Here's what we decided:
Absolutely, positively no more vaccines or oral "vaccines" until 1 year. Twice we did the Vitamin K before we really knew what all was in it, and the way it was explained to us was basically we couldn't argue it because we had a boy.. yadda yadda (it was done around 6 days old due to him being a little yellow and his numbers taken from his foot -- DUH I know now..) and the next at his first Pediatric well baby visit at 4 weeks.
After two months of reading and studying really hard in my down time + the sporadic studying in the last 2-4 months of pregnancy, I feel pretty confident in my decision.
We talked with the pediatrician on our last visit, and he seemed really impressed with my homework and with our choices. He was iffy about our not wanting the Hib vaccine, but he understood my reasons. I explained that I found on the insert and on the medical websites back home (CDC and the like) that it raises the baby's IgE and IgA levels. Now, we are already gluten free and he is prone to celiac disease --- but I know he already has issues with gluten as he's reacted to disposable diapers, and that was before I knew there was gluten in them (I didn't know until his 7th week or so).
So, in one year we will discuss vaccines again and begin scheduling them. I don’t look for him to have completed any of the “normal rounds” until 4 years of age. I want to split the MMR completely and remove Rubella unless we can find an alternative to the current vaccine which contains aborted fetal cells.
Rotavirus: This was not a vaccine when any of the family or cousins had their rounds of vaccines. We actually (in my family) never caught this one until we lived in Spain. I was 12, my brother was 9 and my sister was 7. It hit us pretty bad, but from my reasearch, it was better to get the rotavirus and build up an immunity rather than having a live oral vaccine or the vaccine that has just been put out.
Per the CDC website/package inserts, this is a vaccine that is not reccommended for children who have a history of intestinal disorders (incl familial). This is one that the CDC/FDA have recalled two times, and even after re-release has reports on the VAERS website that there is a history of intussception with some individuals and even death.
My eyes got really big reading that and I figured "eh no". Reason 1: He is not around other individuals other than the family (mil, fil, me, dh) and is not in daycare or playgroups or around other babies. Reason 2: Our history of bowel diseases and other issues (chron's, IBS, Gluten sensitivity and Celiac Disease). Reason 3: Not tested enough before release to the public, especially for the age group reccommended -- and no long term studies.
We were also reccommended the Pneumococcal vaccine for this last visit, and I found from the package insert and CDC, this one is not reccommended for children under the age of 2. I just asked them to ask us again around age 2, when I have had a chance to study it more and weigh the options. (I think we likely will not do this one)
Hepatitis B -- we decided when he plays sports or works with large farm animals (if he does) we will go for this, otherwise we'll wait until he heads off to university or medical school (
). There's no need to have this one if a child is not in day/afterschool care or in a medical/3rd world setting....
Polio -- we asked that we hang off on this one until 1 year. We felt it important.
The Dr said it is really an illness that one doesn't need to be vaccinated against unless you are travelling to 3rd world countries where it is not completely irradicated. If one were going to travel to the US (to visit my family) or to Canada and back to Germany, there's no need to really have it. And, for now, it is only in the combination vaccines.
We decided on no Pertussis, regardless. We're considering the Diptheria and Tetanus together... it seems they don't do them seperate here. In that case, I had found that in Japan the population had great results in the 70s, 80s and 90s giving this one (DTaP) to children over 2 years of age, and the risks to the group and side effects were next to nil. So, we asked if we can hold that one off until 2.
Next year we will discuss MMR, which we will likely delay until he is 2 or 3 if we can. 3 is when he'll likely start Kindergarten here (that's when Kindergarten starts), so he will need to either have vaccines or a sign off for none altogether by that time.
We figured that Measles and Mumps were pretty important things to have, but Rubella is a fetal-cell harvested vaccine and I cannot justify that one since I am not pro-choice. The whole way that one came about was just totally wrong imho, and I can't rightfully bring that to my son and say "well, you needed the vaccine honey, I had to".
Varicella is a no. The reason behind that is that it offers little to no immunity, and children are catching the chickenpox at a time that it is really damaging to their systems (around puberty or after it) due to being "immune" for a while, and the immunity running out. you have to get several boosters for this one.
Personally, it's best to catch the chickenpox young, than when you are older.
Meningitis, I am waiting until he's at an older age where he is at more risk. (College age, that is -- if he goes off to college rather than doing as my DH did) By then I think enough research should have been done. We'll see on that one.
We plan on eliminating or severely spacing out any combinations, since every child in my extended and immediate family have had horrid reactions (and no, I doubt they were reported to VAERS) to the vaccines. Three of the boys of the family have changed after the MMR and DTaP vaccines (brother, and two cousins)... so I have that to consider too.
There's a lot of chemicals and allergens in certain vaccines, so imho, I feel it's up to me as the nursing mother to investigate what is in it, how much, and then weigh whether the good outweighs the bad of the vaccine.... and if there are food allergens in them, to avoid those allergens in my diet while breastfeeding, or if I am feeding solids to avoid them in his diet, so he doesn't go into either refractory sprue or develop additional food allergies. It's bad enough I can't have onion or garlic (I used to be able to have dried) in my diet. I can't imagine removing nuts entirely, since that's one of the only ways I can get my omega-3s...
Plus, I think it's a major overload on the system of a newborn. 
