Delayed Vaccines/Autism Concerns

You should not have any problems delaying. I vaccinated my 4 year old daughter on a regular schedule(because I did not know all I know now) but I have not vaccinated my 22 month old son and will not until the blood brain barrier is developed around age 4 and then I will have his teters tested to see which diseases he already has immunity to.

You can find a delayed schedule and lots of information on my nephews autism awareness website, www.camsvoice.com
Also if you are interested in switching stores to shop for safer chemical free household and baby care items visit www.livetotalwellness.com to request info.

I noticed that you had a 4 yr old girl and wondered if you gave her the immunizations. Most physicians use shots that have just a minute amount of mercury if any, not anymore the cans of tuna contain. And most controversy is from the shots recieved at the 18 month checkup, specifically the MMR vaccine. I work at a pediatricians office and hear similar concerns. For the parents that have concerns we will generally delay the MMR or seperate the shot and give the measles at one time, the mumps another and rubella later. Just a thought, but definitely do what you feel is best!

My son is almost two and I too am afraid. I will let them give him any vaccines that don't have mercury/thimerisole but not the MMR shot. This site will help you handle doctors and daycare if you choose not to get your child vaccinated http://www.mercola.com/display/router.aspx?docid=34815 Follow you gut feeling. Let us know what you learn.

No it's not too late. :) I started delaying my son's vaccines at his 6 mo check up. I now only let him get 1 (or 2 if they are individual and not combined) at a time and I space them out. And I choose which vaccines he gets. He has not had the MMR yet which he was due for last month. I am delaying that one until he is 2. Anyway, YOU are the parent so go with your gut. Instinct is a gift that cannot be ignored nor replicated. It is the strongest sense for survival. Many people have opinions...but that is all they are,opinions. Nobody could POSSIBLY care as much about your child as you or your husband. Therefore, only you would make the decision that is best for your baby. Not a Dr.
But no, its not too late. Better late than never. And no, I have not had any problems as of yet. I applied for a vaccine waiver that I use for his daycare.
Everyone kept trying to convince me to just go with the schedule, but I just didn't feel right about it. They'd tell me that he had more a chance of catching a disease from not being vaccinated than actually getting sick from the vaccine. Well, he only has about 6 mos left until he's 2 and he has yet to be sick. Not one ear infection,cough,or even fever. Just the ocassional runny nose. When he's 2 I'll get him the vaccines I feel are necessary. I feel very happy and confident with my decision as should you whatever you decide. :)

You have received good advice so far. I would recommend that you delay them now, it's not too late! Definitely read the book by Dr.Stephanie Cave. Very informative. You need to research and decide for yourself, and not let fear be your primary motivator. I've had lots of friends who were concerned, but then their doctor talked them into it, because they hadn't really researched it and their decisions weren't based on anything other than being afraid. So be informed and you will be able to stick to your guns. Most doctors are going to try and sway you to do it, because they truly believe that the good of the many is worth the risk to the few, and that mass immunization is the only way to ensure health. Unfortunately, it's debatable how "few" are actually harmed by vaccines, and only you are going to be able to decide for your children.

I personally respect everyone's opinions to do what is right for their children, but I am on the other side of the fence. Children (including all of us) have been vaccinated for years and years with very few having problems. After talking to my pediatrician his belief is that the risk of contracting and having serious complications from Measles, Rubella, ChickenPox etc are far greater and happen in far greater frequency than the possibility of a complication from the vaccinations. My suggestion would be to talk to your pediatrician about your concerns and if you are still concerned then talk to them about making some MINOR variations in the vaccination schedule. I do know though that many pediatricians will not treat children whose parents delay the vaccinations too much, my pediatrician is one of them. I'm sure some do this because of liability but I also know that many of them do this because they honestly feel the risk of not being vaccinated is far greater than those posed by the vaccinations themselves.

As for whether or not to vaccinate...that really is a personal decision. Personally, I think vaccines are beneficial to a point...currently it is getting OUT OF HAND, but for some of the major illnesses I support it. However, I do not support the current schedule and we have done our schedule differently. I agree with Jenny McCarthy about the schedule doing too much too soon. There is no reason to rush the vaccines. When I asked my pediatrician, which it took a few interviews to find one willing to work with me, he said the reason the schedule is like it is, is because parents won't come in every month to get a shot for their child. They have to try to get all the shots in in as few visits possible to reduce the hassle for the families. Well, I did not mind the hassle and am so grateful God showed me all He has so that we could be better informed.

I am so excited that show aired on Oprah. I had told my husband about a year ago, that I wished a big name would bring this out. This is huge and hopefully things will be moving along with the CDC now. There is so many politics behind this too that it is scary. The pedi's are given incentives to have each child fully vaccinated, they receive monetary compensation per child. I wasn't sure a big name would get involved with that much political pressure and money involved, but kudos to Oprah for sticking her neck out there.

Don't know if I helped you or not. I was quite obsessed when we had our first child and I really drowned myself in finding information, reading books, etc. We came up with a plan we were comfortable with and found a pedi to work with us. You have to follow your instincts and trust them just as Jenny said. God gave us those for a reason. I don't think Dads have them like we do. My husband is well intentioned and SO caring, but somethings on my radar, are not on his. Do what you feel is right for your child and family. Do not let the doctor pressure you into something you are not comfortable with or do not know about. IT is YOUR CHILD. IF YOUR CHILD HAS A REACTION AS JENNY'S...YOU LIVE WITH IT, NOT THE DOCTOR.

I could go on, so if you have other questions or what not, feel free to let me know.

I have our schedule we followed with both girls and the one from a book I read "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childhood Vaccinations"---I think the key is to limit the number at a time and to spread them out. Give the brain time to filter out all these toxins. I know one lady mentioned being on the other side of the fence because we all had our vaccines....well, to a point, but when you count up how many vaccines get today...it is significantly more. My two year old has had I think 22 vaccines. That is the problem. The schedule does not take in account the increase either. So, just let me know if you want me to email the schedules we did...not that it was very formal...basically two vaccines at at time(not combos except DTaP, and MMR--which I did on its own with no vaccine six months on either side of it) but the new combos we do not do. If you need a contact to get vaccines separated...let me know.

Don't wig yourself out....but it is good you are listening to your instincts. I love our pediatrician; she actually helps me determine which ones to do based on things in the community and such.

____@____.com feel free to contact for more info.

Great question!! I find all the responses very interesting. I have 2 kids and they both have gotten all their shots right on schedule. I have never been afraid of this, I guess, cause I believe we have strong genes!! I would be interested in knowing, when they get into school, what you do then?? I thought they had to have all their shots before enrolling?

I have chosen not to vaccinate our children because I believe that most of the diseases are no longer a threat in the area of the world in which I live.
And the ones that are seen here are treatable if taken care of in a timely fashion.
While researching this I lost my faith in a system that has turned a blind eye to the possibly that there are problems with their vaccines but at the same time keep their selves in a position of safety from any liability.
Also I question them with the history of use of heavy metals and other toxins used in their injections for the sake of shelf life and profit. Why would they even put this stuff in there in the first place if they cared about my children?
And then there’s that nagging question about autism.
The number of vaccines that are suggested to give to a child are more than 44 individual vaccines by the age of 6 or 55 if considered “high risk”. This is at an age when some serious development is going on. The nervous system is not yet fully developed and we are bombarding the body with toxins to fight off. Both the very young and very old have compromised immune systems already, why would we then take that time in their life to vaccinate them? I know that why they suggest the vaccines to begin with but think about it. I don’t have any data to support my theory but I believe that is why most think that it is “normal” for a child to have up to 8 colds a year. My eldest son is three and has only had 3 colds that I can remember and only one ear infection. Both of my boys are very healthy and I feel that one of the reasons is that their immune system is available to fight the infection instead of being compromised with batting inoculations! Again this is my personal thought to reason.
I asked my doctor at one of my first well baby check ups why they are vaccinating against Hep B starting at birth if the disease is a blood disease that is passed by transmit ion of blood. His answer was that we are going to have an epidemic in 20 years from now. That’s some crazy thinking to me! I don’t want to expose my child to toxins that might be a problem 20 years from now! I think it’s just gotten a bit out of control!
I think that too many of us go blindly into the whole vaccine schedule thinking that we have protected our children from disease. This is not true. Written in each of the vaccine inserts states that: As with any vaccine, vaccination with ______may not protect 100% susceptible individuals. There are many known cases of people contracting the very disease that they where vaccinated against.
The only vaccine that I have considered is the TT (tetanus). But I am having my doubts about it as well. It is found that once a person has had tetanus they are able to contract it again. So you cannot obtain a natural immunity from it which blows the whole inoculation thing out of the water.
So I am again looking at my options.
I thought in the beginning that I would just delay the giving the vaccines but now I don’t think we are going to vaccine our boys after looking into it more. I don’t believe that our bodies are capable of healing themselves of every illness without the help of drugs, surgery etc…. I just feel that the health care industry has conflicting interests in the care of my family and it is my duty to question their care of me and my family.
I could go into facts and statistics but it’s very hard to find anything with any consistency on either side! Unfortunately with it being a subject of great debate it is very hard to weed through it all! So bottom line I have chosen through research and much prayer that this is the best decision for our children.

C.

It is the MMR that is the problem and you can delay that one for a while and then take it alone with no other shots. It think that helps the system handle it better. I've also heard there are some doctors who will break down the vaccine. MMR is three vaccines in one basically and you can ask around and see if you can find a doctor who will seperate them and give them one at a time.

That's just one suggestion. I heard Jenny McCarthy on Larry King Live last night and something she said made me think you can get your child tested to see if they have a weak immune system which would make them more likely to have a reaction to the vaccine. Something else you could ask your doctor.

It's a hard decision but one you have to ulitimately make for yourself. You just can't know in advance how your child will react. If I were doing it all over again, I'd ask about testing my child before I went any further. I'd also just spread the vaccines out over time so they aren't getting so many at once. Of course there are always the places that won't let you enroll you child without the shot records being up to date, like preschool and other extracurricular activities. And I'm not sure what the rule is for the public school system.

It's scary and I think it's great you're researching it before you move forward. Good luck.

We delay. There are a lot of heavy metals on vaccines other than thimerosal and some vaccines that claim to be thim. free still have traces. I read and talked to my pediatrician and informed myself and that is what our family feels comfortable with. We do know someone who had a baby that had issues with the MMR vaccine. There are some vaccines that are given in this country that in my opinion are totally unnecessary and are not given in a lot of other developed countries. I think the key is to educate yourself from both sides of the issue and wage the risk and ultimatly do what you think is right for your family.

We were pressured in to getting a few early vaccinnes, switched doctors, and were then able to delay or space the rest with no problem. Eventually we got them all due to chidcare/ preschool issues, but I felt a certain piece of mind not getting them until my daughter was older. Most importantly, I enjoy the conversations regarding my daughter's health that I am able to have with her new pediatrician. You want a doctor that takes the time to answer your questions.

I delayed my son's vaccinations. I think vaccinations are necessary, but the timing is optional. If you are uncomfortable with giving the ones due now, then delay. It is not too late to delay now. If your pediatrician does not give you information on both sides of the debate, then find one that will. I would be happy to recommend my pedi in flower mound.

I am a pediatric nurse and a child of my own. He was vaccinated as scheduled with no complications. The vaccines that are now made no longer have mercury in them and are preservative free. If you delay too long your child will eventually have to "catch up" and that will not be fun, the older the children are they will remember each and every injection and remember this is the lady that hurt my leg, needless to say it becomes more difficult for parents to see their children be scared of going to the doctor's office, compared to infants not really remembering faces to those who "hurt their little legs" I have seen many parents come into the office with children who have never been vaccinated and trust me it is difficult to catch up the longer you wait. My personal opinion I would rather have 3 done at a time and get it over with than 1 every so often.

M.,

I didn't know of your post until today. I would really encourage you to read the book, "Evidence of Harm," to make an informed decision. You will get a lot of propaganda from pediatricians and pharma people...the information and stories in the recommended book show you a much different side of the story. You are so right to be concerned.

Best wishes in making the best decision for your family on this difficult issue. (and it's difficult because so much valid information is suppressed and misconstrued)

Hi M.:

You really need to talk to your pediatrician. I had some of the same concerns, and after I talked with her about them, I felt much more comfortable with the vaccines. A busy pediatric practice will use vaccines with no preservatives, and that's a must. Also, all the vaccines which used mercury as a preservative are out of date and should be long gone from doctor's shelves.

Regards,
K.

Pls check with your pediatrician. Mine actually gave us some studies that are being done in Europe. The "revolt" against vaccines in Europe actually started several years before the US swing. They are now able to study the longer term effects of not vaccinating kids. Some of the results are very dramatic. Many of the diseases we vaccinate against are awful. I would NEVER wish them on my child.

In addition, because so many kids are vaccinated in the US, the unvaccinated kids are somewhat "protected". The issues come when people travel world wide where some of the vaccinated diseases are prevalent. There are multiple studies where a group goes to another country, gets exposed to diseases and comes back to the US to "share them"...they spread rapidly through groups that are not vaccinated.

I am not saying you should or should not vaccinate or delay vaccinating. Just do your homework and study facts. I tried many internet sites and they are all very "self pointed" to the opinion they are trying to sell. It is very hard to get real facts to see both sides of the story.

Good Luck! Gather facts and do what you feel is best.

Seeing earlier postings concerning preservatives in flu vaccines. . . our pediatrician uses a different flu vaccine for his patients without preservatives. It is formulated for children. Our insurance does not pay for it, but that is not a concern for us as it is $25.00 per vaccine.

We've had no problems, but I've know too many who have. If I were to do it all over again, I'd delay until 2 yrs., then do the staggered schedule of vaccines- one at a time. There are somethings we should be more cautious about & loading up little immune systems should be one!I believe vaccines are truly a God send, but like antibiotics, their overuse can have some complications within society...like when we need them most, they won't work!

Go with your gut. Unless you're planning on travelling to some 3rd world country in the near future, I wouldn't fret delaying so much!

D.

Wow, I just read this on one of the links from a previous post:

"Never give Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen to a child when they are vaccinated. This causes an autoimmune response that lowers the child's own ability to properly process the vaccine which could lead the child not to create the appropriate antibodies and actually contract the illness being vaccinated for instead. One example of this is recent findings by doctors of the Measles virus within the intestinal tract of kids with ASD."

I ALWAYS give my kids Tylenol before the shots and after, for the fever and discomfort. Wow.

I'm a mom to 4 children, my oldest 2 had all their childhood shots, all on time and according to schedule. My oldest is 11 and the second oldest is 8 -- so their infant vaccination schedule was actually different than it is now, now they require more shots at younger ages. My 3rd child was vaccinated up until he was about 3 1/2. My 4th child (who is 3) stopped getting vacciness when he was 4 months old.

When my youngest was 4 months old, he got a series of shots and went into shock for 3 days!! At 4 months old he was smiling and making eye contact. After he received his shots, he became literally non-responsive. He did not smile, he did not cry, he did not make eye contract. He would fuss a tiny bit when he was perhaps hungry - but even then he hardly ate, but that was it. It was very, very scary. I called the pedi as soon as a I realized things just weren't normal and told it was "with the range of normal" -- uh, whatever, that was not even close to normal. The "theory" is that he had an allergic reaction to a component of the shot -- I don't know what it was, but it sure scared the life out of me! For 3 days we prayed he would return to normal, become responsive again - it was a long 3 days.

That is when we stopped vaccinating all the children.

I never worried w/ my older kids (when they were younger), perhaps part of it was because they handled the shots well, but after our experience with the baby, we decided to educate ourselves. We read, spoke to other parents, spoke to several doctors, researched on the internet, and then some.

I learned how many vaccines were not "tested" for long periods of time, that they were just developed, and given to children across the world - that concerned me. I noticed a huge difference in the vaccination schedule between my oldest child (born in 1996) and my youngest child (born in 2004) --- I couldn't believe how many more shots were added!

When we told our pedi we were no longer going to vaccinate, we were asked to leave the practice. That bothered me, but I respected that they had their standards, just as I had mine. We found a new dr in Rowlett who we just love and he is completely ok with us choosing not to vaccinate.

IN FACT, the first day I went into his office 2 years ago, I met a mother w/ a 15 year old boy w/ severe autism. He could not even walk on his own, and his body size was about that of a 9 or 10 year old boy --- he had been given a bad batch of vacccines several years ago (it was a nationwide thing) that caused his condition. I think she said it was the pertussis vaccine? I don't recall, but sitting there in that office w/ her showed me that perhaps I was making the right decision for my family.

I believe the vaccination schedule has gotten way out of hand, and new vaccines are coming out too soon, and "reformulated vaccines" are coming out too soon as well w/o the proper time for evaluation and research on the side effects.

Case in point -- Gardisil comes out -- lets all vaccinate our girls -- lets make it stand mandatory for public school girls -- wait a minute, side effects -- wait a minute, girl goes into coma, wait a minute girl gets blood clot and dies.

True there are side effects to anything, and apparently "death" can be a side effect of any vaccination. But the Gardisil vaccine was given to a group of girls ages 9-14 about 6 years ago - and that was it (and my numbers may be a year or two off) -- but point being ---- none of the girls it was intially given too are child bearing age -- so we know it protects them from one strain of HPV, but we do not know the long term affects of the drug, we do not know how it affects reproduction, how it may affect fetal birth defects.

Why bring that up? To prove a point, may vacciness are not tested long enough, when a vaccine is reformulated you may never even know. "We" are mandating vaccines or giving vaccines to our children w/o doing the proper research and testing on them. "We" do not know the long term effects of many of these vaccines.

So do I feel ok no-longer vaccinating my children?

Absolutely!

(oh , and yes, non-vaccinated children may attend public school, in Texas you can choose not to vaccinate based on religious, medical, or philisophical exemption -- once the exemption form is filled out)

M.,
It's never too late to delay or refuse a vaccine. They ARE harmful and cause a lot more than autism. There is a lot of information out there. Just google "ingredients in vaccines" and then look up the list one by one to see what each does to your body. Vaccines contain fermaldahyde (sp?), anti-freeze, and a lot of other harmful substances that are known to cause cancer and a loooong list of diseases. Go to mercola.com and read about vaccines. Some good books are "a shot in the dark" and "how to raise a healthy child in spite of your doctor". Do some research. It's our responsibilities as parents to get the information we need to make the best choices. Especially when it's something this important.

Hi M.,
There is no easy answer for this. It's sort of darned if you do, darned if you don't get vaccinated. My husband and I waited to get our daughter vaccinated until she turned a year old and even then we have been very slow about giving them to her. She is now almost 17 months and we have given her two vaccines. We have done research and talked to our pediatrician and our chiropractor. Both doctors are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I think my chiropractor gave us the best advice. She said to do our own research, pray about what we should do and let that be our guide. She said if you pray about it and come to the conclusion that you should get your child vaccinated then get them vaccinated and have faith that you made the right decistion for your family. I would never tell you to not get your child vaccinated or to get vaccinated because there are risks either way. My chiropractor and many others I know have never had their children vaccinated and none of their kids have had any problems and vice versa, we know some of our friends that have given their child every vaccine with no problems. You can pick and choose which vaccines you want to give. Kids do not have to have vaccines to get into school later on down the line.
Good luck it is not an easy decision. Just make a point to feel great about whatever you and your husband decide and do not let others make you feel bad one way or the other.

I did this with my youngest two. They started out, but I was growing very leary of it and stopped. They had their first two (newborn and 2 months) and then I stopped. I felt it would be better to wait until they were older. I have 6 children and I experienced them adding more and more shots as time went along. There's one thing about giving two shots to a tiny baby, but by the time my younger ones were born it was up to 5 shots at once. I just thought it was too much too soon. In terms of Autism, I believe that it is more linked with the MMR than any of the others.

I don't regret the decision I made. I had a feeling come over me that I never had with the other kids. I listened to that gut instinct. I'm not against vaccinations by any means, but I also know that many problems are being linked to them and feel like the pharmaceutical companies are not telling us all there is to know.

M.

We have decided to wait until our son is 2 to have him vaccinated. He had his first Hep shot in the hospital but after that we haven't done anything.

There is a lot of controversy over the autism/vaccination link...However our personal decision was to hold off. I too have had many fears regarding the link between the two.

We just decided better safe than sorry...although there are never any guarantees.

Best thing is our pediatrician is supportive of our decision and is not worried about any sort of increased risk.

Hope this helps!

Dear M.,
I have a 6 yr. old daughter, but I certainly empathize with your concerns. I hated going to her scheduled check-ups when she would be vaccinated. Once she was given 3 different shots at one time! My advice, though, is this..
Vaccinations DO protect our children from VERY serious diseases & illnesses. It seems that the possible risks far outweigh the peace of mind & protection that vaccines provide. Talk frankly to your child's pediatrician about your valid concerns...this can help you be informed & calm your fears. The bottom line is that you sound like a responsible & loving Mommy who will make the right choices for your son.

We Delay. I have a family member who started showing symptoms of autism just a week after vaccinations. For us the risk is just to great. We belive that there is a genetic predisosure and that it can be triggered by enviromental factors (vaccines would be enviromental) Thimerosal has been removed from all of the vaccines except for the flu vaccine to the best of my knowledge, but it has been replaced with things like formaldehyde and that is a known carcinogen. I have a hard time thinking that is better. At the same time I know that vaccines CAN AND DO SAVE LIVES. I have a 4 year old who is fully vaccinated and a 1 and 2 year old who have not had any and we have not had any ill side effects of waiting. Go to the CDC website cdc.gov and on the right hand side under index click on V it will pull up a list of vaccine related links within the CDC. You can also find more information at www.vaccineinfo.net and nvic.org. I have yet to find a sight that evenly weighs the pros and cons. You are doing the right thing by taking the time to do the research and make the decision that works best for you and your family. KUDOS!

It is never too late. Take your time, do your research! We stopped getting our son vaccinated after 6 months because we started to educate ourselves, and decided to give it until he was 2 to make a decision. Good luck!

I was very curious when I read this question earlier to see what some other responders had to say. I do believe that this is a highly sensitive and personal topic for a lot of people. I personally believe in vaccinating your children...I have had 3 very personal experiences that really have formulated my opinion on this topic. Several years ago I had a very close friend who gave birth to a beautiful and quite healthy baby girl. About 6 weeks after her delivery, one night her daughter slept through the night and she thought it was great. The following day she seemed lethargic and she took her to the pedi. By the time she got in, her daughter was running a high fever and was not doing well. Unfortunately, after a week of being in the PICU, her daughter passed. My niece and nephew (twins) were born premature. They fought hard for their lives and my sister had to make some difficult decisions early on. My nephew came down with RSV in the NICU and was moved to the isolated NICU where he ended up with a staph infection in his hip that will have a lifetime of effects. And last month, one of my best childhood friends had a full term healthy baby girl who seemingly overnight became deathly ill. She is currently in the PICU with viral meningitis, which was more than likely caused by a virus that might have caused us no symptoms at all, but has left her with 60% brain damage and certainly a less than fairy tale first month of life. For infants, the common cold and flu can be deadly and it is my opinion that I as a parent have a responsibilty to protect my child the best way that I can. I respect those people who believe in not vaccinating their children, however I beg to differ when they say that the life threatening illnesses are not active in our part of the world today. I am currently breastfeeding my 9 1/2 month old vaccinated and healthy baby boy. I am still breastfeeding because I believe that any antibodies that I can pass on to my angel that will help fight off infection is worth it. I also am the mother to a vaccinated 3 1/2 year old boy. I believe that the risks associated with vaccinating your children are FAR less than the risks of not vaccinating your children. There are religions and people who do not believe in being treated by doctors at all and again althought I respect their wishes, personally, I would never forgive myself if something happened to my child and I felt as though I hadn't protected their life to the best of my ability. The one thing that I can tell you, is that autism today classified quite differently than even five years ago. They actually call them autistic spectrum disorders because there is such a wide range of issues falling in these categories today. Don't let fear be what brings you to a decision on this issue - I would highly recommend educating yourself on both sides of this issue and then make a decision. I will say that my 3 1/2 year old who did NOT get the rotovirus vaccine came down with a TERRIBLE case of rotovirus. My husband and I both thought we were dying when we got it a few days later! Yet, my at the time, 7 month never even spit up from it - the rest of us were under the weather for a week! Best wishes to you in making your decision!

Hi there, I don't really have a comment on the schedule. I think it is great you are thinking so much about the welfare of your son. I would talk to your doctor.

I do know that (and you should confirm this with your doctor), that all vaccines are thermisol(mercury preservative) free now. The flu shot does have thermisol in it,but I was able to request a thermisol free flu shot for my children this year without any hassle. I just asked my doctor's office if they have it. They said they did and it would just take a few extra minutes to draw up. They did say it *may* be an extra $25 per child (depending on what insurance covers). They did NOT offer it, I had to ask for it.

Good luck to you!

I have a 5 month old boy and we will give him 2 vaccines 1)DTaP and 2) polio. We will start the DTap on his 6 mo. checkup (after much praying) and once that is completed we will decide on his polio. As for the others, I think they're ridiculous. For instance, why does a newborn need a Hep B shot (which is mostly a STD)? Last time I checked it wasn't newborns that were getting into trouble (unless the mother was Hep B postive). Also, new studies are shown that the effects of the shot are diminished at age 7 in 50% of the kids given Hep B @ birth. Sorry, that's my own opinion!

I'm surprised no previous post has given you the link to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appen...
This link will tell you what's in each shot by ingredient. I read on a previous post that one nurse told her they don't use thermisol (mercury) anymore. That nurse lied or didn't have her facts straight (this is coming straight from the CDC). Sorry. Thermisol (mercury), MSG (monsodium glutamate), formaldehyde, aluminum are just a few of the things we inject in ourselves. This link in the ingredients sorted by vaccine.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appen...
Again, this is coming straight from the CDC. I'm often amazed that no one goes there for info. Another good link is nvic.org This one is very informative.

Whatever you decide, don't let anyone bully you either way. I've gotten looks from other moms (and a nurse) like I was a bad mother for not vaccinating my BB. Everything I do for my son is what I feel (and have prayed long and hard about) is best. And I can bet you're the same way. Just be informed (and prepared)!! Best of luck!!

I say definitely delay them. We chose not to vaccinate at all. It is your choice and do not let anyone tell you different. If you are worried about autism the vaccination that has been linked to autism is the MMR which I think is done at 18 months.

I also have a child who has been diagnosed with Aspergers. We now have a newborn and I'm seriously considering the whole vaccination schedule. Like many other posters, all I can say is that you have to live with your child- not the doctors. And after having our first child, I would much prefer my child have chickenpox or some other childhood disease rather autism. Chickenpox or measles eventually goes away. I probably will have my son vaccinated but only when he's older and I will space them out and possibly eliminate some of the less necessary vaccines. I haven't told my pedi about this yet so I'm hoping that she doesn't write me off as a patient!

Hi M.,
I delayed all of my son's vaccinations until after he was 2 yrs old. I did have to sign a waiver at the doctor's and they tried to talk me out of it. I have a very big problem with giving that many vaccinations to an infant whose immune system is just starting to form, so it was important to me to wait.
Good luck with your decision, do your research, and stick to your guns. Only issue you may run into is placing him in pre-school or daycare.

Hi M.,

It is not a problem to discontinue vaccinations. My daughter has never been vaccinated and she is less sick than any of her friends. Her pediatrician didn't even recommend any until she was at least a year when her immune system was more developed. I opted not to have her vaccinated at all. She is a completely healthy, smart child.

sandy

Sandy

I just want to give you my opinion, but you always need to do what you feel comfortable with. They were trying to link mercury to causing autism and their was a derivative of mercury, thimerasol in vaccines. They have taken thimerasol out of vaccines now. But the New England Journal of Medicine just recently did a study that showed vaccines had no affect on brain function in children. My husband is a family practice physician and we vaccinated our son. But, his one year vaccines were recently and we decided to break them up by a few months, instead of doing 6 shots at once. I personally think that all the recent increase in autism is because we are learning much more about the disease, and we are diagnosing it much better than before. I would discuss it with your pediatrician and tell them your concerns.

I was told that the connection between autism and vaccines was the small amounts of mercury that used to be in the vaccines. When I asked my pediatrician about this, the nurse said that vaccines no longer contain mercury. I never explored it more than that but after reading your post about Oprab mentioning it, I will explore further.

I have not vaccinated my children at all. I have not heard of any problems with starting vaccinations then stopping them. I do know there is not a problem with delaying them. I wanted to commend you for questioning vaccines. If you look up my older posts I have a long one concerning vaccines and why I chose not to do them. You probably will come up against some opposition with your Pediatrician, but rest assured that you do have the right to vaccinate or not and there are Pediatricians out there who do not make you feel guilty for not doing it. Good Luck!!

I know that I have to have children have shots up to date for any state regulated Day Cares or for school. I have only seen one child with autisum in 59 years so I would not wait. I do know one of my children had a reaction and the mom waited and had to go to Austin to get something signed and notorized for not having the shots. G. W
I just think if kids did not get shots what all the aweful things they died of years ago and no chance of livig a long healthy life.

M.,
My son has Asperger's Autism and I absolutely do not believe that the vaccines caused it. Other people believe differently and that is their right.

With that said, the decision is up to you. But just remember your child can get ill and possibly die from some of the diseases that the vaccines protect him from, so if you delay, you might want to keep him out of pre-school or other large groups that could potentially expose them to those diseases.

The MMR used to have Timerasol. The drug companies stopped using it (because Timerasol contains mercury) and the new MMR should not have it in there. You can always ask your doctor.

I believe autism is genetic, there is some research to support this, and I do not believe that the vaccines trigger the genetic trait. I believe that doctors have gotten better at the diagnosis so it appears to have increased. So, in my belief, your son is already autistic or not, at birth. It is often something that is not diagnosed till they are older, because of the nature of the symptoms.

There are plenty of people who were autistic before vaccines, society just didn't call it autism and there wasn't a diagnosis for it. I'm talking about the higher-functioning or Asperger's autism. Not the autism that comes with retardation and extreme lack of communication.

Some say Einstein, Michelangelo, Issac Newton, Thomas Edison all had Asperger's.

And there's modern figures that may have it to... Bill Gates, whether he's been diagnosed or not I don't know but he's a prime example of an Aspie. And where would we be without Satoshi Tajiri, a confirmed Aspie, and the inventor of Pokemon.

Here's some sites of folks that may have had it long before vaccines.... however, you have to decide what you can live with. Just get all the information and make your decision. That's what being a Mom is all about. We do our best and never really know till sometime way afterwards if we did the right thing or not.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s###-###-####.htm

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fa...

Hi M.,
I would verify with the doctor/nurse that the batch of immunizations are not made with Thermisol. As of I believe 1998, no vaccines are made with Thermisol/mercury. You can check the date on the CDC website. However, thermisol remains in the Flu Shot. I always have each doctor or nurse personally verify the batch numbers to confirm that they are thermisol free. Vaccines do save lives I would just still be concerned about the flu shot since that one surrounds alot of controversy. Good luck,T.