Earlier this week I took Drew to the Health Department for another round of shots. Although neither Drew nor Gracie have had any bad reactions to shots (so far), taking them for their shots always makes me nervous.
I think there are a number of reasons I'm nervous about them getting shots. First, the shot clinics at the Health Department is always VERY busy. I always come away hoping that the nurses filling the syringes got the right ones for my baby. I'm sure they do it enough that they have the system down pat and don't make mistakes, but still, it makes me nervous.
What makes me more nervous, though, is the question of whether Drew and Gracie really need all (or any) of the many recommended vaccinations. When Gracie was a baby, I didn't really question it. I just took her to the Health Department at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months, and let them give her whatever shots they recommended. I winced when they gave her 6 shots in one day when she was 12 months old (2 in each leg and 1 in each arm), but allowed it because I was told at the Health Department that doctors recommended that a child get all six shots at once. (I have later come to the conclusion that this recommendation is probably from a "public health" viewpoint -- if you give a child as many shots at once as possible (and require fewer visits) they're more likely to be fully vaccinated.) I mentioned it to her pediatrician afterward, and he said it was not necessary to get them all at once. And it seems like they keep adding "required" vaccinations -- between the time that Gracie got her shots and now, they have added two more vaccinations to the list of recommendations.
Recently I have read on several message boards and Yahoo groups about mothers who do not have their children vaccinated at all. Their viewpoint, that I am allowing people to pump terrible toxins into my children's bodies, is frightening to me.
Obviously, I love Drew and Gracie very much and want to do what is best for them to keep them healthy. I just feel like I don't have enough information to make an informed decision. I trust our pediatrician very much, and I did ask him after Drew was born what he thought about vaccinations. He said that there are not many people who do not vaccinate their children and that I should take Drew for all of the recommended shots. His opinion was that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Someday, though, I would like to do some research for myself.
3 comments:
I will admit to the world on your blog that... I make my husband take the kids for vaccinations after a nasty incident with my oldest son at a clinic. I won't get into details & he didn't have a reaction, but long story short I almost fainted & it took me awhile to recover. That said, I don't agree that vaccinations are made up of nasty toxins. The rest of the world is struggling with diseases that are unheard of here in America because they don't have enough vaccinations for everyone. The risk of my child getting a disease is greater then them getting a reaction. I have talked to older people who have had polio & TB, and have decided that shots outweigh the risks of the vaccination. The Andrew Speaker TB incident in May on the National News is enough cause for me want my children vaccinated. Mr. Speaker was at Jewish Hospital getting treated for his TB while I was in Colorado for my father's funeral last month. Just driving by National Jewish with my Mom- gave me the willies... and made me glad that my parents vaccinated me. Recently I stepped on a rusty nail- while remodeling and while I nearly barfed at the prospects of getting a shot, I went down to public health to get one, as I would rather not die a slow painful death of lock jaw (tetanus). But I was a big baby!
I'm glad to hear that there are other moms who believe that the benefits of the vaccinations outweigh the risks.
I don't know that TB is something that most people in the US are vaccinated for, though. (I could be wrong.)
My children didn't have the BCG shot- a shot for TB. But I believe that I have been vaccinated for it sometime in the past. I saw something on my vaccination records I was not familiar with in my records & had to look up what it is. I am not sure if my parents did it, or if I did it when I enrolled in college eight years ago. At one point I was going to do winterim in China (but I bought couches instead)and I think maybe then the public health nurse gave it to me as a adult. I lost my shot records about 5 years ago and wish I hadn't- because that's what made me run down to public health for the booster for the rusty nail incident acouple months back. I could swear I had one 8 years ago, but the nurse was like "better safe then sorry, here's your DTap- don't faint."
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