No, no vaccine for us! She is vaccinated for most, b ut we fall into a very low-risk group: healthy, no family member in the medical profession, etc.

I'm 40 years old and have never had the flu in my life. Neither have my kids, and my husband only had it once-the one year he got a flu shot. So call us irresponsible, but we skip it.

I'm getting it this year. I will let the kids get it too because my daugther has asthma. Whenever she gets a respiratory infection, she coughs a lot for a long time.

No shots! Is it just me, or does it seem like the "flu" has gotten worse every year since they've been pushing flu shots on us? The fewer the chemicals pumped into my kids' bodies, the better. I heard a bit on NPR that stated that some high percentage of people that get the flu shot still get the flu!

So, it's a double whammy for the drug companies. They make money when you get the shot and they make money when you buy the medicine when you get the flu. Quite a few moms that I know have griped that the years when they get the shot, they get the flu worse that year!

I'm VERY skeptical.

:)

www.cadydidrooms.com

Me too Cadydid. And one of my children is asthmatic. When she was first diagnosed three years ago, they wanted to put her on daily meds right off the bat. I said no, as I was still trying to process it and didn't know anything about asthma. But we've managed it very well on our own (obviously we have rescue inhalers) but all I can think about is what if I hadn't been skeptical...all that needless medicine. We do get the required immunizations, but nothing more....I just try to really keep my kids' immune systems healthy with lots of good food, plenty of sleep and an abundance of outdoors, and knock on wood, so far, so good.

Agreed, Lilybug.....it seems like many kids aren't getting the proper nutrition or amount of sleep these days. My kids need 10-12 hours a night of solid sleep and they aren't even babies anymore. When kids sleep, that is when their immune system works the best and when their bodies grow and replenish.

I wonder if some of the ADD problems that we have with kids is just too much sugar and not enough sleep and exercise. It's a bad combo.

We've done the same stuff in our family and we rarely get sick at all. If we do, it's short and sweet. I'm not a believer in using Tylenol to bring down every fever. From what I've studied, the body raises its temperature to kill off whatever bug it's fighting. When we lower the fever, we are working against the body's natural defenses. Obviously there are extreme situations where a fever HAS to be taken down, but most childhood fevers should resolve themselves and create a stronger immune system.

Cady

www.cadydidrooms.com

In Sunday's paper, the "People's Pharmacy" column had some very interesting facts about the flu vaccine!

Here's a link to the People's Pharmacy's thoughts on the flu - it is interesting.

I got the flu on the big vacation to St. Croix that my husband and I took several years ago - kind of the last vacation before kids sort of thing. Horrible. It was in 2004 - the year when the flu was really in the news. I sat on the beach completely covered in towels because of my fever. That's basically what I remember of the whole week.

I've gotten the flu shot ever since - and I've never gotten the flu. But I also didn't get the flu before 2004 despite not having a shot.

I thought I'd share this column written by the editor of the North Raleigh and Midtown News - thought was pretty funny for those planning on getting the flu shot:

http://www.newsobserver.com/nrn/story/1246974.html