Our vaccine conundrum: the outcome

With help from the work of the fabulous Dr. Sears, we have decided not to vaccinate Suzi anymore. Although Dr. Sears is level-headed and impartial, and personally recommends some of the vaccines on an alternate schedule to limit aluminum exposure, when I realized what was going into my daughter's body with each shot I was horrified.

Please note: Our decision was based on several things. Suzi is not in daycare and I am still breastfeeding her, which offers her extra protection from illnesses. We also have a family history of cancer. I feel the long-term risk of giving her new vaccines researchers know little about outweighs the benefit of one of them potentially preventing an illness she already has a minute chance of contracting. This is a personal decision each family should make, and I'm not saying everyone should decline vaccination. I do, however, believe each parent should research the vaccines--how and of what they are made, possible risks and benefits--before deciding.

Three things I bet your pediatrician didn't tell you:

1) There's formaldehyde in at least four of the vaccines regularly given to infants. Formaldehyde is classified as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is an ingredient in embalming fluid. They say vaccines contain only a tiny amount, but babies are tiny people.

2) The FDA knowingly allows vaccines to be made and administered with amounts of aluminum far greater than what is known to be safe. This can be especially dangerous if your child is given more than one vaccine containing aluminum in the same day, as children on the usual vaccine schedule are.

3) The chicken pox vaccine is made using DNA taken from the tissue of an aborted fetus. That alone is all the religious exemption I need!

If you decide to refuse vaccination or even alter the schedule, you may be booted out of the pediatrician's office. Luckily, we found a doctor who accepts our decision. Dr. Bailey-Dorton is cool, smart, and admirably supportive of breastfeeding. If you think I am, as our former doctor suggested, a "loony-toon," go to the CDC's website. It states: "The amount of chemical additives found in vaccines is very small and may not be enough to cause a serious allergic response." Really, CDC? It may not? How reassuring.

Here's some interesting reading:

The discussion of the varicella vaccine on Upstate Moms

The CDC's list of what's in the vaccines and why

I highly recommend The Vaccine Book (I got it from the library)

Green Our Vaccines