I was at the chiropractor after work tonight and like usual they had a video playing. This wasn’t just an ordinary video though — this is the video on that GRATES ON MY LAST NERVE.
What is it about?? Vaccines. About how they are evil, how they cause autism, and how they should be avoided. IT MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM.
Talking about vaccines with moms is akin to talking about abortion in church (in that, you just don’t do it), but I’m going to share my thoughts here because it makes me SO ANGRY when I watch this video.
I vaccinate my kids. I don’t necessarily think that you have to follow the agressive schedule that APA recommends (delaying is OK – I’ve delayed a few!) and I wish we had a better way to preserve the antibodies (boo on all that crap!) — but I DO think vaccinations save lives. And they work. And when parents choose not to vaccinate it doesn’t just affect THEIR kids. It impacts society.
Other things I do that are controversial as a mom??
- I let my hubby decide on the whole “circumcision” thing.
- I drank wine when I was pregnant (don’t worry – I didn’t chug it).
- My kids wore/wear disposable diapers.
- If breastfeeding hadn’t have worked so well I would have switched to formula without a second thought.
- I breastfed for more than 2 years.
- I let my kids watch TV. Including (to some) questionable shows.
And probably a million other things that people don’t approve of… and that’s fine. Don’t agree with me. You have the right to your own opinion. But when you mess around with my kids health? I have the right to be pissed. And annoyed. And question where people are getting their information from (ahem, Jenny McCarthy).
I’m still undecided on whether or not I will continue with my chiropractor after next month. It’s hard because I love what they do for my back – I just don’t agree with their philosophies and viewpoints. For now, I will close my ears and silently talk back to the brainwashing video. My back needs to feel good for Savannah!
So, what’s your controversy? Are you for or against vaccines?
This MIGHT be the most controversial post I’ve ever written. Even though I have my opinion, I would still love to hear yours…
I haven’t decided yet how I feel about vaccinations. On one hand, I think that the body is designed to heal and protect itself, but on the other hand, I feel like modern medicine (including vaccinations) has the potential to save lives and should be utilized. I’d have to conduct a LOT more research if and when I ever become pregnant before I have a valid opinion, but you’re an awesome mom for doing what you feel is best to protect your children!
If/when you do have kids – I definitely recommend Dr. Sears book on vaccines for any research! He does a really great job breaking down the pros AND the cons to vaxes.
http://www.amazon.com/Vaccine-Book-Decision-Parenting-Library/dp/0316017507
Michelle, you are a woman after my own momma heart!!!!!
I agree with every.single.point you made above. I have two girls, no boys, so the whole “circumcision thing” isn’t in question, but it would be up to my hubby if we have a boy someday.
I only WISH my girls would have taken to breastfeeding for longer than 7 months. Neither of my sisters could breastfeed, but I got lucky, and both girls lasted 7 months…until the pump at my full time job just wasn’t cutting it anymore. They both pushed away…I allowed them to choose. Had they chosen to stop sooner, dang skippy formula would have been used. I actually supplemented with formula so that my MIL wouldn’t go insane if I hadn’t been able to use my little portable chemistry set as I so jokingly called it walking through the hallways at work.
Vaccines? Every time. My youngest hasn’t had her 2-year well check up (I’m 2 months late on that) because we’re waiting on my hubby’s new insurance to kick in, but I get them done when they need them. Between my sisters and I and my husband’s brothers…there are 13 kiddos…and NONE of them have autism. All have been vaccinated. I think the problem with that whole ordeal is that people are UNEDUCATED. They will listen to anyone who banks on their confidence to persuade people into thinking the pharmaceutical companies are out to kill us. To keep us sick for the sake of profit. I could go on. Haha.
I love this post, momma! As for me…my kids have seen making out on TV. Know what my 4yo screams when she sees it? “CAVITIES!!!!” (This is what I screamed as a kid, too. And I grew up just fine.)
Honestly, letting my husband decide on circumcision was the easy way out (for me) – but I don’t have one and I knew if wasn’t something my son was going to remember!
I hope you don’t beat yourself up about the BFing. I know so many people who have struggled and have blamed themselves. You can only do so much!! It’s awesome that you went 7 months!
There’s definitely something to this: “They will listen to anyone who banks on their confidence to persuade people into thinking the pharmaceutical companies are out to kill us.” Drives me insane. It’s not just with vaccines either (of course).
If I have kids, I plan to use disposable diapers. Sorry, I don’t want poop in my washing machine.
LOL. There’s still probably going to be poop at some point…just less of it! Ha.
She’s right… still gonna be poop in your washing machine. Be prepared.
It drives me crazy when people blame vaccines, my oldest nephew has Autism, his 3 younger siblings don’t, My brother has Ashbergers, I don’t. I guess it drives me crazy because my husband is a special education teacher working on a masters with a concentration in Autism Spectrum Disorders!
Ah you totally just reminded me I need to ask my hubby if we are going to circumcise our son when he is born! ANd I just had a glass of red wine the other night, and I have been painting (low voc) I am sure there is more I do that I am “not supposed” to. Though doc did say wine and painting was fine.
You go girl!! There’s always something you’re not supposed to do. (And Low Voc paint didn’t even exist when I was pregnant with my first!)
That’s awesome that your husband is working on a master’s concentrating in ASD! I did some undergraduate work in that area (concentrating on behavioral analysis) and it really takes special people and a lot of patience.
I’m just not even going to get started on the vaccine debate because it will just make me crazy angry. I love the Internet (obviously) but I do hate that it’s made everyone an “expert” on things they really aren’t (and shouldn’t be expected to be) experts on. I am all for doing extensive research and making through, informed choices. But the problem is that when it comes to things like this, a lot of the supposed “evidence” is in fact flawed and just plain wrong. I’m sorry, but anecdotes are not evidence. Just because one person’s cousin’s sister’s best friend gave her son a vaccine and he was eventually diagnosed with autism does not mean the vaccine caused it.
And I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a pediatrician recommending skipping vaccines. Since when did they become the bad guys?
Yes – to all of this. (Of course, we are blogmates – did I expect any less?)
I’m pretty sure you won’t find ANY pediatrician recommending to skip vaccines! Not ones following the APA at least.
Great! Great! Great post!! I am for vaccines and I HATE when people push their opinion about not getting them! We also used disposable diapers and will definitely NOT feel guilty for giving our future second child formula within the first day of them being born if my wife can’t produce. Our only complaint about little man being born at Winnie Palmer…using their lactation consultants. I call them the breastfeeding Nazi’s (Seinfeld), “No formula for you!”. The first night little man was born, the wifey couldn’t produce enough to satisfy his big boy hunger, so we all suffered for a few hours because we were made to think formula is “evil”. Then our head nurse came in and suggested we give him some formula to help us all sleep. So we did and how about that, we all finally got some sleep. The next morning the lactation consultant came in and made us feel extremely guilty for giving him formula! The wifey was sad and I was pissed, so we called the head consultant who was really nice the prior afternoon and told her she was the only one allowed to come in the room. No more other consultants or they were getting a black tar diaper thrown at them! And FYI for anyone who is being harassed by one now or possibly will be, there is no such thing as nipple confusion! We have a friend that’s a speech pathologist, works in the neonatal ICU at one of the local hospitals, is one of the best in what she does, deals with feeding issues and she confirmed nipple confusion is bogus. Little man ate fine both ways. Also, 2 years later, little man isn’t overweight because of formula!
Formula doesn’t make them obese….McDonalds does! And pizza, regular soda, regular chips, candy, lots of juice, late night trips to Taco Bell after adult beverages at a club/bar or stopping off at Guthrie’s to get a Gut Box after partying at the Library in Tally. Ok, well maybe not the last two for many years down the road. 🙂 Had to end with some funny. 🙂
Lol about the gut box!!
I see your main issue on the BFing — you delivered at Winnie Palmer! (Kidding – although I had both kids at Winter Park and they were all really awesome) I think there is a big push for BFIng because for so many years it was the opposite. I do agree that nipple confusion does not exist. I requested a paci for Livie about an hour after she was born and let me tell you – that girl had NO issues. Ha ha.
Wow, that’s such a shame you had such a bad LC at Winnie Palmer. 🙁 My experience was quite the opposite–my LC there was my hero!
We were really struggling the first day or so, and as a typical new mom my confidence in my ability to feed my son was really down. I was so scared he wasn’t getting enough to eat. But the LC was great. She helped us get the hang of things, and she assured me that everything we were going through was totally normal, there was nothing wrong with me and it would all be fine (and, of course, it was).
Looking back, I really appreciate how positive and supportive they are about BF-ing there, because BF-ing is so much harder than most people realize and without a lot of help (and a little cheerleading) it would have been so easy to get discouraged and give up in those first few days or weeks.
P.S. – This has to be the most polite, least angry conversation about vaccines I’ve ever seen on the internet! 🙂
I do have to say, it wasn’t completely awful. The first lead LC was nice and helpful. My wife went through the same thing with our son and her confidence, so the following week we went to an LC down the road to assist with a latching issue. She was really nice, helped us out a lot, and assisted with getting a lot better nursing pillow. I just wish the others wouldn’t have made us feel like bad parents for giving him formula. My wife also went to a what I think was called a Mother and Me tea with other mothers nursing, and they kind of made her feel like a bad parent for giving in to formula. Some of the women were really hardcore about it and couldn’t see why anyone would want to give their child formula.
We will definitely deliver again at Winnie though. I mean the daddy meals were great and the brownies were amazing! And they did a pretty good job of helping bring our little man into this world. 😉
I agree on being so polite!!! Most of the time when I see these kinds of posts I just see really angry responses about how wrong the person is. Still waiting on the backlash – ha ha.
I may not be a mom yet but I don’t think I could agree with you more!
I think vaccines are definitely worthwhile – and not vaccinating not only puts your child at risk, but other kids as well. (After all, if YOUR kid gets some crazy illness because he’s not vaccinated he’s likely to contaminate OTHER non-vaccinated kids too!) I think there’s been so much back and forth on the whole “vaccines cause autism” thing, and quite frankly I think it’s all bullshit at this point. I will definitely vaccinate my kids whenever I (hopefully) have them.
Oh, and disposable diapers too. I remember using cloth diapers when my sister was a baby and they were awful. I’m sure they’re better now but I don’t see that washing – and sanitizing/bleaching – a billion cloth diapers and using tons of water is any better than disposable. They’re both bad in one way or another. (Does that make any sense?)
Stick to your guns woman – I think I would leave the chiropractor if I didn’t like their viewpoint on issues like this. I’m sure there’s another chiropractor out there that will work as much back magic as your current one & not give you the headache this one is!
Nodding my head on the disposable diaper thing. I know exactly what you mean. Although, the main reason we use disposable is because of daycare – I don’t see myself as a cloth diapering mom.
I mean the chiropractor. I have a heard time saying no or bowing out. UGH – I so don’t look forward to it!! Despite their beliefs – they are really nice people!
Responding not as a mom but as a parent, here’s all you need to know about the “doctor” that started the vaccination scare:
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/648755.html
Ugh – this makes me sick. Goes to show it can just one person…
I’m not a mother yet, and I completely agree with every point you’ve made.
This all reminds me of the article I read the other day about the parents who delivered a premature baby at home and let the baby die on its own because they thought prayer would do the trick. I’m all for prayer and power of positive thought (even though I’m not religious), but there are times when modern medicine is absolutely necessary!
Word!!! 😉
Michelle I have to agree with everything that you said. I am pro-vaccines, pro formula, I let me kids watch TV, my kids wore disposable diapers, Jack is circumcised and I let Paul make that decision. I think that as mom’s we have to agree to the disagree.
As a mom, i find this vaccine debate very confusing. I chose to vaccinate my son, i think it’s crazy to not protect your kids against polio for instance. However, I wish I had more of a choice when it comes to other vaccines, like Hepatitis B. I feel like this one is unnecessary because I don’t see how my toddler is going to catch a sexually transmitted disease. But if I want my son to go to school, he has to have it. i wish Pediatricians weren’t so scared of being sued, then I might trust them more. Also, if the pharmaceutical companies weren’t such a strong lobby, I would believe the recommendations a bit more too…
I definitely agree with you on what you hear. I do trust my kids pediatricians though (although NOT pharmaceutical companies). In some ways, I can understand the Hep B vax — only because it can go unnoticed in mothers and babies are so easily exposed to it. But it seems crazy when you know you don’t have it and your child won’t be exposed any time soon. Really that’s the one that seems so crazy to me — not any of the other ones (especially not MMRV, which always seems to have the most controversy surrounding it).
I feel like I’m echoing some of the others — but I’m not a mom, and reserve the right to make some crazy and controversial decisions when it’s my time. 🙂
But I agree — I have done enough research to know that for me, getting vaccinations is a must-to. For the rest of it, I’m hoping to continue to learn from fabulous parents that have come before me!
You always reserve the right to make crazy and controversial decisions 🙂
When the time comes, I do recommend the Dr. Sears book if you want to learn more about vaxes. He has his own opinions, but is pretty good about laying down the facts!
Ugh, I hate the whole vaccine debate. Not that I hate your post, I just hate that the whole medical field is thrown under the bus by people that think they “know” the truth. My kids always have and always will receive their vaccinations… I just got my tetanus booster not too long ago myself.
My children wore disposable diapers… never even thought about cloth. I was a working mom… you want to add cleaning diapers to my already tired status?
Both my babies were formula fed. I just wasn’t into it for baby #1 (plus we had “house guests” after he was born “house guests” = live in in-laws). Baby #2 spent 13 days in the NICU after birth so we just kept the formula going instead of trying to switch.
I was vaccinated when i was a young lady, not so long ago! And i turned out okay! Well for the most part 🙂
I’ll probably go with disposable diapers, but i’ve got quite a long time to make up my decision about that!
I know that i want to BF, if possible!
I missed this post but I love it. Thanks for sharing. I am totally with you on vaccinations. I think it’s irresponsible not to vaccinate. Because you’re essentially counting on the fact that everyone else will. I really dislike people like that.
I’m in the opposite camp on breastfeeding and disposable diapers. Well, not totally the opposite camp, because I understand why people make different choices. But we use cloth diapers and I definitely think it is a great thing to do if you can. I disagree that it uses so much water – with high efficiency washers these days, it’s actually pretty economical. And we’ve saved a lot of money using them. I’m not trying to judge people who don’t, because most people don’t, and we use disposables at day care because we have to. But sometimes people feel guilty or something about using disposables and they get all in your face defensive about it, and it’s kind of like, I’m making my choice and I don’t see how that impacts you.
And I think breastfeeding is best (I realize not everyone can do it, but I think everyone should at least try, and I think as women we need to ask for the support we deserve with it). I would be heartbroken if I couldn’t breastfeed, formula was just never an option I wanted to have to go to. I’m not OK with it, even though it’s been really tough pumping at work. I also hate formula-pushers. I have been told by well-meaning people again and again that I might want to do formula. I don’t know why people feel the need to push it on me when it’s clear we’re just fine, thank you.
Thanks for posting! It made me think. It’s not that I want to push my choices (well, except for vaccinating) on others, but I feel like sometimes when you choose certain things people get in your face about them when they have nothing to do with them.