Alternative Vaccination

Dear E.,

We decided not to vaccinate our son at all. We researched both sides, considered the very real reactions we've seen in other kids (friends and family members), took a look at the bigger picture (the fact that government provides a national compensation program for victims of vaccine reactions and doctors make you sign waivers protecting them from lawsuits in the even of a reaction; why is that necessary if vaccines are perfectly safe?), and we decided our child was worth protecting from the whole vaccine scam. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that vaccines are not as safe or effective as the medical community says they are, but when it comes down to it, you have to go with your gut. If you're afraid of your child being another SIDS baby, if you're concerned about lifetime illness (asthma, allergies, IBD, behavioral disorders, cancer, etc.), then don't vaccinate. There's a lot of good information that's been posted here and is easily accessible online and in bookstores. Do your homework, follow your instincts, and make the decision that is best for your family. I can tell you that at 14 months old, my son has never been on antibiotics, he's never had an ear infection, he's never been sick with anything more than a runny nose. He's healthy and thriving while his vaccinated friends are constantly battling some kind of illness. The daughter of a friend of ours struggled with a horrible case of whooping cough (at 4 years old) in recent months. She was fully vaccinated. How does a child get a disease that she has been vaccinated for if vaccines actually do what they are supposed to do? Another friend of ours had their cat die of feline leukemia. He was the only cat in the house and lived in doors. His only exposure to this disease was through his vaccines. There are just too many cases like this, too close to home, for us to put our faith in vaccines. I hope this helps some. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about it more. Ultimately, you are the only one who can decide what is best for your family. Remember that! Good luck with your decision! :)

Hi E.,

I hope these links work for you. It can be very overwhelming but this is one subject that I feel parents should be given the support and research based information to be able to make an informed decision. Good luck in your research.

http://www.nvic.org/ (National Vaccine Information Center)

http://thinktwice.com/ (The global vaccine institute)

http://childhoodshots.com/Favorite_Links.html (This page contains excellent links to various vaccine sites and information.)

http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html (vaccine ingredients)

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/ (Information for parents by parents)

http://www.healthsentinel.com/graphs.php?tablename=graphc...
(This is information on the actual diseases and their rate of decline compared to the introduction of the vaccines.)

I think it's important to remember that being vaccinated doesn't guarantee that you won't get the disease, ie flu or chicken pox vaccines. E., trust your instinct, take your time and make an informed decision.

I see many posts referencing the mercury in vaccines and I wanted to point out that there are many other ingredients in vaccines that can cause damage neurological damage. I won't list them here, you can read more here or click the informed choice link above. http://www.korenpublications.com/kp/product/do-you-know-w...

J.

Dear E.,
It is the hot topic right now as to whether to vaccinate or not. I currently work in the healthcare profession, I give vaccinations on a daily basis. Parents are rightfully concerned about the dangers of the ingredients in the vaccinations. There is a husband/wife team of chiropractors in Pineville who are advocates of not vaccinating children due to the growing concerns of the ingredients. Family Healing and Chiropractic is the name of the practice. They have alot of info on their website about vaccination concerns. www.maximizedlivingdrsurprenant.com. They are faith based and extremely knowledgable on this topic. They have 2 beautiful girls and one on the way who have never been vaccinated. It is worth just checking out the links from their website. You will figure out what is best for you and your family, your head will stop spinning...I promise! Take care, K.

Ah, yes, the great vaccination debate. If you haven't already found out, this is a hotly debated subject. The good news is you don't have to pick one side or the other. This does not have to be an "all or nothing" decision. You have "in-between" options like skipping the non-vital ones and delaying others. This happens to be the path we chose.

I personally do believe many vaccines are necessary. There is a reason diseases like whooping cough are no longer taking our little babies from us.

Don't let the mercury (thimerosal) scare keep you from vaccinating. Mercury has now been removed from all vaccines except for some forms of the flu vaccine (and some diphtheria-tetanus shots). But you can ask your doctor for the mercury free kind. Another reason why it's so important to have a pediatrician you can talk to about these things and one that allows YOU to make the parenting decisions.

Here are 2 books that I recommend:

"What Your Dr. May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations" by Dr. Stephanie Cave.
She covers all the shots and talks about the pros and cons. It's a great reference as well.

Dr. Sears, THE VACCINE BOOK
(THIS ONE IS GREAT!) You can also check him out online.
Dr. Sears takes a fairly neutral stance on whether vaccines themselves are necessary or not so I could not call this an "anti-vaccine" or a "pro-vaccine" book.
Lists alternative schedules on how you can spread out the vaccines, including splitting up the MMR into its separate components. He also gives tips on how you can boost your child's immune system directly before and after the shots.
He encourages spreading out the vaccines so that the child does not receive too much aluminum at once, since many vaccines now contain aluminum as an additive. Also, less vaccines at once is less stress on the child's immune system.

No matter which side of the vaccination debate you choose, make your decision based on knowledge, facts, and research, not out of fear (of either side).

all i have to say is do your homework. the choice is yours to make. look at each side of the issue. which troubles you more; the diseases themselves or the vaccines? research the disease statistics (from somewhere other than just the cdc homepage, dig deeper for real symptoms and risks, not just have a bunch of numbers thrown at you).
research the vaccines, compare and contrast the differences in delaying, separating, and skipping altogther. look at all the ingredients, thimerosol (mercury) is not the only questionable one.
research the body; how it reacts to disease, how it responds by way of the immune system, compare the difference b/t the body being introduced to it by "normal" ways of contact as opposed to vaccine injected introduction to the body.
assess your living conditions; are you healthy? do you have sanitary water? good hygiene? healthy eating habits? all these things factor into how healthy and strong your body and immune system are to deal with both possible infections and/or vaxxes.

yes it is a lot to research. but you have all the time in the world to decide what is right for your children and your family. there is no rush. and know your rights.
you do not have to vaxx for your children to enter the school system. and in turn you do not have to homeschool if you choose not to vax or fully vax.
dont be bullied into doing anything you arent 100% convinced is right, by your doctor, your extended family, society, anyone. and do not be bullied by those less informed or of differing opinions to yours. there is no herd immunity (though i suppose thats a choice for you to make) and you do not a an obligation or responsibility to anyone other than your child. they come first.
a wise woman once told me you can decide to not put the vaccine in them but you can not take the vaccine out of them should you change your mind or become more informed.
you can find several books pretty cheap on amazon.
search aviva jill romm, she has an easy to read, informative guide. also cheack out the vax boards on mothering.com or c2pp.org. both sites can get a lil extreme at times for my tastes but the foundation is solid and you can ask questions on there and get solid answers along with quotes, links, research, published studies etc backing those answers.

I have also been researching the vaccine issue. I am 28 weeks pregnant with my first child. I just finished reading a very informative book, The Vaccine Guide: Making an Informed Choice by Randall Neustaedter. I highly recommend this book. After all of the reading I have done, I am choosing not to vaccinate. I am currently reading more up on homeopathy for treatment if my child happens to get any of the more serious childhood infectious diseases. But from my reading, the vaccines appear to suppress the immune system rather than make it stronger. Best wishes...

Marie P

As a public health professional I have to say that all this anti-vaccine talk concerns me to no end. THOUSANDS of children used to die because of a lack of vaccines. There is NO evidence that links vaccines to anything but same to next day maliase. It is what we call in the research arena circumstantial evidence which doesnt amount to any true link. It sucks that the CDC did their followup research to all the vaccine claims in private and did not release the findings to the public (which I admit is suspect) but I truly believe that you put your child and other children at great risk when you do not get them vaccinated. One way to ease your mind is to get the vaccines seperately instead of all at once, you have to specifically request this. Good luck

First of all, you need to do the vaccinations! Do you really want your kids to get polio, measles, hepatitis, etc? You will have a hard time getting them in school and when they get older and go into the medical field or the military, God bless them with the vaccinations they will get then! There is no association with MMR and Autism! This has been disproved since day one but people like celebrities insist they know more than doctors and scientist! If you are concerned about Autism wait till the youngins are 15 or 18 months to do the MMR. Autism starts showing at 12 months. Good luck!

Some great sources to check out are Mayer Eisenstein with Homefirst in Chicago. He has written books about vaccinations.. the good as well as the bad. Also one of the Drs. Sears has written a book about vaccinations if you get on the Dr. Sears parenting website you can go to the links about vaccinations and read their alternative vaccine schedule. The important thing is to educate yourself about vaccines not just the mainstream propaganda but the true facts. Many say vaccines are the best thing in the world and the reason so many ravishing diseases have been eradicated. Others would counter this with true life stories about kids suffering serious side effects even to the point of being fatal. ( rare but true) Its a very difficult decision to make for any parent but you have to do what you think is best for your child not what a dr, nurse, or anybody else tells you to do. I hope you receive some helpful suggestions. Feel free to email me if you like. ps after reading the other posts I just want to add that vaccination is not necessarily immunization. Kids and adults can still get any of these diseases even if they have been vaccinated. Also most states have vaccine exemptions and homeschool is always an option. ( Its also helps to keep young children away from so many other kids which just fosters the spread of these diseases.) Keep your kids healthy with a good diet, exercise, little stress, lots of sleep, and a healthy lifestyle. Hygiene and a clean living environment were linked to the decline of many diseases in England in the late 1800s ( vs the common belief that it was vaccines). If you have any more kids breastfeeding is a great immune booster far better than any manmade substance. Hope this helps.

I'm learning All the decisions as a parent can be VERY overwhelming (mother of 2 year old boy). It is important to be informed, but we can never know everything. So (in my opinion) you have to pray for guidance, make a decision YOU are comfortable with, and leave your child in God's hands. However, I felt the need to emphsize that you need to be careful where you get your information. There are alot of well meaning (and not so well meaning) people/groups out there who give advice based on misinformation. I work in a research lab at a hospital and one of the things we're involved in is Autism research. I know one of the current hot topics with vaccines deals with Autism. I will by NO means pretend I'm an expert on vaccines or Autism (my paricular projects don't even directly deal with it), but I have read up and do have contact with several doctors and PhDs who know more (no one knows everything). And as of now the VAST majority of research shows that the benefit of getting your child vaccinated far out weighs the risk (except in special circumstances). Please be particularly cautious of groups or people who stand to gain financially by bashing vaccines and then promoting their own alternatives, or offer too good to be true cures or treatments.

If nothing else though, remember to weigh the known risks against the possible ones. For instance even if a small study of less than 20 kids claiming a possible link between MMR vaccine and Autism found something that many other studies with thousands of children studied missed, we still have to consider whether that possible risk outwieghs the proven risk from diseases like Mumps, Measles and Rubella (including possible serious neurological damage or death). And we shouldn't let ourselves think these diseases are only a thing of the past because without vaccines they can (and likely will) once again become a serious problem.

That said we can all only do our best raising our kids, so as long as we're making the effort to make the right decisions (and providing for their more obvious physical, emotional, and spiritual needs) we shouldn't burden yourselves with regrets. Always have our eyes open for improvements and better decisions for the future, but not regret making the best possible decisions at the time. After all regretting or beating ourselves up for things doesn't change anything. (I know easier said than done as I almost daily second guess and beat myself up over things, but that's why I know it doesn't help =)). Anyway good luck with your decision and God bless.

I had my first five kids vaccinated according to schedule. But during my pregnancy with the sixth (and last) I had strong reactions to nearly everything. By that time, I already had my doubts about vaccines but after my son was born I decided to give him the shots anyway. Amazingly, each time I tried to take him, something went wrong--car trouble, etc. I prayed, took that as a sign, and stopped vaccinating. My youngest is now 12 1/2 and very healthy. The others, who received no more vaccines after that, are also healthy.

When my granddaughter was born I approached the subject with my son and daughter-in-law. It wasn't a problem at all. She's European and she regularly takes my granddaughter for herbal immunizations. I'm not sure if those are available in this country.

Keep researching until you're comfortable, but my advice is to stop immunizations for your sons.

PLEASE DON'T VACCINATE !!!I have 3 kids, ages 6,4&3, i had my first vaccinated like your "supposed" to, after the 15 mo vaccines he stopped all communication, and began showing signs of autism. Now he is autistic with sensory input disorder among other things that we believe beyond doubt that was brought on by the vaccines. My other 2 have not been vaccinated and are healthy and normal.
A good book that breaks all the shots down and gives alternative schedule is The Vaccine Book by Dr Robert Sears

PLEASE READ THIS AND HOLD OFF ON VACCINES! The chances of them contracting one of the diseases is one in thousands and ten thousands, the rate of autism now is at least 1 in 150, and five time more prevelant in boys, consider the odss

get the shots its the best way to protect your child. the reason we dont have MMR and all the others is because of these shots. but now that people are freaked out about shots these diseases could return... there has been no link between shots and autism. so do us all a favor and get the shots.

Hi E., My boyfriend and I have had the same issues. Just to let you know that before you make any decisions you should know that a lot of pediatricians will not accept you if you choose not to vaccinate of are on a selective vaccination schedule here in the South. Our daughter is 6 months and we have yet to give her any vaccinations. Our doctor is very accommodating to our preferences and has a list of books that you might want to check out that cover the subject. He also has several preservative free vaccinations and separates them out so that the baby's immune system will not be overwhelmed. His name is Dr. Kalb and his practice is in Franklin.

Here is his information-
Daniel B. Kalb, M.D (DAN)-Franklin, TN
Cool Springs Family Medicine
4091 Mallory Ln., Ste. 118
Franklin,, TN 37067
###-###-####

Good luck. =)

M.

Good for you for doing your homework. If we had to do it over again we would have delayed them, or skipped them all together. At least we pass on the flu, chicken pox and hep vacs. Sorry I wasn't much help.

oh, all this advice I'm sure is only making your head spin more and more....some replies have given you good advice, some replies are only repeating what they have heard from others, and many are only following the "pack" and their doctors' information.

Keep researching....keep asking questions....if you think something doesn't sound right, ask more questions, keep going until you feel right in your heart.

A few misinformed facts you have been given here by replies:

1. You can and will get into any public school whether you vaccinate or not...schools want their kids to be vaccinated and do not let parents know the complete laws in their state....ie....exemptions......check the General Statutes from the state where your child will attend schools.....There is no State in the US that can FORCE a child to be vaccinated or take any form of treatment!!!! (No, not even those parents in Maryland that have been in the news lately.)

2. Almost each and every doctor, CDC executive, US government big-wig, Fortune 500 CEO...etc.... is in one way or another, connected to Big Pharma (pharmaceutical companies)Many of the men/women on the CDC board are also employees or also board members or tied in some way to one of the big pharmaceutical companies in the US.....including Donald Rumsfeld - our former Sec of Defense, Dr. Greenburg - current CDC Big Cheese....Bill Gates from Microsoft....even the IOM (Institute of Medicine)is funded by the CDC...the CDC is paying their own third party to facilitate the research and studies on vaccines! check it out for yourself.

3. check out www.vaers.com this is a US government owned website that has paid billions of dollars to families of children who have been harmed by vaccinations. Look at it for yourself....please don't take my word for any of it.....find out for yourself.

4. If you choose to vaccinate, draw up a letter, asking your pediatrician to sign it, stating that your child will in no way ever be harmed by any vaccination that they will receive within their entire lifetime. I guarantee you will NEVER find a doctor willing to sign the letter.

5. Research each pharmaceutical company that develops vaccinations and obtain one of those internal papers that sometimes come inside a box of medication...you know, the thin, little piece of paper that lists the ingredients inside the medication, the studies that were completed, the risks, the side effects....etc.

6. Go to cnn.com and search vaccinations and read the articles.

What I'm really saying to you is to not only keep researching, but to keep researching the research.....find out where the information comes from, who facilitated the studies, who they are affiliated with/for, who funds the studies and research.

look into a few sites developed by parents, like us:
www.NVIC.org
www.HMN.com

Many of us think we know the truth but are led blindly, all for just money!

Good Luck and keep going until your conscience is firm!

Hi E.,
I am a mom of a 5 yr old little girl. I began vaccinating her, but once I learned I had a choice, I have not vaccinated any more - she hasn't had any vaccines since abt 18 months. I work at a chiropractic/wellness center in Nashville and we offer a homeopathic solution VAX as an alternative. We also have some literature at the office regarding vaccines. I would be happy to copy and mail to you if you are interested. You can send your kids to school/presechool without vaccines. All you have to do is write a letter. Please email me directly, ____@____.com.
S.

Please also note that there have been outbreaks in the US lately of measles and rubella. So some of the diseases we view as eradicated are now beginning to show back up due to an increase in parents chosing not to immunize.
There is no link between autism and vaccines. There is current research on this available through the Center for Disease Control.
My best advice would be to find a healthcare provider you feel comfortable discussing options with and whom you trust their opinion. Just remember some of the diseases the vaccines prevent are still out there and have the potential to seriously effect our children.

I am a military wife and would much rather risk the side effects of the vaccines than have the disease.

We follow a delayed/selective vax schedule (well, we did with my daughter and am now searching for a ped that will "allow" us to do the same with my son). The book that helped me decide on what to get and not to get was "What your doctor may not tell you about childhood vaccinations". Very informative and mostly unbiased. Good luck with your decisions!!

It's been a while since this was posted but this is such a hot topic I thought I'd respond.

It's hard to find a ped. who actually takes an independant critical look at the issues and the alternatives. You will need to research yourself and push for what you want, no ped. that I heard of (excpet for one friend in California) is going to lead you in any alternative directions. It took me a year to figure out what I was comfortable with.

There is another great book, "What Your Dr. May Not Tell You About Vaccinations" or something close to that, which presents lots of information to help you make your own decisions. A note of caution - when it comes to the MMR it might be very difficult to find a Dr. that actually supplies the individual shots (Merck products attenuvax, meruvax II, and mumpsvax). Start researching your area now if you plan to get the individual MMR shots. My Dr. sent me to the health office but they do not purchase those vaccines. I am still looking...

A really great book concerning this issue is The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears. It examines each vaccine separately, both for concerns about ingredients and for concerns about not getting it...he has a plan for getting vaccines that sort of separates them out into ones you should get when your child is very young because that's when it's most important to protect them, and ones you should get later because that's when the threat is for those diseases, and ones you might not want to get at all, etc. There are many different ways to approach this debate and it seems to me that his is calm and thorough rather than extremist on either side of the debate.
Best of luck to you!

Once I researched it, I stopped getting my kids vaccinated. North Carolina allows a religious exemption, which is what I have on file at the school.

http://chetday.com/vaccinationmyths.htm

I asked my pediatrician to give my daughters themerisol free vaccines. They happily did this for me. It is definitely an option.

An excellent book on this subject is "The Vaccine Book," by Robert W. Sears, M.D. It's a very factual book that gives you all the pertinent information and allows you to make the right decision for your children. He offers alternative vaccination schedules -- one for those who only want the most important vaccinations and one for those who want them all but in a safer schedule. I hope you find it as helpful as I have.

Dear E.,

I haven't gotten my hands on this book yet, but share your desire to learn more about vaccinations. Dr. Sears (the famous one) has a SON that is also a doctor and this Dr. Sears (the son that is!) has written a book all about vaccinations that friends have told me is EXCELLENT. I'm not sure what it's called, but something basic like "The Vaccination Book"

Love, L.

it's a great question to ask... I've gotten all of my two boys every vaccination recommended at "well visits" over the years, I talked to my doctors and asked their opinions and they are my family doctors BECAUSE I trust them, so I took their advice. One thing to consider, though... aren't you worried that they won't be able to attend school when the time comes? Or that they will have to get numerous vaccinations when they are entering kindergarten at one time? Schools are even insisting on the CKN POX vaccination, which is a booster and then another shot one year later. I think the timing really matters, because they really start making memories at 3-4 years old. I'd rather do it when they're babies: 1. they won't get terribly sick from incurable diseases and 2. they won't be forced to do it when they are older, causing them terrible memories of the Dr. Office. good luck on whatever you decide, I know it's a big debate lately.

I found a book at Home Economist (South Boulevard) on vaccinations that was insightful. There is also a helpful chapter in Baby 411 that explains why vaccinations are so important for our children. Be wary of the information that you find on the internet as it may be biased and not medically proven. A trusted pediatrician is always the best option.

there are risks involved in getting your kids vaccinated, but there are also risks in not getting them vaccinated. for me, the risk of my duaghter contracting some preventable illness and getting really sick, far outwayed the risk of her developing some neurological disorder. most problems like that are caused by mercury in the vaccine to preserve them and you can ask your ped if they can use a mersury free version, though it might cost more. and for her, any discomfort she felt was short lived, she only cried for a few minutes and usually felt better after about 24 hours. lots of mommy lovins and tylenol and rest helped. it's really a decision only you can make, but for me, getting my vaccinated made more sence than not.

I also had these concerns when it was time for my son to start getting vaccinations. His father didn't want him to get them at all. When I spoke with our pediatrician he suggested that we request mercury free vaccines. Why they would put mercury in the vaccines at all is beyond me. There is a direct link between vaccines and autism. The mercury is a toxic chemical. Unfortunately people don't care to do the research, and they can't figure out why their children develop autism. But is seems a little suspicious that 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism, after their multiple shots of mercury filled vaccines. I do agree that vaccines are very important, just make sure they are mercury free.

Hi E.,

As many others have said, it is difficult to sort through all the info so hang in there. Know that NC is a state with choice laws for parents, so get to know them. The bast way to make a great decision for your parental comfort is to work with a pediatrician that will assist in your education while allowing respect for your decisions. I know in Raleigh area there are a few places that definitely work with you on your decision.
Regarding other info someone sent about recent outbreaks, the measles or mumps one in the midwest a couple years ago with the college students was related to a different strain that is not covered by our current vaccine here in the US, you can search and find articles about that with the quotes from the CDC Dr.s about that, and yes outbreaks of whopping cough have occurred in vaccinated children recently as well. All this reminds us about is that vaccines are not permanent immunity, that is why we are required to get boosters also. And there recently is discussions of adding on another booster for Chicken pox and others. I am just a person that believes in choice, not promoting one way or another without education and disclosure. So hang in there, read up and work with a great physician to help you decide or delay.

You may have already tried this but I would recommend The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. I felt like it really was informative and balanced in its info. Good luck.

E.,

Please check out the Mayo Clinic's website regarding immunizations: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vaccines/CC00014

Hope it helps!

E-Mail to this address and get what you need to know about vaccinations. ____@____.com.

Hi E.,

Don't go cold turkey on all of them! Many of the diseases that people thought had disappeared have reappeared since some parents have allowed their children to go without vaccines. They mistakenly thought that because everyone else was vaccinated that they would not be exposed. The other problem is that many of the illegal immigrants streaming into this country are reintroducing diseases into our population that were eradicated years ago.

I am still learning about the alternative vaccine schedule myself. But there is encouraging evidence that spacing out the vaccines is safer than allowing the pediatrician's office to give mutilple vaccines during one visit. The theory behind the alternative vaccine schedule is that it allows the immune system time to respond to each vaccine instead of being bombarded by several at once. As I said, I am still researching this myself but I highly encourage you to talk to your pediatrician and see what their feedback is on the topic.

Good luck!
J.