Advice from Moms That Have Not Vaccinated Their Kids

The Senate passed a law stating it is illegal to keep a child from attending any time of school/activity for reasons of non-vaccination. Here's a link for the paper you have to sign and give to the school:

http://abibitumikasa.com/yabb/Attachments/DECLARATIONOFVA...

I hope this helps!

Don't vaccinate anymore. That pertussis comment...don't worry about it. Vaccines don't really work. The CDC just wrote an article admitting that that the whooping cough/pertussis vaccine doesn't work. If you want to read it, go to dr. tenpenny's fan page on face book and ask where you can find it. You will only do more damage to you child if you keep vaccinating. Become of fan of hers and ask this same question. You will feel so much better. She is the best person to ask because she is an expert on vaccines and the damage they cause and also how they make us more sick.

Thank you for looking into this for your children as YOU are their advocate and their only one when it comes to vaccines. You must do the research and then decide what is best for you and them AND you don't have to rush into it. You should be concerned as well when the CDC is now pushing up to 70 vaccines for children by the time they enter school.

In CA there are three different waivers that you have for exemptions to vaccines and never let a school district tell you that they are required (medical, religious, philosophical). I put all three down for my children. Both of my children have had reactions from vaccines and we stopped all of them for my daughter at age 18 months when I found out that she was allergic to eggs and soy. My son was not so lucky and had them through 5 years and also had a terrible reaction to a tetanus booster at 12.

Another question I always ask is why is the US so high on the list of infant mortality (meaning that so many more of our babies are dying than in most other countries) and why do so many of our infants have SIDS. Why are asthma, food allergies and seizures increasing among our children?

Did you know that the CDC has a delayed schedule that they have for their employees but a different schedule for the rest of the country? The AAP recommended schedule of shots for children is too many, too soon. Here are sites and books that I always recommend for people to start their research:

www.909shot.com
www.tacanow.org
www.nvic.org

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders, by Dr. Kenneth Bock

The Vaccine Book, by Dr. Robert Sears (a MUST for every new mom and you can go to his website at anytime for updates)

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childhood Vaccinations, by Dr. Stephanie Cave

Evidence of Harm, by David Kirby

ASK to see the package insert for ANY shot. Go in before the day of the shot to do this as it will take some time to read it all. Guess what? Most doctors have never read them. So my daughter developed food allergies to wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, yeast, all ingredients in vaccines. I provided a list of the ingredients to the shots that she was recommended to get at her 12 year 'well' visit check up to the doctor. The doctor had no clue that she was going to be injecting my highly allergic daughter with them.

www.nvic.org
www.mercola.com
http://www.russellblaylockmd.com/ (this is a noted neurologist who studies the effects of materials in the brain)

a video from 60 Minutes from 1979
http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2009/07...

So instead of vaccines, I work on boosting my children's immune system and we NEVER get a flu shot either:

Vitamin D3 - 1,000 mg to 5,000 mg a day
Omega 3 - 1,000 to 4,000 mg a day
reduce sugar
exercise
be well rested (mom needs to work on this one!)

Also, Tylenol has been recalled EIGHT times recently. This is the last thing to give your child, IMO, as it puts the immune system on hold for up to 21 days, stopping the production of glutathione as well as damaging your liver. Not something you want to be doing if you do decide to have them injected.

Take the time to read the package inserts. Look at the ingredients that are in each shot. Think about doing just one shot at a time if you are doing them. There are not studies by the CDC or NIH of multiple shots being given at a time and they say that the mercury has been removed (BS, most shots are started with it in them and then it is strained out, still leaving behind an amount that does not have to be reported) and what they have done is to replace it with aluminum instead. Another very neurotoxic substance.

Be concerned especially if you have already had problems with one child. When someone says 'but they prevent disease! How could you want to have the chance of your child dying!?!" most of these diseases were on the down swing. Read The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears as he breaks it all down about the disease, the history of it, the vaccine(s), makers, ingredients, the recommended and then his take on it. He also has a delayed schedule as there are some vaccines that children/infants should get /be concerned about AND he says that if you have a child with autism or other immune system problems DO NOT vaccinate your other children.

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In regards to the questions/comments on the current 'epidemic' of whooping cough. It is terrible that there have been some deaths, any is horrible, but give me a break on the reporting media (who are owned by Pharmaceutical companies). IF it had been all children who had not been vaccinated, we would have heard about it every day. Some of the deaths and cases were of babies younger than the age of the recommended shot schedule. Yes, the CDC even admits that the vaccine is not all that effective and, of course, boosters may be needed even more often.

Yes, you have a higher chance of getting sick if getting the shots because of the immune system not working right, the bugs being a bit different /mutated, and people having a false sense of security and possibly not taking as good of care of themselves through diet and food choices (organic).

How about watching for the symptoms and then get it treated right away. That is all about building the immune system and being able to take time off from work when you or a loved one is sick. Whooping cough is treatable. Catch it in time.

And to the person who is referring to Dr. Andrew Wakefield. You need to do a little more research on the whole matter and not just what the newspapers feed you:o) Go to the library /book store and check out his book that just came out, Callous Disregard. You will see that this has been a scam from the get go. He is the first to admit having his children's friends submit blood was cheesy but everything else about this and his study has an amazing different side to it.

The media is totally biased and slanted. Just take a look at the news in the past couple of days regarding the presidential elections and how it is coming out about the media leaving certain things alone regarding Obama's relationship and the history of Rev. Wright alone and telling the reporters to talk about Rove instead. You need to do the research yourself. You cannot believe just what your doctor tells you as they can't be on top of anything and do only what they are hearing /reading from the CDC and AAP. Do the research yourself.

We've traveled with our un-vaccinated kids to Mexico and the Bahamas. Our daughter was 9 months old when we went to the Bahamas and she was almost 3 and our son was 6 months old when we went to Mexico. They were fine.

We eat a balanced diet. (Salad almost every day.) We try to stick with ORGANIC fruits and vegetables and some organic with other foods. No POP, no fast food, etc.

Our kids also take Nordic Naturals Vitamin Berries and Fish Oils each day. They rarely get sick and when they do, they seem to bounce back very quickly. I can count on one hand how many times I've ever given tylenol to BOTH kids!

And we also use regular chiropractic care to keep our bodies aligned and able to fight off diseases.

My favorite website is www.thedoctorwithin.com, his book is called the sanctity of human blood. He has really good information on vaccine ingredients, the likelihood of contracting the diseases, etc. Here in Washington, we can sign a waiver for school for religious, medical, or personal/philosophical reasons. My kids are completely unvaccinated, have been sick far less often than any of their friends. They get adjusted at the chiropractor regularly, eat healthy, are exposed to germs and naturally occurring bacteria on a regular basis (ie we are not clean freaks!), limit hand sanitizer use, and they take vitamins, omega 3s, and probiotics. Plus they both nursed for around 2 years. Hope this helps! Feel free to message me anytime for more!

P.s. I'd like to add to all the moms who call non-vaccinators uninformed, uneducated, etc..how many moms that do vaccinate study the diseases, vaccinations, etc? Most moms I know who do it just do it because "the doctor or the government says it's right". The moms I know who don't do it read about it a LOT! I'd say it's quite the opposite situation when it comes to being informed and educated. Plus most unvaccinated families I know are highly educated, upper to middle class income families, doctors as parents, etc. Not just ignorant people that don't care about our kids!

Hi R.,
I have made the same decision due to autism in my husband's family and the fact that both my husband and I had adverse reactions after getting vaccinated. Instead of worrying about what my son might catch, I have invested my time in making sure I am building his immune system by focusing on nutrition. This includes a low sugar diet, lots of veggies, a good probiotic, and solely organic foods. He is 6 months old and just recently caught his first cold and recovered very quickly. If you vaccinate your child you have the same risk of catching the disease (with the added pleasure of adverse reactions), so why spend your time worrying about that?
As for school, depending on which state you live in you should be able to get the form from the school office stating that you are opting out. What may pose a challenge is getting your pediatrician to sign off on it if your pediatrician supports vaccinating. If this is the case, seek out a pediatrician that will support your decision first as it will make the entire experience much easier. A way to find one of these doctors is to go to the Dr. Sears website. He has a good list of doctors from many states that either support the alternative vaccination schedule or even will support no vaccinations at all.
It is true that this is a tough decision, but ultimately you know your kids and the dangers that they are being exposed to by immunizing, and therefore you have to be the one to speak for them.

Hi R.,

I have not vaccinated my children (My oldest got her vaccines through age 3. She's 18 now.) and we simply don't get sick. It has nothing to do with genetics. I was the sickly kid in and out of hospitals all my life. First, the vaccination process does weaken the immune system to things. The synthetic chemicals make our body work hard at fighting the chemicals so it is too weak to fight off natural things like germs and viruses.

My latest story that should give you some comfort.....I took my oldest daughter's friend to the hospital a few months ago. She had something go awry with her Type 1 diabetes. I sat in the ER with her for several hours and didn't know that there were 11 cases of H1N1 in there with me until it was time to go. Well, I did contract the H1N1 and it wasn't fun but it wasn't anything like what I was expecting. My family nursed me as if I had the flu and kept on with their lives and no one else in the family got sick. Their immune systems were strong enough to fight off even the toughest virus.

The newest research on vaccines has been published by the University of Pittsburg. People tell me all the time that brain damage has not been proven from vaccines....well, now I have read the document, cover to cover and it sure does. I'd like to see the pharmaceutical community do the same study and show me their results.

http://www.ane.pl/pdf/7020.pdf

God bless,

M.

Congrats to you, R., for your courageous decision. As a classical homeopath, I have seen the end results of sensitive kids who received too many vaccinations, and they are not pretty (the end results, that is). You can connect with local homeopaths to treat your children and enhance their immune systems naturally...even reducing their sensitivities in the long run. Best of luck to you!

You do not have to vaccinate your kids to let them go to school, but you do have to put that in writing. I vaccinated my daughter, but my duela and my babysitter did not. The duela has school aged kids and said that when they got the chicken pox, it was terrible, but otherwise she is happy not to have vacinated. My babysitter is home schooling, but goes to the park and to the library, and her kids don't seem to get sick any more than my daughter.
Accourding to my mother, who was a public health nurse, preschool and kindergarten are times to get introduced to all the diseases in the school system, and they will miss a lot of the first couple years...
Good luck!
R.

Well I live in Ca. and that whooping cough epidemic is right in my backyard. Scared me, yes. But I too question if vaccines do what they say. Why then are we having an epidemic? Because if the majority of those kids who are getting sick are unvaccinated, we'd hear about it! The media would be all over that, blaming those that choose not to vaccinate. But I have heard nothing of the sort...interesting.
I tend to believe the best immune response is a natural one. But with you traveling abroad and having such young children with sensitive immune systems, I would be nervous about not vaccinating. I have partially vaccinated, choosing some not all. And have spread them WAY out!!! It is a difficult choice, and at times I feel like we are playing Russian roulette. I have read about studies with the chickenpox vaccine leading to adult chicken pox and earlier on set of shingles. There is a long running study in China, as they have been vaxxing for chknpox for about 30 or more years. So, eliminating the chickenpox vax was a no brainer for me. Interestingly we have been around several outbreaks (all young children who had been vaccinated) and we did not get them... possibly because their case was so mild due to being vaccinated. As for any other infectious disease, we have not had any that I know of. I opted out of the MMR due to a family history of sensitivity. And to my knowledge we have not either of those diseases. My twins were born at 28 weeks, and were partially vaccinated. They have had many ear infections, fevers as high as 104, a few lung infections, but given their start in life I think they are fairly healthy and tend to bounce back relatively quickly. My 42 week baby is even less vaccinated and spaced out. But I would have to say he is generally healthier. Is that because he was full term, not vaccinated or has older brothers to jumpstart his immune system with their germs...?
As far as school, it depends on what state you live in. Some states actually have laws about who can opt out of vaccinations and still attend school. In Ca. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE VACCINATED AT ALL TO ATTEND SCHOOL! Google your states laws about this issue. My husband and I are teachers and our kids are in public school, it has never been a problem for me.

Wow. Tough stuff for sure. Regarding school, there is a section to mark where due to religious or personal preference.

With our first daughter, we didn't do any shots until she was two, and she was just fine. At the time, because of her young developing immune system, I wanted her to wait until she was stronger. Also, I have MS, so I was looking for any way to keep her from immune system healthier.

That was six years ago, and we are pregnant with number two. Now, after much research, I plan on going through the immunizations but only giving one live shot at a time. I may also delay until he is 6 months.

It is troubling to kick them with a powerful shot when they are so vulnerable and in your case, have weak systems to begin with. But having said that, we aren't traveling out of the country and do have the luxury of being semi insulated.

I wish you ease and luck with your decision. And I hope you aren't bombarded by cruel Moms who would rather put down your choice instead of support a fellow Mom with a difficult decision -- like we all should.

In CA your kids do not need to be immunized. there is a form you fill out asking why, and you can say what ever you want.
I have a child that is immunosuppressed, and immunized. He can not be placed in a classroom with a non immunized child, and if a kid in class gets a communicable disease my son has to go inpatient for observation and treatment. Because, if he gets it, he will die.
I am proimmunization, but, not for everybody. it just can't work for everyone. nothing does. Make the best choice you can. That is all any of us can do.

Couple things-
Sorry, but I think many responders have missed the mark. Most of these anecdotal comments about unvaccinated kids recovering from illness quickly, eating healthy, etc. aren't particularly relevant b/c 1) your child has a immune problem, and 2) these posters are talking about run of the mill viruses- not what you get vaccinated from. If any of us were alive during a small pox epidemic we would not be having this conversation. And a balanced diet is not going to prevent our children from getting polio, sorry. And it's dangerous to your child or my 6 month old, who's not old enough to be fully vaccinated, to be around unvaccinated children. I was so stressed during the H1N1 outbreak b/c my son has reactive airway disease and so was unable to get the 1st round of vaccines. I was freaking out b/c I knew how fragile he was to the illness, but some of his classmates' parents were opting not to vaccinate. While I understand their perspective, it seemed irresponsible to children like ours who maybe can't be vaccinated.
So for those children with medical issues, I understand you're in a different boat. I think you really need to discuss with your doctor. But given your child's condition i think you may have to consider giving up some travel time- or choose wisely where you go. I say that because of my experience. last year while abroad my toddler got extremely ill. It was the most terrifying experience of my life- trying to navigate a totally foreign health system, unable to communicate with doctors, and the whole while fearing our son was dying- I hope none of you ever have to be in a similar situation. On the other hand, if you insist on foreign travel, do look into Global Doctors. At least the ones in China were amazing, and it would have been helpful to have their number beforehand.
i know we just all feel the same way- it's so hard to see your kids sick and you want to do all you can to ensure they stay healthy in the future. There's just so much information to sort through.

Hi R.---Two other posts have mentioned the Dr. Sears 'Vaccination Book'. I also recommend it, as well as the www.nvic.org website.

It seems to me that you would do well to see if the Dr. Sears family would have an opening to be your kids pediatricians, considering their health issues. I have the honor of working with the Dr. Sears family in my wellness education business. In fact, Dr. Jim will be speaking for our group in the Chicago area on August 9th. Their offices are located in the Capistrano Beach area. More details can be found at their website, www.askDrSears.com.

Another suggestion I would have, as would Dr. Sears, is to help your kiddos (and the entire family's) immune system with a whole food based supplement, made from 17 different fruits and veggies that have been juiced and the dehydrated juice powders put into capsules and gummies. This 'food' has the support of almost 20 INDEPENDENT studies, many of which show a strenthening (don't sick as often, if so fewer and milder symptoms and shorter duration) and a balancing (fewer or eliminated allergies, or disorders such as lupus, RArthritis, etc) the immune system. Sounds like your kids need some extra nutritional support. Dr. Sears has been recommending this for about 13 years.

If you would like to know more about what I call my nutrition insurance (I don't think our food alone can keep us optimally healthy), feel free to contact me. We don't have to be victims to our genetics. We can help keep bad genes and other health issues from being a problem. Can I help suggest some options to think about? It would be my honor to help. Good luck! In health, D.

food for thought: When our son responded strongly to vaccines, his Dr. commented that if his body fights things off that hard, he will probably hardly ever get sick . He's seven now, and other than the typical round of being sick on and off for six months when he started day care, he is almost never been sick since.

There is currently an actual epidemic in California for pertussis which is whooping cough...a disease which was previously most gone is now back with a vengence...also infecting my six month old niece! Why do you ask is there an epidemic? Because ill-informed parents succomb to fear and paranoia and don't vaccinate their kids. That quack doctor who published and started the fear about autism and vaccines has now been completely discredited and is barred from medicine in his home country of England. They called his study fraud!
Now, if there is a legitmate reason your kids need to have their vaccinations delayed I would work that out with your educated and board certified pediatrician, not an internet chat group.
And...my niece was up on her vaccinations, but since she was only 6 months old, she was still at risk. Thankfully she's going to be fine, but there are more than five babies that have already died of pertussis this summer and at last count a few weeks ago more than 900 diagnosed. And...they don't think we've hit bottom yet.

Vaccinate people! It saves lives!
-M

Hi R.! I have 2 precious girls, a 5 and a 3 yr old. We chose not to vaccinate our children after a long process of educating ourselves. They are both attending a pre-school, both have been healthy (except for occassional virus which they get over with in a couple of days), and we believe have great immune systems due to the fact that their systems have had the chance to develop and build up immunity for life against those viruses they have contracted. Imagine that! Our older girl will be attending a public Kindergarten in September. In California, you only need to sign a waiver form to exempt your child from vaccinations to enter them in the schools (i.e., California law says your child can not be turned down from education just because of the parents' belief system). You are going down the right path, for your child and family. Trust your instincts. We did (despite all the criticisms) and we are very confident and glad we did.

If i were you, i would seek out the advice of an auto-immune disease specialist. the fact that you travel really complicates things.

you don't HAVE to vaccinate your kids to send them to school, though schools will likely tell you that you have to - understandably, they are concerned about sick kids. you will have to sign a release form indicating why your kids are not vaccinated.

your situation is rather unique since your kids have a KNOWN averse reaction to vaccines.

personally, i think that vaccination is important, but it has to be weighed against risks to the child.

goood luck!

My children are unvaccinated 6,4 and 18month old girls. I have never once regretted the decision not to vaccinate. They have been so amazingly healthy. 6yo was one time on 3days of a 10day Rx antibiotic for an ear infection. She just finished kindergarten with perfect attendance. School issues have never been a problem, you flip the shot card and sign off for no vacciantions. My 4 year has been in preschool since 2yo with no antibiotics to date and no school issues. My 18mo old no antibiotics to date. That's not to say we havent battled an occasional cold, flu, etc. but natural health care and chiropractic have kept us all healthy. It's a very difficult and personal decision but follow your head and heart and your remain on course for your own decision because many will try to change your decision and judge you for it. I can only speak for my healthy crew when I look around at their peers battling ear tubes, asthma, allergies..................Good Luck

I agree that the Dr. Sears book is a valuable resource - we have done some vaccines and not others after reading the full information. However, given that you travel globally - there are shots that you might want to consider getting or ones that are required for your place of travel.

Find a doctor who is open to your views.

Good luck.
blessings,
Stacy

Hi R.,

I can appreciate your predicament and am glad that you're delving into the medical literature first for some insight. You situation is likely to be unique from most moms who will respond on this site, however.

First of all, it would help if you could be more specific about the health problems your children have experienced following immunizations. Did you report the problems to the pediatrician? Does the doctor agree that the immunizations were causal? This is important to determine, because there's a possibility that whatever problems you've seen are coincidental to vaccination, and could have nothing to do with it. It doesn't sound like it, and sounds like you've been doing some substantial reading, but it's important to consider the possibility.

Second, you mention that you do a lot of global traveling. Is this with or without your children? Is it to areas that have high endemicity or prevalence of the diseases for which you're considering not immunizing your children? What will be their exposure risk? If you travel without your children, for example, it is unlikely that you will expose them to a vaccine-preventable illness upon your return, assuming that you have either already had that disease or have been immunized against it.

If your children travel with you, however, and if you're taking them into a region of the world where there is a high risk that they can be exposed to a disease for which they have not been vaccinated, then you should strongly consider either not taking the children, or speaking to a pediatric immunologist or infectious disease specialist about what precautions you should take to protect your children. This will vary from disease to disease, based upon how endemic it is in the population, whether or not there is a current outbreak, and how dangerous the disease is if it is contracted. Keep in mind that your children's risks are going to be VERY different from those of unimmunized children in the US, because they are at lesser risk than children in undeveloped areas of the world. It's easiest to illustrate this with a few examples. If you take your kids to Mexico, hepatitis A is highly endemic. However, it is fairly easy to protect your children from HAV, because it is a food bourne illness. Taking care to insure good hand hygiene of the person preparing the food and drinking bottled water offers sufficient protection. Also, HAV is rarely serious, especially in young children, and most people who contract it never know they've had it. BUT, if your children have any kind of primary immune deficiency, it (and in fact, any disease), can be very dangerous: HAV can become fulminant and cause liver failure and death. This is very rare, however. Other diseases that carry a similar low risk would be Chicken Pox (Varicella) and Measles (Rubella). While both of these are fairly benign diseases, some very severe complications can occur in rare cases, such as pneumonia in the case of Varicella, and blindness, hearing loss, or other neurological damage in the case of Rubella. Again, these are rare complications, but the risk is greater if your child has a suppressed immune system.

Other diseases are much more dangerous. Obvious ones are Pertussis (whooping cough, which can be fatal for babies. If you've ever seen a child with pertussis, you'll understand why immunization is so important -- it's a horrible disease), Diptheria, and Tetanus, all of which are painful killers. Pertussis is a problem right now here in California. Tetanus can be contracted anywhere following an injury, and Diptheria can be contracted where ever unsanitary food and water conditions exist. Other diseases, such as hepatitis B, may show no symptoms in a young child, but children under the age of 5 who contract HBV have a very high risk of developing chronic HBV, which can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer 30 - 50 years later. Fortunately, HBV is not easy to contract but it is highly endemic in Africa, most Asian countries, and the Pacific Islands. Hib, which causes meningitis, however, is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and has a 50% or higher mortality rate (depending on the area and level of care available). Children who survive often have to have multiple limbs amputated during the course of the disease as a result of sepsis.

So, you can see, R., the answer to your question is not a simple one, and not one that can be safely answered with anecdotal evidence. I'm sure you've heard from many moms who have chosen to not immunize and have perfectly healthy kids. This is because they're not exposed to vaccine-preventable diseases, since the vast majority of kids in the US are immunized, so most of these diseases are on the wane and it's hard to come in contact with someone who has the disease. But, if your child is going to be in areas where they will be at much higher risk of exposure, you can't compare apples to oranges. Whereas it sounds like you have good reason to be concerned about further vaccination for your children, you and your children's doctor will have to weigh the risks of vaccination against the risks of disease exposure, and the potential for morbidity or mortality. This may not be an easy decision to make.

Hi R.,
I feel for you. Yes it is a hard decision. I decided not to vaccinate my first child (now 7) but when whooping cough was big, I did one for that. She proceeded to get a sinus infection, which caused the doctor to put her on 21 days of antibiotic. She then got a terrible cough, which the doctor said was bronchitus (sp?) and prescribed more antibiotics. I then turned around the next day and went to see my other doctor (who was more pricey so I did not see him much, but since he is anti vaccine, I like going to him). When he said do not take the antibiotics, I moved to him permanently and never took another vaccine. My daughter never got sick enough to go the doctor (keep in mind my doctors office talks to me on the phone when the kids have a fever so I can wait a few days to see if it goes away and it always has, except when she got the swine flu (possibly) last year and had 105 for five days and then it went away. I did not go into the doctors until it came back a day later at 102 and I was scared it was secondary. She got better and is now naturally vaccinated). My son, now 6 has never been vaccinated and has yet to visit the doctor for a sick visit. He has only gone once a year (except for the well baby visits before 1). My doctor has said that kids that are vaccinated come into the office more often with sicknesses than those who are not. He does believe there is a connection with vaccines and autism. I have MS and he thought that if my kids were vaccinated, there could be a risk for them in connection with that. BUT, now you have other issues. I think the sensitivity of your kids my not be an issue, since I think they would be stronger if they were not vaccinated. But it depends on what their sensitivities are. Like, if they have asthma, then the risk of not getting the swine vaccine was big. So you have to see how great a risk it is for them (because of their sensitivity). I think the international travel is an issue too. The basic view is that most of the illnesses are not around (like Polio) so the risk of negative effects of taking the vaccine is more than getting the illness. But if you are traveling to Africa, then you have to consider the illnesses that are more popular there and take care to protect your kids against those illnesses (unless they are illnesses that may not be typically problematic, like chicken pox).

I am sorry I can not guide you more. It is a scary decision, so I guess as long as they are here lay low on the vaccines. We did take our daughter to London with any vaccinations at 11 months, and that was no problem.

They are in public school and on the back of the vaccination form that the school gives is the legal waiver form that you can sign. I do not know how private schools work, but legally they would have to excuse you if you provided the legal waiver.

Good luck,
D.

Just spread the shots out over a longer period of time and don't do more than one or two together. You are crazy to not vaccinate your child especially if you travel a lot. You are putting your own child at risk as well as those around you. These are not just minor colds we are talking about - they are life threatening illnesses. Be responsible for everyone's sake.