Hi all

I have been doing some research on vaccinating infants, and the information I am getting is making me very anxious about this, and I am thinking not to immunise my baby.

He has already had his first triple antigen with no reaction, but now some of the information I am reading is talking about increases in autism in infants, brain damage, mercury in vaccines etc etc.

I don't want to put my infant in harms way, and if it means NOT vaccinating him then I wont.

What do you all think please????

I think it's a personal decision you have to make for your child. I'm a nursing student and wrote a 12 page report on this subject, so I Really spent a lot of time researching everything! I had to write of the pros and the cons. In my opinion the pros out weighed the cons, so my son has been and will continue to be vaccinated. Myself and everyone I know was vaccinated, and I don't know anyone personally who had ANY kind of problem.

As far as them increasing the Autism rate: This is still a very controversially matter. The research is not sufficant enough to say "yes it does increase the risk, or no it's does not". It depends on what you read, and who's saying it.

So I would say to continue to do some research and make the decision you feel is best.

Thanks so much for sharing, Karen! :wave:

It's good to hear from someone who has done as much research as you have, and a nursing student as well.

At the moment with my little one it's so hard to get enough time to fully reserach this. I just don't have hours upon hours to devote to it. I am lucky these days to get a shower in, let alone much else. :eek:

And like you say, I too don't know of anyone who has experienced problems from vaccines.

Another thing that concerned me was that they put mercury into vaccines, and that would be going straight into my baby's body. Not good! What are the risks one takes of NOT vaccinating one's infant????

Again, thanks for your time. I know how valuable that is being a first time mum.

Both of my children have been vaccinated and I had no probelms at all. As in problems of not getting the shots...all of the diseases that they are protected from getting the vaccines will not be there. Once they start school they HAVE to be vaccinated, so that means alot of shots at one time.

I will always remember my 10th grade algebra teacher, she had Polio and she got it because her parents DID NOT get her vaccinated when it first came out. Now she has to spend the rest of her life on chruches and she is unable to stand without braces on her legs.

I have never done any research really into the cons of vaccinations, for me it was always the best way to protect my child. I do remember asking my sons doc about the mercury thing and she said that it's no longer a problem. Since you don't have endless hours to spend doing research (I now how you feel there, I barely get to use the restroom) talk to your childs doc, tell them that you are having some issues with the shots and you need to know the best thing to do for your child.

Check out the vaccination board. Also check out the Autism board. I chose not to immunize my 3 kids and all are healthy. Shots are NOT REQUIRED to enter a public school. You can obtain a waiver, different ones for each state. Private schools are not legally required to accept your waiver but public schools cannot refuse your child admission.

thermosil (sp?) the mercury, is not put into vaccines anymore. Ask you doc to make sure you are getting the newer non-thermosil vaccines. The only one they put it in anymore is the flu vaccine.

It is just my opinion, but I think the pros of vaccines far outweigh the cons. All three of my children have received all of theirs and other than some fussiness for a day or two afterwards, and a slight fever after some of them, we had absolutely no problems. I have a nephew in MN who contracted menigitis before the vaccine came out, when he was 17 months old. He was in the hospital for 10 days, nearly died and his hearing was effected. I have also seen a baby in the hospital with pertussis. It was not a pretty sight and I do not ever want my children to suffer needlessly from illnesses like those. When parents say they do not immunize for various reasons they always mention diseases like chicken pox and measles. They can be serious and dangerous if others such as pregnant women or young infants catch them from your unvaccinated child, but far worse are diseases like dipthreia, tetanus, meningitis and polio. I would not want to take any chances on those very serious illnesses.

A PP mentioned that all children can be admitted to public schools with a vaccination waiver. I beg to differ. I have been a public school teacher in the state of FL for 24 years and the only way here that a child can be admitted without vaccines is through a medical (which must be documented by your child's doctor) or religious waiver. You cannot just opt out and get your child in school here.

Good luck with your decision. I know it is hard, but there really is very little to fear.

Nancy

I stated that there are different requirements for different states to obtain a waiver. As mentioned, FL has a religious and medical waiver. That is just my point, these waivers can be obtained. I didn't say that it was just as easy as saying no, but you can have your child admitted without vaccinations. Other states have a philisophical exemption stating that for whatever reason you object to the vaccines.

As far as mercury not being in vaccines anymore, find out a list of the things that are in them and you may be surprised.

Either way, good luck with your decision, it is a hard one.

I am with dannysmom on this. My DS is not vaccinated and we have a waiver. But I so have to say go to the vaccination board on this as it can be a pretty heated arguement. Also, dannysmom is right in saying check out what is in the them. They call mercury by many names, so you can ask your Dr if mercury is in the ingredients and it won't be listed but there may be some long word with 20 letters in it and how on earth do you really know what that is?? You don't and they just put it in your baby. You can ask the Dr about it but since they are all for it are they going to tell you truthfully what it is. It is the not knowing that bothers me. And the idea of my poor baby having a fever and being miserable just for a vaccine. To me that outwieghs the disease that he may get.
On the other hand my mom is all for it since my sisters got whopping cough and chicken pox (she didn't vaccinate orginally). But then my sister-in-law almost died as a baby from whooping cough but my mother-in-law is still strongly against it. In the end all of them sufered but there is no ill effects.
You have an option of not doing them now but waiting until the child is older.

I was against the vaccine at first and actually waited until about 4 days ago to get dd her first set of shots. She is four and a half months old. I was soooo scared of them! But recently we had a cousin whose baby died at 4 months of an illness. That right there was enough for me.

The cdc website has a lot of information on the specific diseases and the vaccinations.

A few points of clarification:
Most shots do not have mercury in them anymore and that was the controvercial ingredient that was linked to autism. Ask your pediatrician if they have thimerosal in them (that's the technical name for the mercury additive).

You do not have to get your child vaccinated in order for them to go to school. Some states require a medical or religious waiver and some states will allow a philosophical waiver. I think the CDC website had that information when I looked for it.

The bottom line I think is that you have to research the best you can and make the decision you are comfortable with. I think every mom struggles with this decision. The information is not really out there because the info we really need would be unethical to perform studies to get. Personally, I researched the diseases they vaccinated against and made my decisions that way. You can pick and choose on the vaccines or have them spread out over longer periods of time if you're more comfortable with either of those options.

All of the moms I personally spoke with about this issue agreed that the diseases would be worse than the majority of the side effects. I think that's true with the exception of the chicken pox, so I'm going to wait on that one and give DD a chance to get them on her own.

As everyone else has said this is a personal choice. For me I've never considered not vaccinating DD. She's had her first set of shots with no side affects at all, she wan't even grizzly and even when she had the shots she barely cried. The illnesses that they are vaccinated against are terrible things and before the vaccines many many babies died or were permanently disabled by things such as meningitus (sp?) and polio. DD hasn't had chicken pox shots - I'm in the UK and they don't vaccinate against chicken pox here as standard. I've heard that chicken pox is usually very mild in young children so I'm not worried about that one.

If you are worried, do do some research on both the affects of the illnesses and the vaccinations and then you'll have to decide which is the greater risk - the chance of your child having a side effect from vaccination or the chance of them being seriously affected (or worse) by catching one of these illnesses. A truly horrible choice I know and only you can decide what is right for you and your baby.

Spanish

http://www.comcast.net/news/health/index.jsp?cat=HEALTHWELLNESS&fn=/2005/10/13/241437.html

Here is a story that can happen if you dont vaccinate.

We have had all the shots so far, and will have all the rest. My Dad had polio too, and I couldn't imagine seeing my baby go through what my Dad has. There used to be a larger risk because vaccines were made with live viruses, that's actually how my Dad got polio. But only the MMR, and chicken pox are live now. So there is no risk of the others.
As far as the chicken pox vaccine goes, I personally think that is the silliest thing in the world! Chicken pox are rarely ever dangerous to children, and even the kids who get the shots still sometimes get it. A kindergarten class around here all got their shots, probably about 12,cause the rest already had had chicken pox, and 8 of them got chicken pox from the shot. A milder case, yes, but they still got them. So, I just think that one is crazy, but if it is required then I will get it.