The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library)

All parents should read this book before they allow their babies to be vaccinated. It's your duty as a parent to be informed about what is being injected into your babies body. Ask questions and be involved.

So if you're like me with an autistic child, no doubt you have heard the hype. Vaccines. Are they the culprit? Some parents swear yes, some swear no. I have heard both sides and they both have very valid arguments. Both biased to their own cause. Then came my baby daughter. Do I vaccinate her or not? Diseases are coming back due to parents not vaccinating. But what about all the press? Is there a safer way to vaccinate? There is! Dr. Sears alternative schedule is clear, easy to understand and my daughter's pediatrician not only had no problem with it, but wanted to get the book for herself. It's a great reference guide too.

I'd just like to echo what other reviewers have said. This book is the real deal. I originally got a book on immunization called "Vaccines: What Ever Parent Should Know" because Dr. Sears book was sold out and checked out of every library branch in the greater Boston area. What a joke that other book was - it presented none of the concerns that Dr. Sears shares. And after a bit of research, I found that the author of that book (Dr. Paul Offit) is a vaccine inventor and on the board of advisors for Merck. You'd think in the spirit of fair disclosure it would have said that on his author's profile. But I digest... :)

Dr. Sears' book is comprehensive and very balanced. He presents parents with the pros and cons for each drug as well as his own personal recommendations. His Alternative and Selective vacination schedules are worth the price of the book alone. Just be prepared - we requested to follow his selective vaccination schedule and were told that we could stay with our pediatric group practice if we did that. Its too bad - we really liked our pediatrician in every other respect. Just starting with a new practice that is more flexible and gives us a greater degree of choice in how we care for our child.

Couldn't recommend this book more highly. I'm buying a second copy for the pediatrician we are leaving. Hopefully, she'll read it and understand our decision a bit better.

Thorough without the bias of many authors that are writing on the subject. Helpful to parents on a difficult subject.

Despite having my two older son's vaccinated per the AAP's schedule, when my newest bundle joined the flock, with all the "vaccination speculation" around I wanted to educate myself a bit more with the most unbiased and uninflamatory information I could find. I think this book is the most fair and balanced look at vaccines that I have found. Each vaccine has its own chapter where Dr. Bob talks about the risks of the disease, how common the disease is, the ingredients that make up each vaccine (and how the ingredients vary according to manufacturer), the risk of side effects with each vaccine, the risks of contracting the disease during travel... I was pleasantly suprised to see that he gave credence to concerns over some ingredients (mainly aluminum, but also human and animal tissue), while still supporting the use of (most)vaccines. He provides a couple different alternative dosing schedules (which include waiting 6 months to a year to start or spacing them out giving just two shots at a time). In some ways I wish I hadn't read the book (I had no idea what kind of creepy things were in some of those shots), but I am glad I am more educated on the matter and can make a better informed decision over what is best for my child. (And, if you are curious, this book gave me more confidence in my decision to start vaccinations at 6 months and use a slower dosing schedule.) I just was really suprised at how informative and non-judgemental this book seemed. People get so passionate about one way or the other it's hard to find a single place that can respect both sides of the argument and I feel Dr. Bob did a good job of doing just that.