Needles

Ok.
This is probably the most controversial topic out there in regards to babies, so I really won't write much about it other than my questioning brain, because frankly, I'm exhausted by the subject and really not getting any "good" answers.
What are my options in regards to vaccinating Bina?
I'm not anti-vaccination. I'm not pro-vaccination. I'm just a mother who wants some answers.
Have you ever looked online? There are over 23 million sites that talk about vaccinations. Some are awesome, some are credible, some are decent, some are recommended, some are crap, all are opinion. Yes, even the government sites that give the specific vaccination schedule based on medical science are opinion. What someone thinks is 'best' at the specific time you happen to take your child into the doctor. Don't worry, it will change within months and your next child will receive something different; how's that for consistency? Where does that leave Ben and I? Completely confused and frustrated, feeling like bad parents no matter what we choose.



On one spectrum you have those who say 'vaccinations are completely toxic and dangerous; made up of illogical ingredients that our bodies have no way of processing and can cause life-threatening disease, long-term side effects and severe brain injury - you are a terrible parent if you have your child vaccinated.' Oh, and here are 10 thousand cases to prove what we're talking about.
Wow, ok, thanks for that...begin freak-out mode.
So what if no children were ever vaccinated? Would Polio and Measles still be a significant cause of death in our babies? Would we be stuck in the dark ages of disease and short life-spans? Would we not be progressing any further with medicine? Would we hide behind our closed doors fearing the plague and creating greater shifts in society class? Don't medical experts know what they're talking about? Haven't they spent their lives researching this stuff? I mean, sure, they used to put mercury in with the vaccinations, but we've come such a long way from that and are at the cusp of medical breakthroughs that could possibly cure the common cold, right?
On the other side of the spectrum you have the medical experts who say 'vaccines have the most sophisticated safety tracking system in the world, and decades of research support the fact that vaccinations have been proven safe...you would be a terrible parent not to follow protocol.'
They believe this so much in Australia that they won't allow you to function 'normally' in society if you don't play their game; thus the word 'recommend' becomes 'mandatory' and 'mandatory' becomes 'or else'...follow the "recommended" vaccination schedule "or else" your child cannot attend day-care, go to school, have tax benefits, play sports, have a regular GP, participate in society because they are an outcast and you, as the parent, have made them the outcast. However, if you play nice and do what we tell you without questions, then we will give you a very large amount of money (incentives) for your cooperation and we'll make sure your child is accepted properly, while applauding you for being a good parent.
Interesting. Sounds a bit Big Brotherish to me. It is these very fear tactics and requirements that made me question it at all in the first place. Doctor recommended? No problem. Mandatory with a list of probations for not participating? Yes, problem.
So why do we give our babies 32 vaccinations now by the time they are two years old, when just 15 years ago, that number was 21? What strange new endemic diseases have there been in those years that actually could hurt my baby and why haven't I heard of those diseases? Why don't you have answers for the tens of thousands of cases where the parents swear it was only after the vaccinations that their children developed problems. Why are some vaccinations taken off the market and then brought back? Why are some vaccinations brand new and just given out with the next batch of kids, without scientific proof there won't be any long-term effects? What are the causes of Autism, Alzheimer's, and multiple other diseases that are truly the endemic right now? Maybe they're linked, maybe they're not, but prove to me without a shadow of a doubt that vaccinations had absolutely nothing to do with them. Why aren't there grants from giant billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies being given to scientific experts to dis-prove the vaccinations, just as equally as they're given to prove it? Isn't that the core of the science? To prove and dis-prove hypothesis until a complete outcome can be made?
Unfortunately, our babies are the ones that have to dis-prove anything, and mothers have to cry foul for years and years until something is changed. I understand that science is ever-changing. I understand that ketchup is no longer sold as medicine and lobotomies are no longer recommended for hyper activity in children...but at one time the medical experts swore by those things, telling us to have faith in their science and just do what we're told by the experts to do. Are we truly that arrogant to believe we've peaked today and no more changes will occur and in 100 years we won't look back and wonder what the heck we injected into our bodies?
Questions. Questions. Questions.
So my specific questions for Bina are:
What are the diseases, where do they come from, how will they effect a baby? What are the vaccinations made of, where do they come from, how will they effect a baby? Is Bina truly at risk for all those diseases right now? Why will Bina die of the chickenpox if she doesn't get vaccinated, when we, as kids, had the virus at home without hassle; and if there was a problem, it was easily treated by a doctor? Why should I feel forced or pressured into doing something just because it's the medical norm? If Bina contracted one of these diseases, what would be the process for getting her cured or would she honestly die? Would it be a simple trip to the doctor's office or would she be dead within a day? These are real questions that will affect how we chose to vaccinate. Why is there a 'one-size-fits-all' policy for every single child, no matter if we live in the USA next to a hospital or in the bush in Africa? Why isn't there room for flexibility? Why aren't there more options and education from BOTH sides? Why the HELL would I vaccinate my baby daughter against an STD?!
If you want to be taken seriously then treat me seriously and respect me as a mother with questions needing answers. Don't just pat me on the head and tell me I don't understand it and to just blindly trust. Needless to say...Bina has not had any needles yet. We've found some great support from individuals choosing to use an alternative vaccination schedule, which we will be following, starting at 6 months.