Today is the last day of my drill weekend and I must say I'm glad that its over. I talked to Ms. Stampley at lunch today and we had a great conversation that involved quite a few books.
Today, I'm reading "Fatal" by Michael Palmer. (www.michaelpalmerbooks.com) It's a medical suspense novel that involves, among other things, a grandmother who is dealing her her grand daughter who was normal until she was given the DPT and MMR vaccines. Pretty good, so far. The book is quite timely for me, as Kaeden, my 6 month old, got his 4 month shots on Monday.
Although I had heard of and considered the vaccine debate, I wasn't seriously thining of bucking the system and skipping my son's vaccines on principle.
In fact, I had no thought of the side effects until Wednesday night, when I realized that Kaeden was still cranky and acting completely out of character.
First off, Kaeden is such a good tempered baby, that he rarely cries. And when he does its because he is hungry (and he can eat) or because he needs his diaper changed. His daycare provider was worried when I picked him up because he had been crying most of the day. When we got home, he continued this behavior. He cried and screamed. He wouldn't eat and he didn't sleep well through the night. I think he cried more during that day than he had his entire life!
I took him to the doctor on Thursday and had him checked out, concerned that maybe had had an ear infection or something. The doctor said that nothing was wrong and that he was still reacting to the vaccines (pain in his legs where he got the shots; two in each) and suggested giving him Tylenol every 4-6 hours for about a day or so and if he didn't seem better after that to bring him back.
Which I did. And it appears to have worked. He seems to be back to his happy, baby self.
But now I have some fears about his next set of shots, due in August. Friendly advice has been to just give him the tylenol before we go to the doctor. But what about the possible side effects to his brain. I've since read about DTP and a correlation to/with Autism and the concern that we are over vaccinating our children and the increase in Autism, ADHD, even childhood diabetes.
I'm not out to become an activist or anything, but I do feel that as parents we need to become more informed about what we're putting in our children. For more information, go to www.nvic.org
Any thoughts?
Peaches, you are right to be concerned. However, the best advice I was given, was to make sure Tyler was not already sick when he received his vaccines. Already, having a cold can dangerously alter their immune system and the vaccines hender instead of help.
ReplyDeleteThis vaccination discussion brings about so many questions...
ReplyDeleteBecause of the risk you take by not vaccinating, I believe I'd wait until my baby was slightly older than the doctors recommend allowing the infants organs and brain more time to develop.
However, I know a woman with 3 children that have not been vaccinated and are extremely healthy.
Now I definitely not well versed in the research against vaccination but I think it is really important to consider the fact that the amount of autistic boys have increased at alarming rates in the last 10 years. It all makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the chemicals they inject in the animals or vegetables and/or increasing amount of high fructose corn syrup not mixing well with the vaccines.
Naeemah, you are right. And since its so soon and he's teething, I think I'm going to wait like Anonymouse (Toya) said and have take the next set a little later and give him some tylenol before we go.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about it that way. Although I don't have a kid of my own, I did have siblings and hundreds of cousins (almost literally). Anyway, it seems that getting a baby vaccinated is part of the "tradition". What I mean by that is that there are things when mothers have babies that they do because it's what everyone else does or what their mothers and grandmothers did. It seems everyone is doing it so no one really hesitates to think about it like you just did. Times are changing and now it seems that even doing something as small as just getting a baby vaccinated can worry us enough to question it.
ReplyDeleteThis post really has me thinking (and I will be sure to apply it when I have my next child) LOL. Anyhoo I guess I just never thought about the side effects to vaccinations. I just thought it was something WE had to do, so I did it. But you have the wheels turning and I will read up on it and be prepared for the next go round (if there is ever one).
ReplyDeleteIt really amazes me that when you are in a doctor's office they cannot even tell you off hand "where" they purchase each vaccine they use. I asked for literature when the issue was raised about vaccinations at my children's doctors visit.
ReplyDeleteI do feel as parents we are "entitled" to know who produces the vaccines and be allowed to research the effects of them in order to make an educated decision to do so.