children and vaccines

These two words don't go together in our family. After much research before our son was born, we decided that we would selectively vaccinate our children. After our son was born, and much more research, we decided that we would delay all vaccinations until such time as our son could decide for himself. Why, you ask?

Besides the ongoing vaccine recalls, the questionable ingredients in vaccines (including mercury and other harmful toxins), the debate about whether vaccines truly work as well as reported, and the massive numbers of people with reactions to vaccines, some including irreversible damage or death... my son has a healthy immune system; he was exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of his life and will continue to be breastfed until the benefits are no longer sustainable or he decides to wean; and on top of all that, he is not likely to contract any disease that there is a vaccine for that is life threatening.

Right now, in the USA, the choice to vaccinate children is left solely up to the parents. This means that parents have an obligation to educate themselves about this choice and not to blindly accept the advice or pressures from outside sources, including healthcare professionals, the school district or other parents... This education should cover some specific bases... one mother I know said this:

"I wrote down all my questions in a Word doc. Made a list, something like this:
What is the disease?
Who is most at risk?
What percentage of people who get the disease die?
Who do those people tend to be? (old, children, etc.)
Is there a geographical component?
What are the known risks of the vaccine?

Go on from there. then under each question I went to the CDC site and gathered data until I felt like I could answer that question.

If you choose to vaccinate your children, you DO have options and you DO NOT have to follow any schedule set forth by any organization, you may choose to follow the CDC schedule, or an alternate schedule agreed to by your doctor, or one that you decide on yourself. Two things that you should always do, if you choose to vaccinate are
1. always break up combination vaccines, such as the MMR and the DTaP. Yes they can do this, although you may have to insist on it before your doctor admits it. Because it is more hassle for them to order them separately, they cannot bill you for the cost above what the insurance company pays them, and insurance companies do not compensate them for the added expense.
2. do not get more than one vaccine per healthcare visit. By doing this, you are better able to watch for side effects and to report any reaction to your doctor or healthcare professional immediately.

If you decide that you do not want to vaccinate your children, you cannot be forced by any authority to do so. People often say that " fill in the blank said it was a law to vaccinate my children, I had no choice!" this is not true. THERE IS NO LAW REQUIRING A PARENT TO VACCINATE THEIR CHILDREN.

For more information, check out these links:

http://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html - The CDC's database of reported adverse reactions to vaccines. A doctor told me that this database only contains about 10% of the actual reactions to vaccines because doctors often fail to report, death is attributed to other causes, or parents don't see a connection and don't report to the doctor.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_wk.html - The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

http://www.marytocco.com/questions.htm - Questions every parent should ask about vaccines.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/alston/alston33.html - A website about the flu shot and other vaccines. Contains information questioning the efficacy of vaccines in general.

http://www.generationrescue.org/vaccines.html - A website dedicated to the research of the link between vaccines and Autism in children. The link listed goes to a page on this site that lists things every parent should know before vaccinating their children on the CDC schedule.

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/package_inserts.htm - Package Inserts and Manufacturers for some US Licensed Vaccines

http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller15.html - A doctor's take on vaccinations


http://www.vaclib.org/exempt/washington.htm - WASHINGTON STATE - IMMUNIZATION EXEMPTION INFORMATION

I hope that the above information can help someone come to a decision regarding vaccinations and the children in their family.

9 month well-baby

Alex had his well-baby checkup today and weighed in at 21 lbs 2 oz. and is 28 3/4 inches tall... doc said he is doing fantastic! He is more advanced physically and mentally than many babies his age... he can do everything that 10-11 month old babies can do and Doc was pleased... in spite of us ignoring almost all the parenting advice he gave us in the beginning... Then he said we had to get his iron levels checked..... for those of you who have never had to stand there and watch them draw blood from your precious baby, all I can say is you can't understand till it's your kid screaming!

We went to the pediatrician's office lab and they would not allow me to nurse Alex during the draw so we decided to go to another facility to have the blood drawn... I was nursing him just fine... the phlebotomist stuck him with the needle.... he looked at her like "what'd you do that for" and went back to nursing... then, because she did not get the vein on the first try, starts moving the needle around and trying to get the vein... that was it! he started crying at the top of his lungs tried to get his arm away from her, but daddy was holding his arm still and he could not move it, I tried singing to him, tried nursing him, nothing worked... finally it was over the EVIL woman got the blood she needed and put a cotton swab on his HEMMORAGING arm (okay so the lady was doing her best and it wasn't really bleeding much, maybe I am exaggerating, but he's my baby!) and let me rock him, she then tapes the swab to his arm and I gave Alex to his daddy who danced around the room talking softly to Alex till he was calmed down and snuffling from the AGONY of it all.... I hope Daddy's back doesn't pay for that later....

so all in all it wasn't so bad, but it was the first time Alex has had a needle touch him since his PKU test when he was 2 days old! I hope his other firsts go smoother....