S/O I’m scared to give vaccinations

amother

Brickred

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 9:51 pm

amother Lightblue wrote:

Trust your intuition. I personally am also in New York and I plan to do as little and as late as I possibly can. But the end of the day. In ny unfortunately there’s no way to not vaccinate. Which is a whole other parsha that makes me so upset

If you check out the posted schedule in NY you will find that the later you give them the fewer doses you will have to give. So definitely delay.

Also, note that flu is only required until age 5.

Aurora

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 9:54 pm

I'm pro-vax because I like history. It's such a bracha that so many of us can have our children living and be spared from so many terrible diseases and their consequences even if you survive.

amother

NeonBlue

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:03 pm

OK, starting off with a warning that I am pro-vaccines, but I will explain why, and you can decide if this resonates with you.

My little ones were born around the time of the Wakefield vaccine study mess (1998 - feel free to look it up). Short version - someone did a study on very few people, one that was later found to be biased and flawed, and in this study concluded that if you take the MMR vaccine you are at higher risk of having autism. Mind you, at the time of this study I already had a kid with autism, so I was just loving that now I had to sit there and figure out what to do for my other kids. Vaccinate and risk them having autism too? Don't vaccinate and risk them getting sick?

The end result? I vaccinated, because something I heard once stuck with me and made my decision a lot clearer. The basic concept was, yes, autism is hard/horrible/challenging (seriously depends what variation of severity you are dealing with), but it isn't lethal. The things that vaccines protect you from? Many of them are lethal. So, I took a deep breath, and rolled the dice on getting my kids vaccinated. I felt like if we needed to we would deal with another kid with autism, but I didn't want to take a chance on them catching something fatal or seriously debilitating that could have been avoided. (Reminder, the link between MMR and autism has now been disproven, but at the time it was the big scientific thought of the day).

Mind you, I did discuss new vaccines with my doctor and didn't jump to have them. So, yes to MMR, dpt , etc - the ones that are for big horrible things and have been around for years. But when the chicken pox vaccine came out I waited a while and had a long talk with my doctor about the pros and cons. When gardasil came out we waited a while to get it - there was no way I was having my kids be guinea pigs. Same thing with the COVID shots.

So - put me down as pro vaccines, but cautious with the newer ones, because if they are just coming out, they just aren't going to know right away if there's a problem, and I'd rather not be the case that helps them find out :-(

amother

Cappuccino ↓

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:18 pm

amother Lightyellow wrote:

There are ways around it in NY state. I live here.
You should be scared. And "anti- vax" isn't a bad word, its ok to be skeptical and to research it more.

Just curious- how do you get around it. My child had a medical exemption, which they refused to accept (true medical exemption due to allergy to a vaccine)

amother

↑ OP

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:22 pm

amother Oldlace wrote:

Some doctors let you space out the vaccines. My current doctor does and I decided to delay one that wasn't urgent. I dont give any that aren't required. But most of them are.

What’s your delayed schedule? I have delayed as well. Wondering what’s the ideal schedule for those that delay.

My daughter also has really bad eczema. I don’t know if it’s vaccine related..

Thank you all for your replies.

For the person that reported this- I’m sorry this triggered you. This is a s/o of a different vaccine post which was posted in children’s health and therefore I posted it in children’s health as well. I don’t mind if a moderator moves it and I’m sorry if it hurt you in some way.

amother

↑ Babyblue

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:29 pm

amother Cappuccino wrote:

Just curious- how do you get around it. My child had a medical exemption, which they refused to accept (true medical exemption due to allergy to a vaccine)

can you explain how the state was able to deny valid medical exemption? what does that even mean?

amother

↑ Cappuccino

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:30 pm

amother Babyblue wrote:

can you explain how the state was able to deny valid medical exemption? what does that even mean?

I wish I knew. I was told they can no longer accept medical exemptions.

amother

Daisy ↓

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:32 pm

amother Brickred wrote:

If you check out the posted schedule in NY you will find that the later you give them the fewer doses you will have to give. So definitely delay.

Also, note that flu is only required until age 5.

Because no one above age 5 gets the flu Rolling Eyes

It’s not about the money, let’s close our eyes tight on that Banging head

coffee icecream

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:33 pm

Just curious
For those anti vaccine or middle path, does it make a difference if you send your baby out at 2 1/2- 3+ months and theyre around other kids?
After having a child in the hospital from catching a virus clearly going around babysitting group, it makes me nervous to take the chance of sending them out unprotected.
Yes I do believe we don't need to overwhelm their little bodies but is there a minimum to give them for basic protection? And of course nothing is guaranteed either but they definitely protect them to some extent.

amother

↑ Daisy ↓

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:35 pm

coffee icecream wrote:

Honey my kid got rsv as a newborn before said child even got to the babysitter. Viruses are everywhere it’s inevitable. And before you ask, no even after all we went through (yes we were hospitalized) I still wouldn’t give the rsv vaccine.

amother

Navy

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:39 pm

coffee icecream wrote:

For me keeping my babies home with me and extended breastfeeding is part of the lifestyle.

busymother

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:43 pm

coffee icecream wrote:

My younger kids aren’t vaccinated and they get sick much less, if at all. If you need to send them out and are still nursing/pumping I’d recommend making sure you’re getting enough nutrients for the both of you. Why does it have to be in the form of dangerous chemicals?

amother

↑ Lightyellow

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:44 pm

amother Cappuccino wrote:

Just curious- how do you get around it. My child had a medical exemption, which they refused to accept (true medical exemption due to allergy to a vaccine)

I can message you.

cookier

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 10:46 pm

amother Hyssop wrote:

My son was hospitalized at 8 weeks with pertusis. The p in dpt. It was a nightmare. Capital N. He kept on stopping to breath. After 6 weeks, they sent him home in often. He still stopped breathing when trying to cough out the phlegm. But at least his brain wasn't affected because if the oxygen he was on. I give my kids vaccines. But never if they aren't feeling well. And one at a time. I've seen what happens if not. ( He was too young for the shot. They give it at 8 weeks I had an appointment for the next week). It was the scariest thing watching your child struggling to breathe.

This. OP, Please, please, please for the love of all that is good in the world, PLEASE get TDAP in your pregnancy and give your baby DTAP and Beyfortus as soon as you can. Pertussis and RSV in infants are absolutely terrifying. In small babies pertussis often presents as nothing but apnea. PRESENTS. That means the very first indicator that your baby is sick is that they stop breathing. I can promise you, all the detoxing in the world cannot fix seeing your baby being bagged and resuscitated.

I’m a firm believer in vaccines but truly, your kids not getting most of the vaccines is not going to impact my own life in any way. If you think HIB is going to give your kid aluminum toxicity, fine, skip it, no skin off my back. But your baby WILL be exposed to whooping cough and they WILL be exposed to RSV, so please at least protect them from those.

amother

↑ Marigold

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 11:12 pm

coffee icecream wrote:

As someone who delays yes it does make a difference but I take a lot of other factors in too.
Are there other kids at home that are going to bring germs back from school?
Are we traveling somewhere for yt and going in a plane and in a busy airport etc?

Daycare isn’t the only place babies are exposed to germs

momsprince

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 11:22 pm

amother Lightyellow wrote:

I can message you.

I'm not amother cappuccino but can you please message me too?

amother

↑ Daisy

Tue, Jan 07 2025, 11:23 pm

amother

Petunia

Yesterday at 10:21 am

I'm also scared to vaccinate.
But I'm more scared of what will happen if enough of us don't vaccinate.
Do you remember when hospitals were overwhelmed at the beginning of covid? That's what will happen if enough of us don't vaccinate and there start to be outbreaks of pertussis, measles, diphtheria, polio...

OP do you know what an iron lung is? Have you ever met someone paralyzed from polio? Have you ever met a person whose mother contracted rubella while she was pregnant with them? Did you know that measles erases your immune system's memory for about two years? Do you know what SSPE is?

You can choose not to vaccinate, that's your right. But just know that if you are doing it because you are on the fence, and you will want your children to be vaccinated if there starts to be an outbreak - your children may be the ones next in line right after they run out of vaccines....and not receive one.

Personally, I was going to not vax my kids. And then I looked around and saw how many of my peers were choosing not to vax, and I realized we were in for quite a few outbreaks. I didn't want my kid to be the one who was left without a vaccine in the middle of an outbreak, because they had run out. So I vax on time.

The anti-vax position basically posits that the equation is vaccines with risk vs. no vaccine and zero risk. That's simply not true. Maybe it was true in the 1990s or early 2000s, when almost everyone vaccinated their kids - you had the vax with some small risk and not vaxxing and no risk thanks to herd immunity (or: everyone else takes the risk while you take none and are a freeloader).

But today SO many people don't vax that it really is: vaccines with a very small risk, vs. not vaxxing and rolling the dice with the disease itself when just one person in your community turns up sick and starts to spread it. Is that the risk you're willing to take? Remember that if you give the first dose of a vaccine tomorrow, your child won't be protected tomorrow - it takes time for immunity to build. By the time you realize the risk is real and you want to vaccinate, your child may already be incubating the disease. So banking on giving a vaccine when an outbreak hits your area is not a good idea. I suggest you read up on the diseases and the death rates, disability rates, long-term risks, etc. and make your decision in an educated fashion. And of course, if you'd like to risk the disease itself, that's fine, that's your right - just learn the early signs and make sure your child isn't around anyone too young to vaccinate or who is immunocompromised if they are exposed to the disease. Your choice doesn't mean you get to make other people's choices for them. It means you make your choice and take responsibility for making sure that others don't have to suffer for it.

BTW my doomsday prediction? It took about 7 years for us to get hit by a measles outbreak and in a few areas the vaccines ran out and there was a wait of 1-3 weeks - mid-outbreak - until they'd get more. Or, of course, you could travel a few hours away....

As a general rule, whatever the disease would cause, that's the side effects that the vaccine for it carries. Except that with the disease it's a lot more common than with the vaccine. For instance, pertussis can cause seizures/ epilepsy. The vaccine has the same risk but at a much, much, much lower rate (especially since they started giving the acellular instead of whole-cell; the downside is that the acellular is less effective). But you don't actually avoid risks by not vaccinating. You just avoid the risk FOR RIGHT NOW in the hopes that in the future you won't end up with a higher chance of that same issue. It's rolling the dice.

amother

Emerald

Yesterday at 10:42 am

amother OP wrote:

Excem is absolutely a reaction. I saw it myself

My older kids had terrible bloody excema after getting their shots

I now use religious exemptions and my youngest didn’t get a single shot yet. Her skin is clear and I also noticed she’s rarely sick.
The ones that were fully vaccinated were at the Dr every month literally for UTI, strept and ear infections. I LIVED at the Dr

This kid, rare Dr visits

It’s the ingredients in the vaccines especially certain ones

amother

Lightgray

Yesterday at 10:42 am

@pertunia
An iron lung was an early version of assisted breathing. Nowadays there are ventilators instead.

I disagree with most of your post, especially that no-vaxxers think no vaccine = no risk, that is simply not true.
But I completely agree with the suggestion to read up on the diseases, that’s the way to go - educate yourself!