I have written down several versions of this post and erased it. I feel that every parent has the right to choose their child's health path; including the right to vaccinate or not to vaccinate. Out of the last 6 months that I volunteered in the 3 year old class at church, my son only attended 6 times. My son is immunized so I do not worry about the stuff that he has been protected from, but I worry about others thinking that diseases such as measles do not exist. When I read this post from one of my favorite blogs today it made me realize how scary these things can be. I too worried constantly while my sister was pregnant that I would be exposed to something extremely harmful from my involvement with little kids. Two things that I want to state:
- Make sure you are educated about the true risks and benefits of immunizations.
- Know the difference between contagious and non-contagious childhood illness.
- Recent myth that was laid to rest: Croup is contagious! Do not bring your child to church or childcare with a fever.
Kyle and I did not have the right to decide whether or not Bronson would be immunized. He was not even 5 lbs when he received his 6 weeks shots. I am now very thankful that I didn't have to agonize about the decision, but very thankful that my son never contracted RSV or other very serious illnesses due to his vaccinations. He was one of the few children that received Synagis because of being a preemie. This shot reduces the risks greatly of your child contracted sometimes fatal RSV.
I will now get off my germaphobe soap box. I am so thankful that it seems that Bronson's ENT surgery has really helped him with chronic sickness, but I don't think a day will ever change when I don't worry about all the creepy germs that are floating around.
