Moms Talk: Vaccinating Your Child

With increasing concerns that vaccinations in children can cause autism, many parents are opting out of the baby shots. And even more are making changes in the vaccination schedule set by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics, something held sacred by pediatricians. 

The CDC states that 1 out of 150 children have autism, a figure that has increased since the 1990s. 

"Some people believe increased exposure to thimerosal (from the addition of important new vaccines recommended for children) explains the higher prevalence in recent years. However, evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association," the CDC website states. 

Now, many local schools and day care centers that require vaccinations are now bending their rules for religions reasons and medical excuses. 

Did you vaccinate your children? What factors influenced your decision? 

How do you feel about places where there are both vaccinated and unvaccinated children?

Jennifer AuBuchon
I have always had my children vaccinated.  My brother is a doctor and he often points out that patients will come in with their "research" backing certain decisions that they wish to make.  Most of the time, when he pushes them with thorough questioning about how their research holds up in comparison to his, they change their tune.  

No amount of reading that I would do on the topic of vaccinations would compare, in my eyes, to what my pediatrician studied both in medical school and in continuing education. That's why we pay them for their services. I wouldn't presume that I could perform operations just because I read how to do it. They put their years of theory into practice on a daily basis. Sure...things can and do go wrong; however, I don't think we can pick and choose what to listen to and what not to.  

I'm also not a fan of having unvaccinated children among vaccinated children. I hope that the vaccines my kids have received would protect them if these kids were transmitting dangerous germs, but there's no guarantee. I have no idea how you would go about regulating it in say a park or at the zoo. Obviously a school can require certain vaccinations before allowing a child to attend (though I think they may be able to get a waiver in some situations). Bottom line for me is that I want to do all I can to try to protect my children, and this is just another step in a long series of ways that I attempt to do so. I also feel that if my pediatrician feels a vaccine is right for her child, then it certainly should be right for mine.

Jenny Wescoat
I feel very thankful that I have a great pediatrician who I really trust, and who takes the time to discuss issues like this with us extensively when we have questions. We have friends and some family who don't vaccinate and sometimes I have paused to wonder if I am wrong. But my husband has a very common-sense approach to the topic.

While lots of people want to pass around scientific studies (which most of us are not qualified to determine their validity), he suggests just reading the possible side effects of vaccines and then comparing that to the descriptions of the diseases vaccines protect against on the CDC website, then decide which risk you are most comfortable taking.

It made it seem very simple to me. While the decision whether to vaccinate seems like an isolated one, it is not. Our doctor explained to us that as long as only one or two people are unvaccinated in a population of a hundred, it is unlikely that the exposure to a disease could cause a problem.

But as the number of unvaccinated children increases, if there is an exposure, it may become a problem. He believes we are still a good way from that, but it concerns me nonetheless. Everyone wants to make careful decisions about their children's health. Sometimes I feel, though, that those against vaccinations are very outspoken and I have felt very defensive about our choice to vaccinate. I don't even vaccinate as a default or because I am confused about what to do. I am, instead, very thankful that we have vaccines. 

Sharon Luna
The tried and true shots/vaccinations, polio, rubella, mumps, DPT, I am all for.  My oldest granddaughter has also received the cervical cancer vaccination after a long discussion with the pediatrician, 99.9 percent of the time I go with the recommendation of my pediatrician. The only one I have not gone along with is the flu vacine. 

For some reason, gut feeling, I am not comfortable with this one. I have talked to too many people who have had an adverse reaction to this one, so I opted to skip this one for the girls and myself. Regulations through the school systems seem to work, however I am not sure how it works with home-schooled children.  I also think children as well as adults emigrating from other countries should receive the basic vaccinations that, were not available in their country. 

Lisa May
We have complied with all of the required school vaccinations on our children. I have questioned many of them, especially the Chicken Pox, but we have followed through. We have not done the flu vaccine. This decision has not been supported by our doctor. But my children are generally in good health (perfect school attendance or missing only as many as 2 days all year). If they had health concerns, I probably would do the flu vaccine. As for those not vaccinated, I am not sure how easy it is to get around these policies. I honestly have not researched this, but I fear it could be too easy to work around those rules. On the other hand, you do still have children contracting these illnesses (when vaccinated), but in less serious cases. Is it from those not vaccinated being around them? I am definitely not an expert on this, but it does make some people question them.  

Samantha Goswami
I believe that vaccinations are there for a reason. There is a lot of research that goes into creating a vaccine and they are there for our benefit. While there was never a doubt in our minds if we needed to vaccinate our kids, I do worry about kids that are not vaccinated. It is good that our schools are require the kids to be vaccinated. 

While everyone is free to make decisions about their  children, they need to be mindful that our kids might travel to other countries when they are older and this might be a risk to their precious lives if they are not vaccinated.