Are there alternatives to immunisation?

Hello Greenmum and Eva

I have a son who is almost 2 years old and has had absolutely no immunisations at all. My husband and I did a great deal of research into the subject. We read books, went to lectures and spoke to homeopaths, then decided that we'd take our chances with nature. I have to say that this site summarises the main reasons quite well, although briefly, and there's much more to it. I had measles, german measles three times and whooping cough as a child and I'm absolutely fine and I believe my son will be too. What's more, if we gave him the injections and he did end up damaged in any way I would never forgive myself. We know there's a small risk of him catching something but also believe that it is a much smaller risk than the government would have us believe. Also we believe that by not weakening his immune system with toxins (those preservatives used in the vaccinations) that he will be better at fighting infection anyway. It has never made sense to me that we are supposed to sterelise bottles etc because a newborn baby's immune system cannot 'cope' with bugs but then they want us to provoke their immune system to responding to five viruses all at once!? We are swayed more and more towards natural remedies - even just things like not always giving Calpol for a temperature as a temperature is a perfectly natural response that the body has to fight infection. Don't get me wrong - at night Calpol has it's uses but I've found that when I've had the energy to, we've kept his head cool with cold flannels but his body wrapped up then his temperature goes down on it's own. We try and eat really well and as much organic produce as possible so he stays as healthy as possible.
You really need to do your own research and be very confident in your decision too as, just as this site suggests, you'll be tested on your beliefs. We still get constantly questioned by our own GP and other people as to why we haven't immunised. I can only say that my son seems to be much better at fighting infection than most of his friends when he does get ill. Hope i don't sound too full on. Good luck in your decision. It's definitely not an easy one. Let me know what you decide.

Hi all, I have a 2 year old daughter and have read a very large folder given to me by my health visitor on why the MMR vaccination is safe for your child, that there is no proven link to autism or bowel disease. At this moment I have decided not to give my daughter the MMR jab as I am not confident that there will be no after-effects like the negative articles I have read. I am aware of the risk and am not happy at all to be put in this awful position. I will wait until there is more research done, and I want to be 100% sure that I am preventing my child from getting a horrible disease and not putting her health at risk ie. autism, bowel disorder etc.

Hi everyone, I have a 16 (nearly 17) year old son who had the MMR back then and I think he is normal....... how do you tell with a teenager..?! -:)
However, with all the articles etc about it since, I decided against having my 2 year old daughter vaccinated. This hasnt sat totally easy either though. The practice nurse at my surgery told me that getting the individual jabs is no good as they are imported and so cant be guaranteed that they are effective. My son is a year old now and so have to go through the whole thing again! I am petrified of the potential consequences of either decision i.e. getting it done - the risks and not getting it done - the risks! Part of me says that my generation survived measels mumps etc but then I keep being told that they are lethal now. Ella seems perfectly normal now so if she were to have the MMR and developed autism then I would know that it was down to the jab but how much comfort would that knowledge be??!
HELP!!!

I agree. I've had both my children MMRd and fingers crossed they are fine. I know there is contraversy - my sister has an autistic son which she believes was triggered by the MMR jab - BUT she also believes that he was a little unusual before the injection and that he probably always would have been autistic - but that the MMR just caused the symtpoms to come out. I think it's already in your genetic makeup.

I will opt for the MMR. I think it boils down to whether you belive in immunisation or not. If you do then you should go for it. I think you would never forgive yourself if your child caught measles and ended up blind or worse. And there has been a two thirds increase in measles cases this year. If we get our immunisation level up to 95% we will have 'herd immunisation' which means the disease should be eliminated. At the moment we are at 85%.

Hi my daughter had the 'normal' combined MMR at around one year and has just had her pre-school booster at nearly 4 years. Its a hard decision to make but I just went on the advise of my husbands best friend whos a practising GP and whos 3 children have all had the same as us ( the normal combined inj) The autism thing is awful to imagine I know but my doc friend always comments that those poor children were probably destined to have autism anyway, regardless of what injections they did or did not have!
Hope its helped.
Sarah

Hi Eva, I really dont know what to do. I havent done my research on this one. I am a little bit apprehensive that the more I read, the more it will scare me. The article on this site is really interesting. This is what I find most hard about motherhood - making these important decisions on behalf of another person. Is there anyone who has/ has not opted for the MMR?

It is around 13 months, we are due soon, but I feel a bit funny about the all in one injection(articles about autism). But on the other side I dont want my baby to have 6 injections instead - poor bunny. What are you going to do? Eva