Vaccinate vs. Not to Vaccinate {PFALO}

I'm back this week with the Preparing For a Little One series hosted by Wifessionals

We have vaccinated both girls and stuck to the timeline in which those vaccinations are recommended.  This is another subject I didn’t really do much research on because it was a simple decision for us.  The thought of our girls getting a disease (that was offered in vaccinations) would be too much to bear as parents.  Hadleigh never had any side effects other than being tired after, so there was no urgency to hold off on any.  Now, there were times when I would come across the autistic studies in correlation to vaccinations, and I would immediately worry.  For us, the pros to vaccinating out-weighed that.  As parents, you have to make the decisions that are right for your family. 

To be honest, either way you look at it, there’s a risk involved.  If the girls got one of the diseases and we didn’t vaccinate we would feel guilty.  Or if the girls ended up being autistic, we would question whether it was any of the vaccinations they received.  As parents, we take comfort in knowing (hoping really) we made the right choice and that chances were slim that those things would occur.

On the flip side, we choose not to vaccinate for the flu.  We treat this vaccination a little different than the others.  From experience, anytime we received the flu shot, we would get the flu.  The times we weren’t vaccinated, we slid by the flu season untouched.  Could be coincidence for sure, but we also know that they try and guess the strains that will break out that year.  A lot of times, there’s a new strain that hits and wasn’t included in the flu shot.   

I think the decision is definitely based on the individual.  We are all out to make the best decision for our kids and I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here.  What are your reasons for vaccinating or not vaccinating?  Do you have a mix of the two choices as well?