Mayim Bialik

[SpeakNow]

Yeah, my kid has eczema, so, when he's 12, i'm gonna have titers run. JUST IN CASE. Family history of asthma+ eczema= baad news if he were to get the pox.

As someone with bad eczema who suffered through the chicken pox at age 6, and can tell you it's hell. I still have 2 scars from chicken pox.

[Feberin]

I'd love to see how comfortable she would be having her unvaccinated children hanging out up here in Wa where we have a pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic :evil: . The daughter of one lf my husband's co-workers just had a baby the day after easter. To weeks later, the new grandfather (co-worker's husband) came down with pertussis. Obviously, he had been around the baby almost every day, as had the co-worker herself (who is now comin down with it, too).

I'm pretty sure that, since the mother is sane and sensible, she is on top of getting her baby vaccinated early and on preventative antibiotics. Anyway, that's bad enough, but we are also worried about our son, who has Crohn's disease and is immune suppressed. Just so that neither of us might bring it home to him, DH and I just had to go and get pertussis booster shots (we were both fully vaxed as kids, but it was recommended that we get boosters).

My point is, I am livid that selfish, and in this case selectively stupid, people like this refuse to get ther little incubators vaccinated. It's not only a threat to them, but can be a huge threat to those who are too young to have been vaxed, immune suppressed.

This is why adults who are going to be around babies need to get the booster for pertussis! Unfortunately babies can't get it until they are 6 weeks old and they are the most at risk from dying from it.

[WonderingInWA]

This is why adults who are going to be around babies need to get the booster for pertussis! Unfortunately babies can't get it until they are 6 weeks old and they are the most at risk from dying from it.

I'd wished they'd had a vax for RSV when my son was a baby. Born in December, he contracted RSV at 6 weeks and had breathing troubles every time he would get a cold until he was about 5. He did eventually outgrow the breathing issues, so no asthma, but a lot of kids who contract RSV end up with a lifetime of asthma.

[hapamama]

Yeah, my kid has eczema, so, when he's 12, i'm gonna have titers run. JUST IN CASE. Family history of asthma+ eczema= baad news if he were to get the pox.

My oldest has severe eczema, and we were specifically told to not get him vaccinated for the chicken pox until his skin was reasonably clear, due to the risk of contracting the disease from the vaccination itself. He'll be getting the vaccination this summer.

I do vaccinate my kids, but I have declined or delayed some. I'm generally uncomfortable giving my kids new vaccines and I'm getting pretty uncomfortable with the number of vaccines they're getting at once...

[pomology]

I don't get how someone can be a scientist and be strongly relgious at the same time?

Lots of people manage. Religion doesn't necessarily imply hatred for science and it's kind of offensive that you would imply that it would.

[terranova]

Lots of people manage. Religion doesn't necessarily imply hatred for science and it's kind of offensive that you would imply that it would.

You're assuming that's what I'm implying, and I'm not. I'm saying that it's hard to imagine someone with a scientific mind also believing in a deity that doesn't exhist. In my opinion, the two are not compatible.

[pomology]

You're assuming that's what I'm implying, and I'm not. I'm saying that it's hard to imagine someone with a scientific mind also believing in a deity that doesn't exhist. In my opinion, the two are not compatible.

You're still being pretty offensive. Being scientifically minded has no bearing on whether you believe God exists or not. It might affect what you perceive God to be, but as God can practically be anything, it is not incompatible with science. I don't believe in God, but your attitude is still fucking obnoxious.

[terranova]

You're still being pretty offensive. Being scientifically minded has no bearing on whether you believe God exists or not. It might affect what you perceive God to be, but as God can practically be anything, it is not incompatible with science. I don't believe in God, but your attitude is still fucking obnoxious.

I appologise if I've offended you Pomology, if you read what I wrote, I was saying that I don't understand how it can happen, I'm not saying it can't.

[FakePigtails]

My oldest has severe eczema, and we were specifically told to not get him vaccinated for the chicken pox until his skin was reasonably clear, due to the risk of contracting the disease from the vaccination itself. He'll be getting the vaccination this summer.

I do vaccinate my kids, but I have declined or delayed some. I'm generally uncomfortable giving my kids new vaccines and I'm getting pretty uncomfortable with the number of vaccines they're getting at once...

Just to reassure you, there are fewer antigens (the bits that make your body make antibodies against diseases) than ever before in vaccines and they're a fraction of what a child's immune system deals with daily, even though there are more diseases we're protecting against. The vaccines themselves have been studied for safety and effectiveness both individually and in combinations as well. LOTS of studies back up the safety of the current recommended schedule.

(info from http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/safe/a ... dening.cfm and http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Vaccin ... cines.html)

[Someonetocall]

No toys, no diapers, breastfeeding at age 3, and sleeping in the same bed with the kids... In a weird way, this makes me think of Steve Maxwell and his extreme control freakery. Mayim's kids can't even eat, sleep, play, or go to the bathroom without Mommy right there. Probably some weird ex-child actor hangup. Maybe Mayim feels she was forced to grow up too soon and so she's keeping her children in a dependent infant state for as long as possible? Whatever the reason, it does not sound like a psychologically healthy way to raise kids. And how can that possibly be good for one's marriage?

When I read her write-up on Kveller about the ADL Deborah award and she said

husband (who brought our boys to the reception where they were completely overwhelmed with people asking them things they had no answers to and my husband took them home after 35 minutes).

I wonder if they are extreme introverts or if they are incredibly sheltered. At 6 and a half, I was an introvert but able to interact with people in a social setting. Although, I'm wondering if it was the younger son who was the limiting factor. It sounds like he might have some social issues at this point (I don't know, obviously, if they are an age thing, personality thing or a problem).

[gustava]

I appologise if I've offended you Pomology, if you read what I wrote, I was saying that I don't understand how it can happen, I'm not saying it can't.

As a heathen, I understand, intellectually, the notion of "faith" as a belief not based on proof. Personally, I do not have "faith" in any religious sense, but I can accept that there are those who do.

[Wolfie]

Lots of people manage. Religion doesn't necessarily imply hatred for science and it's kind of offensive that you would imply that it would.

This

For many scientists, the amazing things that they find in science are evidence of how amazing God is. Many Christians also believe in Evolution and the Big Bang, just that God caused it.

[fluttershies]

No toys, no diapers, breastfeeding at age 3, and sleeping in the same bed with the kids... In a weird way, this makes me think of Steve Maxwell and his extreme control freakery. Mayim's kids can't even eat, sleep, play, or go to the bathroom without Mommy right there. Probably some weird ex-child actor hangup. Maybe Mayim feels she was forced to grow up too soon and so she's keeping her children in a dependent infant state for as long as possible? Whatever the reason, it does not sound like a psychologically healthy way to raise kids. And how can that possibly be good for one's marriage?

A toddler co-sleeping with parents isn't exactly unusual. All the other things are pretty normal in one culture or another. Maxwell is abusive and is stopping his children from having a fulfilling life and getting a good education. I don't think you can compare Bialik to him (for instance, I highly doubt she'd stop her children from going to college).

[fluttershies]

You're assuming that's what I'm implying, and I'm not. I'm saying that it's hard to imagine someone with a scientific mind also believing in a deity that doesn't exhist. In my opinion, the two are not compatible.

Except that there is no proof that a deity doesn't exist, and for many people science is part of why they believe in a deity. What constitutes a deity varies a lot anyway.

[saraelise]

Yeah, my kid has eczema, so, when he's 12, i'm gonna have titers run. JUST IN CASE. Family history of asthma+ eczema= baad news if he were to get the pox.

Have you considered trying acupunctre? I've had eczema all my life with a strong chance I may yet develop asthma. I suffered a really, really bad reaction to the hormone cream I was given, so I tried out acupunctre and it cleared the eczema away like nothing I've ever experienced.

I'm not trying to push crunchy or anything, I was sceptical too, but now I swear by it to help my eczema.

[saraelise]

When I read her write-up on Kveller about the ADL Deborah award and she said

I wonder if they are extreme introverts or if they are incredibly sheltered. At 6 and a half, I was an introvert but able to interact with people in a social setting. Although, I'm wondering if it was the younger son who was the limiting factor. It sounds like he might have some social issues at this point (I don't know, obviously, if they are an age thing, personality thing or a problem).

I don't know, it seems like the ADL ceremony was pretty big. If I had been taken to something like that at 6 years old, I would have frozen up too.

[SealFan1963]

SealFan1963 wrote:

Hell, they can even get all the vaccines they missed out on as a child if they want.

Renting with Raggles wrote:

Unless they're dead from illnesses that could have been prevented by vaccinations, like measles or rubella. But you know, that's a real 'whatever' decision, perfectly analogous to breastfeeding schedule debates. :roll:

Seems to me this whole thread has turned into a vaccine debate. My husband works in a hospital and has been exposed to various diseases (whooping cough, measles, MRSA) and has had to take so many strong antibiotics over the last 14 years that I am afraid of whatever super bug they are creating. I know exactly what is out there as far as communicable diseases and I also have a family history of the good and the bad of vaccines.

My grandfather cut his thumb on a table saw, went immediately to the hospital, however, he did not receive a tetanus shot and he died 3 weeks later, a long, horrible, painful unnecessary death. This was 1970.

In 1974, when I was 11, I contracted the mumps, there was not a vaccine available for it then. I spent 9 days in intensive care because I had encephalitis from the mumps. At one point they told my mom their was nothing more they could do to get my fever down and she should go in and say goodbye.

My brother nearly died as an 11 month old baby in 1971 from his small pox vaccine and spent 2 weeks in intensive care.

I am allergic to whatever is in a tetanus shot. My arm swells up to twice it's normal size, gets very hard and hot, yet I get one every 10 years, whether I need it or not. Why? Because of what happened to my grandfather.

My kids are vaccinated, because it was my choice to do so. It is the responsibility of every parent to do the research and make the decision they feel is best.

[luckystone]

Wow, didn't realise she was anti-vaccine. That's odd. Doesn't she have a scientific PhD (molecular biology or something?)? It seems weird she'd be so silly about something like that.

She also circumcised her kid/s despite generally being more attachment parenting, which has been criticised a lot.

I used to be impressed by her work/education life but I don't think we need more celebrities or semi-celebrities making stupid statements about vaccinations.

[WonderingInWA]

Wow, didn't realise she was anti-vaccine. That's odd. Doesn't she have a scientific PhD (molecular biology or something?)? It seems weird she'd be so silly about something like that.

She also circumcised her kid/s despite generally being more attachment parenting, which has been criticised a lot.

I used to be impressed by her work/education life but I don't think we need more celebrities or semi-celebrities making stupid statements about vaccinations.

She's got a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA.

She's very true to her Jewish faith, which is why she circumcised. I'm sure that was a tough decision since she so into APing.

And as much as we have used this thread to talk about vaxing, I think she's one of the only celebrities who has actually talked about her parenting style as boldly and openly as she has. Although I am not the same kind of parent as she is (and I have no use for her book since my kids are already older than hers), I do think it might be worth a read if only to get people to think more outside the box. APing has been around a long time and I think often gets overlooked as an optional way of parenting.

[Artemis]

Is there anyone else here who is immune to chicken pox? I think I might be. (Obviously at 50 I have not been vaxed- there was no vaccine then.)

My younger sister had it when she was 3 - really badly. I was put in bed with her to get it, and didn't. I didn't get it all through my school years either, or at college even when friends did. I married at 26, and two days after my wedding, a friend who'd been at the wedding rang me up apologetically and told me she had chicken pox, and had been infectious when she'd seen me. I didn't get it. When my younger daughter, whom I was still breastfeeding, was 9 months, she got, it, and then my older daughter (4) picked it up. I still didn't get it, and I was pretty certain I would.

Is it possible to be immune to it? Naturally?

I love TBBT and Bialik's character in it.

[SisiL78]

Is there anyone else here who is immune to chicken pox? I think I might be. (Obviously at 50 I have not been vaxed- there was no vaccine then.)

My younger sister had it when she was 3 - really badly. I was put in bed with her to get it, and didn't. I didn't get it all through my school years either, or at college even when friends did. I married at 26, and two days after my wedding, a friend who'd been at the wedding rang me up apologetically and told me she had chicken pox, and had been infectious when she'd seen me. I didn't get it. When my younger daughter, whom I was still breastfeeding, was 9 months, she got, it, and then my older daughter (4) picked it up. I still didn't get it, and I was pretty certain I would.

Is it possible to be immune to it? Naturally?

I love TBBT and Bialik's character in it.

My mom had a similar experience. 2 kids with chicken pox and she'd never been known to have it. And she is a piano teacher and has been exposed to various children with the chicken pox as well. Our pediatrician said that she could had a very mild case a child, one so mild that it was written off as a inconsequential rash that came and went pretty quickly and had immunity that way.

[PokaDot]

My mother tried to get my brother and I exposed (we hung out with our exposed friends) but we didn't get it . He got one bump (on his bum) and I didn't get anything. The doctors wrote off his bump as something else.

The vaccine came out when I was a kid, so I did wind up getting that. Apparently immunity only lasts 11 years-I should probably get a booster.

I'm sure that some fraction of the population is immune to any disease, so I think some people are immune to chicken pox. Look at that one guy who is immune to HIV, or the group of people immune to the plague (which, incidentally, is thought to give either immunity, or a higher resistance to HIV) .

I also don't react to Poison Ivy (or cashews), but I doubt there's a connection between that and chicken pox resistance.

[FakePigtails]

Wow, didn't realise she was anti-vaccine. That's odd. Doesn't she have a scientific PhD (molecular biology or something?)? It seems weird she'd be so silly about something like that.

She also circumcised her kid/s despite generally being more attachment parenting, which has been criticised a lot.

I used to be impressed by her work/education life but I don't think we need more celebrities or semi-celebrities making stupid statements about vaccinations.

I so agree with the bolded, especially in this case where she such a scientific background to "legitimize" her opinion. Look at what influence Jenny McCarthy had, and she sure didn't have a PhD in neuroscience backing up her opinion! This is why a thread about her and her parenting views will turn into an anti-anti-vax one.

[Wolfie]

Is there anyone else here who is immune to chicken pox? I think I might be. (Obviously at 50 I have not been vaxed- there was no vaccine then.)

My younger sister had it when she was 3 - really badly. I was put in bed with her to get it, and didn't. I didn't get it all through my school years either, or at college even when friends did. I married at 26, and two days after my wedding, a friend who'd been at the wedding rang me up apologetically and told me she had chicken pox, and had been infectious when she'd seen me. I didn't get it. When my younger daughter, whom I was still breastfeeding, was 9 months, she got, it, and then my older daughter (4) picked it up. I still didn't get it, and I was pretty certain I would.

Is it possible to be immune to it? Naturally?

I love TBBT and Bialik's character in it.

My dad has never had it. What I assume may have happened is that he had a case so mild as a child that nobody even noticed (he was one of 4 siblings), but he made it through the three of us kids having it, as well as various friends who came over before they had symptoms.

As I've said before, my case was so bad that I was nearly hospitalized, and I plan to immunize any potential children because of that. (my siblings were much more mild, yet they plan to have their current and potential kids immunized because of my case, and the knowledge that it could be worse.)

[Wolfie]

I also don't react to Poison Ivy (or cashews), but I doubt there's a connection between that and chicken pox resistance.

I doubt it, I don't react to Poison oak, Cashews or Mangos and I had a very bad case as a child. (brother and mom also don't react, yet had chicken pox.)

Now I want to know how I can not be allergic to those things but allergic (from mild to severe depending on the allergen) to so many other things?