I had a doc tell me point blank that the reason there is a schedule (shit, the reason for the whole well baby check up) is to make sure the kid gets all the doses when they are young and coming in regularly. Period.

So make your own schedule, research the vaccines and pick and choose.

We live in semi-rural Wisconsin and are a stay at home family. Ike is almost 4 and hasn't been vaxed for anything. Not sure when or if he ever will be.

I'm due for R's second set on tuesday too, the 4 month. I think I'm just going to stick with the schedule. I guess I haven't read enough to convince me otherwise. I don't like the idea of all those heavy diseases running around in diluted form in his bloodstream, but I remain firmly convinced about keeping up with modern medicine as far as vaccinations go. Otherwise, I'm a homebirthing, breastfeeding, non-medicating, doctor-hating gal. I'm just stuck on the whole vaccinations thing, and I don't have the money to separate the vacc's into a spread out period of time or anything (paying a copay each time). So I'm trusting 'the system' on this one.

You don't have to rationalize or even understand why you're feeling the way you are - but I would listen to it.

That said, here's my short story for what its worth:
I gave no vacs at first and than we started the dpt shots when my girl was a year, she only got two shots but soon after the first one is when she started head banging and having her tantrum-meltdowns. So now we are "reverse" treating her with a homeopathic remedy to help her stop the head banging. The homeopath thinks it was the dpt put her over the edge (in her ability to manage stress). At first I thought it was bs, but right now I think there might be something to it . . . Right now I don't plan on any more vacs for either of the girls.

Is it safe? I think its very dependent on the environment the kid will be in and how able you are to support their health- ie. daycare, breastfeeding, no sugar/refined or processed foods, enough sleep etc. The reality of parenting is that even really healthy well-cared for kids get really sick, and doing all the supportive stuff to prevent it isn't always possible.

There are good books out there that describe the consequences of each disease (that vaccines are supposed to prevent), and I was surprised to read that most of the illness are simply inconvenient, not truly life threatening. And then there's the whole "social benefit" rationale - but I'm choosing not to include my child in that particular social experiment, not matter how selfish it is of me.

some people are opposed 100%, some people are pro 100%, but i think most mamas fall somewhere in between. it's never an easy decision.

for my dd, we decided to delay some, stagger them all, and turn down a few. best advice i can offer is find a ped that is understanding and supportive of your reluctance. it shouldn't have to be all-or-nothing. you should be able to delay until you feel better about making a decision one way or the other.

but if i were making the decision today, i think i woudl not. given what is coming out about vaccines, given the bush administrations attempt to cover up evidence, given the FDA's reluctant admission that MMR caused austism, i would wait. waiting is what i do with drugs, i wait till their patents run out and read what comes out about them. but then, MMR has been on the market for so long... i thought that was a safe one.

it's fine to vaccinate on your own schedule. i did. it was counterintuitive to me to give a crap load at once, so i did it piecemeal. i'm so glad i did.

decided to hold off until hers were over two and then decide. I thought that was a pretty good idea

For me, I vaxed both boys and with Simon the naturopath thinks that may have caused his allergies. If I had it to do over again I would vax very slowly.

***the United States is one of only four out of 168 countries studied to not have some form of paid family leave for new moms. We join Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, and Lesotho in not having that policy in place. ***

We decided not to vax our kids but I really love the position Dr. Sears takes in his book, The Vaccine Book. He advocates doing only one or two at a time to not overwhelm the immune system. Hal and I have always said that if we did decide to vax, we would do them spaced out one at a time. I think you should trust your gut and maybe sit to sort out what is a genuine concern and what is fear based on something you can't quite pinpoint. Like, name what your concerns are, then do research about them (or more research! ).

The Vaccine Book

Hang in there and know you are not alone with feeling overwhelmed by this decision.

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. - Chinese Proverb