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Did You / Would You Vax Your Child?

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  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
    Yes I did vax my kids. The only shots you need for school is two doses of MMR. That's all folks
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    Yes. I did. Had both my boys vaccinated. I consider it very selfish not to vaccinate. The only reason it is a question is because so many do that those who do not are protected. These viruses are not spread around very much. But, if we still had diphtheria, pertussis, and measles, and children died, a lot, I don't think we would be debating vaccination.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    edited April 2016
    Mom of 3 here. My daughters were vaccinated following the normal schedule, no issues. With my son, I had gotten involved in the whole 'crunchy' mom movement and was hesitant to vaccinate him, but decided to go ahead with it. And then the little stinker went ahead and had a reaction and we ended up in the ER (severe lethargy, 104 fever, refused to nurse and became dehydrated-and he was already underweight/labeled failure to thrive, so that made it even more of a big deal.) They couldn't for sure pin it on the vaccines and 2 days later he was fine.

    Went back in for the next round, same thing happened. My pediatrician recommended we break the vaccines up and only get one at a time. We did this and figured out it was the dtap one that was causing the issues.

    We continued with a delayed/select schedule and he was caught up with everything a few months before kindergarten. It was a scary and frustrating thing to go through but I'm still for vaccinations. I've had my adult boosters as well!
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    My 3 younger children are not fully vaccinated.

    My oldest was fully vaccinated...when she recieved her last mmr shot, she had a severe allergic reaction that landed her in the hospital. The reaction triggered the gene she carries for Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. She was 4, and developed JRA in her feet and ankles. While not debilitating, having rheumatoid arthritis from the age of 4 in your feetvand ankles is very limiting. There are day where she is nearly immobile.

    Because my other children also carry the gene for JRA, we (along with our ped) have elected to not give the other kids the MMR in the off chance that they also have an allergic reaction. They have a medical exemption, but attend a private school where they would be allowed to attend regardless.

    Had no one had a reaction, they would be fully vaccinated.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    Yes I did vax my kids. The only shots you need for school is two doses of MMR. That's all folks

    Not in all states.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
    I'm a nurse, and will all due respect to Jenny McCarthy (after all, she was intelligent enough to marry Donny Wahlberg) she isn't a physician, nor does she have the medical knowledge she thinks she does. While immunizations may be a risk for a small population (still not proven), the diseases they protect against are an advantage for a large number of people.

    From the World Health Organization:

    DTP3
    115 million
    infants vaccinated with 3 doses of DTP
    in 2014

    DTP3 immunization coverage
    Prevention
    2–3 million
    deaths from diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), and measles averted annually by vaccination
    Global immunization coverage, 2014



    Mortality
    1.5 million
    children under the age of 5 died from vaccine-preventable diseases in 2008

    Global immunization coverage, 2014


    http://www.who.int/gho/immunization/en/

    I was vaccinated as a child, and continue as an adult. My children were vaccinated and my grandchildren are vaccinated to protect them from the ignorant non-vaccinators.
  • tequila5000
    tequila5000 Posts: 128 Member
    What I think is a miracle is the vaccine for chicken pox. Both my sister an I have scars on our faces from when we had chicken pox. But my niece and nephew got the vaccine so they probably won't have to endure that miserable illness! Or long term scarring that can have effects on a persons self esteem.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I vaccinated both my kids.
    Here in Australia they've brought in a law, no vaccs= no government benefits.

    A little baby died here the other week from whooping cough, apparently caught from an unvaccinated child :rage:
  • artzymummy
    artzymummy Posts: 46 Member
    Yep, my boys are up to date and where I live there is an app that even lets me know when they are coming due for a vaccine. I did my research, lost a couple acquaintances over such discussions, and made an educated decision. I refused to simply read scare tactics, I needed both sides so that I could see what was out there for proof for either argument.
  • snikkins
    snikkins Posts: 1,282 Member
    I vaccinated both my kids.
    Here in Australia they've brought in a law, no vaccs= no government benefits.

    A little baby died here the other week from whooping cough, apparently caught from an unvaccinated child :rage:

    Not the first time down there, either. The anti-vaccination crowd in Australia is extremely cruel towards the parents of such a baby - Riley, I think her name was. It's ugly.

    California got its act together, a bit, after the measles outbreak at Disneyland.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    snikkins wrote: »
    I vaccinated both my kids.
    Here in Australia they've brought in a law, no vaccs= no government benefits.

    A little baby died here the other week from whooping cough, apparently caught from an unvaccinated child :rage:

    Not the first time down there, either. The anti-vaccination crowd in Australia is extremely cruel towards the parents of such a baby - Riley, I think her name was. It's ugly.

    California got its act together, a bit, after the measles outbreak at Disneyland.

    Yeah it can be truly sickening! :(

    I also get a flu shot every year, and haven't been sick once since getting it!
  • Fasterby54
    Fasterby54 Posts: 7 Member
    “Ignorant non-vaccinators”? Wow Positivepowers, you sure area a negative caregiver. The WHO’s mission involves global concerns, with no concern for your individual child. Here is a study for you.

    Medical Model Errors
    Preventable medical errors by doctors and nurses persist as the No. 3 killer in the U.S. – third only to heart disease and cancer – claiming the lives of some 400,000 people each year.

    So as you can guess, I did not vaccinate my kids. They are now healthy, lean, nice young men who participated in school, sports and anything else they desired. My decision was based on much study and research. It was not an “ignorant” choice. Ignorant would have been me blindly following orders. I do not judge those who decided to vaccinate their kids. We are all doing what we believe is best.

    My oldest kid got vaccinated two weeks ago. He is starting college and elected to get the shots. He is going into nursing. I hope his experiences help him to be a little more open-minded and kind than some others here.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    “Ignorant non-vaccinators”? Wow Positivepowers, you sure area a negative caregiver. The WHO’s mission involves global concerns, with no concern for your individual child. Here is a study for you.

    Medical Model Errors
    Preventable medical errors by doctors and nurses persist as the No. 3 killer in the U.S. – third only to heart disease and cancer – claiming the lives of some 400,000 people each year.

    So as you can guess, I did not vaccinate my kids. They are now healthy, lean, nice young men who participated in school, sports and anything else they desired. My decision was based on much study and research. It was not an “ignorant” choice. Ignorant would have been me blindly following orders. I do not judge those who decided to vaccinate their kids. We are all doing what we believe is best.

    My oldest kid got vaccinated two weeks ago. He is starting college and elected to get the shots. He is going into nursing. I hope his experiences help him to be a little more open-minded and kind than some others here.

    How would you feel if one of your kids got whooping cough and infected an unvaccinated baby, and the baby died? This is exactly what happened here a few weeks ago..
  • Fasterby54
    Fasterby54 Posts: 7 Member
    Well Christine-72, since I don’t know the specifics of what happened there, but you asked me the question, I of course, would feel horrible. How would you feel if a child was vaccinated and then died? That’s what happened here last year. See, its not a fair question.

    Adults are the most common source of pertussis infection in infants. Once an adult gets the Tdap vaccine, they should get the Td (tetanus and diphtheria) booster every 10 years from then on, but who is really doing that? My kids did not infect anyone, nor did they get infected.

    The question was did I/would I vaccinate. And no I didn’t and wouldn’t. I am not trying to tell anyone else what they should or should not do. I am not anti-medicine. If my kids were sick and needed medical help, I’d get it. If we traveled to a county where certain shots were recommended and after research I agreed, I’d get them. But I do not agree with the American dosage/timetable of vacines. US babies 26 doses of vaccines before age one, which is twice as many vaccinations as babies in Sweden and Japan get.

    Thank you for an honest, non-attacking question.
  • Fasterby54
    Fasterby54 Posts: 7 Member
    In a different world, at a different time, in a different country, I may have made a different decision. But I have to factor in the actual world I live in. My kids have also never had antibiotics. I've never feared them getting chickenpox or spiking a fever The body is an incredible machine and for the most part all we have to do is get out of the way. But I get what you are saying. Thanks for your opinion.
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