Greetings from Australia,

This is such a difficult topic for a parent. It's very easy for a 'health' professional to appeal to our need to protect our children and convince us of the necessity to vaccinate. I have done some research on this subject (Paul and I have a 6 year old daughter), and what finally swayed me AGAINST continuing to vaccinate, was the knowledge that these vaccines may not work anyway. Yes, some diseases are on the rise, but from what I've read, many diseases have a natural cycle, where they seem to become more prevalent for a time and then they wane again. This has been going on for a long time, BEFORE vaccines were even developed.
Secondly, I know there is a risk that mumps and measles can be dangerous and even fatal, but they most cases are mild and give the body a chance to develop it's own NATURAL defences.

In terms of homeopathy, I would definitely recommend finding a good practitioner. The whole concept of immunisation is actually based on homeopathy, in that a small substance of the disease is given to the body, in order that the body will develop immunity. The difference is that homeopathic vaccination will only put NATURAL substances into the body, whereas medical vaccination will put a whole bunch of stuff in (haven't heard about the aborted fetuses, but I know there is monkey tissue in some). For us, the whole issue was made easier by the fact that we live in a country which the likelihood of contracting these diseases is low. In a different country....I don't know what choices we would have made.

With regards to travelling....that's a whole different ball game. I would be very hesitant to take a child who has not had a chance to develop their immune system into a country which is known to have life threatening diseases, without in some way protecting them. Once again, a good homeopath or natural therapist should be able to give you some advice on natural alternatives.

My whole experience of parenting has shown that the LESS we interfere with our daughter's system, the more it is able to do it's job....naturally.

Blessings,
Lyndal