Like many of you, I have been torn with the burning question of if I should vaccinate my children or if I shouldn’t. I mean this conversation has started arguments with my husband, my friends, and been the topic of heated debate for years and years. It seems that there is so much information on both sides of the argument. What is a mother to do when she has a baby in her arms and wants to protect her baby but doesn’t know the right answer? I know we are told that a woman’s instinct is powerful and knows the right thing to do, but not always. Not when it comes to something so complex as vaccinating. I have been torn with questioning the current CDC schedule and wondering if there is an alternative vaccination schedule I could follow.
This is not a pro-vaccination article. This is not an article against vaccination. This is an article about finding a balance between the two. This is about finding a solution that YOU as a mother, a father, can live with. I don’t believe that it has to be ALL OR NOTHING with vaccines. I believe there can be a safer alternative. I believe there can be an alternative vaccination schedule.
After much heated debate and then heated prayer, my husband and I have decided that we would vaccinate our children, but we would do it very carefully and very slowly. I want to make sure I say that I fully support a family that does not vaccinate their children. There are many times where I questioned if we were doing the right thing by doing this delay/select method that we created. But at the end of the day, I felt in my gut that we made the wisest decision we could for our children.
The current CDC vaccination schedule is mind-blowing. After looking at the schedule that was handed to me when I was pregnant with my first child, I knew I didn’t want to follow the CDC schedule.
I had issues with many of the vaccinations on the right hand side of this infograph. It was TOO FAST and TOO MANY. So, my husband and I went through and talked about each vaccine and how important it was or if it wasn’t truly necessary.
I would HIGHLY suggest you get The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears. It is a very good resource about each vaccine, the side effects, and what the vaccine is for. I would also suggest you not give into anything that promotes mass fear. More important than fear is immunity. A healthy immune system will prevent illness or keep an illness at a level where immunity is created to that disease state without significant harm to the host. This is what vaccines are supposed to do – to create immunity and help the host not get sick when confronted with that germ.
The intent is helpful. The actuality is not quite so beneficial. By giving too many vaccines at once to a young and immature immune system, we may actually be creating dysfunction and a weaker immune system rather than strengthening it. We may have set the stage for more chronic illness.
Some children with very sensitive immune systems do not tolerate vaccines and can suffer long‐term health issues after vaccination. The challenge is that we do not know who they are before the vaccine is given. The best way to determine if your child may have a sensitive immune system, is to take a look at you and your partner’s family history. Did any relatives have a bad reaction to immunizations in the past? Is there a history of autoimmune disease?
Twenty years ago children received 18 vaccines between 2 months and 5 years (DPT, OPV, HIB, MMR, and HBV). Now they receive 49 total vaccine doses between 2 months and 5 years and during this same twenty-year time frame (as we have increased the number of vaccines) we have seen a huge increase in autism, ADD/ADHD, allergies, asthma, and chronic illness that cannot be explained on environmental factors alone. Many call it coincidence. It is not.
It’s, also, important to understand what the ingredients of vaccines are. They contain ingredients like aluminum (a KNOWN neurotoxin, formaldehyde (a known preservative) MSG (a common allergen), and other ingredients that can be toxic to a body as well.
So what’s the answer if you WANT to vaccinate but you want to do it cautiously?
- Vaccinate slowly – one shot at a time
- Eat as organic as possible
- Avoid GMO foods (they are known to cause intestinal problems)
- Make sure the child is getting adequate vitamin D
- Give Fermented Cod Liver Oil before, during, and after a vaccination (especially the MMR) – the MMR depletes the Vitamin A stores in the body and Fermented Cod Liver oil is loaded with Vitamin A.
- Giveprobiotics to help keep their immune system up.
- Find a provider whose vaccines do not contain Thimerasol
- If giving a booster- test the blood for titers. If titers are positive then immunity is present and the booster is not even necessary. This is what we have done with our oldest child. She didn’t have to get any boosters at age 4 because she had titers present.
If you choose to vaccinate your children, I suggest, once again, that you do it very slowly. Listen very closely, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO VACCINATE YOUR KIDS SLOWLY. We don’t do the flu shot or the chickenpox and I won’t be going near Guardasil for my daughter. You can start at whatever time you feel it is safe. We chose to start at 9 months but the time you start is completely dependent upon all the risk factors I mentioned above (family history, immune sensitivity) but the schedule starts at 6 months. This is the alternative vaccination schedule that is recommended by our vaccine-friendly Pediatrician.
Alternative Vaccination Schedule (Select/Delay)
- 6 months DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis)
- 9 months DTaP
- 12 months DtaP
- 15 months HIB (Haemophilus influenzae b)
- 18 months IPV (inactivated polio vaccine)
- 24 months IPV or Prevnar
- 27 months IPV or Prevnar
- 36 months MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
- 48 months DTaP booster and IPV booster
- 5 years Whatever was not done at age 4.
This is not set in stone, but it is just something that we feel is best for our children. It looked a little bit different for my daughter because we hadn’t yet come up with this alternative schedule. She got many of the vaccinations too early, but instead of being filled with regret, I choose to be proactive in making sure my son receives vaccinations on the safest schedule.
This is also the schedule that our Pediatrician encouraged. There are many Pediatricians who might discourage this schedule and try to put fear into you. I recommend you finding a vaccine-friendly Pediatrician. You can look here for vaccine-friendly pediatricians near you.
I hope this encourages all of you who are torn…stuck…and about to just give in to the CDC schedule. You have choices. You have right to speak up and say no.
Sources:
- https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/
- https://www.whale.to/a/megson5.html
- https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/05/gardasil-vaccine-is-a-flop-for-good-reasons.aspx
- https://drcorneliafranz.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8