Is vaccinating neccessary?

In Australia we have an immunisation schedule. Its  free and its expected that you keep your child up to date.

I never had an issue with having my first child immunised. We had a wonderful maternal nurse who made sure she was up to date. My girl didn't like having needles and still has bad memories of needles. That wasn't reason enough for me to not get the needles done though.

 When I had my second child I again had my son immunised as per the schedule. This time we lived in a different area so had to get it done by a group of nurses through the council. That was fine and I didn't give it a second thought. I just assumed you could trust them to know best. When my big boy was due for his needles at 12 months, they told me the schedule changed slightly so that they were given several shots and they wouldn't need any more til he turned 4.

Why did we choose not to have our youngest immunised?

The day my elder son had his immunisations at 12 months his face went red. I assumed it was normal, just a reaction to the needles. But 2 weeks later his face was even more red and my daughter's kingergarten teacher said  "Is the redness still there?" It started to get itchy and my boy scratched a lot. By the time he was 2 years old, he was scratching himself til he bled especially at night.

My big boy is now 4 and I would  consider the eczema to be mild. But for almost 3 years previously it was awful in so many ways. I hated that my little boy had to suffer. Steroids didn't work. Even moisturisers and Sorbolene aggravated the condition.

I can't say that the vaccinations caused the health problems my son has. But they most certainly triggered the eczema. He has acute asthma and allergies to certain foods as well. There is most definitely a link.

So when I was pregnant with my last child, we agreed it wasn't necessary to immunise our new baby. We didn't want to risk it and we didn't want to put another child through what our eldest son went through if we had the choice. People say 'but what about these serious diseases?' 'Why risk that?' Some of these diseases are very rare and I am not interested in 'just in case' theories. I am more worried of what is more likely to happen if my youngest son does have the needles.I have weighed it up and being a breastfeeder and also being at home a lot the risk of these diseases is low. I call it delayed vaxxing. I could change my mind. But for now I am happily enjoying my baby's good health. He is 19 months now and apart from mild eczema he is one healthy child and still breastfeeding.

My big boy is due for his 4 year old needles and I am not sure about it, so rather not at the moment. His eczema is under control and I really don't want to jeopardise that. I want him to attend Kinder later in the year. To start there and also at school his immunisation must be up to date, otherwise a form must be signed by a doctor to say you know the risks of not vaxxing.

I write this advice in the hope it may help others who are not sure about the safety and validity of vaccines. If you have doubts, please do some research of your own. There are homeopathic vaccines available but I am sceptical if these work well. Any information obtained here is not to be construed as medical or legal advice. The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is yours and yours alone.

"Any information obtained here is not to be construed as medical or legal advice. The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is yours and yours alone."