My children all don amber necklaces—a secret badge of honor that signals, “My mom embraces the crunchy lifestyle.” We live by the tenets those necklaces suggest. I’m still nursing my nearly three-year-old, and my other two boys were nursed until they were 3 and 4, respectively. I’ve even nursed other mothers’ babies. We prioritize organic food, share a family bed that resembles a cozy nest with a queen and a side-car twin, and I’m a firm believer in the gut-healing magic of Kombucha. If coconut oil consumption were the measure, we’d be elite members of the crunchy granola club.
Yes, I’m a free spirit, but my kids are fully vaccinated—and they will remain that way.
There’s a common misconception that families like ours, decked out in amber, wouldn’t dream of vaccinating their children. Many free spirits are wary of chemicals, but “chemical” can mean anything from water to something more sinister. We instinctively try to steer clear of as many chemicals as we can, as “chemical” carries a stigma linked to manmade additives. Unfortunately, many in the crunchy community also harbor distrust toward conventional medicine due to its ties with Big Pharma, its dismissal of alternative treatments, and the traditional “doctor knows best” approach.
However, it’s entirely possible to be as free-spirited as they come and still appreciate the genius of Jonas Salk, who demonstrated how a tiny shot of antigens can shield us from the most dangerous diseases. Initially, we were skeptical about vaccines—what I like to call “Dr. Sears vaccine doubters.” We worried there were too many doses too soon and wanted to space them out, convinced by Dr. Sears that giving only two vaccines at a time could minimize the risk of chemical overload.
Let’s dissect this. We thought vaccinating too frequently might lead to a buildup of vaccine adjuvants in our kids’ systems—potentially more than their little bodies could manage, possibly causing neurological damage. By spacing out vaccines, we believed we could allow their systems to detoxify these “dangerous” chemicals one at a time.
Sure, man-made additives can be problematic. Yet the ones used in vaccines? They’re safe. Take aluminum, for instance. In large amounts, it can be a neurotoxin, but as aluminum salts—one of the two adjuvants permitted in the U.S.—it’s harmless. In fact, your baby receives less aluminum from a vaccine than from a liter of infant formula or even breast milk.
Formaldehyde, another buzzword in the vaccine debate, is used to inactivate viruses and detoxify bacterial toxins. But the residual amount in vaccines is significantly lower than what’s found in a newborn’s body—50 to 70 times less. Once you dive into the facts from reliable, peer-reviewed sources—rather than alternative health gurus—you begin to see vaccines as safe and necessary.
And the popular belief that kids are getting too many vaccines now compared to our childhood? Total nonsense! Children today receive fewer antigens than they did back in 1980—dropping from around 3,041 to about 153. Their immune systems are less overwhelmed than ever, so we can’t romanticize the “good old days” when it comes to vaccines. Modern science truly is better.
After extensive research from credible sources—no, not the likes of Dr. Mercola—we concluded that vaccines are indeed safe. Yes, there are rare cases of vaccine injury, and while I suspect the numbers are higher than what government reports indicate, they still don’t compare to the diseases these vaccinations prevent. Take chickenpox, for instance. I was invited to a pox party, and I politely declined. Before the vaccine, chickenpox complications led to 150,000 to 200,000 cases annually, with about 11,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths. As the CDC states, the shot is safer than the disease itself, so my kids were vaccinated, even if it wasn’t their favorite experience. But better a shot than the risk of encephalitis—or worse, death.
You can want all the wholesome, natural things for your kids and still choose to vaccinate. You can fill your home with wooden Waldorf toys, brew your own kombucha, and still recognize the critical importance of vaccinations for both personal and societal health. I’m a free spirit, I did the research, and I firmly believe in the value of vaccinations.
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In summary, being a free spirit doesn’t mean you have to forgo vaccinations; it’s possible to embrace a natural lifestyle while still protecting your children through science-backed immunizations.