Customer Reviews

The Parents' Concise Guide to Childhood Vaccinations: From Newborns to Teens, Practical Medical and Natural Ways to Protect Your Child

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dr. Feder gives us the facts and nothing but the facts -
If you have been looking into this matter then you have, like me, read books after books on immunizations and one after the other use FEAR to make up your mind - The Pro-vaccine book will have you run to the pediatrician and the one against them will have you lock your child away never to be approached by a doctor ever again!

Well here is a book to inform us, not scare us! A book that REALLY helps us make an educated decision regarding the health life of our children and provides us with tools to support the decision we have made.

I have never before been so at peace with my decision and for THAT I am immensely grateful!

This book was great for me; it gave me information that I didn't find in other places. However, I can not say that it is impartial; it tries to correct for the widespread misinformation. It might be a good introduction to the material for some but definitely not for all, because of its bias. It can definitely help you choose what is best for your child as an individual, but it can not serve as your only source in making that choice (unless you are sold on not vaccinating at all). It simply doesn't have enough details about the actual ingredients to weigh the risks with the benefits; the author seems to conclude that none of the vaccines are worth the risks. As someone who has chosen to selectively vaccinate my children, I did find the book helpful. The first source I use is Dr. Sears' The Vaccine Book because it has factual information about the ingredients. This book is the second source I use for a little more information on the issue. I don't think this book really lives up to its subtitle "practical medical and natural ways to protect your child." Also, I agree with some other criticisms about her use of language. From an editorial standpoint, this book is not a final copy. It is only a revision or two away, but it is not properly polished. Quite a shame. I am still grateful I have this source.

As a parent who decided not to vaccinate I found
"A Parent's Concise Guide To Childhood Vaccinations
reassuring.
This Guide offers objective views with which to make an informed decision.

It's so important for parents to be educated about vaccinations. Unfortnately it's up to us to do our own research - even the best pediatricians aren't always up to date on the latest vaccination research. The more you read and research, the more you realize how important it is to do so and not just blindly follow the recommended schedule - there are so many small things you can do when vaccinating to make sure your kids are safe that I would never have known w/o my research. This book is an easy to read guide that takes you thru each vaccination, the pros & cons and really helps to educate parents. It does lean a bit towards the anti-vaccination opinion however it's still incredibly edcational. I've ordered a number of books and videos so that I can get all sides and would recommend that other parents do the same. I would highly recommend this book!

As a busy working mom, I found this book presented all the information about vaccines in a concise way that was easy to understand and interesting to read. I appreciated the fact that Dr. Feder presented both sides objectively without being 'preachy.
Although, I have chosen to selectively vaccinate my children, I feel that all parents, whether they vaccinate or not would benefit from reading this fine book. It also comes with a good health and vaccine resource at the back.

The author has a very clear concise writing style that I appreciated, but she presented a lot of knowledgeable opinions as facts, without ever providing documentation of these "facts". She has no references anywhere in the book... she has apparently consulted no sources worth citing during the course her research. She will mention "a study that was conducted in (XX place) concluded (XXXXXX)", but never mentions where the study was published or how one might find this study on their own. (I could "conduct a study" of 2,000 people on Facebook , but that doesn't make it a valid finding.) She claims that several diseases were declining before the introduction of their respective vaccines, but offers no documentation for these "facts".

She gives lots of lists of side effects for certain medications, but no documented hard numbers about how many children have actually experienced these negative results. If a vaccine is tested on 5 million children and the top "side effect" is present in 10 of those kids, that's important information when considering the risk/benefit ratio. Instead, she lists myriad effects of each vaccine, which is definitely "information" but not exactly the whole truth.

For example, the side effects for Aspirin include:

Serious bleeding (especially gastrointestinal bleeding), gastrointestinal irritation, gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, esophagitis, anti-platelet effects, tinnitus, ototoxicity, bruising and bleeding, dyspepsia, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea and abdominal pain, reduced excretion of uric acid and hyperuricemia, dizziness, anaphylaxis, angioedema, and bronchospasm, thrombocytopenia, agranulocytosis, and aplastic anemia, pancytopenia, nephrotoxicity, and nasal polyps. Also, can increase the risk of Reye's Syndrome in children under 18.

But so what? This is just a list. What does it MEAN? Is the fact that these things happened to someone, somewhere, enough to make you stop taking Aspirin, no questions asked? Probably not. Maybe it would make you do a little more research before you make your decision, like how many people take Aspirin on a daily basis and how many are affected by these problems. And once you have the hard numbers in front of you, you'll probably discover that the side effects occur in such a minute percentage of the population that it's worth the minor risk.

My other concern is that the author claims to be impartial but she never ACTUALLY recommends a vaccine. Even the ones that she admits are critical for childhood health where the benefits FAR outweigh the risks, she never actually comes out and recommends that parents get it done. On the other hand, she blatantly names several vaccines that "are not recommended". And some of these "not recommended" vaccines are for reasons as minor as pain at the injection site. Ear piercings have pain at the injection site too. So do wasp stings. As a matter of fact, anything that pierces your skin is likely to cause pain, so no big surprise there, and certainly not groundbreaking medical knowledge.

She also still clings to the idea that Autism is linked to the MMR vaccine, although it was scientifically debunked years ago, well before the publication of this book. She says anecdotal evidence suggests that the two are connected. Well, anecdotal evidence also suggests that my grandmother can predict a tornado by whether or not her ears itch, but that doesn't make it a scientific fact. Lots of things happen to people, but correlation is not the came thing as causation. Just because two things happen at the same time does not mean one thing causes the other.

The real question is this: Would you rather have your child afflicted with asthma (a side effect) or polio (an ACTUAL disease)? There's your answer.

Finally, a book on vaccines that presented the facts, concisely. The way it was written was easy to read, and i nearly finished it in one sitting. I've read many other vaccine books, and felt that this one helped clearly answer my questions and concerns. Dr. Feder presented each vaccine in a thoughtful way, and I especially appreciated being able to review the detailed list of ingredients found in the shots. Very eye opening! I understand why it was chosen by the Holistic Moms Network 'Book of the Month Club.'

I just finished reading this, along with "The Vaccine Guide" by R. Neustaedter (which I own). Both books give a good overview of both sides of the controversey, and both authors make clear their own professional opinions. Dr. Feder has decided against vaccinating her own children, but makes clear that parents must make their own decisions based on their own individual circumstances.

Dr. Feder offers easier to understand information about each disease, including treatments, when applicable. This book also gives practical strategies to use when you choose to vaccinate fully or selectively. There is a good resource section in the appendix that cites other books on the same issue (Neustaedter's book is included), along with websites for related organizations and alternative health.

Overall, this book was a quicker read than the Neustaedter book, a little less overwhelming (i.e., concise, just as the title suggests). It also has two useful chapters about alternative vaccine schedules and safe shot strategies that Dr. Feder uses in her own practice. The Neustaedter book offered more medical/scientific detail for a more in-depth understanding of the science behind vaccines and immunizations, and his book had more practical info for parents who need to legally justify their decision not to vaccinate to school districts and the like. I found both books very useful references to understand the issues and to make a decision about what to do for my daughter, albeit the differences that I indicated.

Simple, concise and easy to understand. Not as long as other vaccine books i have had yet still super informative, this is by far my favorite.

This book is thorough, articulate and provides mountains of information in a concise, easy way for anyone to understand. A must read BEFORE you have a child and are bombarded with all the protocol that can often confuse and intimidate. This has been long needed!