I think you are wise to wait until 2. A book you may like to read is "What your Pediatrician Won't Tell You About Childhood vaccinations (something like that) by Dr. Stephanie Cave. That may help you make a decision.

My son has had some vacs because I was living abroad and had little access to informaation. He has not has all of them though. If I could do it over, I likely would have only done maybe polio or tetanus.

I would now like to find a way for my son to contract either mumps, measles or rubella during childhood but think it will be very difficult amongst a mostly vaccinated public.

Good Luck

I've read that also about waiting until age 2. My 18 month old is completely un-vaccinated and I have no plans for any vaccines at this point. I was considering Tetanus eventually but they don't have a single Tetanus (at least that's what the ped told me) they only have the Tetanus/Diptheria combo and I think that one is formulated for older children. So I'm up in the air right now. I agree with onthejourney; maybe Tetanus and Polio if you're going to be out of the country in areas where it is around. Are you breastfeeding? That will help protect your baby from many diseases and the longer you breastfeed the better.

Nicole

Hi, Suzane

We're not vaccinating our 7-month old at all and not planning to. I stopped vaccinating our older children about 2-3 years ago when I started learning more about natural health.

I skimmed through a couple books on the subject and what I read was enough to solidify my decision: my husband wanted us to look into more research. When I did, he was fully convinced of his decision not to. One book OTJ mentioned, another really good one is "Vaccines, Are They Really Safe" by Neil Z. Miller.

It turns out a lot of these diseases were on the decline by the time the vaccine was developed. And other interesting stuff.

I do want to incorporate more of what constitutes good health into practice with the children. We experience illness when we are imbalanced. We can provide a synergistic environment and if we do experience illness, respect it for its corrective intentions.

Love
Lori

Suzane,

A great book to read with a daughter in general is Dr. Christiane Northrup's "Mother-Daughter Wisdom" -- she is a practicing OB/Gyn and has two daughters, and it's got a lot of great ideas and experience throughout on many aspects of mothering daughters (as well as children in general, although as the title suggests, the focus is on the mother-daughter bond).

Her discussion of vaccines was really helpful for me when deciding whether to vaccinate or not. I have done a lot of research, and my opinion is that when you set aside the mercury/metals issue completely, and also disregard many horror stories of terrible reactions to vaccines, there is still an overwhelming body of evidence that vaccine harms the immune system and leaves children exposed in particular to auto-immune diseases and conditions both in childhood (asthma, allergies, eczema) and adulthood (cancer, diabetes). However, it can be scary not to vaccinate, and the times I went to the pediatrician and argued about it were some of the most stressful not just of my mothering life but of my entire life!

Northrup presents a strong case for not vaccinating based on her experience as a mother and as a doctor. I am pretty anti-doctor, so I am always interested to hear people from the medical professions -- doctors and former CDC officials, for instance -- who speak clearly about the dangers of vaccine. I recommend you read her section and see what you think -- I was very reassured by it.

I also have to mention that one of my college roommates, who is now a Harvard-trained epidemiologist and who works in Atlanta for the CDC, does not vaccinate -- that spoke pretty loudly to me, too.

It was really hard when our girls got croup cough at 5 months -- I immediately thought, "It's all over -- pertussis!" Of course that was not the case and they have bounced back very quickly from the 3 or 4 illnesses they have gotten in their two years! But I would not, if we have another baby, think twice about not vaccinating.

Although, that said, there is a case to be made for certain vaccinations -- polio, chicken pox if the child does not get it as a child, for instance -- down the road. Northrup's position is, Don't vaccinate, but if you do, wait until at least after 2 -- and she offers a good set of reasons as to why.

If you have made it to 5 months without vaccinating, even if your baby contracted the one illness she has a very remote chance of contracting -- pertussis -- she would likely be fine! If I were you, I would feel glad about my decision and confident that my child would be OK and better in the long run without shots.

Please e-mail me if you would like more experience from this end!

Laura

Most vaccinations are unnecessary and could possibly cause more harm than good. Pharmacutical companies are banking on every prescription and not telling us the whole truth. The average tetanus shot lasts longer than they claim and a pet rabies shot that most of us give our pets once a year, actually last 10 years. But think of the money they would lose if we only vaccinated once a year.

I hope everyone will read "What your doctor may not tell you about childrens vaccinations" by Stephanie Cave, M.D. This book changed my opinion about vaccinations. The book will also give you a recommended timeline of necessary vaccinations, if you still wish to do so. It is great.