Children With NO Vaccinations!

[kimsdaycare]

What I don't get is why licensing requires daycares to track vaccinations at all if waivers are accepted for any reason. Its silly that providers can be fined if vaccines aren't up to date for families that have some but not all vaccines, yet with a little waiver in their file - it's no longer an issue for them to have none? If it is not a health concern to them if a parent simply doesn't wish to vaccinate or has a medical reason, then why should it matter if another family is a little late on one of theirs? It's no worse than none at all. That's so crazy to me.

[jenn]

In my state, they can sign a waiver. I believe it has to have a physician signature as well. I do not accept children without vaccinations and state that in my handbook. My reasons are, I accept newborns and do not want them to be exposed to anything the non vaccinated child could bring in before the newborn has had a chance to be vaccinated for it, and my own daughter has some health concerns. I do believe that it is a parents choice to vaccinate, delay vaccinations, or opt out all together. I am just not a good match for them as a daycare provider.

[Christian Mother]

My ex sister in law is a nurse she does not vaccinate her children and the children are in perfect help. Always has been....I don't have a problem with children not being vaccinated although with me being fairly new in the daycare biz I feel like we all need to be covered on all area's of the spectrum. I am not certified so the state doesn't come in and regulate me. I haven't really thought about this so I am glad it's brought up as I will be implementing a waiver to be signed. I really don't mind a family not being vaccinated over a family that is. I am very much for herbal health..not sure if I voiced that correctly but I am pro choice...happyfacehappyface

[Meeko]

I'm wondering how a waiver would work in my state.

I DO have a child in care who's parent's have not immunized their daughter by choice. Thy have an autistic older son and are convinced that it is due to his shots. So I have a waiver on file.

However, they had to go to the health department and have the waiver witnessed by an official there.

I personally love the idea of getting a waiver form from all the parents and then they can do whatever they want and I'm not responsible (keeping track of shots for 16 kids is VERY time consuming for me) BUT I can see it could get confusing for the state health dept as the parents would sign a waiver and yet then get their kids immunized anyway......hhmmmmm....gonna have to think this over before I decide to ask for a waiver from everyone....

[MarinaVanessa]

The vaccination debate is one of the reasons why I am thankfull that our state doesn't make it uber difficult for us that do center or home-based DC. We are required to use the same vaccination form record that our schools use and right on the back of it the record has a personal beliefs affidavit already in place. All I have to do is ask the parents to either sign the affidavit portion or to keep me updated on their child's immunizations. I don't fill out the record, I just photocopy the immunization card for the DCK's that do get shots after each immunization visit.

Here's what our personal affidavit says:

PERSONAL BELIEFS AFFIDAVIT TO BE SIGNED BY PARENT OR GUARDIAN - IMMUNIZATION
I hereby request exemption of the child, named on the front, from the imminization requirements for school/child care because all or some immunizations are contrary to my beliefs. I understand that in case of an outbreak of any one of these diseases, the child may be temporarily excluded from attending for his/her protection.

In CA it doesn't really matter whether it's due to a religious or personal belief, if you don't want immunizations you don't have to immunize.

[Meeko]

I'm wondering how a waiver would work in my state.

I DO have a child in care who's parent's have not immunized their daughter by choice. Thy have an autistic older son and are convinced that it is due to his shots. So I have a waiver on file.

However, they had to go to the health department and have the waiver witnessed by an official there.

I personally love the idea of getting a waiver form from all the parents and then they can do whatever they want and I'm not responsible (keeping track of shots for 16 kids is VERY time consuming for me) BUT I can see it could get confusing for the state health dept as the parents would sign a waiver and yet then get their kids immunized anyway......hhmmmmm....gonna have to think this over before I decide to ask for a waiver from everyone....

Just called our rules training lady! She's a sweetheart! She verified that the exemption form does have to be signed by a health dept official and that it would make life very difficult for them if they had records of children NOT having immunizations when in fact they do.

So I guess I'll still being doing the paperwork!!! I wouldn't be written up for having the waivers instead of records of shots...but I can see the dilemma for the health department if every provider did it that way.

[Ariana]

I would chat with a medical professional about how unvaccinated children could possibly affect your health. Even vaccinated children can come down with some of the things they've been vaccinated for so it's not fool proof.

[TGPII]

I heard of this, but what religions do this? Do other parents have the right to know about this?

[Kaddidle Care]

In our center we have to have vaccination records - and here they even have to have flu shots. I'm not in agreement but it's regulation. I am also not fond of the chicken pox vaccine as it is not tried and true IMHO.

We did have one child that was allergic to egg and the mother avoided vaccine until he was older as she was told the vaccines had an egg base. I'm not sure if they still use that technique. She did provide a Doctor's note.

My personal feeling is that those that don't vaccinate are taking a risk and depending on those that do vaccinate. The vaccines were developed to decrease chance of epidemic. So as the non-vaccinated ratio increases, so does the chance of some of these horrible diseases returning.

[saved4always]

MarinaVanessa,

That's exactly what happens in my state. I can get fined $75 per record not up to date. That's why it's my policy.

I'm sorry, I'm not the parent.

My licensor questioned me the first time she saw all the waivers - they ask for 5 child files. All 5 had waivers signed. Then she just moved on to the next line on her checklist when I told her why.

The state can't require immunizations. They only require the form is in the file and filled out.

It seems kind of silly to me to require the provider to remind parents about the vaccinations and insist on records being kept when the vaccines are not required for the child to be in care. Since a waiver can be used for pretty much any reason, it just seems like a lot of work for nothing.

[Countrygal]

I've seen the question asked: why would any parent choose not to vaccinate?

I know of several reasons and thought perhaps I'd share for the purpose of shedding a little light on a subject.

Around here, we have lots of Amish. They do not vaccinate. They use herbal remedies as much as possible, but will go to the doctor if necessary. Often times they have their own health professionals who deal in herbs and things like chiropractory.

I have a good friend who is a nurse and she has chosen not to vaccinate. She sees a lot more than I do, and knows firsthand some of the side-effects of vaccinations. While they are rare, they DO occur. She feels the risks of exposure of the really threatening illnesses - for example, polio, are so low in this country that the risk of the child contracting it is minimal.

I have read that reactions to some vaccines seems to run in families, so like the one family mentioned, if one child had a severe reaction, others are more likely to.

When I was growing up there were no vaccines for chicken pox, mumps, or even german measles. I knew of noone who died from these diseases, although I know some people did, especially infants and infants in utero.

There is also the aspect of the disease becoming resistant to the vaccine, such as in the case of pertussis (whooping cough). My daughter got whooping cough in her pre-teens even though she was vaccinated. Being vaccinated is not a cure-all and end-all. There are many risks involved. An individual needs to consider and weigh the risks and the benefits and make their own decision.

And yes, the child of my good friend is registered for on-call in my daycare and has signed a waiver, which is right on the front of our immunization record. I have no problem with it.

On the other hand - the OP poster has no spleen. THAT is a concern in my mind, for doing daycare at all. We had a good friend who had to have his spleen removed and he was terribly susceptible to all diseases. I would be concerned no matter who I had in my daycare. Kids catch all kinds of things! But as to whether a child with no vaccinations carry any greater risk - IMO they do not. But that is just my opinion, and everyone must decide for themselves and their situation!

[renodeb]

I dont think it woudl make you any more sick. Where I live parents can refuse shots due to there religous beliefs but so far it has not been an issue. The parents do have to have a note from there doctor for provider records. I for one cant imagine not getting shots.
Deb

[Ariana]

My child is not vaccinated. She had a severe allergic reaction to her first round of shots so we decided better to be safe than sorry and chose not to vaccinate further after consults with her allergist. There are many uneducated people out there preaching the benefits of vaccines and judging others. I saw a form that my DR had to fill out to record her reaction to send into Health Canada and there was a box that said "DEATH". Do you know how scary that is? Death as a possible side effect to a vaccine? I understand it is EXTREMELY rare but when your child has an allergic reaction to a vaccine you begin to wonder....

I certainly hope no one feels that I'm a "monster" because I chose not to vaccinate my child. It's great to sit on the throne of judgement about other parents choices but in reality you have no clue why they chose not to vaccinate. It's wonderful that your children received all of their vaccines and weren't affected by them, but there are children out there that have reactions and parents choose to stop. I am one of them.

[Unregistered]

Informed Consent

Ok to clear the air here, I'm under the impression that a lot of mommies don't have an understanding of as to why some family's choose to skip on the vaccines. Vaccines have mercury, aluminum, falmerderhide, in them as a preservative. These chemicals r proven to cause cancer. Among other autoimmune problems. They r also made with aborted fetus matter, and with monkey parts.
Now when we r told something over and over again, we tend to take it and believe it as truth. I'm talking about what we've been conditioned to think we know as facts, just because we r told this from someone we think is official. (Hence shots r good for us.)

Now their r many groups of parents, even dr,s that blame the shots for the sudden onset of Autisim, in a perfectly normal child, developing well until shortly after a round of shots. But the c.d.c/ f.d.a or big pharma will not say the child developed the disease due to the shots. But on the other hand u can see many law suits where the parents won justifying that yes the shots were to blame, I think this is why it's so hard to really get a straight answer. Remember the vaccine industry in a multi billion dollar industry, and I'm sure big pharma would not want to be hurt financially, There was a study done in Australia where it used to be mandatory to vaccinate but changed to laws, to the family's choice weather to vacinate or not and the year they changed that law the rate of s.i.d.s dropped by 50percent, that's a huge drop! So there's another reason parents choose not to because its believed the shots may link to s.i.d.s also.

Personally I have three children that I never asked questions and just assumed ok I'm doing the right think getting them vaccinated, and they were and thankfully they r all fine and healthy. Now I'm preg with my fourth and have been reading as much as pos about the issue from bolth sides, and I have to admit I am questioning vaccinating this one? With that being said I think there r many factors that come into play when deciding. My children don't go to daycare and r breast feed. But I also will have three other children coming home from school with germs. So I think i will vacinate but just a bit later for my newborn, so it's little immune system has a chance to build and it's brain has a chance to develope, so it lowers the chance of autism, so probably at two years I will vacinate but not right away. With that being said in our great country U.S.A the chance of polio r very low but not in other countries, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan ect. They do still very much deal with these diseases, so if u plan on traveling abroad I defiantly would vaccinate.because ur chances of being exposed r much greater there.

Weather u decide to be pro vaccine or anti vaccine. Isn't that the beauty of this country? That we r free to have a choice as to what we decide is right for our children and what we put into their bodies. Not every one is blessed lik we r. So good for u if u choose not to for excersizing ur rights, and to the parents who choose to vac. I wouldn't be worried about exposure because ur children should for the most part be in the clear. To me, it's very curious that in my day 1 in 2,500 children were autistic now since the 1990,s the rates have drastically went up to 1 in 75 children will be diagnosed with Autisim? That's a huge jump.

So for all mommies talk to ur nurses and dr,s get a number of opinions, use ur Internet to educate yourselves, from bolth sides pro and anti. And then make the decision that's best for you. But I wouldn't just blindly go about anything anymore. There r risks and benefits to bolth sides. I think it's just trying to decide witch it a lesser of to evils. No body wants their child to become diseased or disabled either..

Searching for the truth

[Willow]

(repeating mantra in my head...."I will not respond to this ancient dead thread and the ridiculous post above, I will not respond to this ancient dead thread and the ridiculous post above, I will not respond to this ancient dead thread and the ridiculous post above...........")