autism and mmr vaccines

our 1 yr. old is due to get this shot. i am scared to death about the effects of this shot and the autism link. i hear conflicting info. we have a niece who is autistic and my brother and sis-in-law are convinced vaccines caused it. but my wife and i work w/kids and we noticed signs from the start w/my niece. plus, my niece has an uncle on my sis-in-laws side who has a similar autistic disorder. with our child, we have spaced out vaccines (no longer get 4 at a time-maybe 2 at a time). i am wanting to wait on the this mmr shot. my wife is undecided, but fearful of the baby getting measles, mumps, or rubella. how common are these diseases? any advice would be great, this is really making me sick that i could cause autism by letting my child get a shot! thanks.
  

[bummedmom]

I am just like you.  I have a 13 month old, and I am very concerned about the link between autism and the MMR vaccine even though my doctor assures me that there is no link at all.  He says that it is all media hype.  The only thing about that comment is that the media had to get it from somewhere in order to hype it up.  Even though there are no studies that have conclusively proven that autism is linked to MMR, there are also none that have conclusively disproven it either.  My view on it is to go on the side of caution and protect your baby from it as long as possible.   It is your right as a parent to either vaccinate your child or not.  I personally am still going to vaccinate, but I am going to wait until he is a little older.  My pediatrician gives it at 15 months, and then again around 4 yrs old as a booster before they go to school (since our state requires two shots prior to entering the public school system).  He said that this is the schedule you should follow when giving the shots because it gives a good time frame between the two shots.  Since my son won't be entering school until he is almost 6 instead of the typical 5 yr old due to his birthday just missing the cut-off, I am going to wait until he is almost 3 to give the first shot, and then give him his booster right before entering school at 6.  I guess my theory is that it gives his body and brain a bit more time to develop before I inject this stuff into him. Maybe if his body is bigger and he has more weight on him, he can handle it a bit better?  Maybe it's a naive argument, but it's the way I look at it.  I'd hate for him to get measles, mumps or rubella in the interim, but then again, I'd also hate to cause autism in a perfectly healthy little boy.  Oh and to be fair, I should let you know that I vaccinated my daughter on the recommended schedule, and we have had no problems with her.  She is bright, beautiful, and perfectly normal.  I only vaccinated her out of naivete, though.  If I had known about the possible link, I probably would have delayed too.  By the way, my husband's cousin has a 13 month old, and he too has decided to vaccinate, but just on a delayed schedule.  He looks at it in the same way as I do.  

Dr Sears has an alternative vaccination schedule that you may want to check out.  He mentions that you should spread out your vaccinations, doing no more than 2 at a time (as you said you are already doing).  He also mentions not giving the measles vaccination until after age 3 in order to allow the neurological system to mature a bit more.  FYI

[ny2125]

thank you so much for your reply!  i trully appreciate it.  we want to do whats best, but w/all the info. or lack of out there, we dont know what to believe!  i will check out sear's vaccine schedule.

[Renee1609]

Check out website http://www.askdrsears.com/default.asp
great information and forum that you can ask questions about shots and side effects.  My grandson took his first 3 month shot and had a seize a couple of hours after the shot.  It was recommended that we wait.  Also after the shot we noticed alots of changes in his movement and responses etc. Of course the doctors says it not from the shot but it all start rights after the shot.  We have decided to delay his shots.  Also his mom is a stay at home mom and he is not around other kids.  We feature that we can delay them at least until he is 3 or 4 years.  These are our kids and we have to made the best discussion for them.

Good luck ...........