Shots
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

I am totally confused about vaccinations. I've been reading a bunch of articles and forums and it's so difficult to tell whether or not a source is reputable or just full of crap. My gut tells me to pass on ALL immunizations. But then I started thinking if we decide to selectively immunize and/or delay immunizations, I want to be as informed as possible. Well, of course I want to be informed either way. A friend of mine has not given her 6 month old son any shots at all and has recently decided to go ahead and do the DPT shot...or DTaP, whatever you want to call it. She said that her son's pediatrician is okay with her skipping all the other vaccinations, but he feels strongly that she should at least give her son the DPT shot.

And then, here I am reading articles that give accounts of babies going into convulsions and having bad fevers and possible brain damage after getting the DPT shot. Sheesh. From what I can tell, these cases are extremely rare....... but it still doesn't sit right with me. The question is WHICH poses more risk: the vaccination shots and their possible adverse reactions, OR the chance of our child acquiring one of these diseases??

Here's a thought that keeps coming to my mind in all of this: The Amish have almost no incidence of Autism. They also do not vaccinate their children. I doubt that's a coincidence.

Labels: health

posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 10:58 PM,

12 Comments:

At Thu Feb 15, 07:48:00 AM CST, Anonymous said...: Yes its your kid, do what you want with him/her, however, dont you think that the kid who didnt get their shots would be pretty upset at you if they got severly sick from one of these diseases/illnesses? By immunizing your kid, you are giving them the best protection a parent can do.
I know most of the diseases are rare, but they still happen, and the chances are slim, but at the same time, are you willing to take that chance with your childs life?
At Thu Feb 15, 08:37:00 AM CST, eipwek said...: Yeah, obviously that is something I'm taking into consideration. But that's what makes this decision so difficult....because it is NOT a one-sided issue. There are also DANGERS involved with the immunizations themselves. Google it. The info is out there.
At Thu Feb 15, 08:40:00 AM CST, eipwek said...: Oh yes, and I forgot to add: I would beg to differ that the "best protection a parent can do" is NOT necessarily a series of shots, but rather the natural immunizations that come from mother's milk. In my humble opinion.
At Thu Feb 15, 11:59:00 PM CST, eipwek said...: The more I mull over the anonymous comment above, the more I think that it is riddled with ignorance.

This may be an unfair assumption, but I would bet money that this poster has not done any research whatsoever on the safety of vaccinations....and a parent (I don't know if this person is a parent or not) who makes such decisions, blindly trusting the medical establishment to inform them of what is "safe" and what is not, is most definitely "taking a chance" with their child's life.....much more so than a parent who is carefully scrutinizing both sides of the issue in order to make the best decision for the health of their child.

I bet my child would be "pretty upset" (ha! to say the least) if he or she had an adverse reaction to one of these said "safe" injections and ended up with a permanent neural injury, such as autism. That would probably be a tad more upsetting than a bout of scabby chickenpox.

I know that last paragraph is a tongue-in-cheek over simplification, but I just wanted to make this point: The parent who either "fully" or selectively vaccinates their child and the parent who chooses to forego vaccinations altogether are BOTH taking a risk with their child's life at some level.

The important thing is that the parent INFORM him/herself as much as possible and choose the path that appears to pose the least amount of harm to the child.

I'm sure some of my wording makes it seem as though I've already made up my mind on the subject, but that's not true. My husband and I may very well find out with more research, thinking, and praying that we will administer some vaccinations. We may find all of them completely unnecessary. I don't know yet.

But I do know that it is silly to assume that someone is flippantly and non-chalantly "willing to take a chance with their child's life" just because they are choosing to second-guess what society has deemed to be safe.
At Fri Feb 16, 10:58:00 AM CST, Wendy @ WMF said...: This is such a touchy subject, and all the info available is either totally pro vax or totally against. There really is no middle ground.
I, personally, have delayed several vaccinations. I can give you the details if you want them. I would have skipped all vaccinations and left my sons uncircumcised if it was up to me, but, ultimately I had to follow my husband's wishes.
The best advice I can give you is to pray about it with your husband and do what God tells you to do. Oh, and ignore anonymous posts!
I have a child on the autism spectrum. Was it caused by immunizations? I guess I'll never know. I will say there are a few other things that might case a difference between the Amish and society at large--exclusive breastfeeding(I know you are going to bf, but many don't), no TV, fresh natural food, no food additives. I hope you know I'm not trying to be argumentative here.
I will say my Aspergers daughter did have a reaction to the MMR--hives and diarrhea.
Just some food for thought..
Hope I have not come across as offensive (like I said-this is a touchy subject :)
And I hope I haven't left you even more confused!
At Fri Feb 16, 03:58:00 PM CST, Sorlil said...: totally an individual decision - people will criticise you either way, you just do what you feel comfortable with. I feel it's too big a risk not to get Sorley immunised esp. with the early jags against polio, whooping cough etc. But I have big questions about the MMR and think I will get the shots done separately.
At Fri Feb 16, 06:58:00 PM CST, Jae said...: You are smart to be mulling this all over before the baby comes. I have several friends that did not vaccinate. I am sure if I had more information before kids, I probably wouldn't have either. As it is, there are several I will not give mine in the future. Here are a few links to a blog by a friend of mine, on this very subject. http://nedlife.com/blog/?p=70
http://nedlife.com/blog/?p=125

You are a very concious and good Mama already. :)
At Sat Feb 17, 04:05:00 PM CST, Tamara A said...: hey there- i am a 30 year old pregnant woman and have been struggling with the idea of shots too. I haven't come across anything conclusive yet. My gut tells me 'no' and I am encouraged by the fact that my mum didn't give me any shots and I turned out fine-- though as a kid I always worried I'd get polio... ;- )
At Mon Feb 19, 11:26:00 AM CST, Danielle said...: I totally missed all the drama!!!!

Okay, I got Max immunized on a delayed schedule and I'm thinking with Eowyn I'll delay it even more. I'm thinking I want to wait until she is 2 yrs old to do most of the shots. What I have recently found out, is that some of the vaccines are made from cells from human embryos. I am praying about it. I don't know what to do either. I know that since the masses do get immunized, these diseases are less likely going to attack our children but the overseas thing and the unknown...yah, it's a lot to think about. I'm right there with ya. I gotta go to the doctor with Eowyn in a couple weeks and I'm just so unsure of what I'll decided. Ugh.
At Tue Feb 20, 01:16:00 PM CST, Lee said...: I immunized my oldest without any second thoughts; immunized my second with reservation...and now, expecting the third I'm wondering about the safety/necessity of immunizing at all. For me I can say it's just been personal growth and becoming more comfortable researching on my own as well as following my mama instincts. I'm not sure if we will immunize this one or not - I'm sure we will delay immunizations at least.
Very tough decision.

Lee
At Sat Feb 24, 02:39:00 PM CST, Annika said...: My son is nine months old and has not had any vaccinations yet. I am still struggling with the issue and may get some of the shots done, but definitely not all. The more I read, the more it seems that vaccines are approved before sufficient testing can be done and with questionable motive (for instance, the new vaccine for cervical cancer was approved because of a push from a congressman with ties to Merck, who manufacture the extremely new vaccine). It has only been ten years since it was discovered that the mercury in the shots was harming children. Who knows what we will find out about the replacement preservative!

At least I will not have to fight anyone about the chicken pox vaccine (which I think is ridiculous), because he caught chicken pox FROM HIS PEDIATRICIAN at five months.

Sorry you're already getting drive-by parenting assvice. You will make the best decisions you can and your child will understand.
At Sat Feb 24, 02:41:00 PM CST, Annika said...: P.S. Anecdotally, my father was vaccinated for polio when he was 14 and the vaccine made him sick. Doctors in the early sixties were so pro-vaccine that they claimed it wasn't polio and didn't treat him. He is fine, but has severe scoliosis.