Would you vaccinate your children?

Madame had her jabs today (Dip Booster, MMR 2 and PPT).  I didn’t break the news to her until we were in the car on the way to the surgery.  The nurse was brilliant explaining that she needed them to go to ‘big’ school.  Overall, she was very brave and only a few small tears.  However, a trip to Pick and Mix at Wilko’s after seemed to help.

I have to admit when the first round of jabs were due, when she was younger, I was, like most new mums hesitant, especially after all of the media attention about a possible link between the MMR jab and Autism, which has caused a plummet in the number of children being vaccinated and a rise in the cases of measles.  I did consider paying for 3 separate jabs privately.

However, I did a lot of reading and once I discovered that the research behind that claim had been discredited I felt a lot happier about having them.  I must admit though, the more and more I read the more confused I became.  Whilst writing this post I did even more reading and it brought up even more questions.  Especially, this article by a doctor stating they’re a waste of time.

Luckily, I have a good friend who is also a paediatric consultant and I trust her implicitly, so much so that if she said jump of a bridge I would.  She talked me through the pros and cons and said she would recommend vaccinations and she in fact, had both of her own kids vaccinated.  She also voiced concerns that many people were opting not to vaccinate their children.  Here is an article about the Dangers of Not Vaccinating your Child.

In the end, I opted to do what the doctor said.

What would you do? Would you vaccinate your kids?  Why or why not?

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Please do leave me a comment.

 

 

 

 

 

Author: mediocremum

A slightly older mum of one, who drinks far too much red wine and has an unhealthy obsession with her slow cooker. During the day she's an ICT Trainer, Social Media/Online Marketing consultant and does a bit of public speaking. Full Profile on Google+

13 thoughts on “Would you vaccinate your children?”

  1. Vaccinate every time. I went through a small phase of wondering and then I saw what actually happened to kids who didnt and got the germs! I still know people who didnt go for the MMR and went for single vac’s except now they regret it as its really hard to get them and they live in fear that their child will get proper measles.
    Boy has even had a Hep B vaccination (he was bitten so needed it) but apparently that is also standard in many other European countries.
    I think its worth it to protect your child and I remember when my kids had chicken pox wondering if I should have had that done privately too…

  2. I vaccinate my boys. ALWAYS. Would never not have it done. I still have to remind people that the study about the MMR jag and autism has been discredited, and the doctor who published it has been struck off. So many people still think this is the case.
    Thing is, the whole reason these things have vaccines is because people *can* have really bad life long problems after having the likes of measles. Blindness for example. So these people who would rather not vaccinate their children incase it causes autism would rather their child had as much of a possibility of going blind. It seems. Madness!
    *coughs* ahem, sorry… this is one of those subjects I really get on my soapbox about. There are vaccinations for a *reason*!

    1. Rants are always welcome. I was reluctant to write the post as I don’t want to perpetuate people not vaccinating their children. However, I hope it encourages more people to do so.

  3. Had small boy vaccinated, but did opt for the single jabs for MMR. The only problem I had was that the company supplying the mumps has stopped doing it. Am looking for alternatives, as being a boy this is the one that would cause most problems.
    I did research too, but I just opted for single, as I believe in free choice for all!
    BTW you can get chicken-pox vaccination, but you have to pay. Other countries it’s standard (a friend is Czech and she got her kids done there)

  4. Absolutely get your child vaccinated.

    As others have said people have forgotten the implications of the illnesses because we are what, a full generation away from living with them.
    I strongly believe that not only do you have a duty of care to your child, you also have a duty to the community that you live in; other parents and their children.
    Immunisations work not only for your child but for the community, the diseases are kept in check through herd immunity, you get outbreaks of diseases when the collective immunity drops below a certain level.
    If, as a parent, you chose not to get your child immunised and they get a disease that’s your decision, but what if your decision leads to a child that is too young yet to be immunised getting a disease and that has a life limiting or worse fatal affect?
    The decisions you take whether or not to have your child immunised has a wider impact than your family.

    Ooo I got a bit ranty there, but I believe it is very important aspect of it, being responsible within our communities as well as our homes.

    1. I can’t agree more. The friend that I mentioned in the article quoted a percentage of children that need to be vaccinated for a program to work, unfortunately, I can’t remember nor find what it is. It’s a vicious circle….people think the diseases are rare so they stop vaccinating and has been seen with measles once people stop vaccinating the number of incidences rise.

  5. Had both mine vaccinated according to the regime at the time (and they are now 18 and 21)…. each had different timetables and different vaccinations. Eldest had more or less what I had as baby but it changed 3 years later for youngest. I obviously worried but trusted the medical advice at the time. I was concerned and confused later on however when they scrapped bcg – this was almost a right of passage years ago (with skin test, punching etc… oh different times I know). Daughter had the jab, son didn’t. I have completely lost track of later jabs they have missed out on now they are so much older. This makes me sound flaky but I wasn’t at the time honest! My point, if indeed I have one, is basically that I trusted the advice given, researched as well I could and chose to protect my children and others by agreeing to the vaccinations.

  6. I’m in the vaccinate school BUT with both of mine I have deferred having them vaccinated as babies until they were older than the schedule suggests – simply because they vacinate early in order to try and get greater coverage and I wanted mine a bit older and a bit stronger before hitting their systems

    Around us fewer people are vaccinating and its leading to a rash (see what I did there) of breakouts of measles and mumps and so on and they aren’t nice diseases at best and can cause terrible consequences at worst – another reason why I decided to vaccinate to protect my girls

  7. Like you I was ready to pay for the individual jabs, I was confused and concerned about the possible links. I did my research, spoke to my Sister who is a nurse and a Mummy and a Doctor. In the end I too, let her have them. Being a parent and being responsible for these decisions is a scary business!

    By the way popped over to let you know there is an award waiting for you over at my page http://wouldliketobeayummymummy.blogspot.com :-)

  8. I had my kids vaccinated but that was years ago..

    Part of my job in the GP surgery is chasing up parents who don’t come in for vaccinations, and there are, sadly, lots.

    The pre-school and MMR are the least popular – seems some parents have lost interest by 3/4 years old! Either that or they think having the primary imms will suffice!

    We also have a large Somali community who are all very averse to the MMR no matter how many reassurances they are given :(

Leave a Reply to Marylin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *