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Attachment Parenting
I have a concern about vaccinating
MY concern is the growing rise pf people NOT vaccinating. My personal feelings about this I will try to keep at bay but i do have STRONG opinions about not vaccinating.
Someone asked a few days ago but Im not sure if i saw the response
If you do not vaccinate, how will you inform people? Do you feel you have a responsibility to make this known to friends of your child?
I for one would want to know if I am putting my child at risk by playing with yours.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I have a concern about vaccinating
It sounds like you came here for an argument???
Even so I will *sort of* answer. We do vaccinate (as do most of the ladies on the AP board) but we are taking it slowly. There are many reasons that we chose this route not the least of which is that my child has very bad reactions to vaccinations.
In our case, I work from home and we have a nanny a few days a week. DD is not in childcare and so having some of those early vaccinations are not as nessisary so soon in her life. We have 100% supervision and access to whom she is with at all times. Yes as she gets older she will be in preschool. Most preschools around here require certain vaccinations before enrollment and she will have all of those by that time.
Many of the parents who choose to not vaccinate at all do not have children that attend mainstream schools (its required as state law in many states to prove vaccination before enrolling in Kindergarten).
Honestly, if we were to never vaccinate I would not run around the park telling everyone. That said, I would let people in my playgroups and social circles know. If there children are already vaccinated they should not have much to worry about. It would be ME who was more careful to protect my child from those children who may be carriers.
Since we do vaccinate just on our own schedule I may not the best person to answer and I certainly do not want to speak for anyone. I do know that this is a personal choice and while I understand your position I dont know that coming off ready for a fight on the board will get you answers if that is really what you are looking for.
Every time we go to a playgroup or storytime DD wears a t-shirt that says "WARNING: I am not fully vaccinated. Keep back 500ft."
I'm not really sure if you're looking for an honest answer or a fight, but here goes...
Our son is not vaccinated and almost 2 years old. We have major concerns about the chemicals in and efficacy (not to mention the necessity) of many vaccines, we choose not to vaccinate at this point, our friends are aware and are not concerned in the least (all of whom vaccinate their children). Our son also has an egg allergy, which eliminates (for us) MMR and flu vaccines.
My child doesn't wear his vaccination status on his sleeve everywhere we go, nor should he have to. When the time comes that he is placed in preschool, we will consider a very selective amount of vaccines,probably just DPT and MMR (if he is no longer allergic to eggs by then).
I do not believe that my child should be vaccinated for the "greater good" of society. If I feel the risks outweigh the benefits, it is my right to refuse vaccination and fortunately for us, we live in a state where you can object to vaccinations based on philosophical beliefs.
For those who claim i am looking for an arguement, I did state that i will keep my opinions at bay. I could say a lot but i wont in this post. Take that however you want.
My concern is valid and I feel I have a right to get a sense of what the thinking is about disclosing among playgroups etc. I never said anything about a t-shirt or advertisement.
In California, children do not have to get vaccinated to attend public school and more and more parents are deciding not to get their children vaccinated, and now there are higher cases of mumps and measles. Because I never had the measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc., so when I was pregnant, I was not about to risk any harm to my unborn child by being around kids. Which was hard because I work in a museum where tons of schoolchildren visit.
Do I think people should inform me their child has not been vaccinated? No. Kids are at risk all the time. Parents just need to keep their sick kids from others whether they're vaccinated or not. FWIW, like most people on this board DS is on a delayed vaccination schedule.
ok - we chose selective vaccination for this reason - pockets of previously "dead" diseases are cropping back up in areas with low vaccinations rates and we plan to live internationally where even Polio is still a concern.
There are a few we opted out of (the STD's and chicken pox.)
When Bunny gets chicken pox in the wild, then you'll know he's not vaccinated.
Were we not planning to live abroad, we would have skipped a lot of the vax's and we wouldn't have told anyone.
Do you tell people when you don't get the flu vax? "Stay back! I didn't get the flu vax and I could be carrying it!"
It's equal parts social responsibility. If a parent of an unvax'd child knows of people who are immunosuppressed who will be exposed to their child, then they have a responsibility to inform that person.
On the other hand, immunosuppressed people KNOW they need to be careful. Just like you wash your hands during flu season.
You take care of yourself and let everyone else worry about themselves, specific situations to be dealt with as they arise.
LOL, editing again. I don't think not vaccing is an AP issue. Go ask these women what you asked here. They'll be more help.
Not true, you are making a grossly sweeping judgment here. There are MANY reasons parents choose not to vaccinate, and ignorance is not usually one of them. I would argue that a good number of parents who vaccinate on schedule are those who never read or research anything about the subject. They choose to put all their faith in their pedi's word, which is fine if that's what they are comfortable with, but let's not bring "ignorance" on either side of the argument into the equation.
If vaccines were totally, 100% safe then the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program would not be in existence. The potential risks and/or injuries to my son associated with receiving as many as 25 vaccines in his first 18 months of life was not something I was willing to compromise on. It's my right to choose when and how my son will or will not be vaccinated, just as it is yours with your child.
Choosing to selectively vaccinate, delay, or refuse vaccinations altogether is not only about the great autism debate, however, there is not enough evidence to suggest to me either way that the newer schedule (in the last 20 years or so) does not put predisposed children at greater risk for developing it if they are given too many, too frequently. I believe (like many other environmental factors) that autism can be triggered by vaccines in children who are genetically prone to developing it. Until they prove otherwise, my child will be vaccinated the way I choose, not the way the CDC suggests I do it.
Are you a qualified health care professional who has studied this? When I say study I mean spent years in medical school, not hours on the internet or in a book purchased at Barnes and Noble.
The CDC knows nothing apparently...
Google this. The quick answer is, unvaccinated children can transmit to a vaccinated child. Vaccines are not 100%. Also, babies, young children and pregnant women are at risk. Some babied have not been vaccinated yet for certain things. Look up herd immunity.
Seeing as the vast majority of US parents vaccinate, it seems like it would mostly be a problem for the unvaccinated kid.
Anyone's unvaccinated child is welcome to play with my kid (who is/will be vaccinated)
People die all the time from diseases that there are no vaccines for. It's not anyone's business whether my child has been vaxed or not (which she hasn't and won't be).
LOL.
I've been accused of being a lot of things, however stupid is not one of them...I'm well informed and well educated and I refuse to have my daughter vaccinated. You may want to think before making ridiculous generalizations.
I don't think I understand why a vaccinated child would be more at risk being around non-vaccinated children or why that would be a concern?
The growing trend of non-vaccination is increasing the risk for the return of preventable diseases. As diseases return, the non-vacced kids are obviously going to be the ones who are more vulnerable for contracting and then spreading the disease.
And since no vacc is 100% effective, even vacced kids can contract, for example, measles. If vaccination compliance declines, the incidence of measles increases, and even vacced kids' risk goes up as well.
Good info. Thanks for answering my question.
regarding not getting the MMR until he is four, will he not ever be around pregnant women or babies?
I am a registered nurse, but I don't believe that I necessarily need certain initials after my name to become educated about this subject matter. Doctors are not Gods and the CDC is not the final authority on the subject matter either. They are more corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry that you could even imagine.
It appalls me how many people have decided not to vaccinate their children and then ask questions that show they have NO idea about the concept of herd immunity.
If you do not understand that, you have clearly not done enough research into the subject and it frightens me.
And, if you think that your kid will never come in contact with any of these diseases because you stay home with them, you live in a happy little bubble - either mentally or physically.
It is a first world luxury brought about by the success of vaccines in our society that we can even sit here and debate about this like reasonable minds can differ.
Are you joking? Rubella is very rare, no one should have to avoid babies and pregnant women altogether because they are unvaccinated. Do you plan to titer your child every year to make sure that they maintain their immunity as well? Somehow I doubt it.
I
ah, nope. not joking. not one bit. would you want to be the pregnant woman exposed? would you want to have the child who exposed them? the vaccine exists to prevent congenital rubella (causing stillborn babies, babies with severe birth defects) as rubella itself is generally minor.
vaccines are the reason rubella is rare. that will likely change due to arm-chair scientists used to living in a country without rubella, diphtheria and polio.
you mean a disease that can be spread easily, by droplets in the air? what, like heart disease? the # 1 killer of people in the US? you can't 'catch' heart disease from your neighbor. can't catch cancer, except HPV. can't catch a stroke. can't catch an accident. can't even catch diabetes.
Please do not be deliberately obtuse. We ALL know that vaccines are not 100%. However, we also ALL know that the more people who are vaccinated, the less risk there is all around.
I KNOW nobody on this board is ignorant enough not to know that.
People who vaccinate don't feign ignorance about vaccines not being absolutely 100% effective.
So please don't feign ignorance about non-vaccinated people putting *everyone* at risk. I believe that you're the parent and parents get to make these decisions but this is a fact so just own it.
The CDC also hands out more "conflict of interest" waivers than is comfortable for me. Especially from Merck, the only people (at the time of my research) from whom you can get the chicken pox vax in the US. If i'm listening to anyone, it's the WHO. Luckily my pedi agrees with me.
Thank you. It baffles me how many people do not understand the concept of herd immunity and the risks involved. I'm tired of hearing this "Ive done my research and made an informed decision, works for our family, im the parent, blah blah" This is true for some decisions but this decision affects society as a whole so its different. This decision does not deserve my respect. Because of this youre damn right i am judging because you are sponging off the rest of us who have done the responsible thing and vaccinated our kids so that herd immunity will work. Parasites.
I know i said i wasnt going to argue but some of the responses just pissed me off. Self indulgent nonsense.