Natural Birth
Vaccination question...please help!
Hi I know this isn't exactly ab birth but we all seem to be on he same page as far as our views on keeping things natural so I was hoping someone could help. I am quite the naturalist...had a natural L&D and exclusively breast feeding. My son is 7 weeks old n our two month check up is soon approaching. I don't want to have him get the norm multitude of vaccines. Does anyone know of an extended schedule for them or has anyone not done them at all....n if so how do u approach it when school requires them. Anything will help...
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Re: Vaccination question...please help!
Most people on this site are really really pro vaccine and will eat you alive if you mention not vaccinating. I don't vaccinate for a varitey of reasons that I dont feel like getting into here. If you want to discuss selectively vaccinating/not vaccinating at ll you'd be better off at mothering.com
https://www.mothering.com/community/f/47/vaccinations
oh wow really!? Ok we'll thx for clueing me in...
First, you'll want to sit down with your pedi or family doc and discuss what they are willing to do.
Then, with the advice of your doc, decide which shots are important to get first. For example, my doc was adamant that we get the pertussis vaccine out of the way first since there were outbreaks at the time we were creating the schedule.
After that, it's just a matter of what you're comfortable with. I decided to only do one shot per visit and space them out two weeks. We also split up all combo shots. We started this mainly because my oldest son has so many food allergies that I was concerned about him having a reaction to a shot. By splitting them up I felt like it would be easier to determine what he was having a reaction to if it happened. But then I noticed how he wasn't even getting a fever, getting fussy, or having his sleep bothered at all by doing it this way and we continued this schedule with our other kids.
Doing it this way they are always caught up with their 2 month shots by 4 months, 4 months are caught up by 6, etc.
The only ones we skip are chicken pox, rotavirus, Hep B, and flu shots. We will reconsider the chicken pox and Hep B when they are older. I am doubtful that my kids will come into contact with chicken pox naturally in our area, because our family doc hasn't seen a case in ten years of practice.
As far as school goes, we homeschool, so it isn't a problem for us. If we were in school we would just sign a waiver for philosophical reasons.
Good luck with whatever you decide. And don't let the haters get to you. You have to do what you think is right for your family.
How funny that there is a Prevnar ad on the page right now while I'm responding.
I don't think everyone here is on the same page. I don't do things that are "natural" just for the sake of what's natural, because I don't believe natural is inherently better. Measles is natural and I'd rather my child not get it. I vaccinate my kids for the same reason I support reducing unnecessary interventions in childbirth (i.e. "natural" birth)--because science shows that results in the best outcomes. I hope you will vaccinate your child, even if it is on a delayed schedule. Vaccines save lives.
This, kind of. We are on an alternate schedule. DS will get all of his vaccines but not be overwhelmed with many at once. One or two shots a visit, depending on if they are combo shots. I recommend: Dr. Sears The Vaccine Book for various schedules.
DS #1 born 05/25/2012
BFP#2: 06/12/2013 ---- loss
DS #2 born 4/08/2014
BPF#4: 2/1/2016 --- 2/23/2016 suspected molar pregnancy--- 3/15/2016 D&E - diagnosis MM
BFP#5 - 9/22/2016
* formally bornmommy
Re the hep b vaccination: I had a discussion with my pediatrician sister about that for the same reasons you mentioned. As she explained it to me, isn't that they're going to be having sex or getting questionable tattoos from crazy places, but you can't guarantee they won't come into contact with someone else's blood who HAS. When explained to me that way, it made a lot of sense and we'll for sure get it done.
As someone who skipped Hep B, I can see how this shot would be important for someone whose children are in a daycare or somewhere else where they could potentially be exposed to others that carry Hep B. My children are home with me and the only time they could really come in contact with the disease would be at the playground or maybe in the church nursery. I guess they COULD come in contact with blood anywhere, but the risk is so small that it doesn't even make me think twice about it, just like I really don't worry about them getting HIV from blood that could be lingering in their environment. The amount of time they spend in these places is so tiny that I feel comfortable taking that risk at this point. When my children get older and are out in the world more - possibly playing contact sports and things like that, we will probably get them the shot.
This is why I think these decisions vary from family to family depending on their circumstances. Everyone's level of comfort and risk is very different. Take the flu for example, my kids are home with me and we avoid germy places during cold and flu season, so I am comfortable with doing the normal handwashing and other measures to avoid the flu. But I would certainly consider the vaccine if my kids were in daycare or school right now.
I just get really upset with the hatred for anti-vaxers, especially on this board. I've heard so many people tell me how I am am unfit parent or an making irresponsible medical decisions with my children for choosing to have a homebirth. When I hear mothers who have made the same decision to have a homebirth say the same thing to me about vaccines it honestly confuses me a little. And I say this as someone who DOES vaccinate for pretty much everything. I honestly don't see how my decision to not get the chicken pox or flu vaccine is anyone else's business. And I certainly don't care if you choose not to vaccinate your kids. I respect parental authority and religious freedom above all else.
Some pediatricians are ok with that, some aren't. if you're gung-ho on this, find one that is. We're selective and delayed vaxers - but not to an extreme... meaning he got all his required stuff, in his first year, just spread out. Also he did NOT get the HepB vax, and won't until the state forces us. I didn't have mine until I was 12 (when it was new), so I really don't see why they need to force it on newborns. But that's just me. YMMV.
Also, I second visiting Mothering.com.
Well said.
We do the same, but do Hep B after BFing is well established, so for DD that was at 2 weeks. We will see about this baby.
To +adamwife+ :
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing all of the information you did. Your family's approach sounds like what I would like to do for my baby and your reasons are all very good in my opinion. I appreciate having the information and I also sympathize with your frustration with hatred for anti-vaxers and other judgments people make.
You know what the difference is? Homebirth/BC/hospital birth is a decision you make for you family that affects only your family. Vaccines are a decision that you make for your family that affects the population as a whole. Herd immunity works if 90% or greater of the population is vaccinated. So this protects those who are either too young or unable to be vaccinated. Those who can be vaccinated should be IMO, it is a social responsibility. Where you have your child is a personal choice.
I would argue that the medical decisions I make for my children are my choice. Period. That's where this issue is the same as homebirth. It's my body, the body of MY child, and therefore I get to make medical decisions for them based on what I feel is best. Parents should have the authority here.
And the reason other women relate their choice to have a natural birth with their choice not to vaccinate is because the injection of chemicals/preservatives into their blood stream or their child's is where it is the same. These women avoid the epidural because they worry about the possible side effects of the medication to them and their baby and that is the same reason they avoid the vaccines. Now, that's not why I don't get the epi, but I understand why some women put the two in the same category.
I guess we can agree to disagree on this one
Do you feel better now?
Because sorry to break it to you, but it is about you, your beliefs, and your child/children. And the law support this (for now).
But I think all of this just proves that we need more research done on vaccines. People don't trust the classifications right now and the newness of some of the vaccines. And I don't blame them one bit. The medical industry has a long history of saying that things are safe and even citing research that backs up their claims only to find out a few decades later that they were OOPS wrong (another way this debate crosses over into the natural birth world). I completely understand the hesitation and I actually vaccinate against the diseases you are ranting about.
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I don't delay MMR, so no, my decision doesn't have anything to do with you at all. If you read this thread at all you'd see that my kids receive all required vaccines within two months of the normal schedule. That's hardly a delay (especially considering that the current schedule is set up the way it is for convenience of parents to get it done in the least sessions possible and has little to do with NEEDING certain shots at a specific time - there is an age range in which the shots are recommended to be received and a two month difference is perfectly acceptable). But even if I did delay it until age five or seven or whatever, or use a different country's schedule in which vaccines are given at different times, that's my call.
As far as my declining chicken pox, rotavirus or Hep B for my kids - no, I don't think that has anything to do with you. It's my choice.
You could say this about anything. You could have any one of the thousands of infectious diseases out there and pass it to me or my children at any point. You could even be fully vaccinated against a disease and pass it to me or my children. I wouldn't blame you for passing it to me unless you are intentionally coughing or bleeding on my child. I realize that life comes with the risk of illness. It is what it is.
This is such a slippery slope. Someone's decision to routinely (and unnecessarily) use antibiotics to treat their Group B Strep during labor could contribute to antibiotic resistance potentially leaving my children vulnerable to illness and death at some point. But it's still their right to make their own medical decisions. That's life. We all do what we think is best. I would never tell someone they are a horrible waste of life and an unfit parent because they want to take antibiotics (unnecessarily).
I don't really see the point in going after +adamwife+ on this. The vaccines she says she skips in this post are pretty minor. I never got to rotovirus fast enough so DS didn't get it. We don't do hep B until grade 6 here. I did do chicken pox, but I don't think the case is as strong for this vaccine as others.
I'm as rabidly pro-vaccine as they come, but I try not to alienate people that actually fundamentally agree with me.
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Whether we like it or not, it IS a personal decision. The government doesn't break down your door and vaccinate your kids. Ideally, people consider the public good while making their personal decision.
I have no respect for people that don't do the big vaccinations, but putting people that skip flu shots in with people that skip MMR is just being unnecessarily polarizing.
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