Anti-Vaxxers: why?

**Little Crow** · 09-11-2011 22:10

Ok, so in the interest of balancing the argument, i'm interested to hear from parents who chose not to vax their kids (some or all vax's).

There is always heaps of pro-vax discussion, and most attempts at anti-vax discussion usually turns into a "Pro V's Anti" war. So could i please politely request that this thread remains solely an anti-vax discussion??

I know we all love our kids and we make the vax decision with their best interest at heart, so please lets stick to the facts.

In particular, i'd love to hear from those who are "selective & delayed vaxxers" - which vaxs do you think are most important? Which vaxs do people avoid and why?

*Sent from the couch* (via my iPhone)

**Penny88** · 09-11-2011 23:37

Just subscribing, I would also like to know.

**Azurial** · 09-11-2011 23:43

I will come back tomorrow and state my case....

**Leeee** · 09-11-2011 23:48

no kids yet but i have a half-formed opinion.

i plan to delay and select. not sure which ones yet but i know i want to avoid mmr, i've read too many autism-related horror stories.
also my mother is convinced (because of her experience with my brother) that over-vaccinating has a link with juvenile diabetes. admittedly this came about after he had a heap of jabs to go visit a 3rd world country, but diabetes is on the rise.
now, with a diabetic brother, that raises my chances of diabetes. which raises my kids' chances. i don't want to hurt them any further than that by giving them unnecessary jabs.

**Elijahs Mum** · 09-11-2011 23:55

I am technically a selective/delayed vaxxer, DS is 12 months old and has not had anything yet, I'm not anti vax, I just believe the current schedule is too much too soon for young babies (30 scheduled vaccines in the current schedule by 18 months old!) my GP is on board and my MIL and SIL are also both naturopaths so nutrition is very important , my point being that we have thoroughly researched this and have had many conversations with my GP and pead , I will come back in the morning , it's too late to think straight !

**sweetseven** · 10-11-2011 00:15

I go with delayed.

In my opinion, there is an over-abundance of vax information and it is all biassed (some for, some against) so that made it difficult for me to come to what I thought was the right conclusion.

So, I'm trying for a foot in each camp by delaying. Ideally I would like to wait until 2yo before starting to allow my little one's body a good chance to develop first. However I take circumstances into account also. There is a supposed outbreak of hooping cough and I regularly take my little one into crowded situations - including a nursing home which might be seen as a high risk area. Therefore I opted to get her vaccinated befor the 2yo mark.

The big thing I do not compromise on however, is that the child must be fully healthy when receiving a vax. No symptoms of any illness - temperature, runny nose, swolen glands, or even unexplained irritability.

----

As for gardasil, I gave my teenagers the right to choose for themselves. I cautioned that my choice would be no because it is new and condom use should be more effective. My eldest chose to receive the vax - because her Grandma told her to. My second had the first dose and determined that it hurt too much so refused the next two.

I am a very strong believer in individual autonomy, but also agree that we need to make decisions for our children when they are not equipped to do so. That is why I am giving my small children delayed vaccinations but giving my teenagers the option to choose for themselves.

**InBetween** · 10-11-2011 01:06

I am technically a selective/delayed vaxxer, DS is 12 months old and has not had anything yet, I'm not anti vax, I just believe the current schedule is too much too soon for young babies (30 scheduled vaccines in the current schedule by 18 months old!)

This pretty much mirrors how my DH and I are approaching our son's vaccinations. We have undertaken the first few at 3,5 and 6 months as there was a huge whooping cough epidemic going on at the time and people at work had it but will be delaying the MMR et al (not due to 'causing autism' reasons - I accept that this link was manufactured). We have arrived at this decision based on medical opinion as well as information we have gleaned ourselves (not off the internet). I, too, am a big believer in nutrition and how giving the wrong foods or too much of a food can have consequences.

What concerns me is that, similar to what sweetseven has said, there is a lot of confusing anti-vax information out there which is not accurate and feeds on fear. I've met several people who give me their group immunity theories and it frightens me how they just adopt something they know very little about, does not apply in their situation but sounds good to them so they go with it. It is for this reason that DH and I made it a point to speak to many professionals who gave us their qualified opinions on vaccination of children.

As an aside, my family GP is against this but my antenatal GP is totally for it.

**mummykitty** · 10-11-2011 01:09

Originally Posted by Azurial

I will come back tomorrow and state my case....

^ this

**Lovemyfam** · 10-11-2011 01:51

I wi come back in a bit to state my feelings but here is an interesting comparison of vax then and now I find it amazing that they put so much into our little babies bodies.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7lwCgCrwvC...stock+copy.jpg

**share a book** · 10-11-2011 06:43

I chose the Hepatitis and Whooping Cough vaccine on sched ule (Hepatitis within days of her birth) but delayed or s kipped the rest. The only one that I put very little thought into was the Chicken Pox (which was only available at extra cost at that time) one which I'll let her have before puberty hits if s he hasn't had chicken pox by then. The other ones were well thought out with a lot of talking to a lot of people in that field .