Times are changing and unlike your parents who most likely vaccinated you purely because the doctor said so, nowadays many parents are starting to question whether or not a vaccination is the best option for their children. With all different theories going around on the internet and in the media, they are often not convinced that vaccinating their baby is the best way to protect them and so many have decided against vaccination.
Today we will be covering a few questions that every mother and father needs to ask when deciding whether they should or shouldn’t vaccinate their baby. In this article we present our research into both points of view and hopefully this will help many parents decide what is best for their family.
A vaccine usually comes in liquid form and is administered by injection into the blood stream. All vaccines have been specially formulated and created by doctors to provide the human body a certain level of immunity for a particular disease. The vaccine itself always contains a little cell that resembles the disease-causing microorganism. These little cells are only put into the vaccine to help stimulate the body's immune system and to force the body to recognise that these little cells are a threat that need to be destroyed. Once the body has destroyed the cells the body automatically records it, so that in future the body’s immune system will have a record of how to fight the disease if it were to ever enter the body again.
It is not compulsory to vaccinate your baby and in the end it is a personal choice of what you decide is best for your baby. But it is highly recommended by all doctors and health professionals to vaccinate your baby to keep them safe and to protect them from becoming infected by a preventable disease.
There is no direct answer to this question as some babies actually become mildly ill from the vaccination but conversely, others become seriously ill from not having the vaccination.
There are some parents out there that have never vaccinated their baby or children and they are perfectly healthy and some even say they have found their child to be brighter and happier. Unfortunately, there have also been some cases where a baby has become infected with a disease and has infected their brothers and sisters who have not been vaccinated either, and all of them subsequently become extremely ill to the point of death. The bad thing is, in some cases a mini-outbreak may occur, especially if the baby that is infected is in a region where many parents have decided not to vaccinate their children.
Unfortunately, there is no available advice regarding how to help protect your baby from diseases if your baby is not vaccinated. For the most part, you’ll just need to make sure they are healthy, protect them from exposure to any type of illness going around at daycare or school, and also try not to expose them to harsh weather conditions.
The following list outlines a few reasons why it’s important to vaccinate your baby:
Every country has different ages as to when a baby/child/adult will need to be vaccinated, but for NSW this vaccination date reminder will help show you all the important times your baby or child will need to be vaccinated. However, all parents still need to remember that even though a vaccine has been created to help your baby, all vaccines still have the risk of side effects. But on the bright side, the risk of serious side effects is small compared to the benefit the vaccination will provide for your baby from birth until adulthood.
Personally, I believe that every child should be vaccinated at least until they reach Year 7 where for most of them it’s their final vaccination before going through puberty and they start to turn into young adults.
It is better if you decide to vaccinate your baby as you will be protecting them from preventable diseases and helping them grow into healthy adults. But whether you decide to vaccinate your baby or not, is your personal choice and there is no right or wrong approach.
Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have fun taking care of your adorable baby and keep them safe!
Esther @ The Little Baby Shop 
http://www.littlebabyshop.com.au
As there is a lot of information on this topic, I have provided some links below for further reading:
Anti-Vaccine Movement Causes Worst Measles Epidemic In 20 Years
Facts or Fiction about immunisation
Facts and misconceptions about vaccination
* Please note that all information and commentary provided within this article is for informational purposes only, and shall not be taken as medical advice. If readers require any medical attention or specific advice they should contact a doctor or other appropriately qualified medical professional. The information contained within this article is based on the author's own experience only, and no warranty is given for its accuracy in any way. There is no assurance that any statement contained within this article is accurate, up-to-date or precise and readers shall contact a medical professional before acting upon any information provided. The author is not a medical professional and the information provided herein is, at best, of a general nature, and it shall not substitute the advice or guidance of a medical professional. The Little Baby Shop and its authors shall not take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented within this article.
All images courtesy of Akarakingdoms, tiverylucky, baitong333, arztsamui and imagerymajestic from FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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