Chicken Pox Vaccine

This has been a hot topic for me over the last few weeks. Our school district just announced that they require kindergartners to have, not only the original vaccine for chicken pox, but the booster as well.

This was a brand new vaccine the year my son was born. When he had it, they didn't know how long it would last or the severity of the chicken pox if he did get it. Not real helpful, but I dutifully got the vaccination, which was optional. My second and third children also received the vaccination.

Fast forward 4 years after more reading and knowing several children that have had chicken pox despite having the vaccine. The amount of time between boosters is getting shorter, too. We are the guinea pigs for this vaccine.

I talked with my pediatrician during the spring about this topic, before the school district made this their policy. She really wanted my oldest, 13, to have the booster because if he got chicken pox, it would likely be shingles at this point. I am probably okay with that decision.

I had been hearing so much more about shingles over the last few months, so I read up on it a bit more. I did not realize until a couple of years ago that shingles is basically chicken pox as an adult. It can be very painful and even life threatening. Chicken pox, when a child gets it, is rarely dangerous.

Years ago, as adults were around children -- and the population at large -- getting chicken pox, this was a good thing because it acted like a booster, protecting them from shingles. Now that chicken pox has been virtually removed from our US population we are seeing lots of older people having to get a shingles vaccine or actually getting shingles. We are giving a vaccine because of a vaccine! Just letting children get chicken pox would have been so much simpler.

So, now, if you decide to not have your child vaccinated against chicken pox and they are fortunate enough to actually get it, they will not have the natural booster of being around people with chicken pox throughout their life. They will eventually be forced into getting the shingles vaccine. Do you see where I am going with this? Americans have been forced into this system of vaccinations.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against all vaccinations. I think they have done some good things. This particular vaccination, however, is ridiculous. I am left with deciding, do I vaccinate my fourth child now, or in 10 years?

I live in Texas and it was incredibly simple to get the waiver for school. It is not a state law to immunize your child. The school nurse at my son's middle school recently sent home a paper that said that it was a state law that your child be current on his/her immunizations or they could not sit in the classroom. That is a false statement. Do not be bullied into immunizing your child if you do not feel good about it. Read up on it and be informed.

We will all be affected by this, not just our children. Good luck with this particular immunization -- now and throughout your life and your child's life.

[Continue Reading]

Vaccinations: A Tough Choice for Parents

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.

[Continue Reading]