The Measles- Did you Vaccinate?
I am sure you have read, watched and researched all the news about Measles outbreaks in certain parts of the world recently. It is really quite scary to me.
The great “to Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate” debate, can be such a hot topic of conversation, and seems to have both sides defending their choices rigorously.
In fact, some people can get down right nasty when it comes to defending their decisions, even leading to people minimizing others for their choices.
This post is not meant to do that, nor fuel that. I am also refusing to defend my position in this matter. This post is merely my opinion, and not only will it not be swayed, I will not try to sway the opinion of others.
Why I Chose to Vaccinate
The reasons I chose to vaccinate both my children are really quite simple to me and I wouldn’t do anything differently if I had to choose again.
As far as I can tell, Vaccinations do not cause Autism as so many others may think. Now, do I know that for certain? No. I am not a doctor, nor am I a scientist. However, let me just say this: I DO know that vaccinations DO defend against certain things that CAN be deadly. To me, Autism is not deadly. Regardless of whether or not Autism is caused by vaccines (again, it is said that it is not!) or not, I would rather my child be alive and healthy and risk Autism, than to risk my child getting a potentially deadly disease and passing it on to anyone that could pass it on to a young baby, or losing my child completely. That is not to say that life with a child with Autism is easy either! I am not attempting in any way shape or form to start that debate. I am merely stating that I would love my child just as much whether he/she was diagnosed Autistic, but would be heartbroken if they or someone they passed a disease on to, passed away from it. This is only my opinion.
When we had to make the choice if vaccination was right for our family. That was our end decision, and the reasons seemed sound to me.
I strongly believe that Vaccination was right for my family.
Did You Choose to Vaccinate?
I had the Measles when I was in grade five and I was VERY, very ill and extremely fortunate! I had received the vaccination, but apparently it was a faulty batch so what I did receive prevented me from getting even more ill than I already was!
We vaccinated our children.
I did choose to vaccinate my children however I vaccinated on a delayed schedule. I exclusively BF both my daughters for the 1st 6 months of their lives and did not vaccinate until 6 months. The measles vaccine was delayed until 2.5-3 years of age.
I do believe that vaccines are important….as an example. My girls were both exposed to the Chicken Pox virus on the same day (unknown to us) and both broke out in spots 21 days to the day after exposure. My older daughter (5 at the time) had around 25 spots which were gone within 3 days. My younger daughter (18 months at the time) was covered from head to toe and had a high fever (104) for 3 days prior to getting the spots. The vaccine really did help my older daughter.