Sunday, March 9, 2014

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate - to each his own!

I've seen a lot of pro-vaccination information especially on Facebook recently.  I get the feeling that a lot of my friends and family that are pro-vaccination are shaming me because I don't always vaccinate my children.
I am not completely anti-vaccination, however I am definitely not 100% supportive of all vaccinations for all children all the time.  I have vaccinated all of my children (dTap) and I even vaccinated myself in October (Tdap), so here are my opinions on vaccinations.

First of all I think we over vaccinate our children. I can see usefulness for some of the vaccines, but do most moms really need to vaccinate their infants with Hep. B (Hep B is a disease that can only be spread through the blood, like aids)?  In talking to a pediatrician he said that the reason that it is done at birth is because in busy hospitals (like in New York City and LasVegas) they will have moms come in off the street, deliver their babies and then leave.  So we have no idea where those women have been or what they have.  Now we vaccinate all babies against Hepatitis B.  Then there is the rotavirus vaccination.  I chose not to vaccinate my 2 youngest daughters with that one and both of them got it.  Was it fun?  Absolutely not.  We had diarrhea and throw up for about 2 weeks from both of them, but neither one of them ended up in the hospital, because I watched them for signs of dehydration (which is the reason the rotavirus is so scary) and I continually gave them electrolytes.

Does this mean that I think you shouldn't get these vaccinations, absolutely not.  Does it mean I think you should?  Again, no.  What I do think is that every couple has the ability to decide which vaccinations are right for their children.  I don't judge you for vaccinating your children, please don't shame me or judge me for not always vaccinating my children. I am doing what I feel is best for my children, and I believe that you are too!!:)

Site stats

Background