Declining 8 week vaccinations for my baby - experiences?

[Plasticpineapple]

I don't want this to be about whether you should or shouldn't vaccinate your baby. I have chosen not to and I'm looking for experiences from others who have done the same. What did you say? What did the doctor say? Did you discuss vaccination once the child was older or flat out decline all vaccines?

Deciding not to vaccinate your children should be illegal.

As someone asked up thread, do you declare that your child hasn't had any when you go to playgroups? Nursery? Doctors surgeries??

I'm not saying you have the vaccinations because they are free. I'm just saying you may possibly conveniently overlook the ones which are not, but are equally as harmful to those sick children who are unable to have any vaccines.

Someone reported DH to the GDC for recommending fluoride toothpaste.

Someone reported the hygienist to the police for "poisoning her" after giving her a mouthwash to rinse her mouth out with fluoride in

You really have to laugh at these twats!

Both of my children have had to go into nursery under a year old as I've had no financial option but to return to work. When DS1 was abot 10 months we had a measles outbreak in our town due to a high level of anti-vaxers. I was terrified because he would have been a sitting duck if the outbreak had got into his nursery. Anti-vaxers make me verge on the homicidal, they seriously do.

And you've 'researched' the topic? You've run your own long-term double-blind trials? No. You've Googlewhacked a few misinformed fucking sentences and found some blogs that suit your batshit notions.

If the illnesses were as risky, and the available vaccines were as effective, they would be on the NHS schedule. People might not be able to afford £200+ anyway.

As it happens I paid a fortune to have both my DC vaccinated against MenB which now, thank fuck, is going to be introduced as a routine NHS vaccination.

curious - I had to take in DS's red book and show that he had been vaccinated when I enrolled him. I presume they might have told me to feck off that they wouldn't enroll him if he hadn't had the vaccinations.

Vlad, brilliant post.

not vaccinating due to the risk to your child is simply stating that you do not understand risks and statistics.

As I understand it, the UK was looking in to bringing out the chicken pox virus, just went that evil bastard released his false and criminal article about MMR. The negative reaction to existing vaccinations meant that they decided not to try to introduce a new one as it needs a lot of the population to take it up before herd immunity is established.

I had to have a booster for whooping cough because my newborn is now at risk due to current outbreaks

This is an alien thread. I can't help but feel angry at the selfishness of anyone choosing to endanger those in my family who cannot have immunisations for medical reasons. Herd immunity would protect them. Now they're vulnerable.

And for the love of God tell your child what you've chosen to do so that they have the choice to protect themselves. I will always be grateful that my parents protected me.

My DD was ill with a life-threatening condition as a newborn (not vaxxable against). She made a good recovery, thanks to amazing treatment.

It's unbelievable to me that you would risk your child being so unwell when you can freely and at absolutely minimal risk, protect them from pain, complications, possible death, possible long term effects, and very invasive high risk medical treatment. And here's the added bonus...other children and adults who are at high risk from illness get protected too.

It's extraordinarily ill-informed to not vaccinate your children.

My elderly relatives feel it's because we haven't personally experienced the horror of (now preventable) disease. If we'd routinely had siblings die in infancy, we'd all be vaccinating and gladly.

Sorry if this had been mentioned but for those mentioning aluminium:

"For example, in the first 6 months of life, infants are exposed to approximately 4mg of aluminum in vaccines. In this same time period, they are exposed to approximately 10mg of aluminum in breast milk, 40mg in infant formula, and 120mg in soy formula."

from www.immunizebc.ca/ask-us/questions/aluminum-vaccines-safe which goes on to day aluminum is removed from the body fairly easily.

This: www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/10/formula-milk-babies-aluminium-health supports it.

I have written and deleted a lot of responses here because the RAGE makes them non-sensical.

But what Vlad and everyone else talking sense has said.

Me too monday. I feel I held back the rage in my post. Not vaccinating kills and disables people. It's one of those times we need to rely on strangers. If everyone does it we can actually eliminate diseases! A few don't, and you still have herd immunity keeping things at bay. But we've got to a point where these diseases are coming back. Who suffers? The ill, those too young to be immunised, those whose parents have misunderstood risks, and those who can't have the vaccinations for medical reasons.

Our generation will be fine on the whole. Our parents protected us.

I trust that you'll be footing the treatment bill for your dc if they contract any of the illnesses you're refusing to vaccinate them against OP? No, probably not, the good old NHS can pick up the tab.
I also assume that you'll be keeping your unvaccinated dc away from vulnerable, compromised people, e.g. people having chemo, children who genuinely can't be vaccinated due to underlying health conditions? No, probably not.
People like you make me so, so angry. What is so special about your precious darlings that you can deliberately allow them to be a risk to others? That's apart from the risk you are knowingly putting your own dc under.
In your selfish opinion, herd immunity is always somebody else's responsibility isn't it?

I hadn't actually considered the nursery issue for young DCs pre-immunisation age.

I would like to know if staff and older children were vaccinated or not. It would be a huge influence on where I placed my child. The risk to the few small babies and under 1s from unvaccinated toddlers is real.

If it could be in the ofsted report I could choose to protect my child from your choices.

Our nursery asks what vaccinations your child has had. What they do with that info, I don't know (or care - it's ALL of them and I don't care who knows that) but they definitely ask.

Just as something to think about, for the anti vaccination people. If you were going to Liberia or Sierra Leone now, and there was a fully tested vaccine available for Ebola - would you want it?

When you have thought about your answer, think about the fact that it's actually much harder to catch Ebola, than to catch most of the diseases we routinely vaccinate against in the UK...

By the way I've live in a European country where your child will not be allowed to start school without ALL vaccinations. It should be the same rule everywhere.

Jackieharris I have never been to Pakistan, and am never likely to go (let alone "regularly") but my DS was routinely given a TB jab shortly after he was born. It was routinely given to all newborns in the area of the big city I lived in then. He's fine.

I don't know why it's suggested that those who vaccinate only do it as its free? I would have paid for them, if that had been the only option.

They are essential, it's not some conspiracy against the human race, it's an incredibly important part of child rearing. IF you are concerned or worried, you must research, research and research some more, ALL of the statistics and then decide if the evidence supports your worries enough to risk exposing your baby to some horrendous childhood diseases. (Like other posters, I could give many examples of measles, mumps and rubella having catastrophic effects on children).

If I had known how ill one of my children would have been with chicken pox and a vaccination had been available, I would have paid the £200 (or more, if necessary).

Anybody who doesn't consider the herd effect is unfair, God forbid your child has an immunity issue and is vulnerable around those unvaccinated. Tell me, if you fast forward 5 years and imagine you are in this position, how would you respond to someone who refuses the vaccines?

If you decide not to vaccinate, I would expect you to be able talk chapter and verse on why not and back it up with scientific evidence, NOT because you asked someone and they said........

In Southern European countries children can't start school without immunisation and school is mandatory, so that takes care of that problem.

Anti-Vacc arguments help me understand Darwinism.

PoppyAmex

Roseformeplease your son's friend doesn't have to wait until he is 16 if he would like to be immunised.

As long as he is of an age (usually 13+) and can be considered to be able to understand what treatment he requires and why, as well as the potential effects he can give his own consent. The Fraser Guidelines apply predominantly to contraception and sexual health but can also be used to determine capacity to consent in other health issues.

I wish the tinfoil hat people could actually see how much time drs and research scientists spend studying. It's not five years at uni then they are free to do what they like for the next 50 years.

It's constant study, constantly updating practice keeping up to date with current practices, and knowing the evidence to back up what they are doing. Plus the research they do to constantly improve the field of medicine.

They never stop learning, it's not a job it's a way of life. A doctors level of knowledge is vastly more complex than you get on the leaflet in the box for goodness sake.

I suppose for some people that will never compare to their googleMD qualifications.

I've got into a few anti-vax arguments on the internet this week!

I cannot understand why people don't vaccinate their children based on unsubstantiated rhetoric found on forums, poor newspaper articles, and unscientific "articles", mainly found on blog posts. (Don't get me wrong, I have a blog, but I don't expect my word to be taken on face value).

If any anti-vaxer can link to a medical journal or report which states that vaccinations are dangerous, I'd be more than happy to read it. If not, please read the thousands of reports which have concluded that vaccination risks are far lower than the risks associated with contracting the diseases the vaccines help to prevent.

Information about the 2013 measles outbreak: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Swansea_measles_epidemic

Reading material for those who worry about the link with autism: www.health.harvard.edu/blog/good-investigative-reporting-may-finally-debunk-the-myth-that-vaccines-cause-autism-201101061067

(Although my son was definitely autistic before he had the MMR .

It's nice to finally hear some sense on these threads, Monday etc. it's good to hear that there are plenty of others out there thinking of not only the risks to their own DC but considering the health of those with compromised immunity.

I had whooping cough at six months and was very, very ill . My DM, who never laid down the law once I was an adult ,vitually begged me to have my DDsdone(I wasn't actually not going to) She said it was the worst experience of her life
I too have a natual immunity to TB but apparently its one of the few you dont pass on to a bf newborn . My elder DD had to have the 'test' at about 6 weeks as there had been someone on the postnatal ward with it
I believe they are giving some (might be wc?)vaccinations to pregnant women as the risks to a newborn are so high