Alternative Vaccine Schedule

lindzed · November 2011

Did anyone do an alternative vaccine schedule witht their kids? I have Ansley's 6 month appt coming up on Weds and don't have enough time to order and read the Dr. Sears book so I was hoping maybe some advice if anyone had already done it. I don't really think there is any issues with vaccine's, but I have to say with a 2 year old that was recently diagnoised with Autism I would feel more comfortable waiting a little later for some of the vaccine's. I've read the research and like I said I really don't think there is a link, but I'm not 100% convinced. I'm sure I'm going to sound like the crazy Mom at the doctor's office so I would like to be at least a little educated.

Thanks!

maykat · November 2011

I didn't necessarily do an alternate vaccine schedule with my son, but I did break his shots out. I would not let him get more than one shot at a time--I would go every 2 weeks to the doctor and get a vaccine until he was up to date. I also would not let him have any shots even if he had a runny nose. I did all this because I didn't want his body to be shocked with all the vaccines at once. I have since relaxed this and he did get 4 shots at once at his 4 yr apt. I did wait for the chicken pox vaccine until the latest possible date that our daycare/doctor would allow.

I had trouble doing this with my daughter because we moved and the pedi offices we went to were uncooperative.

I will say that my friend followed Dr. Sears alternate vaccine schedule to the extreme with her son and he has been diagnosed with autism.

susangilchrist · November 2011

We postponed the MMR (the one most commonly questioned about Autism) until E was 2. One doc at my practice was strictly against alternative schedules, so we switched to one that's great.

frlcb · November 2011

I am truly sorry about your son's diagnosis, and know how hard that must have been for you. I have no issue with a delayed schedule, although we don't do it ourselves, but I beg of you to not think that vaccines have anything to do with autism. That theory by Dr Wakefield has been disproven over and over again and you will just torment yourself if you think that this is why your son has autism, or could even be a contributing factor. Vaccines are a very important, very helpful, part of our world.

susangilchrist · November 2011

frlcb:
I am truly sorry about your son's diagnosis, and know how hard that must have been for you. I have no issue with a delayed schedule, although we don't do it ourselves, but I beg of you to not think that vaccines have anything to do with autism. That theory by Dr Wakefield has been disproven over and over again and you will just torment yourself if you think that this is why your son has autism, or could even be a contributing factor. Vaccines are a very important, very helpful, part of our world.

Autism isn't the only issue that is thought to have some ties to vaccines. As a special education teacher, I have personally seen 3 children who are severely brain damaged as a result of the extremely high fevers that the MMR vaccine has caused. It just wasn't something I was willing to risk on my baby. Every parent has the right to decide what is/isn't right for their own child and their family. And, of course, you are always running the risk of your child contracting a very dangerous illness if you don't vaccinate. Just be educated in your decisions.

lindzed · November 2011

Thanks everyone. Not to worry I'm not beating myself up or anything about vaccine's causing Adam's Autism. Its just that no one is sure what causes autism. My thought at this point is that there is most likly many causes some of which are genetic and some of which are environmental. I'm concerned that there is simply not enough research (and I haven't had time to read it all) around what role the autoimmune system plays in Autism and doing so many vaccine's at once, doing them early, or doing them when a child is already sick could cause problems. I've always been a little weary of pushing tons of vaccine's on my kids (even before Adam's diagnosis) and I would just feel more comfortable waiting a little longer on Ansley's. I appreciate all the feedback!

frlcb · November 2011

susangilchrist:
frlcb:
I am truly sorry about your son's diagnosis, and know how hard that must have been for you. I have no issue with a delayed schedule, although we don't do it ourselves, but I beg of you to not think that vaccines have anything to do with autism. That theory by Dr Wakefield has been disproven over and over again and you will just torment yourself if you think that this is why your son has autism, or could even be a contributing factor. Vaccines are a very important, very helpful, part of our world.
Autism isn't the only issue that is thought to have some ties to vaccines. As a special education teacher, I have personally seen 3 children who are severely brain damaged as a result of the extremely high fevers that the MMR vaccine has caused. It just wasn't something I was willing to risk on my baby. Every parent has the right to decide what is/isn't right for their own child and their family. And, of course, you are always running the risk of your child contracting a very dangerous illness if you don't vaccinate. Just be educated in your decisions.

I don't think I said anywhere in my post that there couldn't be other issues arising from vaccines. However the OP said she was not 100% convinced that there wasn't a tie between autism and vaccines and that has, in fact, been disproven now several times. I also said that I have no issue with a delayed schedule despite that not being a decision we made for our kids. I do, however, have a big issue with people not vaccinating for non medical reasons.

myrall · November 2011

With Geneva, I went every month for shots. We'd get 2-3 shots at a time. I just broke up the schedule a little. Haven't decided what to do with Big C yet.

slwprincess · November 2011

We had to delay some of Gavin's shots b/c he was ill at the time they were due. Our pedi was usually the one who made that call. Only once did I have to ask myself. Otherwise, we pretty much stuck to the schedule and so far Sophie has gotten all of hers right on time. Oh and our pedi doesn't like to do more than 2 shots at a time (plus maybe an oral) so again, I stick with their reccommendations. I personally don't buy into the theories of vaccines causing autism or anything else but I respect those that do. My nephew is profoundly retarded and autistic- we knew this pretty much from the day he was born. Sometimes there is no explanation for these things and that's just the hardest thing to deal with :-( Anyway, vaccinations are one of those tough parental choices we all have to make. Personally, I feel like the risk of not vaccinating is much greater- especially since my kids are in daycare. So I trust my doctors and follow their advice.

remote_girl · November 2011

we have delayed/broken up the vaccines quite a bit, and it was a factor in our choice of a doctor for sure. we will not be doing hep b for quite a while, and try to space out the shots so he doesn't get a whole bunch at a time. i am more concerned with the preservative and chemicals in the shots that the actual shots themselves. we decided we would rather pay an extra few co-pays and not shock his system with a bunch of shots at once (and since i am a stay at home mom i don't have to stress about daycare rules as much). i really wanted to be able to know if he had a reaction what caused it, rather than trying to guess. we did do the chicken pox vaccine pretty much on schedule b/c my husband ended up getting shingles at one point, and we are still putting off the mmr vaccine for a bit longer.

MLvK · November 2011

I am doing the Sears alternative schedule with my son. With my daughter, I delayed her for 1 year and that proved to be a giant pain in the ass getting her up to date. She still is not up to date.

The only thing the Sears schedule does is space them out, like maykat said, they only get 1-2 per visit.

The reason I did this was not for fear of autism or anything, but because they just looked so small when they were born, I could not imagine shooting them full of foreign things. I did it for my own feelings. I was reading a lot about toxins back then it was when the media was going crazy about BPAs and phthalates and everything, and I started reading about other fillers in vaccines and I just didn't want to do it. I've calmed down since (obviously) and this time around I did Sears and was fine with it.

I was going to try to break out the MMR, but when it came time to do it, there had been a mumps outbreak (i think, or it was rubella) and ultimately it was more important to me that my daughter be protected against that than the small shot of MMR in her system.

Miangel · November 2011

For a country that hasn't seen a chicken pox, TB or alike outbreak for the past 30 plus years is easy to dismiss the importance of such medical advance as vaccines are. I assure you, its DEVASTATING. Yes, we all wish there wasnt a need for them but they and their schedule have a very important reason to exist. Based in true research, cases and most importantly, history. I come from a country where we cannot get rid of some of this diseases bc ppl still think they have the choice. To the point that it is illegal not to vaccinate. I am a doctor and joined those brigades chasing unvaccinated kids. Door to door. Because I've seen what happens. I know here its considered a parental choice which i have to respect but now that im the mother of two scares me to death that outbreaks are a possibility in such a developed country. Ummm Pertussis? Yeah that was supposed to have been erradicated in 1978. Is back and by the hundreds. Great. Should we wait for a tuberculosis outbreak? Is it fair for the rest of us? Both my husband and I are doctors, know many many doctors and trust me, no one takes the chance bc of some single recently proved wrong THEORY about autism. Sorry for crashing in your post. Off my chest. Thanks.

hthomas02 · November 2011

you know what this post really needs? puppiesandrainbows.

lindzed · November 2011

Sorry girls really didn't mean to cause a debate. I moved her appointment and ordered dr sears book. You all reminded me it's important to be educated and make good decisions. I do want to say thanks again for the feedback. You all gave me lots of good info to think about.

remote_girl · November 2011

lindzed:
Sorry girls really didn't mean to cause a debate. I moved her appointment and ordered dr sears book. You all reminded me it's important to be educated and make good decisions. I do want to say thanks again for the feedback. You all gave me lots of good info to think about.

meh, debate is good! i think everyone should look at/question everything they introduce into their kid's systems (food, vaccines, meds, toiletries), no matter what the final choice. being informed makes for much more confidence as a mom!

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