I am older and wiser and try to take better care of him. Please don't think that people love their adopted children less than they do their bio children. Immunizations is a very personal subject. My son had already received many immunizations before we adopted him. He had not received prevnar. Within days of receiving prevnar he became ill. He now has so many allergies I can't count them all. I blame it directly on the prevnar. He had the second prevnar and became even more ill. Days after coming out of the hospital the doctor wanted to give him a third prevnar. I would not allow it. His immune system was too weakened by the asthma that put him in the hospital. Now, nearly a year later, he still has not had that shot. I never planned on getting the MMR for him. To be honest, it scares the hell out of me. I love my son too much to risk autism or all the other brain damaging side effects that go along with the MMR. And I think like someone else said, chicken pox is a big joke. Only for the convience of working parents. Well, I am a working parent, but I would much rather take time off for my son to have chicken pox than to poor more unnecessary chemicals into his little body. The US is the last country to remove themerisol from the immunizations that our children receive. Every other country removed it 10 to 15 years before this country did. Why do you think this is? Because it was cheaper for the drug companies to use it. Money governs health care in this country not medical need.Themerisol is still found in the flu vaccine that is pushed so much. My son's former doctor said he had to have the flu vaccine because he has asthma. I said he was not going to have it because he has asthma. His immune system is already too compromised to add other needless viruses to it. Every state has an exemption from immunizations. In the state I live in there is a medical and a religious exemption. My son will not receive any more immunizations. His doctor supports me in this decision. We raise him as naturally as we can, not so we can brag about it, but so he will have a chance to outgrow all the allergies and live a normal healthy life. You asked for my opinion. This is it. I'm not going to try to tell you how to raise your child. Don't tell me how to raise mine. And don't tell me my son is not my son just because he's adopted. Kathi
Do our vaccines still have themerisol in them? I have heard that there are no links between themerisol and autism and I have also heard that there ARE definite links between the two. Arggh!
It's my understanding that most of the vaccines that they give now do not have themerisol in them. The flu vaccine is one that I know does. I know there is a lot of debate about the issue. I'm not willing to risk my son's life on something that they can't give me a guarantee on. Just My opinion, Kathi
MY main point was that parents need to do their own research. There have been vaccines, at one time "proven" to be "safe" which have been withdrawn due to, guess what, HORRIBLE EFFECTS! The Rotosheild and the live Pertussis and the live polio are a few of these. Yep. But you won't know until you have brain damaged your child, and usually due to getting a vaccine for an illness they will never encounter. YOU won't know if your child will be the one effected until the damage is already done. PLEASE do your own research, and avoid the information given out by the drug companies. They were the people who told us the Rotosheild (which killed and maimed hundreds of babies in it's first few years, many of whom lived no longer have intestines) was "Safe, effective and neccesary." It was none of these things.
In the States, it is most likely that kids will never encounter measles, rubella, and other such diseases. But I'm raising my kids in Africa, so yes, I will get them vaccinated with the ones that I deem necessary.
Then your responsibilty is very different than those of us living in Western Europe, Canada or the US. You need to find out what diseases are common, information about how the children are vaxed and when, and just what you need to do to inform yourself. TB is common in parts of Africa, is it not as common in the US, in fact we do not even vax for it. You have a LOT of research to do.
I know, and I have a LONG time to do it!! I've been to Tanzania before, and I have a medical booklet about all the different diseases in different parts of the world. I'm also studying to be a nurse, so when I graduate I will have alot more info.
Thank you Kyndmama. It's easy for adoptive parents to take offense. We deal with so much stuff all the time. Why did you do it? How much did he cost? Didn't his mother want him? Couldn't you have real children? It gets old fast. Yes, with many older children the decision has been taken out of your hands. As was the early decisions with our son. Even though he was only 5 months old when we brought him home, he had already had a great number of vaccinations. Fortunately, he had not had the scarey ones yet. And he will not have them. Kathi
My daughter was a normal newborn but after one of her vaccinations, she began screaming...and she screamed and slammed her head on the floor...and she didn't stop crying and screaming for a year. She is now diagnosed with autism. Since themerisol has been used in vaccinations, autism has increased 300%. My daughter is one of the statistics. QUOTE=Strawberry_Fields_Fo]The only potentially dangerous thing about vaccinations would be the murcury content, as in some children it causes autism. Other than that, I don't see why you wouldn't. I went to Africa last summer and had more vaccinations than you could imagine, but I'm still here. You shouldn't jepordize your kids lives just so you can brag about having "natural" children. I say, better safe than sorry.[/QUOTE]
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. It is easy for some to throw around the statistics and say that it's for the greater good and stuff like that. But when it's your child that is effected the whole picture changes. What good did it do your little one? None, only harm. I can only hope that some day the medical profession will start listening to what's best for the children and not what's best for the pharmaceutical companies. Kathi
Vaccinations are essentially poisoning your child and hoping they survive it unharmed.If you poured mercury down your child's throat, the CPS would take your child away and the police would arrest you but every year, millions of children become a statistic in the insane vaccination program that has caused massive amounts of Autism in our society. My own autistic child told me she would never have children...It broke my heart to think about it but she has never had a friend outside of family and she is fourteen now. A girl asked my daugter if she could spend the night with her this weekend though. I aM HOPING it turns into a friendship... I asked my daughter who she was and she couldn't rememeber her name... Autism often takes away one's need to develop interpersonal relationships... I will not vaccinate aany more children with mercury laced themerisol again....
You can claim a religious exemption. There is a woman in this country who started a "church" specifically because she didn't want to immunize her children. I just got some of my son's done because I was supposed to start working and didn't have time to get the right paperwork and stuff in before the job and I was kind of forced by necessity. He is supposed to go in in two months and I plan to be very selective then. The state forgot, he already has many of the antibodies the government says he needs. I breastfed and my own body did the injecting.
