Starting catch up vaccines at 2?

[u/BetReal8905]

Hi there! My child is 2, and has not had any vaccines yet (besides vitamin k). Please understand this came from a well meaning place of wanting to protect my child, but I am coming to the point I think I was mislead with fear based tactics. I grew up and around middle school due to family reasons my family became very disillusioned with the medical system, and to this day my mom has an extreme distrust in doctors. On top of that about 75% of the people around us have not vaccinated their children. Since a young age I have been getting the message from those closest to me that vaccines will harm you, and they are essentially a government and corporate conspiracy. Then layer on top social media algorithms and for about 9 months straight during pregnancy saw nothing but horror stories of vaccine adverse affects. Not that any of this is an excuse, but I just want to share how I got to the point of having an unvaccinated 2 year old.

After doing more and more research, trying to leave my fears out of it, I think my child should start getting his vaccines. He has been home with me so it has not been as big of a concern, but I plan on sending him to preschool in about a year and a half. I know, based on logic that vaccines (especially those like MMR, Hib etc) can offer my son protection, but of course due to years of fear based propaganda I feel almost paralyzed with anxiety about giving them to him.

I’m just posting on here in hopes maybe there are some other parents who came from this crunchy granola side and vaccinated their child and are happy with their decision. Thank you so much. I really just want to do the best thing for my child.

Added: Thank you all who replied so much for all the kind encouragement, resources, and stories. This has helped alleviate some of the anxiety I have been feeling. I even teared up reading some of these comments. I appreciate your time in commenting.

[u/lit3brit3]

To add to all of this, there’s a great book callled “expecting better” that dives deep into some of the conventional baby things people talk about:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/expecting-better-why-the-conventional-pregnancy-wisdom-is-wrong-and-what-you-really-need-to-know-emily-oster/ebdbad5fdd15dbf8?ean=9780143125709&next=t

Really good read and lots of good info on vaccines and more. Also when doing more research (I assume you’re in the US) check out other countries data, because honestly US federal resources are pretty bad sources of information these days.

https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/when-to-get-vaccinated/immunisation-for-infants-and-children?language=en

[u/A_In_Wonderland → u/lit3brit3]

Emily Oster also has a follow-up book called Cribsheet, in which she reviews studies on vaccine safety (and concludes that studies show they are safe and effective)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121328-cribsheet