Group Discussions

What do you think about this vaccine STUFF??

Well, well, well, here we go again! We all keep coming back to these vaccines and how they negatively affect our children. I know that they were developed to help us, but I think they obviously need to modify their contents somehow and make them safer. I'm not a scientist, but this is ridiculous!

I have a friend who says she's not giving her children the vaccines and she is using religion as her reason why. And schools have to accept that! So the danger of the vaccines is pushing people away and I'm afraid that we are going to end up with more diseases?? But what do you choose?? Autism, or take your chances with sickness? After all, what are the chances of them getting a deadly disease? I wonder if it's more or less than their chances of becoming autistic.

Hmmmmmmmmmm... what do YOU think??

Flag as inappropriate Posted by on 12th March 2008
I didn't think twice about vaccinating my oldest but, for some reason, when #2 came along, I flipped. I got scared about what could happen. Then I had a long talk with myself and realized I don't want to lose my child and that is what ultimately could happen if she contracted some horrible illness I could have had her vaccinated against. I (we!) decided that we could handle the situation if she developed autism but we wouldn't be able to handle losing a child.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Mandy Nelson - Dandysound on 12th March 2008
I recently posted the same question and it something that is still very top of mind.

I was watching Chelsea lately last night and she had Jenny McCarthy on as a guest and her son developed Autism. She gave out the phone number to the white house and asked everyone to call for the regisnation of the the woman in charge of disease control.

She said the vaccinations need to be more spread out .

Chelsea Lately is on Late so I was half asleep...I don't remember too much more. But, I believe we need to fix something very serious here. I think VACCINATiON is IMPORTANT and wouldn't want to take too many chances not doing it but I am making the decison to go slowly and do it on my schedule. I have not given my daughter the MMR shot yet and I will wait until she is two or 2 1/2.

Between the increased amount of toy recalls and the debate over vaccinations it is so scary what really goes on.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by on 12th March 2008
I fully agree that they should be spread out! I think that is what scared me most - piling 5 diff things in one little shot. It's amazing more children don't spike fevers after that 18 month shot.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Mandy Nelson - Dandysound on 12th March 2008
Our oldest boy, who is 9 now, has a mild form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. His symptoms really showed up strongly soon after he got several mutli-disease vaccines at once just before he started kindergarten. This was in Florida, where the themerosol, a preservative containing mercury, was still used. So, no proof that his body was damaged by vaccines, but plenty of suspicion.

With our youngest two, we're vaccinating them, but we're spacing them waaaaaay out -- no more than two vaccines at the same time, and only one if it's a multi-disease one, and we're waiting on Hep B as long as we can. I believe that there's no reason a child needs to be vaccinated against Hep B right away -- There's a good article about it here: http://www.thinktwice.com/hepb.htm and another good (and much less inflamatory) article about it here: http://www.i4ph.org/vaccineInfo/vaccine_detail.cfv ?id=4

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Lylah M. Alphonse on 12th March 2008
Whoa Lylah, I read the think twice article and I had tears in my eyes. So scary.

I was told by my Dr. that her MMR shot did not have perservatives in it but still I am not ready to do it.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by on 13th March 2008
I am so freaked out about the vaccination stuff. We have decided to wait until at least a year old to start vaccinations. I won't be giving her hepb for a long time for sure. It's really hard to talk to physicians about this sort of thing though, I want to have a really frank discussion with her doctor before deciding anything further...but it's so hard to find someone who is willing to do that. I even had a pediatrician refuse to see my little girl.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by mamajama on 15th March 2008
I know I said this in the other question posted, but I'll just say it again

1) Try to avoid biased material. Either pro or anti-vaccination websites won't cover the whole story. Check your local library for medical journals. Read those. Those will have clinical studies. Also.. try reading international medical journals.. see what other countries do. Some of those websites that lean this or that will have a resource list... go through that.

2) Feel free to ask your doctor, but take into consideration that they get extra money for vaccinations from pharmaceutical companies. SOME vaccinations they do.. not all of them though. I feel some doctors do care about their patients though and strongly believe one way or another.. but don't let them guilt you into any decision!! My former one tried to with the flu shot... he even went so far as calling me a bad mother.

3) If you're not comfortable with your doctor.. you could call around to pediatrician offices to see which will allow you to delay. You could go on some "crunchy" mom boards and find your local area and if they have any pediatrician referrals. Or you could go to a local online mom's group (we have one for the state of GA) and ask some of those women who they have.

4) Don't freak out. Read articles, talk with people, read some more.. gain knowledge in this area because the more you know, the less afraid you will be. And then you'll make sound decisions for you and your child(ren).

And also keep in mind that whatever decision you made for your kids (whether to vaccinate, not vaccinate, or delay) is the right one. Don't let anyone make you feel otherwise

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Suzanne on 15th March 2008
What great advice Suzanne! It's so easy to get caught up in a ton of propaganda on both sides of the issue. Thanks for the level headed response.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by mamajama on 18th March 2008
For the record, I think vaccines are important as a society and generally believe that my son should get them.

Yesterday, I listened to a great podcast (Pediacast #80, 11/13/2007) where the host interviewed Dr. Sears Jr., who just wrote The Vaccine Book. I'm going out to buy it today to get myself educated. The interesting thing about the interview is that Dr. Sears said that 90% of what is in the book he did not know until he went out to do research and that he hopes pediatricians will read the book too, because they are not taught enough detail about individual vaccines in med school.

For instance, the combo shots are well-received by doctors b/c they are easier and by parents because that's fewer sticks with a needle, right? However, in the book he outlines that it takes more non-essential chemicals to get the combo shots to work, so by doing a combo you are putting extra chemicals in your child.

My takeaway: Get myself educated and ask good questions!

Flag as inappropriate Posted by BrendaG on 18th March 2008