very interesting and difficult topic. i have written a post on my blog about this. Id love some feedback :) http://babybodybeauty.blogspot.com/2011/07/childhood-vaccinations.html

I know that there is no link between vaccinations and autism, but even if there were it is a greater risk to not vaccinating. I your kid gets sick and you take them to the park where thay can be around other kids some too young to be vaccinated you put them at risk as well along with older adults. You may think that your choices are for you and your family but if you choose not to vaccinate than you shouldn't take your kids out where they can be around others they can infect like daycare stores and other public places. If my child got measles (b/c she too young to be vaccinated) b/c you didn't vaccinate your child I would sue and it has been done and I would win b/c it endangering the lives of other children.

There is more than just the all or nothing approach, and that does not seem to be taken into account here. In our families we have excessive allergies and also several cousins with autism and learning disabilities. After researching how they do it in other countries, as well as looking at studies that talk about the immune system overload we decided to approach the issue in a less traditional manner. We have used a modified vaccination schedule as listed on the Dr. Sears website. There are a few that we skipped early on, as our son was not in daycare, therefore the vaccines were not important. We will follow this same approach with our second child though we will likely opt for the daycare ones since older sib is in daycare. Given that shingles runs in both our families, and there is an increased risk for shingles withe the chicken pox vaccine, we are choosing to not vaccinate for chicken pox until its absolutely necessary by age 7 or 8.

I did not vaccinate, but it frankly had nothing to do with autism. Put simply, there are 2 questions you try to get answered before giving your child any treatment. Is it safe? Is it effective? Sadly the answers I received from my child's doctor really only provoked more questions for me, so I waited and researched, in spite of the doctor's panicked view that it needed to be done right then. There were no outbreaks at the time; my child was not in daycare, so waiting seemed reasonable to me. When I gathered my thoughts, read the CDC and my state's health department website, dug up some studies and charts and other information that wasn't easily available, and wrote down my questions, I went back to the doctor. I asked my questions. And he fired me. For asking questions. Kicked me out of his practice. Since that time, I have tried to get these questions answered by doctors, epidemiologists, anybody who has skills at interpreting scientific studies, since I know I may be lacking in this department. All I can get is lots of arm-waving, stomping of feet, and screaming that I am crazy and don't know what I am talking about. Then, correct me, I say. Explain what I'm misinterpreting and how. SHOW ME! I WANT TO LEARN! My oldest is five now, and I have yet to have anyone help me get the answers I need to feel comfortable with the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Questions about the way studies are done, about the difference in research standards for vaccines versus other drugs, about the timing of the decline of all communicable diseases, and about several other concepts that are seldom discussed that I feel should be. And yes he is at a higher risk of catching something should there be an outbreak, but regardless of what the CDC says - that the risk of severe complication from catching a rare disease is greater than the risk of a complication from the vaccine itself - the numbers for either are too rare to be compelling. And frankly I don't want to be told, I want to be SHOWN. I want to see exactly how it adds up. There's a lot of emotional, knee-jerk reaction on both sides, and I am simply trying to take a rational approach to a complicated problem, in what is apparently a very irrational world.

I also am surprised at the way these poll choices were written. In fact, it's a little bit insulting to the thousands of parents who choose an alternative approach to vaccinations. Many parents recognize the importance of vaccinations for the health of their own children as well as for public health in general. However, there is a growing number of parents who feel that the CDC/APA/Big Pharma did NOT have the best interests of their individual children in mind when the current vaccine schedule was created. There is no reason to overload a newborn/infant/toddler's system with the staggering number of vaccinations per visit as the schedule currently is written, and parents have the choice/responsibility to make sure that their children are receiving vaccinations in a way that is safest for them. I am one of thousands of parents who will vaccinate, but will do so selectively and on a delayed schedule. I've read extensively on the matter, and the autism question is but one to be visited. I understand there is only so much you can allow for when creating a poll like this, but honestly, the way it is written is such a oversimplified look at the issue. I find it to be a little irritating.