For Moms Who Have Chosen NOT to vaccinate...a Question

I completely agree with Devon! That was completely uncalled for!! This is such a controversial issue and everyone has their opinions, however respect for one another on this forum should be number one. With that being said, L., I don't vaccinate my children. I have an 8 year old and a 4 year old. Since you have already done all of the research I won't go into why or what my beliefs are as far vaccinating. The only problems that I have ever had was one doctor told me that he would not see my kids anymore because of "insurance" reasons. That was 4 years ago in California and I have not had any problems since. More and more people have made this decision as well and it seems that doctors are more open minded these days. I also had advice from one daycare to never say that you have given any vaccinations. Just sign the waiver and say nothing. I don't know if that is valid or not, but I always just sign the waiver under "personal beliefs" and hand it in to the school or daycare and no one ever has said anything to me. Not even a harsh look. So rest assured there is really nothing to worry about aside from the nasty remarks you get from some people as you have already experienced. I don't regret my decision at all! My kids are healthy, strong and smart. Good luck and if you ever want to chat on this subject, feel free to e-mail me.

I have two small children and I certainly understand your concern about vaccinating, but I beg you to reconsider your position. The reason polio is so rare around the world is b/c vaccinations have been widely used to erradicate it. Children in third world countries get stricken with diseases b/c they don't have access to vaccinations.

The risk of contracting many diseases over a lifetime (many diseases occur as adults) is MUCH greater when not vaccinating, than a child having a reaction to any vaccinations. The fact that your children have done well so far with vaccinations, probably is assurance they would continue to do well in the future. If everyone stopped vaccinating, we would see a drastic return of many fatal diseases, particularly with travel of people coming to the US from countries which still have people dying from certain diseases. Good luck to you.

I have a 5 month old daughter, and it was a very difficult to make the decision not to vaccinate...but so far so good. I did a lot of research, and I have have come to the conclusion that vaccines are POISION! Most the "outbreaks" you hear about, those children are fully vaccinated! Isn't that strange?! If you go to www.childhoodshots.com you can inform yourself and make the right decision for you! I am by no means a doctor, but something with our government and pharmacie companies, and the real outbreak of childhood disease in this country seems fishy to me, and I am very happy with my decision! I am going to facebook right after this to see about some support group for parents who choose not to vaccinate! It it still a scary choice, the doctors act like they won't make it 10 min without them....Build your childs immune system by not being overlly clean, and not pumping them with harmful chemicals and diseases! I could go on and on, it is best if you just do the reasearch so you know for yourself...the website will help....Good luck!

Although the school will give you a "guilt" trip of how awful it is to not have your children vaccinated, truly all you need to do is sign the vaccination form supplied from the school that says you personally choose to not have vaccinations. If there is a breakout of one of those diseases your child will be sent home. But other than that there isn't anything the school can do about it. Some may try to say that they "have to have" these to be in school, but that's not true. Good luck!

Hi L.,
I have been very picky about vaccinations from the very beginning, I have 2 boys - 3 and 6; they've only had DTaP (because Pertussis was a real threat in our area)and we did a delayed schedule, I can't remember when we started but it was 6 months or later. I have had no problems with schools, my boys have attended a Jeffco preschool and now Jeffco public elementary school and I fill in the paperwork to the effect that no, we're not up-to-date with vaccinations. So far I have never had anyone question my decision, our Pediatrician tells us which ones are due and I just say "No, thank-you" and she doesn't push it. I have never regretted my decision, my boys' health is great overall.
A few years ago I attended a vaccination lecture by Dr. Sears (who wrote all the baby books)and he made some interesting recommendations eg. spacing vaccinations out, not having them all on the same day; not having some at all for diseases that are very rare/almost eradicated in the US.
It's definitely a personal decision, my Pediatrician tells me there are kids in our community who have had meningitis because they didn't have the shot and are now disabled but I have chosen to take that risk.
Good luck with your decision-making!

As a mom of three 13,11 and 5. I have seen and heard it all about this. If you have gone this far I would continue. You never know what the other children may have come in contact with that your children will go to school with. If you don't continue there is a section on the registration for school that asks why the child is not vaccinated, religious or otherwise. I always remember the stories that I heard from the nurses in the peds department of the hospital when I was there with my son at 18 months and my daughter at 11 months when they had RSV. There in nothing worse than watching a child be sick and even die from a disease that could have been prevented through vaccinations. Hope this helps.

I would ask the doctor to check their titters to see if they have immunity. If so, you can opt not to do their booster shots. I have my son on a delayed and selective schedule and that is what I plan to do.

If the doctors, drug companies, or other poster on this board are going to take full financial and emotional responsibility if my child has an adverse reaction. Then, I would listen to their opinions. But I'm not going to hold my breath....

People can be SO rude!!!

As far as Angie goes, too bad there's no vaccination against illiteracy and intolerance.

It's not black & white. I agree with your pick & choose plan. It's sensible to educate yourself instead accepting all carte blanche. Expect some support and some disdain but the law is on your side either way.

HI L., I have to agree with Cyndie. I too, have questioned a lot and feel more and more confusion with the vaccinations. But, Then i think about the future of my boys. If it is MY decision not to vaccinate, and they come across a disease that could have been prevented with one of the vaccines, then ultimately its MY fault they have something that could have been prevented. Could I live with myself? My opinion, your kids have had the majority of the vaccines, have had no major problems, finishing them out wont hurt at this point.

Ultimately it is everyones own decision, but unfortunately, we ALL have to live with that decision. I think people come across being rude, because they dont want to see things be as they used to be without vaccinations. But Nobody should be down right mean. best of luck!

From todays news:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The biggest U.S. outbreak of measles since 1997 has sickened 127 people in 15 states, most of whom were not vaccinated against the highly contagious viral illness, federal health officials said on Wednesday.

The outbreak was driven by travelers who became infected overseas -- 10 countries are implicated -- then returned to the United States ill and infected others, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thanks to a vaccination program dating to 1963, measles is no longer endemic in the United States, with ongoing transmission of the virus declared eliminated in 2000.

Public health officials have been stressing the importance of immunizing children amid increasingly vocal vaccine opponents who object to them for religious or other reasons or because they fear the shots may cause autism or other harm.

British health officials said last month that measles had again become endemic in that country for the first time since the mid-1990s due to parents declining to get their children vaccinated.

"The primary reason for lack of vaccination is personal belief exemptions," the CDC's Dr. Larry Pickering told a news conference arranged by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

"Until better global control is achieved, cases will continue to be imported into the United States and outbreaks will persist as long as there are communities of unvaccinated people," Pickering said.

The CDC first gave details about the current outbreak in May when there were 72 people sick in 10 states. At that time, it was the most cases since 116 in 2001.

With the total number of sick people now at 127, this is the most since 138 people in 1997 and 508 in 1996, the CDC said.

The last serious U.S. outbreak occurred from 1989 to 1991, when 55,000 people got measles and 123 died.

Measles remains a leading cause of death among children in poor countries, killing about 250,000 people a year globally.

The disease causes fever, cough, redness and irritation of the eyes and a rash. Serious complications include encephalitis and pneumonia that can be fatal.

(Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Peter Cooney)

Hi L.,

I would highly recommend you read the recent article in TIME magazine (you can probably get a back copy online or by calling them), since there were mothers featured who, like you, had chosen not to vaccinate and one kid in particular almost died. I think if you really do your research, you'll find that now that the mercury's been taken out (and has been since 2001), the benefits FAR OUTWEIGH the urban myths.

Good luck,

E..

I'm sorry Angie was so rude to you. You do not deserve to be treated that way; no one on this forum should be treated that way.
I for one respect your choice to not continue vacinations. Rest assure you are not alone on this issue. More parents are educating themselves these days and are realizing that injecting foreign substances into a body is not a choice for them. Others decide that the vax will help their bodies fight off diseases.
We all differ on other parenting issues too. Lets be respectful of one another!

If your gut instinct--the mommy instinct you have that keeps your children well & alive--tells you not to get the shots, don't get them. Dr. Sears just came out with a vaccination book that is great. It tells the good, the bad, where the shot came from (aborted fetus, monkey or cow cells, etc--I learned a lot of people have a problem with origin of vaccines from this book), why you should get the vaccine and why you shouldn't. We started doing vaccinations on our daughter and after she had a bad reaction at 2 months--to 13 different diseases put in her body, which is the typical 2 mo shots, we have stopped nearly all vaccinations. Only Dtap, Hib and pneumococcal now. In terms of Angie, with her uneducated comments, there have been no cases of polio in the western hemisphere since 1991. The only cases of polio in the few years prior to that were actually transmitted from the OPV polio vaccination, which they don't do much in the US. If you plan to travel to Africa, Asia, India, etc, you may want to consider certain vaccinations. Otherwise, educate yourself as much as possible and go with your instinct. People like Angie are going to react emotionally and may make ridiculous and hurtful comments to you, but you need to do what is right for your family. Best of luck!

Good for you! My husband and I also decided against it as well. Just so you know, Colorado does not require you have your children be vaccinated to enter school. There are 3 reasons to get out of it..1: religious reasons 2: medical reasons or 3: personal reasons. You just need to fill out the form- get it from your dr. office, and just put "personal reasons" and that is all the school requires!