When I wrote my post, vaccination: how i made my choice, my intention was to leave it at that. I wanted to share as a parent (the only way I can) how I had come to make my decision and encourage new parents to consider researching their choices. I never imagined that it would be the post on my blog that got the most daily hits and I never thought that I would be compelled to write more about the issue. But I do feel compelled and hope this will be helpful to parents starting their journey researching this complex and often emotionally charged topic.
This is a decision that involves unveiling truths, dispelling non truths, facing opposition, feeling unsure, and hopefully coming to a place of peace in whatever decision you make in the end. It’s an issue that carries with it high emotions and expectations of all parents. I would say that at this point and time, it’s likely the most emotionally charged issue of our time and regardless of your decision, the other side is always ready to pounce. On one side, telling you that you are putting EVERYONE at risk and on the other, telling you that you haven’t considered how serious the side effects can be. It’s emotional, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plain in face facts, once you know them, you can make a decision and leave the emotions for those who don’t have the facts.
I have thought about what I would have liked to have known 8 years ago when I started researching. And I have thought about what I have done over the last 8 years to feel confident in my choice to not vaccinate my children or myself further. Here are my suggestions as you embark on this journey, researching whether the decision to vaccinate is the right one for you and your family.
1. Go with your gut and listen to it.
As parents we have to listen to our inner knowing and trust it. If you choose to not listen to your gut, your inner knowing, only you have to live with any consequences that happen to your baby, not your parents, not government officials, not your doctor, only you. If there is something inside of you saying “no” or “wait” – please listen to it.
Even though you may encounter resistance, always remember that you are the one that will have to live with any minor or serious side effects. So even though it may be difficult, to wait, to request a different schedule or to decline the shots all together, listen to that small voice inside whatever it may be telling you and inform yourself.
2. Breastfeed
Breastfeeding gives your baby whatever immunity you have till you stop. I cannot emphasis enough the valuable time this gives you to do more research during the year or more that you breastfeed.
“Through your breast milk, you give your baby immunities to illnesses to which you are immune and also those to which you have been exposed. Nursing also allows your baby to give germs to you so that your immune system can respond and can synthesize antibodies! This means that if your baby has come in contact with something which you have not, (s)he will pass these germs to you at the next nursing; during that feeding, your body will start to manufacture antibodies for that particular germ. By the time the next feeding arrives, your entire immune system will be working to provide immunities for you and your baby. If you are exposed to any bacteria or viruses, your body will be making antibodies against them and these will be in your milk” (La Leche League).
3. Read, read, read, read, read…did I say read?
Read about the immune system and learn to trust it.
Read about the history of vaccination. (Immunization: History, Ethics, Law and Health by Catherine Diodati)
Read about doctors who have done or are doing the research and want you to know about.
Read about current vaccines and side effects.
Read about the companies that are making the vaccines.
Read about the natural ways you can boost your immune system and how truly effective they are.
Just read. If it’s about vaccination, read it, and let your gut decide.
4. Question.
The question should not be, do vaccines cause autism? Autism is one small aspect of the vaccine choice, I would encourage you to consider the following…
- How did our species survive before vaccines?
- Have the illnesses they claim are eradicated, actually eradicated? If so, how is that possible?
- When there were frequent outbreaks how many people actually died from these illnesses?
- With many places at the recommended level of the 95% vaccination rate, why are there still outbreaks?
- Are the outbreaks mainly in non vaccinated groups or areas?
- If the blood stream is the 3rd level of defense in the immune system how do we know that we are not taxing our system by bypassing the first two levels?
- Are there side effects to bypassing the first two levels of our immune system?
- Have there been double blind studies done on the safety and efficacy of ALL vaccines?
And that is just a few to start you off…
5. Have a plan.
Regardless of your choice, have a plan on how you will deal with the illness at hand. Learn about the illnesses and what the best treatments are for the best recovery possible. Vaccination does not mean immunity and if your child did get any of the illnesses that are currently on the vaccine list you should know ahead of time how to support their immune system to avoid long term side effects. It’s a good idea to have a book on hand like The Vaccine Guide by Randall Neustaedter OMD to reference if you found yourself in this situation.
6. If you’re sick, stay home.
I have a rule, if one of us is sick, we stay home. There is no need to be spreading germs. I feel that is the responsible thing to do for my family and for the community. Staying home means that the person who is ill can rest, eat the right foods to support their immune system and doesn’t spread germs unnecessarily. Be responsible and quarantine yourself!!!
I hope this gives you a starting point. Below are a list of great websites and books that you can use to start researching. I did not include any websites or books that support vaccination because those are for the most part widely known, your country’s health organization, local newspaper articles and of course QuackWatch.com…are popular places to start.
Dr. Sherry Tenpenny
Saying No to Vaccines by Dr. Sherry Tenpenny
Medical Voices Vaccine Information Center
Dr. Andrew Moulden
VACTRUTH
National Vaccine Information Center
Randall Neustaedter OMD
Healthy Immunity
Mothering Magazine
Healing And Preventing Autism
Generation Rescue
Vaccination Risk Awareness Network
Thank you for your perspective. I wish I had started researching it 9 years ago – instead it got to the point where I never saw the Dr with out a vac being given to my kids, myself, or both, and I started on the “Do I really need all these?” Journey, and realized that wasn’t even the question I needed to ask!
I still haven’t made a decision on what we are going to do, but for now there are no vaccines until I see a CLEAR reason to do so.
That being said – if you decide to change or stop vaccination, you need to be ready to be bullied by some in the healthcare industry…
Thanks for all the work on the links. I am looking forward to making my way through them…
[...] 2: Vaccination: how do I make my choice? Thanks for [...]
On the subject of breast-feeding: around the age of 4 to 6 months the porousness of the baby’s intestines goes away (gut closure), after which point none of the antibodies from the breast milk will make their way out of the intestines into the baby’s blood. Since maternal antibodies have a half-life of 14 days, one month after gut closure only 1/4th of the maternal antibodies will be left in the baby’s blood, after two months only 1/16th, and so on. Breast-feeding will continue to supply IgA antibodies for the digestive tract, but it won’t supply 100% of the baby’s need for antibodies after gut closure.
Matthew, thank you for your comment as it sent me on a small google search.
This link makes sense to me and an important point is that mother’s milk changes continuously during the day and as her baby grows – so how do we know that it doesn’t change to provide the same antibody protection as at the earlier stages?
http://www.drgreene.com/21_552.html
and this article talks about the different antibodies and from the little knowledge I have of the immune system – many of these are acting at the first levels of the immune system which would “fight off” and prevent illness from occurring which would not be happening if the mother was not breastfeeding.
http://pregnancychildbirth.suite101.com/article.cfm/antibodies_in_breastmilk
I welcome others with information on this to share as I am now intrigued…
This link makes sense to me and an important point is that mother’s milk changes continuously during the day and as her baby grows – so how do we know that it doesn’t change to provide the same antibody protection as at the earlier stages?
There isn’t any kind of antibody that can pass out of the gut and into the blood once gut closure has happened. Of course, the antibodies in the gut will still attack the germs found in the gut, which is very important and the first line of defense, but if the germs manage to survive that (or get into the baby’s body via a cut) then the antibodies in the blood form the second line of defense.
As to the second link, the milk does have anti-microbal factors besides antibodies, but those won’t do any good if the germs get by the first line of defense and into the body.
Also, I’m not sure if the antibodies and other anti-microbal factors spread out to the mucus in the lungs and sinus-cavities (I’m still researching that). If they don’t, then after gut closure breast-milk won’t be of much help to fighting off germs which infect those particular areas.
Taken from Healthy Immunity by Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe
Quote from excerpt in book NATURAL VERSUS ARTIFICIAL IMMUNITY: Differences Affecting the Immune Response by Catherine Diodati, MA
“In most cases, excluding tetanus and rabies among the “vaccine preventable diseases,” the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems (secretory IgA systems) encounter the pathogens first. As soon as the body recognizes their presence, the immune response is initiated. This immune response reduces the impact of infection, often eliminating disease even before symptoms become manifest. In the case of natural infection, “it has been estimated that the frequency of asymptomatic infections outnumber clinical illnesses by at least one hundredfold,” testifying to the efficacy and importance of the secretory/mucosal immune response.”
And going back to the second link I posted in my last comment would IMO support that the baby is still getting additional protection from breastfeeding until he/she stops.
I just ordered a new book listed in the weekly Mothering email by Linda Palmer, “Baby Matters, What Your Doctor May not Tell You About Caring For Your Baby”, and in it she says that the gut doesn’t completely close until age 5!
this is #4 reply at this link:
https://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=987176
https://admin.acrobat.com/_a771552914/p28814510/
Check out this link – it is talking about the benefits of bfing beyond the ‘norms’ (specifically in emergencies). It talks about the mechanics, and I learned a lot about the working of immunity in breastmilk.
Regardless I feel that immunity provided in a natural way is safer than providing it with toxins and usurping the way our bodies work. The development of vaccines should focus on the way our bodies are designed to build immunity and at least try to mimic it, rather than assault it…
Anyway – enjoy the presentation (about an hour), and let me know if the link doesn’t work, and I will try to find another one…