I call it a battle, because that is what I armed and prepared myself for. Luckily, John's pediatrician is fantastic, so no really fighting has been necessary.
Before I go any further, I want to clarify up front that I am not anti-vaccination, although I know I often come across that way when it comes up in conversation. I think that parents that chose to not vaccination their children are relying on everyone else to vaccinate, which is irresponsible.
I just don't trust vaccinations. There is so much that we don't really know about vaccinations and the side effects that they have. For example - and you know this is the hot topic issue - the CDC continues to defend their stance that there is no link between vaccinations and autism. But a close look at the studies they've done discloses that they have yet to include any autistic children in their studies. They haven't even included developmentally slow children. So... they've basically looked at the history of a whole bunch of healthy kids and said, "See, everything's fine!" This really doesn't help me to feel secure in injecting a hole bunch of chemicals into my baby's body on their say so.
So, when approaching the idea of vaccinating my child, I really freaked out. Luckily, I found THIS BOOK, which has been a Godsend. Dr. Bob Sears covers every vaccine, the disease its for, how serious that disease is, the ingredients of the vaccine, and the possible side effects. He also recommends an alternate, slower vaccine schedule.
I love this schedule because it only allows for two vaccine doses at once, and it puts off vaccines that they don't need until later. It starts at 2 months, but I didn't start John until 4 months because of all of the weight gain issues we had early on. He also still had a lot of his newborn ticks at 2 months, which made me nervous. He'll still be caught up by the first year though. A lot doctors give you a hard time about adjusting the vaccination schedule, but John's pediatrician is fantastic. We had a good conversation about the differences between the recommended schedule and this schedule, about why I wanted to do this schedule, and what it would entail. I think he just wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about and that I'd done my research. And then he simply agreed to do what I want to do with my baby. And he graciously answered all of my nit picky questions, like, "what brand of said vaccine do you use?" I love him.
ANYWAYS, the first round was on Wednesday, when John received DTaP and Rotavirus. And I have to say that he did really well. I was hate needles and was really dreading the shot - and he did scream. But only for a minute or two. He was easily soothed. And he seems to have handled the vaccinations fairly well. He napped more than usual yesterday, and he had trouble with eating and spitting up today - but he wasn't grouchy about it at all. He's been in a very good mood.
However, the fact that he did having trouble eating and spitting up validates my decision to only give him two at a time. The side effects he's experiencing I'm sure are from Rotavirus, but it could be a combination thereof. And if I'd allowed them to give him even more who knows what would have happened? I feel a lot more comfortable with the way I've chosen to go about this.
UPDATE: My sister just shared THIS ARTICLE with me. Love it. Love Jim Carrey.
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4 comments:
This is very interesting. I've been thinking a lot about vaccinations of late, understandably. I have another dear friend who makes her own vaccination schedule as well. It's largely based on Dr. Sears chart too but there are also some vaccines she opts out of after doing research on them.
I wonder if I'm too lax when it comes to this. I've never done research on them. I only peruse the papers from the doctor's office on the vaccines. And I've never asked to do the schedule differently. But then, aside from sleeping more, none of the girls have had problems with the number of shots they've had or the schedule.
I'll have to keep thinking about this...a lot...Becca's 2 month appt. is in 3 weeks...not too far away. Right now she's scheduled to have 3 shots and one oral vaccine. Meh. I don't know what I want to do yet.
You might be interested in this website: http://www.askdrsears.com/default.asp
I think it may be the same SEars family of pediatricians. I go to this site every once in a while to answer questions. It's a pretty extensive website about parenting and healthcare and everything babies and families.
We've always vaxed on schedule without problems, but it seems so dumb for docs to get so worked up over parents who choose not to, or choose to wait. Let the parents decide what's right for their own family, is my take on it.
You have a cute little guy there!
I commented a lot on facebook, and thought maybe I should clarify my stance. I agree that parents really should be educated on vaccines. Vaccines may not be right for every baby. And its really good to take things into account, like weight and the like, as you have. But I think that parents should err on the side of vaccines. The polio outbreak in the 1950s was devastating. Only a few who went through polio survived it, and they are still plagued with it fifty years later. Even chicken pox can have awful side effects. Although, that vaccine is proving to not be as effective as once thought, but thats another issue entirely.
Anyway, I do believe that there are some vaccines that can be skipped altogether, but on the same token, there are many that shouldn't even be questioned. So kudos to you for doing your research and asking the questions. And I'm glad you've got a pediatrician who's willing to work with you.
Epistle over.
I am so happy to read your post! I get a lot of flack from people I know who know we waited with Jace on some of his vaccines and it's nice to hear I'm not alone. I have done a ton of research for and against and Dr.Sears was one of the best sources. I liked that is info was very impartial and maybe even leaning more toward the "get them" side.
With Eden I feel a little more lax and have been going along with Dr.Sears' schedule from day one because she is so different from Jace.
Kids really are so different and I just think that trying to put them in cookie cutter boxes doesn't always work. They need to be researched, prayed over and really thought about. It's such an important thing. And just going along with the crowd isn't always the best for some kids, when it's just fine for others.
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