Flu shot or not?

[admin]

Flu season is upon us. Quite often we are advised to have flu shots given to our children and even our entire families.  What do you do?  What contributed to your decision? Are you satisfied with the results?

[Katieb]

We've only been at this (meaning D) 1 year, but my son is 2 and we have gotten him a flu shot from the beginning. I also get a yearly flu shot. He got a stomach bug last spring and it wound up landing him in the hospital for a WEEK, so I figure that anything I can do to help prevent stomach illnesses is worth it.

[pamiken]

My son is 8, diagnosed at 6.  We don't do flu shots, don't believe in them however my son's pediatrician pleaded with me to get Mikey the shot. He said he respected my decision for myself and my family but really wanted me to reconsider with Mikey.  I did, last year.  Don't know how I feel, the rest of the family didn't get the shot and none of us got the flu.  I'll give him the shot this year if he insists again, which I'm sure he will! 

[type1artistmama]

I can not prove it, I am just your average mom, but I believe that clustering my daughters immunization shots and the flu shot caused her to have a nightmare flu that lasted for weeks,  she lost 6 lbs, had a constant fever... and then her pancreas was attacked, leading to the inevitable type 1 diagnoses.  Not many people support this theory, but i saw it first hand, and now i am PETRIFIED to give her a flu shot....and i will never get one for myself either, you either get the flu, or you don't, and we all lived with it when we were kids...and survived....my parents have gotten the flu shot for years, but yet, every year, they still get the flu.  I have never seen it work first hand.

[basketballnut]

As far as immunizations in general I only give what is required.  If my child needs more than one shot at a time I ask to space the shots out.  If they don't agree I demand they space them out. We as parents know what is best for our kids and we need to go with what we believe to be right. 
I found a website National Vaccine Informaiton Center, http://www.909shot.com/.  It was created to provide information that would help us make informed decision.