Would you drink mercury? How about eat a spoonful of MSG? Now since I assume you would not do it, do you want your kids doing it? Vaccines are in theory a great thing. We’ve all but eradicated small pox, and the measles in the U.S., but there is a down side to these medical miracles. The fillers being used to make the “shelf life” longer of said vaccines are putting everyone in danger.

I am not writing this post to tell you to not vaccinate your child, I would never do that. I have been known to have a harsh reaction when people tell me what to do with my children. I do however think that it is the responsibility of a parent to educate themselves as much as they can, especially when it comes to your child’s health. I certainly did and wouldn’t take that knowledge away for anything. I started reading and learning as much as I could, it is a topic that fascinates me and I cannot get enough. I am constantly coming across new books and articles, some of which I find through Dr. Mercola and the National Vaccine Information Center.

I am not a trusting person by nature, and I realized I had put too much trust in my sons’ first pediatrician. It is my job to make those choices for my kids, not her. We now have a different pediatrician who I LOVE! He is so great; he completely supports my choices about vaccines and natural remedies without giving me the third degree and he is knowledgeable on both sides of vaccines.

All of the risks that I was reading about on my own were NEVER mentioned to me by our first pediatrician, even after I asked.

The reactions that I was always told about were:

  • Fever
  • Redness, soreness, and/or minor swelling at injection site
  • Fatigue
  • Headaches

The adverse reactions I was NOT informed about were:

  • Skin infections
  • Diabetes
  • Seizures
  • Heart inflammation
  • Nerve inflammation and/or dysfunction
  • Pneumonia
  • Death
  • Plus so many more!

There are also many ingredients in a lot of vaccines that are very concerning, questionable, and/or controversial, such as:

  • Mercury (thimerosal)
  • Aluminum
  • Formaldehyde
  • MSG
  • Octoxynol
  • EDTA
  • Human and animal DNA {proteins, tissues, serums, cells, eggs}
  • Live, genetically altered organisms

I believe that whether a parent does or does not vaccinate (or does on their own schedule) that they are making that choice to protect their child and because that is what they think it best and I respect the heck out of it. It should be an informed choice though, every child deserves that. After learning about the real benefits and real risks to each vaccine “required” by the state of Texas I made a choice on each one about whether the risks of the vaccine out-weighed the risks of my child getting that specific illness/disease. A lot of parents think they don’t have options on vaccinating because “law” requires it for school and/or day care…NOT TRUE. Texas has an immunizations exemption form, check out the Texas Department of State Health Services to learn more!

The NVIC has a list of 8 questions you should ask yourself before & after having your child immunized:

  1. Am I or my child sick right now?
  2. Have I or my child had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?
  3. Do I or my child have a personal or family history of vaccine reactions, neurological disorders, severe allergies or immune system problems?
  4. Do I know the disease and vaccine risks for myself or my child?
  5. Do I have full information about the vaccine’s side effects?
  6. Do I know how to identify and report a vaccine reaction?
  7. Do I know I need to keep a written record, including the vaccine manufacturer’s n
    ame and lot number, for all vaccinations?
  8. Do I know I have the right to make an informed choice?

Some pros to making your own schedule vs. following the one from the CDC:

Pros –

  • If your child only gets one vaccine at a time and has any type of adverse reaction or allergy you will know which vaccine caused it.
  • Less pain and trauma from being poked numerous times or having more going through the needle. Those who say babies don’t feel pain are idiots…just my opinion 😉
  • Initially a vaccine lowers the immune system, when they are spaced out it gives thebody more healing time
  • Baby is not as likely to get sick as often

Cons –

  • More trips to the doctor, however you can just see the nurse for the vaccine and not pay a co-pay
  • Your child could come in contact with an illness/disease that he or she has not been vaccinated for

 

Do I believe that vaccines can save lives and help people? Yes.

Do I believe that they are all necessary? No.

Do I think babies are given too many? Yes.

Do I believe that the standards for safety concerning vaccines are good enough? Hell no.

Do I believe that they can cause adverse affects? Yep.

Sadly pharmaceutical companies and pediatricians care far too much about making $ than the safety and health of our children. It is our jobs as parents to advocate on our children’s behalf.

If you are interested, here are a few of my favorite books on vaccines:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 COMMENTS

  1.  I agree that doing research and being well informed as parents and not taking pediatric guidelines at face value is really important. I really do think that medicine in general and pharmaceutical companies are out to make money over the well being of patients. What we also have to realize is that the people who write informative parenting books are out to make money as well. I don’t believe that Dr. Sears is careful enough with his language/word choice and his implications to be a valid source for information. And yes, with a topic as important as this, I truly believe we have to nitpick at things like language use. This is the article that started me down the path of research about Dr. Sears and vaccines 
    http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/cashing-in-on-fear-the-danger-of-dr-sears/

    • Carryn, I agree completely! I do not put too much into what any one person says because most are out to make money. I like a lot of things that Dr. Mercola has to say and it sparks my interest in a lot of areas, but I take a lot of it with a grain of salt as well. I feel the same about Dr. Sears.
      I am a huge believer in doing a lot of research on a topic then forming your own opinions, not following or doing what any one person says because they are a doctor or have a degree. People need to take charge and think for themselves…in an educated way.
      I do like The Vaccine Book because it lets you look at the whys/why nots of the issue without diving off the deep end. I made my mind up about my alternate schedule before I had even read his book.
      I am looking forward to reading the article, thank you for sharing!!

    • Wow! Have to say I read this article and it made me literally laugh out loud! To claim that Dr. Sears is cashing in by scaring readers is ironic, especially when he ultimately recommends getting almost every vaccine. I have read Dr. Sears book and actually believe he is too liberal with his recommendations, although he probably had to be to get his book published. While Dr. Sears is “scaring” people, what is the CDC doing? They are increasing their scare tactic ads in the media each and every day. Could this be for fear that all these non-vaccinating patents are hurting the bottom line ultimately? The real scare tactics happen in my own pediatrician’s office. He is rated one of Texas’ top doctors every year, and yet he can’t tolerate my alternative schedule. My kids will get most of the vaccines, although they will be spread out with most coming closer to age 5. Yet, he gives me so much grief that I refuse to take my kids to the Dr. unless they are knocking on death’s door. The scare tactic is working, he has driven me to be fearful to even go into his office! When they do go, he proceeds to run series of bloodwork for every sniffle, because it could be something very serious since they aren’t fully vaccinated! Remind me again who’s using scare tactics? Oh yeah, Dr. Sears who at least presents another side. Is he the only source of information one should consider? Absolutely not, but at least he opens the door for awareness and using common sense even in medical choices.

  2. I worried about it as well, which is the reason I spaced out the vaccines for my child. Thankfully, he has never has a type of reaction.

    Good blog today!

    • Thank you Lisette! I feel the same way about my oldest who is fully vaccinated on the recommended schedule…I would never go that route again.

  3. I was one of those moms that didn’t do a lot of research, but based on a good girl friend’s recommendation, spaced out Lincoln’s vaccines. At the end of the day, he will get all of them but not all at once like is recommended by pediatricians. Awesome job, Ashlee!

  4. I am so happy to read this blog post!  I have said your words, exactly, sooo many times to people!  My husband began researching vaccines two years prior to having our first child (around the time our friend’s began having babies).  We were well armed with knowledge and felt confident in our choices.  Dr. Stephanie Cave’s book LIVED in my diaper bag for all pediatrician visits!  And we, too, made a couple of dr. changes before finding a Dr. that was okay with our methods.  (Could have been that at our first appointment we allowed a vaccine, and I confirmed that because we waited until 24 months for the shot, he only needed one dose vs. four.  Our Dr. just kind of grinned and nodded.)

    • It is amazing when you find the right pediatrician…it takes a lot of unneeded stress away! Cave’s book is my favorite hands down! I had friends asking to borrow it and I had to just get them their own copy because I won’t let mine out of my house! 🙂

  5. I’m pregnant with my first child & live in North Austin. I’m struggling to find a pediatrician who will support my views on a delayed/selective vaccine schedule…can you make any recommendations?

    • I have heard great things about the doctors at Austin Regional Clinic in Cedar Park – the Discovery location!

  6. We’re not vaccinating our son with several- I had a seizure from the pertussis vaccine as a child so it is contraindicated for him. So many are combo shots now too that it is up to 6 shots at once! Luckily, in Austin, there are several “open-minded” pediatricians.

  7. It is this simple….. If you are a good parent, you trust the real science and vaccinate. If you are not smart enough to understand the science, and choose to listen to stupid hippie crap and not vaccinate, then you probably should not have had kids.

  8. Your information is very out of date, particularly in the area of ingredients. In light of the antivaxxers, the pharmaceutical companies have removed some of your list. While certainly some children have diseases that make vaccines dangerous, they are a minuscule minority. I’m allergic to the preservative in vaccines but my child is not. Disclose your problems to your pediatrician but do not assume you are the same person. I think it’s really important to note, despite my allergy my dr recommended getting the flu vaccine during my pregnancy (got the preservative free and no throwing up yay!) when I mentioned my concerns, she said she knew the risks but I was ignoring the risks of not doing it. All of her third term miscarriages were due to the flu. As they are not born, they aren’t included in the annual flu death toll. There is a measles outbreak at Disney. There are repeated pertussis outbreaks around the country every year. While you look at the numbers, it seems like a small risk, but to the family who lost a child to a preventable disease, the loss is devastating.
    I support the authors quest for information – it is important. Just don’t discount the relatively small percentages of the diseases – we have a tendency to discount information outside of our experience. My child is too young for the MMR vaccine and will be unprotected for this measles issue without the herd resistance. My dr is checking in with us regularly and Texas is to date not affected by the outbreak. I would encourage finding a pediatrician that an explain the dangers of delayed scheduling with facts and figures. Stay informed with current info and be cognizant of the risk you pose to your family and friends. Parenting is tough and fearmongoring can occur, but in this instance- it is well founded . Good luck !

    • Hi Meagan~

      Thank you for commenting on this post. This originally published in 2012 and you are correct, since then many of the ingredients in the vaccines have changed. We appreciate your thoughts on this important topic!

      Thanks~

      Allison Mack
      Austin Moms Blog

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