It all started when I decide to go through a midwife for the birth of my first child. What? Why would you do that? Everyone goes to the hospital. Do you even know anyone that has used a midwife? Aren’t you harming your child? What about the risks? The next decision. Cloth diapers. What? Why not just buy the disposables from the store. The next…eating real food. Why make your life more difficult? You can’t go without sugar…that’s impossible. 🙂 And finally my current challenge…vaccinations. I must admit this has been the most challenging of all. The other decisions were easy. I was super excited about birthing my child at home and all the evidence pointed to that for me and I knew I could do it. Cloth diapers I honestly did because they were cheaper. The transition to real food has been a joy that I’m still doing every day. I feel healthier, stronger, and have a clearer mind. Not to mention that I’m obsessed with food and how it relates to health. Vaccines on the other hand I dreaded doing the research. I hated it. As I was studying and talking to people I felt like a horrible person for even questioning vaccines…and then I would read or talk to someone else and feel the guilt all over again. How could I give my child vaccines. I came to realize how polarized this topic was and how fully nobody really understands. I realized that in studying vaccines I really needed to study the immune system and then the effects of vaccines on a developing immune system. I needed to look at the past vaccinations, diseases in other countries where vaccines weren’t available, today’s prevalence of diseases that don’t exist in those countries..and much more. In short it was exhausting. After much deliberation and a dearly needed break…I decided to vaccinate my child at 1 year old. You can access that here :My Decision on whether or not to vaccinate I want to emphasize the point that just because that is what I decided to do that doesn’t mean I want you to do the same thing. The point is that I believe we need to research these decisions. Don’t just accept things at face value. Delve into the subject. Look at both sides of the issue. You may come to a conclusion that you hadn’t thought. I have found so much joy as I study and research these decisions in my life. I know that when I do something I have a very good reason for doing so. I love what Keeper of the Home had to say about it. She talks about our personal responsibility in regards to the health of our children. I totally agree. Which is why it is so important to study both sides of the issue and come up with your own personal decision. I would strongly advise reading her article. As I was reading it I found so many statements that matched my own thoughts on this topic. Ok so after that long introduction it is time to talk about what we came here for. If you decide to vaccinate your child…how should you prepare for it. Obviously I am aware of the bad side effects of vaccines, however because I am also aware of the blessings that vaccines are I want the best of both worlds. I want the vaccinations without all the junk. The best way to respond positively to vaccination is to make sure your child is in good health to begin with.
1. Eat Healthy: I believe in eating real food. This is a different topic entirely but I think it is related. Feed your child well. This applies because my son will have been eating solids for a while before he gets vaccinated. Eating well will strengthen your babies immune system and help them better deal with the side effects of vaccines.
Also around the time of vaccinations you will want to be supplementing your child with some sort of detox method. Vaccishield is designed just for that if you want an easy thing to just order. According to their site, Their product contains these things.
L-Glutamine is an amino acid found in breast milk and plays an important role in several metabolic processes. L-Glutamine is an important precursor to the major detoxification enzyme, glutathione. L-Glutamine fuels the cells that line the gastrointestinal tract, helping to maintain a healthy digestive tract. Recent studies in 2005 and 2007 showed that L-Glutamine improved intestinal barrier function in children ages 2 months to 6 years old.
Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that line the gastrointestinal tract. They help reduce the growth of harmful bacteria and promote a healthy digestive tract. The probiotics in VacciShield were specifically chosen for their effectiveness and tolerance in infants and children. Certain strains of probiotics can produce a form of lactic acid that is not metabolized by infants and small children which can irritate young digestive tracts. The probiotics in VacciShield were chosen based on scientific literature documenting their safety for infants and children as well as their ability to support immune, gastrointestinal and detoxification function in infants and children. In 2010, research demonstrated that probiotics increased the immune response in infants to vaccination.
Zinc has been shown in research to support brain, immune, detoxification and gastrointestinal function in a growing child. Zinc is an essential mineral that is necessary in hundreds of metabolic processes. Zinc helps maintain a healthy immune system as well as healthy growth and development. Research in 2009 highlighted zinc’s ability to enhance infants immune response to vaccination as measured through immune titers.
Vitamin C has been shown in clinical research to support brain, immune, detoxification and gastrointestinal function in a growing child.Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the body from free radical damage. Vitamin C is also necessary to hundreds of metabolic processes. Research out of Australia suggests Vitamin C’s ability to decrease the side effects of vaccination.
Vitamin D3 has hormone like actions by binding to DNA receptors and promoting cell growth. Research highlights the vital role Vitamin D3 plays in maintaining healthy immune, brain, gastrointestinal and detoxification function.Recent research shows how vitamin D3 assists in the immune response to vaccination.
Selenium has been shown to be a necessary component of detoxification pathways as well as immune function.Selenium is an important precursor to the major detox enzyme glutathione peroxidase.Research with selenium and the polio vaccine shows how important selenium is to the handling of vaccines and immune function.
Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that helps decrease the damage inflicted by free radicals in the body. There is also research demonstrating vitamin E’s ability to support healthy immune and brain function.Recent research in 2011 demonstrates how vitamin E increases the immune response to the tetanus vaccine.
Choline and Inositol work together as primary sources of a healthy cell membrane. They help enhance brain development in infants and children. http://www.vaccishield.com/ingredientsresea.html
On the flip side of this we can just try to build a strong immune system in our child.
In the book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” by Dr. Natasha Campbell- McBride. She discusses a natural treatment for different diseases such as Autism. A.D.D, Dyslexia, A.D.H.D, Depression, Schizophrenia and a bunch of other things that I am scared vaccinations will cause. I love the solution she puts forth for vaccines in chapter 8. She discusses how vaccinations are designed for children with a healthy immune system and can react in a predictable manner. However, with the way Americans food habits are turning, most children are progressively having a worse and worse immune system therefore vaccinations combined with an unhealthy diet results in immune system problems, or in other words the vaccination is simply the straw that breaks the camels back of an immune system that is already compromised. What to do? ” a comprehensive immunological survey should be performed on every baby before a decision about vaccination is made. This survey should include:
- A questionnaire to assess the health history of the parents and the infant.
- A comprehensive stool and urine analysis to assess any risk of gut dysbiosis in the baby.
- A test to assess the infant’s immune status. Depending on the result of the tests and the child’s immune system one would proceed to:
- Not vaccinate at all
- Delayed vaccinations until the results of the tests are better.
- Standard vaccination protocol with single vaccines only.
I would recommend reading that chapter in her book. I love how it is such a common sense approach, see if they can handle vaccines and then do them. The rest of the book discusses one strategy of increasing immune function and healing a leaky gut. In the back of the book she list:
10 things that boost Immunity
- Fresh Animal fats (from meats and dairy) and cholesterol-rich foods (particularly raw egg yolk).
- cold-pressed oils: olive oil, fish oils, nut and seed oils.
- Onions and garlic
- Freshly pressed vegetable and fruit juices
- Regular consumption of greens: parsley, dill, coriander, spring onion and garlic, ect.
- Probiotic supplementation and fermented foods.
- Contact with animals: horses, dogs, ect. Having a pet in the family can do a lot for children’s immune status.
- Swimming in unpolluted natural waters: Lakes, river and sea.
- Physical activity in the fresh air.
- Exposure to sunlight and sensible sunbathing.
Top Ten Influence which Damage Immunity
- Sugar and everything containing it: sweets, soft drinks, confectionery, ice cream, etc.
- Processed carbohydrates: cakes, biscuits, chips, snacks, breakfast cereals, white bread and pasta.
- Chemically altered and artificial fats: margarines, butter replacements, cooking and vegetable oils, processed foods prepared with these fats.
- Lack of high quality protein in the diet from meats and fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts and seeds.
- Exposure to man-made chemicals: cleaning and washing chemicals, personal care products, paints, fire retardants, perochemicals, pesticides, etc.
- exposure to man-made radiation: electronic screens, mobile phones, high-power electricity lines, nuclear stations and nuclear wastes.
- Drugs: antibiotics, steroids, antidepressants, painkillers, anticancer medication, anti-viral drugs,. etc.
- Lack of fresh air and physical activity.
- Lack of exposure to sunlight
- Lack of exposure to common microbes in the environment. Living in a too sterilised environment is strongly associated with compromised immunity. The immune system needs constant stimulation from the microbes in the environment.
I am so sorry for this post being all over the place but to summarize a little to be able to handle vaccines well one must have a strong and healthy immune system. This can, in my opinion, be most effectively done by living a healthy lifestyle and eating real food with plenty of immune boosting nutrients. Another option is ordering supplements to boost the immune system.
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Thanks for this post. I, too, have been researching this topic in depth and came to a similar conclusion as you, only we are waiting until our son is 2. We eat a very balanced, non-processed, local whole food diet, which I feel is the most important for health, but I will look up the Vaccishield as I have never even heard of that before.
Thanks again for this information. I sometimes feel like being a homebirthing, homeschooling, cloth diapering, breastfeeding whole foodie locavore makes me HAVE to do the “natural mama” thing and refuse vaccination. Thanks for making me feel less guilty about coming to the conclusion to vaccinate.
I think educating yourself about vaccines and coming to a informed conclusion is one of the toughest decisions. Most information is very biased, either for or against. And I like you have felt the same pressures as a “natural mama”. Good luck!
Great post! I found “real food” after my children were a little older, so they are vaccinated (except for flu shots!) and I don’t honestly know what we would do if we had another baby!
I love how you talk about the importance of nutrition… because we all might have different views on vaccination, but I think everyone can agree that NUTRITION is vital regardless.
~ Christine