Vaccinations, good or bad?

Question

I always thought that they were required and the worst that could happen would be a high fever or rash. I have just found a website, www.thinktwice.com, and while reading through it saw how many bad things really can happen from vaccinations. I am now thinking if I should stop my 18 month old from his upcoming vaccines and not giving them to my baby who is due next year. I guess I was wondering if anyone has experienced bad reactions from these and peoples views on this in general. Thank you.

Answer 1

I have heard that giving them all at once like they do now is what is the worst thing. I mean they are injecting your child with 3-6 virus at one time and if your childs immune system isnt stronger enough to fight them off is when it is bad. I am only giving my daughter two shots at a time. She will start when she is three months old and get two shots ever other week. Until she is caught up. Then I will continue to give her only two shots at a time. And the MMR I am going to split up because some people say it causes Autism and some say not but I would rather be safe then sorry. But every parents has to do what they thing is right and no one should look down on you for what you think is best for your child.  

Answer 2

I have thought the same thing but I plan to travel outside the country and in those countries you MUST HAVE YOUR CHILD VACCINATED because polio is still active in those places.

if you travel you must have it. and foreigners coming into this country also can infect your child then what will happen if your child is not vaccinated.

Answer 3

I personally think parents who choose not to vaccinate are playing russian roulette with their baby because of all the diseases they can get without them. the reason no one hears about them is because we have these vaccinations. But they are still around. What if child A goes to a 3ed world country and gives a horrible disease to your child because you didn't vaccinate. I would never take the chance and in my state you cant send your kids to public school without them. good thing or my kids would NOT go. You only hear the bad things about vacs not the good. And there is yet to be any evidence that they are bad. It's up to you but I would seriously research this and talk to experts instead of websites. Yes talk to your doctor about streching them out but 2 or 3 is too old to risk it.

Answer 4

good. you dont want your child to get any harmful diseases.....there is no absolute proof of vaccinations and autism...only studies that have taken place with no conclusive evidence linking the two....and there not mercury based anymore.

Answer 5

my step-son did not get his until the age of 2, and yes they caused him to become autistic...none of these parent have a child with autism....he was normal and developing fine until the shot...we later found out in our law suit the shots batch was expired and have went bad, we got 1.5 million from hospital in NY.  After many test it was proven the shot cause him to be this way for life.  He will never take care of himself, nor talk, or the basic thing we don't think about.  He is about to turn 9 and our lives are very hard..no one wants to babysitter or wipe a big child.  We cant take him out in public because he cries like a new born when he don't get his way, he visits the doctor 3 times a week to help him.  Life is not easy.  

Answer 6

I hear it's good to make sure that the vaccines need to be thermasol free. Ask your Dr. and make sure they are given in small doses. I hear that it is  better for the brain.

Answer 7

GOOD...or else your child risks death - disease.  The benefits far outweigh the risks----and your child, if unvaccinated, will carry illness and will be prohibited from school - camp etc.  Recent TIME magazine cover story on this very topic!  Get the vaccine!

Answer 8

I just had a conversation with my pediatrician about this today.  By "conversation", I mean he talked at me about nonsense that I didn't even ask.  

I took my little one in for his 12 month visit.  Asked to have the MMR delayed and opted out of the chicken pox vaccine.  He went on and on about how "certain actresses" (Jenny McCarthy) are very public figures and bring up issues that aren't the majority.  He went on and on about how doctor's would actually make more money if children DIDN'T get vaccinated because they'd be sick and making more doctor's visits...    He didn't bother to ask why I wanted to delay the MMR or why I opted out of the chicken pox vaccine.

I think 12 months is too early for the MMR.  My baby's immune system is still developing and I don't need to throw a combo vax in the mix (if I had the option of splitting it up into 3 different shots- I would take it...but this office doesn't offer it).  Plus, it was his birthday today and I just didn't want him to be grumpy on his birthday.  There's no harm in waiting until 18-24 months for the MMR.

And there is no need for the chicken pox vaccine, in my opinion.  If my kids don't get their boosters as adults (and they most likely won't)- if they come in contact with someone with chicken pox, the likelyhood of contracting shingles is very high.  I'd rather my kids have a few weeks of chicken pox then possibly die from shingles when they're adults.

He did get his meningitis vaccine today because I've known a few people that contracted meningitis (at the college I attended) and it wasn't pretty.

Answer 9

Im a bit scared from the side affect that it's a chance  I rather take then to have my child get polio or any of those deceases im trying to prevent by getting his shots. Since they are so many people not getting their kids vaccinated Im okay with my son getting them I don't want those kids getting mine sick.

Answer 10

Vaccinations are good and prevent serious medical problems, but on the other hand do not over protect your child.  Many vaccines are simply weakened forms of the germs, viruses, bacteria, etc. that cause the disease.  Too clean an environment can be counter-productive not allowing your child to build natural immunities.  Vaccinate, but remember the first vaccine was actually the weakened germs for the disease Cow pox, given after it was discovered why milkmaids rarely got small pox.

Answer 11

I am doing the same thing. I am so torn on this subject.  My almost 2 year old hasn't even had his 1 yr. shots.  I think when I take my newborn in at 2 months I'll get him caught up, too.  

Good luck.  Do what you feel is best.  You'll get conflicting answers on this, most will say to vaccinate.  I chose to wait.  Every autism blamed on vaccine story I've heard has happened around 18 months.

I agree with the top answerer, too.  Like I said I am torn equally on this subject!

Answer 12

You have to take into consideration that MILLIONS of children are vaccinated every year, and of the millions vaccinated, the only things you hear about vaccines are the RARE  and few instances when something goes wrong.  The media fails to remind the american public just how many kids are vaccinated and just how beneficial they really are.  You should look at the pros compared to the cons, which are much less likely to happen.  The pros outweigh the cons by a long shot.

Answer 13

My third baby had two reactions, once to his 4 month shots and a different reaction to his 6 month shots that he didn't get until he was 12 months old.  I'm pregnant again and won't be vaccinating this baby.  How do I know that this baby won't have worse reactions?  Babies have been known to die from vaccines.  There's no way to predict who will have problems and who won't.  If you're going to get them, wait until a few years and only allow one individual vaccine (no combos) to be given at a time.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think vaccines work anyway.  And as someone pointed out in answer to another question, how many adults are long overdue for boosters but still free of these diseases?  I haven't gotten any shots since school except the flu shot (which made me sick as a dog) and I've never caught anything terrible.  I'm not afraid of these diseases.  I'm afraid of these shots.  Have you ever wondered why babies are sleepy after their shots?  I think that's pretty odd, don't you?  I mean, if someone with a cold coughs on me, I don't immediately crawl into bed because I'm exhausted by the efforts of my immune system to fight off an illness.  There's an incubation period.  It takes time for your body to realize that there are invaders and to mount an attack.  Why would babies be sleepy right away?  That's not an immune response.  Their bodies can't deal with all the c**p in the vaccines!  When my baby got his 4 month shots he fell asleep while I was putting his pants back on him.  He slept all the way home and continued to sleep for days.  I tried to wake him up to feed him but be just sucked a couple times then dozed off again.  That is NOT normal!  This is a baby who had screamed with pain from undiagnosed food allergies his whole little life, who barely slept and when he did sleep (for about 20 minutes at a time) would wake from the slightest sound.  He never slept in the car, just screamed his head off until the car stopped moving.  Yet he slept all the way home from the doctor's office.  I'm lucky though.  He did eventually wake up.  Some babies don't.  Google vaccine + SIDS.

http://www.whale.to/vaccines.html

Answer 14

Read the book, "Vaccines: Are they Really Safe and Effective?" By Neil Z. Miller and decide for yourself. It's only about 100 pages with charts. You can buy it off amazon.com for cheap.

****It quotes data from the Center for Disease Control, American Medical Association & numerous medical journals and reports such as the New England Medical Journal. It has over 900 references to reknown medical publications and/or medical professionals.****

I am reading it and I am confident in my decision.

He also has a book called "Vaccine Safety Manual: For Concerned Families and Health Professionals" that I will be reading next.

Answer 15

all 3 of my kids had then they never had problems and then my friend didn't get her kids the shots and now when they get sick they get it really bad, the only reason her younger didn't get them is because her older son was allergic to one of the shots and had gotten hives pretty bad, but honestly i think the shots are there for a reason and alot of daycare wont take your kid anymore if they don't have those shots.

Answer 16

i am a RN and i had some concerns; i talked to my doc whom i trust, and he keeps up with EVERYTHING, which is great, and he has kids....after talking with him i decided to go ahead....i couldn't help but think of all the international travel these days, the heavy population concentrations with so much person to person and person to object to person contact, and ppl can be contagious before they know they are sick, and so many other kids aren't getting vaccinated and i just did not want to risk my dd contracting any of these awful diseases..there is no longer any trace of any mercury product in vaccines  and he said that there aren't any even legitimate semi-conclusive evidence....i asked him if it was his child would he vaccinate on schedule and he said "absolutely" and i trust him...so we did it....please do your research from unbiased sources before you deny your child these defenses; can you live with yourself if they contract a disease instead and have serious or deadly consequences? i decided i couldn't....

Answer 17

Hope you are not too hard on yourself on this one. I have read that site also before 6-week vaccinations, as I was dreading SIDS more than anything else in my life and I thought if there's a chance, even a slight one - I wouldn't take it. But i have called many sources and asked many experts in the area and found out that it is unfound. It's like saying we got into a car crash because we ate bread, as you eat bread within 24 hours of getting into a car crash.

Mother-in-law - pediatrician with 37 years of experience and goodness knows how many children she has seen and have been vaccinated in her experience. Nothing major happened in her history, except a few mild "illness" like symptoms. She does say the few occurences were extremely rare and usually happened to those that were unwell to begin with and she could see before hand that the child may have a reaction to vaccination and would consult parents.

My GP - an incredible woman who sat in the office listening to me cry about my worries of vaccinations, as I have also researched what happens if i DO NOT vaccinate and how children suffer (google whooping cough video) if they get sick and what the after effects will be IF get sick, so I knew the statistics. By the way, mother-in-law and her sister had whooping cough when little, her sister ended up with life-long condition where she would fall asleep any time anywhere, as the lack of oxygen to her brain during the illness caused some real damage.

Consider where you live and what the chances of your bubs catching certain illnesses is and what statistics in your area look like and make a decision that is best for you. But try not to listen to sources that credit themselves and call themselves experts in the area, even if no one else is. I do feel bad for those parents that have lost their little ones as there's nothing worse in the world. And perhaps blaming vaccinations and someone else is the only way they can hope with it, but researching what i did, I am sure there are other reasons.  

Answer 18

They are good for most, but not for all. Some babies do have reactions, some severe, which is way VAERS ( Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) exists. There is also a national fund established for the govt to help pay for the care of children injured or killed by vaccines. This is not new, and has been around for quite awhile. If your 18 month old has had all his shots up to this point and has had no adverse reactions, I would feel pretty safe letting him have the rest. If you are worried about the MMR, you can always have them split up. We use a delayed/ selective schedule for our daughter because of our family history. We started shots at 4 month instead of 2 and split them up so she only gets a few at a time. We go in about every month so far...but she has never had so much as a fever, so I feel that for us breaking them up was the way to go. MOST children are absolutely fine with the vaccinations. And vaccinations help keep our society healthy and safe. But there is nothing wrong with using an alternative schedule if you are concerned and want to be careful, I really think its healthier for kids in general to have them more spaced out instead of receiving 8 different substances injected into them at once, but thats just my opinion.  

Answer 19

I had temporary paralysis from MMR shots as a child. I still have vaccinated my daughter because it is rare and the diseases used to kill people.

Answer 20

Although it has not been proven that vaccines cause autism and other things, I don't deny or doubt that it can.  I think this scare is so recent because back when we all were kids there weren't as many vaccines as today.  All vaccines have preservatives and other things in them.  I have heard some or maybe all have some level of mercury and that could be the cause.  It is a low dose and should not cause harm, but because there are so many vaccines, more is going into the children's bodies.  

In my microbiology class, we were talking about this syubject.  My teacher said that vaccines are every important and to not forget that but the suspicionsare also quite scary.  He said with his son, he gives them but he spaces them out a little more, especially the dangerous ones.  Like anytime that there ar emany vaccines to be given at once, he will have them split up.  And also instead of giving like 2mo, 4mo, etc, it can be given 3 mo, 6 mo etc. or such like that.

Putting them all off is not going to make too much of a difference, but I think spacing them is a good idea.  You need to talk to your doctor about it and develop a plan.