Maybe I'm Bored
But I'm honestly curious to hear your opinions on this one. I've been wanting to post about the 'issue' of immunization for a while now, but hadn't gotten around to it - and then I found a perfectly eloquent post already written that presented my point of view almost exactly.Lazy, hey? :)
I've listened to other opinions and done lots of research, and after it was all said and done, we made a decision to vaccinate Briony - at least the major ones (I'm still pretty sure we'll skip the chicken pox vaccine). It just felt like the responsible thing to do. The risks are statistically insignificant, many of the really big scary things out there in the media can't be definitively proven by science, and I can't stand the idea of relying on other parents who took the risk to keep my own child safe - which brings about many of the same feelings I have about living freely in a country that other people's family members fought and died for (both sides of my family are Mennonite and conscientious objectors). Talk about a can of worms, hehe. But I digress.
I don't judge other parents for making a different decision, and we've definitely landed on the other side of the fence on a couple of other parenting 'issues' so far (HELLO bottle feeding and decidedly unnatural delivery). But I feel like it's *so* important for ALL of us to talk about our decisions and the rationale behind them, so we can better understand each other.
So over to you... Did you immunize your children? Why or why not? Would you made the same decision again? Or if you don't have kids, what do you think about the whole 'issue'?
Labels: Mommy Stuff, Over To You, Stuff I Found Online, Stuff I'm Thinking About
posted by Lindsay @ 9:21 AM
6 Comments:
Good for you Lindsay! Making your own decisions for YOUR child. (applause).
My kids were immunized, I was immunized - but that was WAYYYY long ago when we really were not given a choice. No ill effects.
Have fun at Falcon!
We have decided to have both our children immunized, after lengthy debate. We just figured that the pros outweighed the cons, and so far everything has been fine. They were only given the major ones (no chicken pox vaccines for us) and the only other I would consider is the meningitis one, as we lost a young friend to it. You just do what you feel is right!
Cory and I got Carter's first shots right up until 1 year. We have not yet gotten the MMR shot for Carter and we have decided to wait. If he gets these childhood diseases he will be fine. The only concern is if he would get mumps as an adult. I think we may immunize for this before grade 1. And we're definitely not getting the chicken pox vaccine. My doctor didn't even recommend him getting it.
I know I'm on the opposite side here from your post and your other two comments. :o)
Kiera got her 2, 4, and 6 month shots before I heard anything negative about vaccinations. I've also done some research and most of it pointed to that children are better able to handle vaccinations and its effects after the age of 2 and then to get each set of shots 6 months apart after that, so that's what we'll be doing with Kiera. I will not be vaccinating this next baby until he or she turns 2 and then we will start.
What a great blog and discussion venue on this topic.
Having had all of those childhood diseases and remembering each one starting at age 3, except the delirium part of the measles, I don't wish them on anyone. Thankfully I had no residual effects. I also saw horrendous side effects and deaths from the measles in Africa that I'm glad our country can avoid.
Geoff and I were both immunized, and we turned out just fi... oh wait. We were both immunized and now we're both pretty messed up. I don't think it's related however. So now, if/when Ava and Briony get immunized and end up messed up like their daddies, do we blame the immunizations or the messed up genes? ;)
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