I found a thread on this subject,but I am choosing to start my own


OMG am I a bad mother?? I am a new mother to a happy full of life 7 month/almost 8 month old girl

I have not gotten her any shots yet...she is wayyyy over due

I found her a new doc,she has yet to go to yet.I am sure they will try to force me into her getting her shots.

She has caught 2 colds,one due to my sick 2 yr old cousin.Overall,she has never had a fever and is full of energy.

I have done research before having a baby.The autism reports and my favorite comedian blaming immunizations for her son's autism....SCARES ME! I am literally crying my eyes out right now.

What am I to do?? are there certain ones I can get? Do I have to? I am in North Carolina in united states.I am so afraid,I just want a healthy baby.What if she contracts a deadly disease due to my bad choices? I had my shots as a child,and I was still the most sickly child ever.If you breathe on me with a cough,I was near death.I had chicken pox twice and pnuemonia,almost died.ADVICE PLEASEEEEEEEEE! I FEEL HORRIBLE AND AFRAID!!

I don't think you're a bad mother. It's normal to be afraid and to worry about things like vaccinations. However, I would strongly advise you consider vaccinating your child. The autism link was only made in a single study which has since been debunked. The only serious side effects known to stem from vaccinations are high fever and allergic reaction (which is due to the eggs, not the viruses, the vaccines are made from). Both of these side effects, while serious, are extremely rare. In fact, your little one has a much higher risk of disability/death from contacting measles than by having the MMR, and measles is making a comeback in the USA, due in part to the growing numbers of people not vaccinating their children.

I'm not trying to scare you, and in the end you should make up your own mind from your own research. I'm just letting you know there is another side to the vaccination debate. Also, please don't let arguments like "polio is extinct" (which some anti-vaccination websites state) sway you. The fact is, we don't live in a vacuum. While polio might not be a concern in your neighborhood now, it could exist in areas your neighbor travels to in the future. All it takes is a single infected person to start an epidemic.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. No matter what that decision is, you ARE a good mommy, because you want to do the best for your child.

There is no evidence WHAT SO EVER that vaccinations cause autism. Jenny McCarthy has even decided that it wasn't the vaccinations that made her kid autistic. She doesn't even think her kid is autistic anymore. She thinks he's a "Crystal child", which explains why he is different. Basically, she's totally insane.

You are not a bad mom for wanting the best for your child. You have to weigh the pros and the cons. In the case of vaccinations, the pros outweigh the cons. The risk of serious side effect are very minimal, where the risk of serious complications from getting one of the many diseases that we can vaccinate against is much more dangerous.

I can tell you that my son is vaccinated, and he never had a bad reaction. I can feel good that if he cuts himself, he won't get tetanus. If he comes in contact with a group of kids, he's most likely not going to get measles. I can only hope that the kids around him are immunized too, for their own sake and for my kid's sake too.

Best of luck in your decision making.

You're not a bad mom. I think all of us struggle with the vaccine question.

I think you need to do some research. Look for information from medical journals, not the opinion web sites. It also might help to talk to your doctor about your specific concerns.

Take the vaccines one by one instead of as a whole. My LO is vaccinated, but we refused the Hep B at birth, influenza, and we won't do chicken pox unless she hasn't had it by 13. A lot of people choose to delay vaccines as well.

There are a lot of different opinions on vaccines. All you can do is educate yourself and then make the right decision for your family.

As it's already been stated, the autism link has zero scientific evidence backing it.
One of the guys involved (Wakefield) was trying to promote his own vaccine at the time and so his conduct was basically decided to be unethical.

You're not a bad mom for thinking about those things though. It's great to make informed decisions and I'd rather you look into it and decide not to vaccinate than to just blindly do so.

That being said, I am pro-vax and my daughter gets all of her shots (excluding flu). I 100% believe it's the right thing to do for her.

You're not a bad mom, lots of mom's choose simply to NOT vaccinate (for whatever reason) and others choose to do a delayed vaccination schedule ...something I totally support.

Aria is 5mo and hasn't had a single vaccination yet either and she's totally healthy with the exception of her first cold, which isn't bothering her even that much. She's sniffly and coughy yes, but her spirits are still high and she enjoys playing. I did go to take her to see the doctor yesterday but ended up leaving the walk in clinic because after 15-20min I still hadn't even had a chance to see the receptionist and the place was FULL of kids who were WAAYY sicker than she is.

One piece of advice I found in the Natural parenting section in a similar thread was if unsure, ask for the vaccination "inserts" and read them... there was also a link leading to the inserts for most vaccinations saying what's in them, what potential side effects there are, what ages etc they're suitable for. Was a great link, I'll see if I can find it.

Basically everything everyone else has said. If you trust your doctor, talk to him/her. If you don't trust your doctor, switch. You can always do a different schedule if you would like, but make sure you do your research. I know they just pulled a vaccine off the market recently (I think I saw this on the news), so if they believed it caused Autism, they would pull it.

The choice to vaccinate is yours and I think as a parent you have the right to have that choice. But you have to consider that if you choose NOT to vaccinate you are also endangering other children who may not be ABLE to vaccinate for other reasons (allergies, ect.). The only thing those children have is the fact that if everyone else gets immunized, there is less chance that the disease will get to them. Course if you are worried, then its no wonder you'd choose your own child over someone else's, it is your kid, so no judgement there.

The key is do get a doctor that understands your fears. My OH and I have been having the vaccination discussion since finding out I was pregnant. He is against them, I was for them. There is a lot of information out there and it can be scary and overwelming. The book I have found most helpful is The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. He gives a breakdown of each vaccine, what it's for, why it was started, what's in it etc. It's in language that is easy to understand. He says he is pro-vaccine, but goes by an alternate schedule. Even though he is pro-vaccine it's actually helped me see more of my OH's point of view.

When we picked our pediatrician we asked the flat out about their view on vaccines. The one we picked will do them if that is our choice, but only does one at a time and won't do them if that is our choice.

We are currently waiting until at least 6 months before starting any, though like I said I am leaning more and more to not doing them. Our pediatrician does work with a woman who does homeopathic vaccines. We might meet with her to see what that entails. It just came up at our last visit and I haven't really had time to research what it is about yet.

Most states don't require them until the child enters elementary school. In CT what a child needs for school requires less than what is suggested by the CDC. Check your public school web site and you should be able to find a list of what is require. Some states are easier to get not do vaccines than other. You can decided not to do them for religious reasons. They cannot ask what your religion is.

Like I said my OH and I are at least waiting until LO is 6 months to start, but we will probably hold longer. We were planning to get only what is required for school, but starting later. At this point we are continuing to research and make the decision as we go.

We did not do the Hep. B, eye ointment or vitiam K shot at birth.

This is a very controversial issue and I respect the views of the people who choose to do the vaccinations. I have to make the decision that I feel is best for my child. Just make sure you are making a decision that is based on knowledge and not fear.

Hello Danie1stbaby,

You are NOT a bad mom for choosing to delay vaccinating until you are sure of your decision. The autism link, although highly debated has not been dismissed. Besides autism there are many other diseases including neurological and auto immune diseases that have been linked to vaccines.
I am planning on starting a thread soon on vaccines for mothers choosing to delay or not get them at all. It's such a controversial topic tht definitely needs more debate on here.

Hello,
Just curious..I have never heard of homeopathic vaccines. Anymore info would be appreciated. Thanks!