When my first two kids were born, the thought of not getting immunizations had never occurred to me. I did what I was told to do and left it at that.
When Otter was diagnosed with Doose Syndrome {a VERY rare type of childhood epilepsy} I found that some other parents whose children had Doose thought it was caused by immunizations. I know some people think this is an issue with autism as well.
Do I think that immunizing my child gave him epilepsy? No. But could it have? Maybe. We'll most likely never know. I tend to be a research Nazi. This is something I've chosen not to research. It's just too controversial and I don't want to be doubting myself all the time. When I was pregnant with The Baby I went back and forth trying to decide what to do.
For me, it has never been about choosing not to immunize, but choosing to hold off and not do so many so fast.
My dad's cousin is a nurse in a free clinic. I talked to her about it. She said if you would see the things she has seen, you would never choose not to immunize your children.
Now here's the part where I might piss some of you off. I believe the reason why some parents can choose not to immunize their children, is because of those of us who choose to immunize ours. So many people preach about not immunizing, but if we all stopped, then all these diseases would start killing our children. I do, however, agree that it may be too many too fast, but I suppose I'll leave that up to the professionals.
I came across this post a while back. A precious little 2 month old baby died of Pertussis, aka Whooping Cough. The P in DTaP. He wasn't even old enough to receive the vaccine before he contracted the sickness.
As for the flu shots, I haven't really decided. We all got them this year since I was pregnant, but I don't know if we'll get them again. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
All in all, it's about personal preference. I disagree with moms telling me I shouldn't immunize my children. Let us make our own decisions. I don't judge you, don't judge me. Like I said, we do what we think is best for our own children. As for me, I'll stick to the book.
{Please do not leave comments about the dangers of immunizations and why I shouldn't immunize my children. This is how I feel and I don't need to doubt myself any more than I already have. Thank you.}
