Mommy & Me

I'm a proponent of delaying/selective vaccination. Why? Because I feel it is what's best for my child. This may not be what you want, and that's fine, but this is the place where I'm going to talk about why it's right for me.

I'll start by saying that I loosely follow the Dr. Sear's vaccination schedule. I didn't really start this until Gunnar was a month old because I didn't do my research before he was born like I now wish I did. I cringe when I think that I let my not even 24 hour old baby get a Hep B vaccination. That just seems insane to me now!

What vaccines do I "reject" all together?
- Rotavirus: the symptoms of this illness is similar to that of the stomach flu. Like the regular stomach flu,  the only concern is dehydration, and as long as you make sure your child is getting fluids, you're fine.
- Flu: I don't get the flu shot for myself so why on earth would I get it for my child? There's a new one every year and it doesn't seem worth it to me
- Chickenpox (Varicella)- I had the chicken pox as a child and I turned out fine. To me, this seems like a vaccine that is just worthless. It's becoming so popular to get it for your child because of the fear of them not getting until they're older (which is a real concern).

What Vaccines do I delay?
All of them! Now, don't think that by "delay" that means my child hasn't had any vaccines and that he won't get them for years to come, because that isn't the case. He has had vaccines, but I space them out a lot more than "normal." At 13 months), he only has 1 full series of vaccines (hep b). I also, when available, get his vaccines separated. Why? Because that's 3- in- 1... meaning your child is being injected with 3 vaccines at one point in time. When it comes to vaccines, I don't go by how many pricks he's going to get, I go by how many vaccines he's actually going to get in his system, and my limit is 2 at a time (with the exception of the DTaP). Unfortunately, this doesn't work for all vaccines. I recently learned that it's near impossible to find the MMR shot in separate vaccines so we'll have to get that one as a single one, but this will be delayed until he's at least 2 years old.
*From personal experience of having my son in the hospital for 6 days, PLEASE get your child the DTaP vaccine at 2 months! It protects against Pertussis (whooping cough) which, when bad enough, can be deadly. Gunnar had it at a mere 6 weeks, 2 short weeks away from when he would've gotten the vaccine. In most cases, it's the parent who gives it to the child but rarely are they aware of that. There IS a booster for the pertussis vaccine for adults. It's called the Tdap vaccine and I strongly urge parents to get that vaccine so you don't get pertussis and then pass it off to your child.

Every parent does things differently and vaccinations are no different. However, they're a hot topic at this point in time. Just because I do things a certain way, doesn't mean you have to. The most important piece of information I can give you is to tell you to do your research! I never even thought about not giving my child every vaccination until I did research and found out that some of them really aren't necessary, and are in fact deemed "optional." Also, please talk to your pediatrician! Ask for handouts on the upcoming vaccines your child is to receive. If you feel you don't want your child to receive a particular one, express that to your pediatrician. He/She may put up a fight about it (hopefully not if you're lucky!), but in the end it is YOUR child and YOUR right to choose what you will.