I had a question on vaccines, which I knew would eventually come up. And yes, it is like opening a can of worms. In fact, I'm not even sure where to start or what to say. I have pondered this for days...
Here's my story of vaccinations:
First baby: Do whatever they say you should do.
2nd baby: Do whatever they say you should do.
3rd baby: Delayed all vaccinations for 6 months, but she is up to date and has been for a very long time.
4th baby: Read lot of articles, teaching Bradley, and really wanted to be anti-vaccination because I felt like I should because of how I do other things. I was pretty freaked out by what I read. The majority of my information was from Mothering articles. I felt overwhelmed by all the information, and to be honest, I didn't really enjoy reading it. Darcy will be 4 in the spring and has had a handful of immunizations. I do one or two every now and then. This is where my true honesty comes in. I may be condemned by my natural childbirth counterparts, but I believe in being honest.
I have done loads of genealogy work and have read about lots of my family members that died, not all that long ago, from diseases that are largely not even heard about today. I believe that some vaccinations have done some good things.
What I, personally, perceive as the problem now is how many vaccinations are given at once. Parents should be very concerned over this issue. My oldest child is 12 and since he was born, they are giving so many more vaccinations at once than ever before. If your child reacts to a vaccination, you won't know which one it is if he was given 5 or 6 at once.
I don't believe that any baby needs a vaccination at birth, no matter what it is. The Hep B is made out to be a vaccination that your baby must have before leaving the hospital, but it is NOT required. Speaking of that word: No immunization is required. You always have a choice. Your child can also attend public school without having been immunized. You will have to jump through some hoops and fill out paperwork, but no one can MAKE you immunize your child.
I have a friend whose 2nd child is autistic. They have 5 children in total. Because of their risk, they did lots of research on vaccinations and delayed many and skipped some. She educated herself and they made decisions based on what they believed to be best for their children.
I read an article (again, in Mothering!) written by Dr. Robert Sears about aluminum in vaccinations. The book he has written is The Vaccine Book. If you click on that, it will take you to his blog where he will answer specific questions about immunizations. Some good info there. The affects of so much aluminum, according to Dr. Sears, is something that is not clear. It is recommended that no one have more than 250 mg of aluminum a day, but in a given day at the pediatrician's office, your child could receive up to 1200 mg at once.
What is a parent to do? In The Vaccine Book, Dr. Sears outlines a different immunization schedule that he considers to be more safe for your child. A lot of pediatricians are not going to be happy with you bucking the system. If that's the case, it's time to get a new pediatrician! In fact, when you are shopping around, don't even worry about all the other questions, such as how they feel about breastfeeding (they are all going to say it is best, initially) or circumcision, etc. Just ask if Dr. So-and-So "will accept patients who choose not to immunize." It doesn't even matter if you plan to vaccinate or not. If they respect your decision to not vaccinate, they will respect you in other areas of parenting your child.
I would also be wary of all the new vaccines, such as the HPV for girls; and even the chicken pox vaccine. They don't really know how long it lasts and now kids are receiving boosters every few years. It's much worse to get chicken pox (shingles) as an adult than as a child. I think my sister would agree that we loved spending 2 weeks of our 1st and 3rd grade at home playing Monopoly every day! Funny that I don't really remember the chicken pox, but I do remember all the games we played during that time.
These are the choices we have made as the parents of our 4 children. Educate yourselves and make decisions that feel right to you and your family.
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