Haven't had vaccinations yet please share experiences

[Hannah25194]

My daughter is now 16 weeks old. I haven't had her vaccinated. I have been trying to make the best decision for her. Can any body please share experiences with me regarding difficulties with vaccinations or wishing they did/didn't vaccinate. I have booked an appointment for a few weeks time but I just can't get me head around the thought of pumping my small baby with chemicals which I feel could cause more harm than good. Please share any experiences which can help me make this decision thanks mummys xx

The way I see it is: I wouldn't want to risk my child getting meningitis, knowing I could have protected them with a vaccine which has minimal, if any, side effects. I could never forgive myself.
I worry less knowing that my children are both vaccinated. My nephew was in hospital with whooping cough and I was relieved to know he wasn't very likely to get it. I'd be worried sick if measles were going round.
What are you scared of exactly?

which I feel could cause more harm than good.

Why in God's name do you think being vaccinated will cause more harm than good?!

Get your baby vaccinated as soon as possible. Do you know what meningitis, whooping cough, measles etc can do to a small baby?

They cause more good than harm - they will prevent your child dying from a preventable disease, protect people with compromised immune systems and eventually eradicate these diseases.
The worst your baby is likely to experience in side effects is a sore leg, a mild temperature and possibly some dodgy nappies.

My two have had all the vaccinations with absolutely no side effects at all. It was a very easy process. Yes, it would be great if we didn't need to have vaccinations, but the alternative is so much worse.

Before vaccinations, young children would routinely get illnesses like measles and polio and many would die or be permanently disabled. Because most people now have the vaccinations, we are in the lucky position that these diseases are irradiated or rare. So you could choose not to vaccinate your child and still get the benefits of herd immunity. Does that make sense?
However, if everyone had the same thought, there wouldn't be enough children vaccinated to ensure herd immunity. This happens every now and again with measles so we end up with a measles outbreak.

Some poorly children aren't allowed to be vaccinated, so I guess I always think it's selfish not to vaccinate if you can - if there isn't herd immunity then those poorly children will be at much greater risk of catching nasty diseases.

Give Calpol before the vaccination. Feel slightly guilty for causing them discomfort. Feel massively relieved we live in a society that can protect against horrible illness that kills.

The vaccination is a tiny, tiny amount of active ingredients with a tiny dose of stuff like water to make it easy to deliver. Everything is very thoroughly tested. If you are nervous your baby may sense this and that might make them cry. If it helps my babies barely noticed their vaccinations.

The best decision is to have her vaccinated asap. If she dies from one of the diseases that the vaccinations prevent, how would you feel then?

I’ve had all my children vaccinated and then paid for extra ones for men b, acwy and chickenpox

The best decision you can make for her? Get her vaccinated.

HTH

Stop being ridiculous and get your baby vaccinated

My parents chose not to get me all of he vaccines (after reading some garbage in the daily fail no doubt), I got one of the illnesses they didn't get me vaccinated against and i will have issues now 32 years later.

It really is best to vaccinate your baby.

My maternal aunt die aged 7 from complications associated with measles. There was no vaccine at that time.

DH contracted whooping cough as a young child and was very ill. His mum decided not to vaccinate him against that.

I would not trust another parent to give me advice on vaccinations. I would trust a doctor.

By the way if you have delayed her jabs you have already made a decision affecting her. You have decided to run the gauntlet of taking her out for those 16 weeks and potentially exposing her to things that could kill her.

Sweep- dosing up with Calpol and other painkillers may reduce the effectiveness of vaccination, so that’s probably not a good idea except when you have been advised otherwise.

I don't understand why you wouldn't get your baby vaccinated. One of the main reasons we don't have these diseases rife in our society is because of vaccinations. If your baby happened to catch something it could potentially be fatal for your child or leave it with a severe disability. I know what I'd choose every time. Yes your baby will cry momentarily after the vaccine has gone in and might have a small temperature but they will be back to their normal self in a day or two.

Sweepthehalls has it spot on. I gave Calpol before the vaccinations and DD was a little tired and more cuddly after for an afternoon. She cried a little but by the time she was back in the car she was fine.

It feels counter to most things we do as parents to give a baby an injection - because it hurts (temporarily), because we're worried about side-effects, because we're desperate to do the right thing.

However, there is NO good evidence to suggest that immunisation programmes are harmful, whereas there is plenty of robust and replicated research to demonstrate that vaccinating your child is associated with low child mortality rates. Providing your child with the means to avoid potentially fatal or serious diseases (especially while they are so young) is a genuine gift of the modern era. I think about parents in developing countries who walk miles to have their children vaccinated, and realise what a privilege it is that we're even able to have these worries.

It's ok to feel reticent (people like Wakefield have done irreparable harm to people's feelings about vaccinations), but it's not ok not to make an uninformed decision based on some vague notion of 'more harm than good'. You can talk to your health visitor or doctor too - they're not agents of BigPharma, they are professionals who have their patients best interests in mind.

My mother's elder sister died of meningitis.

Vaccinate. Why do you think you know better than all the medical professionals around the world?

My daughter had the measles when she was 11 months old. She was due to get her measles (mmr) vaccine at 12 months old. It was horrific, but thankfully she pulled through. Other children are not so lucky.

The problem with parents like yourself not getting the vaccine is that it's not just your child you are putting at risk. It's children like my daughter who haven't had their vaccines either because they are too young or because they are immuno-compromised.

Read up on herd immunity and then ask yourself how you would feel if your child caught measles and passed it onto another child who then died. Could you really live with your decision?

Have a watch of this, OP:

In my sizeable family (more than 50 first cousins plus their offspring) everyone has opted for the routine vaccinations.

No one had an adverse reaction.

Given that measles is currently doing the rounds in South East Wales which can cause all sorts of permanent problems like sight loss, hearing loss or even loss of life I struggle to see why anyone would choose to opt out of the vaccination programme unless necessary.

Childhood diseases were made rare by herd immunity. Aside from those who medically cannot vaccinate anyone not vaccinating is diluting herd immunity making it far more dangerous for those vulnerable to illness.

In sincerely hope you take the low risk option and vaccinate your child. Personally the stakes are too high for the consequences of meningitis, polio, rubella, mumps, whooping cough. Try reading the side effects of those illnesses and see how complacent you'd feel about your child encountering those germs unprotected.

Read ALL of this tallguywrites.livejournal.com/148012.html

My now 1 year old got meningitis as a baby. She nearly died, spent weeks in hospital and is still under neurosurgeons over a year later for complications.
Its easy to think 'that wouldn't happen to us, those illnesses are so rare' but it can happen to anyone. Just get it out of the way, imagine the guilt you would feel if you knew you could have prevented an illness that ends up being fatal or life changing.

Do a quick google on measles rates UK. I spent 15 seconds and found this one with an annotated graph showing when vaccinations introduced/changed plus Wakefield:

leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2014/03/21/yep-measles-is-still-a-killing-disease/

but there may be better ones.

If it is your first baby (no germs siblings), and you are not going out, then delaying the start to immunisations probably won't be making a difference.

But at some stage you need to start getting out and about. I would urge you to start the vaccines before taking your DC into any groups, crowded places it on public transport. (And would suggest tha you need to be getting out too, for the sake of your own wellbeing).