As a first time mother, I question everything when it comes to the wellness and safety of my baby.
After my baby was born — like every other parent living in North America — we were faced with newborn vaccines while in the hospital after delivery.
Right out of the gate, the doctors are wanting to poke every newborn with 2 needles — the Hepatitis B vaccine and the Vitamin K shot.
Our Experience With Newborn Vaccines
I was terrified to allow anyone to inject my healthy, newborn baby with a cocktail of toxins that included ingredients like:
- aluminum hydroxide
- yeast protein
- phosphate buffers
- sodium chloride
- sodium dihydrogen
- phosphate dihydrate
See a complete list of vaccine ingredients.
I declined the Hepatitis B shot for my baby at the hospital after birth for a couple reasons:
- People who are at risk of contracting this communicable infection are those who are having unprotected sex, using IV drugs, or in blood contact with an infected party. Umm… my baby would not be partaking in any of these activities.
- I never had Hepatitis B, so clearly it wouldn’t have transferred to my baby.
Why on earth would I agree to this injection for my newborn baby?
I agreed to the Ilotycin (aka Erythromycin) — which is an antibiotic eye ointment that is routinely applied to newborns in order to prevent neonatal conjunctivitis.
I also agreed to the Vitamin K shot — because newborn babies may have low levels of Vitamin K — which is needed to clot blood. Babies can have bleeding into the brain resulting in significant brain damage.
So I said yes to the eye antibiotic and the Vitamin K, but I drew my line in the sand on the Hepatitis B vaccine.
I want to stress this… I think vaccines are important. I’m not against any parent who is pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine. Ultimately, I believe we do what is best for our children based on the information we have available to us.
Baby’s First Vaccinations At At 2 Months Of Age?
Our next challenge was the impending CDC vaccination schedule.
See CDC’s recommended immunization schedule for children.
When I was growing up, there were approximately 10 recommended vaccines by the time I would have been 6 years old.
Today, if I am to follow the CDC schedule, my baby will be subject to 74 doses by age 17 — with about half given by the time he is 2 years of age.
When my baby turned 2 months of age (which was time for the first round of vaccinations, according to the CDC schedule), I decided that I was going to need more time and research infant vaccinations before allowing a pediatrician to inject my 2 month old with up to 6 vaccines in a single visit!
After watching Ty Bollinger’s The Truth About Vaccines series I was really tormented on the topic of infant vaccinations.
I wanted to watch the series objectively and, thankfully, my husband was willing to watch the series too.
After carefully considering both sides of the vaccination debate, we came to the mutual conclusion to vaccinate our baby — but we were going to follow an alternative vaccine schedule instead of following the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule.
Finding Vaccine Friendly Pediatricians
Finding a pediatrician who is vaccine friendly (meaning, willing to deviate from the CDC schedule) was a bit of a challenge. Most offices will dismiss families from their practice if you do not follow the CDC’s immunization schedule for children.
Find vaccine friendly pediatricians near you.
Luckily for us, we were able to find a vaccine friendly pediatrician who was willing to follow Dr. Sears’ alternative vaccine schedule.
At 8 months of age, my baby just received his first vaccine. He will then receive 1 shot once a month until he is up-to-date.
Why We Chose An Alternative Vaccine Schedule
Here are a couple of reasons why we chose an alternative vaccine schedule (also called a delayed vaccine schedule) — without getting into too much detail about the debate or picking a side:
- I’m a stay at home, work from home mom. I wasn’t returning to work, so we weren’t in a race to have him up-to-date with his shots to get into daycare.
- It was really important to me to allow my baby to build up his own immune system. He has the rest of his life to come in contact with toxins — so I didn’t want to purposely inject them into his body.
- We feel that 1 shot at time is the easiest on our baby’s immune system — rather than a bunch of shots in a single visit. I am just not convinced it is necessary for the chemical overload of multiple shots in a single visit.
The Bottom Line…
If you are on the fence about infant vaccinations, I would recommend researching the diseases which the vaccines are aimed to prevent.
Personally, my research is nowhere near complete — I have a lot more research to do into all of the suggested vaccines.
The CDC schedule does not give much time for parents/caregivers to contemplate the topic of infant vaccinations — especially if you are returning to work and need the vaccinations for childcare.
Unfortunately, there are 2 solid sides to this coin and the debate will forever continue. We can only do what we think is best for our children and pray to not be one of the statistics of adverse effects.
I’m a new mom. I work from home and I write — mostly about my outdoor adventures, DIY projects, newly discovered products, and helpful tips as a first-time mom. I also like to share details about the alternative choices I’m exploring as I enjoy this journey called motherhood. My family includes a toddler, 2 stepchildren, 1 dog, 1 cat, and a wonderful husband. My pre-pregnancy life was full of freedom and adventure, so I have a fresh new perspective when it comes to walking away from a career to become a full time stay-at-home Mama.
