Being a parent is an awesome responsibility. You are constantly making decisions for these tiny humans that are in your care. Some decisions are easy and others require a bit of thought and research.
I breathed a sigh of relief both times I found out I was having girls because I wouldn’t have to make a choice about circumcision (whole other blog post), but I still had to decide about vaccinations. It’s not that I ever considered going vaccination-free, it’s just that I felt I owed it to my daughters’ best interests to look into the matter.
Time and time again, I heard anecdotal evidence about ingredients in vaccines being linked to disorders and even though science has supposedly debunked these theories, I do not discount them. I take everything with a grain of salt.
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What’s a concerned Mami to do? Unknown Papi and I considered the pros and cons and we talked to our pediatrician. I asked our doctor what she chose to do with her kids. Did she opt for all of the vaccines? She did. For us the benefits far outweighed the risks and we decided to do all the vaccines as long as they were thimerosal-free.
We still have one more vaccination decision to make in our future and that is about the HPV vaccine. HPV is spread through sexual contact and is recommended when the girls are teens, so I’m sure that will be a very fun conversation to have with my daughters. Can’t wait!
I’m thinking that when the time comes, this is a conversation that we will have with our daughters and their doctors. We’ll have to weigh the pros and cons.
Have you had any experience with the HPV vaccine? Would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Did the vaccinations…luckily no one ever asked for tats!
Good for you to check things out but watch out for info overload. Vaccinations in general is what wipes out diseases like polo, etc. If the community doesn’t come together on vaccination then some of these diseases continue to spread. So it’s not just for you own children but others too. However you are right to be cautious.
Now that last bit at the end was an interesting twist. tattoos
I think your discussion will change depending if you and/or papi have them. They are fine for mature adults but seem senseless for teens. You know how quickly fashion changes over a few years. The cool thing back when I was a kid would not look so cool now. I can take my disco shirt off – not so with a tattoo (ok I threw the disco shirts away long ago but it might cool for halloween)
My kids began asking around age 16 and my response was the same: think about the job market, whether it’s fair or not people do judge you when you have tattoos, the ink stays on for life, tattoo cannot look like anything racist, gang-related, or sexist (not that they lean that way at all) and tattoo removal is more painful (ask your tio who went through several laser removals all from tattoos he got 35 years ago). Their father and aunts, uncles (except 1) do not have tattoos.
All three of my kids got them when they turned 18 or 19 y.o. and all of them paid for tattoo with their own money, all are artistic. We can guide and caution, but they make their own choices.
PS>I discussed HPV with my daughter when she was 16, when vac just came out, we read the literature and she decided not to have the vaccine. Dr. Christine Northrup has a great article on the HPV debate http://www.thekathleenshow.com/2010/09/17/christine-northrup-m-d/.
Thanks for the link and the feedback on the future tattoo convo. In theory, I have no problem with tattoos, but in reality I feel quite protective of my kids and how they are perceived in this world.
I did vaccines….though my daughter is 17 now the info day is so much more informative. I did the HPV also when she was 13 it also prevents cervical cancer. I just told her she need more vaccines. I don’t want her to think she doesn’t have to worry about STD the threat is still there! I don’t have tats but I’d be okay luckily she has no interest.
Let them start with temporary or henna tats – they may decide they don’t like them. Go with the vaccinations, don’t let zealots cloud the waters.
Naw, I was always going to vaccinate. I just wanted to know more about the “ingredients” I found questionable and was happy to know that my doctor doesn’t use those anyway.
I think you made the wise choice.
You are right–parenthood is full of those kinds of decisions. You just hope you make the right ones and do your best.
Tattoos – I remember my son was 15 and asked if he could get a tattoo, a friend was getting one, and his mother would sign for my son. I told him NO way! When are 18 if you still want it, get it then. Fast Forward he is 25 and He recently told me, I’m so glad you didn’t let me get that tattoo when I was younger!! That was a nice thing to hear.
My daughter, 12yrs old, got the HPV done at school this year (along with all the other one’s due at her age) – free vaccination programs FTW. And it is a fun conversation to have – seriously! I love talking with her about ethics and relationships and all that supposedly difficult and embarrassing sex stuff, the sooner you start having those conversations the easier they are.
If/when my kids ask about getting tattoos I’m showing them this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pSt2gACrc And then if they do decide to get inked once they are old enough to do so without my permission I will help them find a fabulous tattooist through my many friends with gorgeous ink and admire the artwork once it’s done.
As far as tattoos go, the longer you wait the better because you don’t want to get stuck with something you thought you liked when you were 16. But I have commitment issues. I just can’t commit to most things.
I did the same thing, I asked my pediatrician what he did with his girls. Why not go straight to the source right! I absolutely agree with vaccines, around my area there have been so many outbreaks of random things that haven’t been around in years & they all stem back to a child who was not vaccinated. I’m not all preachy & I wouldn’t bash someone for not getting thier kids vaccined but for my family it is what we chose!
My neice just had her final HPV vaccine. Scary that they are doing that now a days… we didn’t really have to worry about that. Oh man am I nervous for when my girls get older. YIKES!!
My girls better not ask me about a tattoo because I’ll tell them to go for it but just make sure to hide it from thier dad. He is NOT a fan. Boooo!
We did the vaccs. My girls asked for the HPV and their doc concurred. I wouldn’t give persmission for tats, explaining how they would be judged by the general public. They are both in the restaurant business. They both did it anyway once they turned 18. At least they are small and tasteful, the first ones. There is something about today’s 18 year-old attitude with girls. I never had it with my boys, they’ve always respected me. The girls, however…. I love them to death, but they make it known that “I’m 18 and I can do what I want.” I open the door and tell them to fly away. No worries, Mami, you and Papi are doing a great job!
Decisions,
decisions indeed… Though is good to have all the vaccinations recommended,
sometimes one must question how to trust the attention of nurses and doctors.
My sis-in-law opted to have her 6 months old daughter vaccinated and guess
what? The nurse mistakenly gave her two jabs instead of one. So far she is okay, but when does one can give total trust to the
medical field?
Yikes!
let them have the tats…smiles…when they are old enough to make a mature deicision they are willing to live with an ever stretching Dopey on their hip…
It’s difficult to know what to do when there is so much media hype. I gave my kids all the vaccines after I read that measles are on the rise again with so many parents not doing so. After having a scare when my son got scarlet fever, I really didn’t want to take the risk.
However, when swine flu came over here a couple of years ago, all kids were offered the flu jab free at school. My kids didn’t get the jab – mainly due to the fact that so many nurses were against it as it hadn’t been properly researched. Turns out that some kids got narcolepsy as a result.
I only did 1/2 vaccine strengths at the suggestion of my doc.
Good option to know about.
Oh geez, you know I’ve heard that they’ll start vaccinating BOYS for HPV too. Because I guess they can spread it. Weird.
I believe in vaccinations myself. I do not think that they are perfect but the numbers are definitely on their side. Both of my kiddos have all of their vacs and I plan on getting the HPV even if it does stimulate a less than comfortable conversation. I think that it is an important decision and I applaud you for giving it deep thought.
🙂
Traci
My kids are grown… Did the vaccinations except HPV because it wasn’t available. They did ask for tattoos ha! and I kept saying if by the time you are 18 y/o you still like THAT tattoo you can go ahead and get it done without my permission. And guess what? One got a tattoo the other didn’t so it is a 50%/50% chance.
Remind them tattoos are permanent. I waited a lot of years to get mine. Ha. None of my kids have tattoos and they don’t like them.
I like them, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to commit to one.
I think you made the right choice. I know the stories and I understand the fears.
I vaccinated all my children… it’s called better safe than sorry.
As for boys (got 4 of them) it was an easy decison.
Why tamper with nature? They are born intact so I saw no reason to do anything to them.
Other people do these things for many reasons… and that is fine by me. EAch to their own.
OH and as for tattoos.. three of my grown kids have them.
Again, their decison.
But… one son had lots of them and I don’t really like that.
But it’s his life, his skin.
I have one on the back of my neck…hardly ever seen by anyone though.
Moment of madness! lol