I am a mother of a 5 1/2 month old son and I am reading a lot about the risks of vaccines. I am at a Pediatrican who I generally like, however, I am told that I must vaccinate by a certain time, and I am feeling pressured by the office. I am looking for a new pediatrician in the Rockville, Gaithersburg area who will be more accepting of a different schedule or not vaccinating at all. Any suggestions would be great.
We are with Kaiser in Kensington and they have been able to accomodate our extended vaccination schedule.
One reason we are vaccinating our child is because of the area we live in (lots of world travelers) and because she is in daycare.
Vaccines were a huge part of us choosing a pediatrician when we moved here last year. We ended up at Pediatric Care Center in Bethesda. I like all of the Drs. we have seen and they are very respectful of our delayed vaccine schedule. My daugther turned two over a month ago and we still haven't done MMR and some otheres. We see Dr Kornfeld. Dr Pebbles is more holistically based than the others there. Hope that helps. There is also a Dr. Fusner in Kensington/Rockville that was very highly recommended, but she wasn't accepting new patients when we moved. Hope that helps:)
A.
Vaccines are very important to the health and well being of your child and everyone else. If we all decided not to vaccinate imagine the diseases we would be battling. With that said, I prefer the alternative schedule vs no schedule. Dr. Sears has a great website with an alternative schedule. However, MMR is no longer offered in separate vaccines. I like our Pediatrician (Capital Medical Group). I decide what and if my child gets vaccinated at each visit.
I suggest you speak with Dr. Steve Hirsch in Rockville. His website is www.hirschpediatrics.com. He is one of the most learned and reasonable practitioners I know. Best of Luck.
D.
Hi K. -
My son is 3 years old and we left his orginial pediatrician(who we liked very much) because they were pressuring us to stay on course with their vaccine schedule and not ours. If you go to www.askdrsears.com you will find a link to Dr. Jim Sear's approved list of pediatricians who foster an alternative vaccine schedule or not vacinating at all. It is in order by state. Good luck with your search. I know how hard it is.
i just looked at dr. hirsch's policy and it looks like he requires vaccines, however, i urge you to read his reasoning. there are good reasons that many pediatricians and school require vaccines and maybe since you like your doctor s/he will sit down with you and talk you through the reasons for their policy and address your concerns. keep in mind that a lot of the condition commonly linked to vaccines are usually manifesting or more easy to see during early toddlerhood. so much is going on at this time and parents are desperate for answers so suddenly all kinds of things are blamed, most commonly vaccines and new foods. these linkings are not scientific and rigorous studies of causation. don't believe everything you read. make sure your source is legit and remember the doctors, CDC and NIH are not conspiring against your child. being a parent means making a lot of scary decisions find a doctor you trust to talk to about this. maybe your regular pediatrician can send you to a specialist to explain how vaccines work and what happens when people don't take them (whooping cough is back, woo-hoo!). good luck!
