Overwhelmed About Vaccines?

This is a tough topic for many reasons.

First, it's emotional.  Most people have very strong feelings about vaccination.  And it doesn't end there.  Not only do some people believe in vaccination for themselves, but they also believe in it for you and everyone else because they believe it protects society as a whole.  And should you decide against some or all shots, even the people who love you may not know quite what to say. You just might hear friends and acquaintances telling you that your children can't play with theirs anymore. Faced with severe social pressure, some parents opt to make their vaccination decision quietly.  

Second, it's technical.  If you've tried to read scientific studies or medical journals, you probably encountered  a lot of complicated words.  It's frustrating when you want to make the effort and it feels like you need to get an advanced degree to understand what's written.

Third, it's frightening.  There's a lot at stake.  You listen to your pediatrician and you're told that polio or meningitis could be lurking around the corner, able to strike your child down at any time.  You speak to a friend or family member who has a child with autism and refuses to vaccinate any of her children ever again. That scares you, too.  There does seem to be an awful lot of children with some kind of chronic disease or neurological problem.  You're wondering if your child will also be affected.

Just Tell Me What To Do!!

If you're a parent, I hate to break it to you, but this isn't a decision that you can delegate.  Some aspects of parenting can't be shuffled off to someone else.  You have to roll up your sleeves and do some heavy lifting.  The good news is that a lot of parents have gone before you and they have created tools and resources to make things a little easier. 

There are probably many different and vaguely connected questions swirling around in your brain.  When you focus on one question, three others intrude.  Maybe you did what any reasonable person would do.... you procrastinated. And now, the decision won't wait. I drew a little picture to make things easier:

To move forward, you'll have to pick a green box.  That is, you eventually must decide whether you want your child to get all, some or none of the shots recommended by her doctor (typically starting on day one of birth) and mandated by your state of residence.  States will mandate shots as early as two months of age for daycare, age three for preschool, and age five for kindergarten, not to mention the sixth grade platform of shots.

If you know that you will be getting "all" the shots, then you'll want to figure out whether to follow the recommended protocol or consider an alternate schedule.  If you want to get "some" of the shots, you need to decide which ones.  If you are dead set against all shots ("none"), you'll be most concerned about  legal exemptions for school admission and finding a compatible pediatrician for your child who supports your philosophy.  For those in the "some" and "none" camp, you'll also be thinking about exemptions and you may want to investigate alternate models and methods for supporting wellness, boosting your child's immune system and increasing resistance.

I Don't Know Where To Begin!

Ok, let's start with the hardest decision of all.  What if you have absolutely no clue what you want to do?  You have a bigger task at hand so you'll need to break up your research into actionable chunks.  I drew another picture to help you think about how to begin:

I recommend that you focus on one blue box at a time.  Create a "questionable vaccines" list.  If you encounter something that concerns you, such as aborted fetal tissue or aluminum, then you can find out which vaccines contain the problematic ingredients and put them on the list. 

Here are your big questions:

Armed with this list of questions, you're ready to tackle our main vaccine education pages.

An Alternative Schedule

If you look hard enough, you will find physicians who are willing to make suggestions for the "bottom line" vaccines that they recommend.  I've always hesitated to offer these to parents.  I feel the decision needs to be made based on a wide range of personal considerations, and no doctor is equipped to take the time to work through them all with you.  There is an article worth reading, however.  It's called A User-Friendly Vaccine Schedule, by Donald W. Miller, Jr., M.D..  And click HERE for an updated note to this article. Dr. Miller is a cardiac surgeon and a professor of surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine.  Please check out his website, too.  He is a thinking man's doctor who seeks to make connections across discplines by integrating training, experience and knowledge.  He studies and writes about the importance of natural and nutritional medicine for maintaining optimum health.  He also writes about history, philosophy, medical and legal evidence, politics, and various orthodoxies in the climate and biomedical sciences.