Shortly after my first baby was born (in 2012), we had a decision to make… one of MANY parenting decisions. Before we even left the hospital we were asked if we would be vaccinating our baby. I hadn’t thought too much about it… so I looked at my husband and asked ‘Are we?’ He looked at me like someone had just jumped off a bridge right in front of his very eyes. ‘What do you mean? Are you SERIOUS?! Of course we are.’ So I left it at that and trusted his decision (after all, he is a healthcare professional). I did a lot of research of my own just to make sure I was comfortable with this decision. I took her to her regular checkups throughout the year and cringed each time she had a needle stuck in her chubby, little baby thighs. I comforted her each time she let out a cry in response to the shot. I dreaded the appointments when I knew there would be shots involved. And I was always thankful that she remained very healthy.
Fast forward 2 years later and she now has a baby brother and sister who are not quite one year old. I am no longer dreading, but am NOW counting the days for them to become eligible for the MMR (aka Measles, Mumps & Rubella) vaccination. I am concerned for their safety. I don’t like the thought of taking them to a public place where they may be exposed to the horrible (highly contagious) measles virus without even knowing it. I am sad that there is an outbreak of a disease that was nearly eradicated in the United States. I fear for children under the age of one or those who have a health condition preventing them from receiving vaccinations. I am angry that herd immunity is no longer effective to protect those who cannot receive vaccines.
I understand why people fear vaccinations. I do not judge those who choose not to vaccinate their children. I know they love their child just as much as I love mine. I know that they are making decisions based on what they feel to be best for their own family. I do, however, feel that if you choose to not have your child vaccinated, that those children should not be exposed to other children (in public places) – especially during an outbreak.
My toddler who is fully vaccinated will receive a booster for the MMR after the age of 4 and until then she has 95% immunity against the disease – in my mind, those are pretty good odds. But I will feel better when it’s 100%. My grandfather who was born in 1907 lived most of his life, (and all of his adult life) with polio. My kids are protected. I, (born in 1982), had chickenpox as a child, (before the vaccine was available) and subsequently suffered through the shingles virus in 2012. My children will not get chickenpox and are unlikely to contract shingles since there is a vaccine for that, (which by the way… I would not wish on my worst enemy).
Prevention is an amazing thing. Modern science and vaccinations are an incredible asset – for which I am thankful. My family lives a very healthy lifestyle. We eat our fruits and veggies. I stay away from processed food when I am able. I buy organic when possible. We regularly exercise and we even take our vitamins. Unfortunately that is not enough and for that reason I am grateful that there is an effective way to prevent my family from experiencing horrible, (potentially fatal), diseases that our parents generation nearly eradicated by taking the steps to vaccinate their children. I am hopeful that the current measles outbreak can be controlled before it spreads any further and I pray that herd immunity will again become effective. Until then I’m counting the days until my babies get their one year shots and sheltering them from public places as much as possible!
*I am not trying to offend anyone for their parenting decisions, I am simply sharing my own.
Thank you for sharing this Alisa and for being so respectful of other parent’s choices. We vaccinate as well (on a slightly spread out schedule). We have made some choices to opt out of flu vaccines and the roto virus vaccine that my oldest had an awful reaction too but we feel strongly about the big ones being important. I am grateful to live in a time when we have this option.
Thank you, Alisa. I had my first two children in 1994 & 1995. Back then it was not even a discussion, let alone a debate. You vaccinated your kids. Period. Measles was not something I ever had to worry about. I had my third child in 2013 & I sadly don’t have the luxury of not worrying about measles this time.
You mentioned that you’ll feel better when your toddler reaches 4 & can have her second MMR. I felt the same way & discussed it with our pediatrician last week at my son’s 2-year check-up. She said there was no reason to wait until his fourth birthday–that he could have it that day. Given the current outbreak I gladly did it. And you’re right…I do feel better. 🙂
I appreciate your post. I feel that while vaccines are important and certainly have their place (where I live, there has been an outbreak of pertussis over the past few years and that is definitely one we would not skip with our children), but they are not all effective and sometimes the risks outweigh the benefit. I think it’s important for every parent to do the research no matter where they stand on the issue.
Just a little FYI, you can get shingles after having the chickenpox vaccine. In fact, we are seeing younger and younger cases of shingles BECAUSE of the vaccine (for example, my 4 year old nephew had shingles just 2 years after receiving the chickenpox vaccine). Many doctors will NOT give the shingles vaccine to anyone under the age of 50 (and it is certainly not on the standard schedule for kiddos who’ve had the chickenpox vaccine). I too have had shingles after having chickenpox naturally (in fact I am still recovering from them…did I mention I’m 33 weeks pregnant….yeah, super horrific timing!), but I don’t know what I would do if I had to watch my 4 year old deal with that kind of pain. PLUS, unlike the natural occurrence of the disease, the chickenpox vaccine does not offer lifelong immunity, which is sad and scary because many of the kids receiving this vaccine will not necessarily get a booster when appropriate and will be at risk of the disease as adults…which I don’t think I have to mention is MUCH more dangerous than having it as a child. Just some info I’ve gathered over the past few months. Food for thought 🙂
In addition to what Stephanie said, research is showing that shingles is becoming more common at younger ages due to the chickenpox vaccine. Those of us that had chickenpox growing up essentially gave our parents a booster by being around us, suppressing shingles. It was once the grandparent generation that got it because they had not interacted with chickenpox in so long. Now we vaccinate against chickenpox so parents don’t get that “booster” since our children don’t get chickenpox leading to more and more in our generation getting shingles at younger and younger ages.
Thank you for being a calm voice for scientifically-sound ways of safeguarding your children. My husband and I are expecting our firstborn in April, and we, too, are nervous about that first year until most vaccinations can be administered.
We are protecting ourselves and him, but we do wish more was widely understood about herd immunity’s importance.