The Vaccine Book

I have a "motherhood" library; books that have educated me and taught me how to be a mother.  I rarely go with the flow.  I will only sometimes follow popular mothering culture.  I have chosen to read and research each mothering genre for myself, and from there, make informed decisions for my children.  The mother has the final say, and we may choose the path that provides the optimal health and welfare of our own babies. 

YOU are the Mother. 

The mother deals with the late night consequences of each decision.  The mother carries the heart-burden of every step of childhood care, education and development.  Do not let someone else make decisions for you and your babies.  The doctor will not be there to comfort your child in the middle of the night while she's reacting badly to a medication or vaccine.  Teachers, day care providers, coaches, speech therapists, friends and acquaintances all feel they have a say in your child's life.  They all feel they know what you need to do.

You know what to do.  Thank them for their advice.  Go home, pray over the decision, and read everything you can find on the topic in question.  Educate yourself, and then make a 100% informed decision for your precious babies.

I have friends and relatives all over the broad spectrum of childhood vaccinations.  Some of the women in my life do not vaccinate their children at all, and some give their children the vaccinations that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.

I am in the middle.

I truly recommend reading The Vaccine Book by Robert W. Sears, M.D., F.A.A.P

Dr. Sears has no agenda--no official position on vaccines at all.  This book is simply an "encyclopedia" of each of the vaccines that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. 

In the book, for each and every vaccine, there is a short easy to read paragraph that will answer each of the following questions or topics: ( Let's use the vaccine for Rubella as an example).

What is Rubella?
Is Rubella Common?
Is Rubella Serious? (sometimes the potential side effects are worse than the actual disease)
Is Rubella Treatable?
When is the vaccine given?
How is it made? (in monkey kidneys, aborted fetal tissue etc.)
What ingredients are in the final vaccine solution?
Are any of these ingredients controversial?
What are the side effects of this vaccine?
Should you give your baby this vaccine?
Reasons to get this vaccine.
Reasons some people choose not to get this vaccine.
Travel considerations
Options to consider when getting this vaccine
The way I see it.

Believe me, you will love being educated on this topic.  For most vaccines, my worries were allieviated.  For other vaccines, I decided to spread out the vaccination schedule to give my child's immune system "a break" inbetween diseases.  Dr. Sears provides vaccination schedules ranging from the exact AAP schedule, to only getting a few of the vaccines that cover diseases that are still around the US today.  No matter what your course of action will be after reading the book, at least you will be thoroghly educated.  Then those who pressure you to not vaccinate, and those who pressure you to vaccinate according to the AAP, will be put at ease when you let them know you have read up on every ingredient in every vaccine, and you know excatly what you're doing with your babies. :D  It's quite freeing!