Vaccines/medicines and alternative approaches such as herbal

[Winnie98]

Looking for advice/experiences from parents who haven’t vaccinated

Hi, I’m hoping to get some advice and hear from people who have chosen not to vaccinate their children, or have delayed some vaccinations.

I know vaccines are one of those subjects that can get very heated on here, and I’m really not looking for a vaccine vs anti-vaccine argument or for anyone to tell me I’m a terrible parent 😂. I completely respect that people make different choices for their children. Please just be kind.

My DC is 1 and has had their previous vaccinations, but I’m now starting to feel quite hesitant about going ahead with the next ones. I’m feeling a bit conflicted and I’m trying to get as much information as I can before making any decisions.

I think some of this probably comes from my own experiences with vaccines. Growing up, I had some vaccinations delayed because my parents weren’t sure about some of the newer ones that were being introduced at the time. As an adult I’ve also chosen not to have the Covid or flu vaccines. When I’m ill myself I’m quick to grab natural remedies like Ginger drink , tumeric ect ect to avoid taking medication where it can be avoided. Obviously those were my own decisions and I know everyone’s circumstances are different, but I think those experiences have probably contributed to how I’m feeling now that I’m having to make these decisions for my own child.

What I’m actually hoping for is to hear from people who have chosen not to vaccinate and how to make this decision with the right information in relation to life without vaccines.
As well as people who try and avoid the likes of calpol and lemsips and paracetamols ect and focus more on herbal remedies.

• Where have you got your information from?
• How have you gone about understanding the risks of the illnesses themselves?
• If your child has become ill with something they weren’t vaccinated against, what was your experience and what did you do?
• Are there particular symptoms/signs you’d look out for that would mean getting medical help?
• where can I learn about natural remedies for illnesses for children

I’d also be interested to hear if anyone has spoken to their GP/health visitor or another healthcare professional about not vaccinating and whether you found that useful or felt judged.

I’m genuinely just trying to educate myself and work out what I’m comfortable with, rather than looking for people to agree with me. I’d really appreciate hearing people’s experiences, particularly from those who have been through the same thought process.

Thanks 😊

For the flu?? My children are healthy, they have eaten a very healthy diet and been active! I could count on one hand how many times they've had antibiotics on one hand at their ages of 19 and 14. They have had Covid and survived, I'm sure that my decision not to give them flu jab hasn't harmed them too much and risked their lives 🙄You do know that the flu vaccination does not stop you from getting the flu??

Mumps is one of the vaccines which wanes, unfortunately - as your anecdote demonstrates the solution is a booster vaccination not no vaccination! It probably ought to be added to the schedule.

@Winnie98 ... I have sent you some book suggestions by private message

My children are 14 and 19 and have never been hospitalised with flu. I’ve never been vaccinated against flu either, and I’ve never been hospitalised with it (nor has anyone I know, actually).
My children have always been healthy, and I do think eating organic where possible, keeping ultra-processed foods to a minimum, and leading an active lifestyle have all helped. I also wasn't one to take them to the doctor for every cough or sniffle when they were younger!
If they had been sickly or weak children, I might have a different view - I'm not an anti vaxer, but I believe the flu vaccinating of healthy children is a big pharma/government money spinner!

If the government pays for the vaccines, and provides them to the population at no cost to them, how are you imagining they are making money out of it? I’m a bit confused by your assertion there.

Sometimes underlying conditions aren’t known until an adverse event shows them up. Even if the person has eaten organic food and steered clear of UPFs. ‘Sickly or weak’ is a horrible way to describe any child. Very fit young sportspeople have succumbed to cardiomyopathy, for instance, which nobody suspected. A dose of flu or Covid could be fatal for someone in that position.

but I believe the flu vaccinating of healthy children is a big pharma/government money spinner!

Come off it. Of course it isn't.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I7sUw-H7kFk?feature=share

You realise that vaccines promote natural immunity, right? That's literally what they do.

Clearly, they don't. DD did biomedical sciences for her undergrad degree and her dissertation topic was immunology. She says she couldn't be bothered to "argue" with stupid people who don't understand or try to understand how the immune system works.

Apart from the lies, everything will be fine.... until it isn't!

The thing is, these so called HCPs will have had to pass exams where they would have had to show understanding of how vaccinations work.

It just doesn't make sense.

You can absolutely do a combination of vaccines and natural remedies. My DCs are fully vaccinated, but when they have a cold I prefer to use steam, smoothie lollies and bone broth to help them feel better. I would never not vaccinate, you only have to take a walk around a graveyard to see the multiple children families lost due to illnesses that are now preventable.

From a purely practical point of view - MMR wasn't available when I was a child. I and my siblings had measles one after the other. It took up a large part of one summer holiday. Fortunately none of us were seriously ill.

A few years later we all had chickenpox. I forget which of us started it. My dad caught it, because he'd apparently not had it as a child. So collectively that was quite a lot of school and work missed.

We also all had mumps at one point, but all had it together, quite mildly, over one half term.

My mum didn't work at that point, but if you have two working parents, that's a lot of childcare to arrange.

You know you can take vitamin D and still get life saving vaccines, right? The two things aren't incompatible.

If even a tenth of this post is true, I'm Liz Truss (which thankfully, I'm not).

The wolves (prp vaxxers) - do you mean pro-vaxxers? aren't on you. We have waded through your illiterate screed of bs and want to inject a degree of common sense, rationality and understanding of science and medicine and disease into the conversation in case anyone is really trying to make a decision about safeguarding their child's health.

@Seagulldancing Yes, I agree, there is the occasional hcp with crazy beliefs. But an entire extended family of Drs, Dentiats and Pharmacists in the UK as well as Paeds and OBGYNs etc. My DH cousin works for GKS in switzerland and big Pharma who are all in agreement on anti-vaxxing seems statistically unlikely, at best.

@Retro12 i said upthread that I think the push to extend flu vaccines, particularly after the COVID crisis, has caused a lot of vaccine confusion and made a certain section of society more likely to refuse MMR and all the other essential childhood vaccines. I absolutely understand the premise of vaccinating children to reduce the amount of circulating flu and reduce overall death and hospitalisation but I think the point of vaccine programmes should be ultimately for the benefit of the child receiving it. It was fairly clear from COVID that not everyone will choose to have vaccines on altruistic grounds. I suspect the push for yearly vaccination is causing increased vaccine scepticism.

Informed consent is where it's at. If you are choosing not to vaccinate based on actual facts (that's the data, not Facebook group opinions) then that's your choice. I don't think it's a wise one because the safety and effectiveness data shows vaccination is a no-brainer in 99.9% of cases, but it's yours to make. Vacccines massively reduce preventable deaths - www.who.int/news/item/24-04-2024-global-immunization-efforts-have-saved-at-least-154-million-lives-over-the-past-50-years.

I'd strongly advise you not to make your decision based on FB groups, chat rooms, and random anti-vaccination internet articles.

Just to add: I’m not against herbal or natural medicine at all. I have my own herb garden and I use natural remedies myself. But let’s stop pretending that “natural” automatically means better or that it can replace modern medicine.

Herbal remedies can have their place, but they are not a substitute for antibiotics when you have a bacterial infection, and they certainly aren't a substitute for vaccines, which are designed to prevent specific infectious diseases in the first place. Antibiotics don't even work against viruses, so the idea that you can simply replace vaccination with some natural remedy makes no medical sense.

What I also genuinely don't understand is the selective distrust of medical professionals. If you trust a GP enough to take your child there when they're ill, trust A&E when something goes wrong, and trust a hospital to give your child medication, perform tests or even operate when necessary, then why suddenly decide that doctors and scientists have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to vaccines?

You can't have it both ways.

Most of the posts have given you personal experience, pointing out what happened in the past before the vaccine and the risk you will be taking if you don't vaccinate . I haven't read more than a couple that you might consider nasty.

Re plants & 'natural' cures. A lot of medicines and therapies are derived from plants and nature, so yes, it can be helpful in some scenarios. It can also do nothing in some situations. Nature can also be extremely toxic, 'natural' is not always best.
For instance, taking digoxin prescribed by your doctor = good for your heart condition.
Eating foxgloves to treat your heart condition = bad.

My children have also never had antibiotics. Do not eat an organic diet and have never been hospitalised with flu or anything quite frankly. The only time the youngest has been to the Drs is for her vaccines. The single Drs visit for my eldest was for an ear infection.

They get the flu vaccine, as do I. Not because I'm scared of them going to hospital but because flu (proper flu, not a cold) is fucking awful even if you don't end up in hospital. It's 1-2 weeks in bed, and then 1-2 months before you feel anywhere close to normal. If you are lucky.

If I can avoid both myself and my children getting that then why the fuck wouldn't I?!

Also, we have a few elderly members of the family who getting flu would probably kill them off. So I also vaccinate my children to help them. It's not always just about you.

I'm afraid I i cannot take anyone who uses the phrase 'Big Pharma' seriously.

My uncle lived to a good age and was a heavy smoker. What can we learn from this true anecdote? Not a lot really. That some people are lucky. What can we learn from decades of rigourous scientific research? That smoking drastically increases your chance of cancer and premature death.
The same is true of vaccines. Anecdotes are worse than useless. You need to base your decisions on the findings of rigourous peer reviewed scientific research not anecdotes from randoms on facebook, mumsnet or elsewhere.
Accessible high quality information research based information is available:
https://vaccineknowledge.ox.ac.uk/home

I genuinely don’t understand how people can read about devastating outbreaks of completely preventable diseases in 2026, and still debate whether to vaccinate their children.

There are so many diseases that were almost completely eradicated, and idiots who think they “have done the research” stopped vaccinating and allowed these diseases to continue and grow.

Shame on all of them and shame on you for starting such an ignorant thread.

As an aside, I will mention that natural does not necessarily equate to 'good' or 'beneficial'. Only because it irritates me when it is so often implied.
I could consume deadly nightshade or a poisonous mushroom. They are natural but wouldnt do me much good. Natural things dont have magical properties some have health benefits others cause harm. Being natural is no guarantee that a product is harm free or beneficial to health.

The vaccines may be free to the public at the point of use, but they're certainly not free to us. The government still pays suppliers using taxpayers' money. Given the number of examples over the years of governments awarding lucrative contracts to well-connected companies, often raising questions about conflicts of interest (back handers), I'll stick with trusting my own judgement.

As for the "weak" comment, how would you describe someone who's constantly ill with coughs, colds and every bug going around? I'd call them sickly. I missed "weak-chested" off my original post, which is what I meant. I wasn't just talking about children either, and there was no malice behind it, so I'm not sure why you're looking for it.

It's your choice to have a vaccination that you feel benefits you, and it's my choice not to.

Yes, those situations can happen, and unless you've been thoroughly checked, you don't necessarily know what's going on internally. But you can still catch flu after having the jab. If someone has underlying respiratory issues severe enough that flu could trigger a cardiac arrest, I'm not convinced that this particular vaccine would necessarily prevent that outcome anyway.

Going back to my original point, I'm not going to have a vaccination, or give it to my kids, for something that I don't believe offers enough benefit for us personally. My gut feeling is simple, if it doesn't stop you getting the flu, why would I take it?