Medically reviewed by Dr. Anuradha Bansal, MDDr. Anuradha BansalMDSpecialty: Pediatrics and NeonatologyExperience: 13 years
Dr. Anuradha Bansal is a highly accomplished pediatrician and neonatologist with 13 years of professional experience. Presently, she is working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at PIMS Jalandhar. She has done her MBBS and MD Pediatrics at GMCH, Chandigarh.
Written by Dr. Joyani Das, M.Pharm, PhD dr. joyani dasM.Pharm, PhDSpecialty: Pharma, Health and WellnessExperience: 3.5 years
Dr. Joyani Das did her post-graduation from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra and PhD in Pharmacology. Previously, she worked as an associate professor, faculty of Pharmacology, for two years. With her research background in preclinical studies and a zeal for scientific writing, she joined MomJunction as a health writer.
Edited by Rebecca Malachi, BSc rebecca malachiBScSpecialty: Pregnancy, Health and WellnessExperience: 12 years
Rebecca is a pregnancy writer and editor with a passion for delivering research-based and engaging content in areas of fertility, pregnancy, birth, and post-pregnancy. She did her graduation in Biotechnology and Genetics from Loyola Academy, Osmania University and obtained a certification in ‘Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy’ from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU).
Your child’s growth should not be hindered by health problems. Therefore, it is important to get your kid vaccinated during their childhood for different life-altering diseases such as polio, hepatitis, measles and more.
For getting the child immunized at the right time, you need to maintain a schedule, and an immunization chart helps you in this regard.
MomJunction has come up with an easy-to-use Immunization Scheduler, which you can personalize. The best thing you can also download a printable version of the immunization schedule.
Enter your child’s birth date, and you will receive a personalized child immunization schedule from birth until they reach 12 years.
Your Child’s Date of Birth:
Your Country:
Your Child’s Name (Optional)
The immunization scheduler and chart is based on the recommendations of World Health Organization (WHO), which monitors vaccination schedules across the world.
Child’s immunization chart will include the following vaccines –
Type of vaccine
No of shots (dosages)
Hepatitis B
3
DTaP
6
Hib
3 – 4 (depends on the brand)
IPV (Polio)
4
Rotavirus
2 – 3 (depends on the brand)
PCV13 (Pneumococcal)
4
MMR (Measles, mumps, rubella)
2
Influenza
2 in first year then 1 (yearly)
Hepatitis A
2 or 1 depending on the brand
Varicella (chicken pox)
2
HPV
2 – 3
Meningococcal
2
Some vaccines are optional but some are mandatory. But, as parents you might want to know if vaccines are good for your baby.
Are Vaccines Safe Or Can They Be Dangerous?
Vaccines are usually safe as the benefits far outweigh the risks. Most babies do not have any significant problems, but some may develop specific side effects to some vaccines. Side effects are minor and usually disappear within a couple of days (2).
Let us have a look at the common side effects which some of the vaccines cause:
1. For DTaP/DTwP, IPV, PCV, Hib vaccines, your child may get mild fever, redness or swelling at the injection site, diarrhea, or vomiting. They might appear within 24 hours of vaccination.
2. MMR vaccine causes mild side effects after six to ten days of vaccination. Occasionally, a child might have a slight fever, aversion to food and measles-like rashes. Do not panic if your baby has a rash as it is just a reaction as the body starts to build immunity against the MMR virus.
3. All vaccinations can cause a fever, and in some cases, young children might develop seizures or convulsions with high temperature. In this case, consult your doctor. This is most common with the DPT vaccine. Your doctor may want to change the vaccine to DTaP on your next visit.
4. Though rare, there is also a chance of your child developing a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. In this case, your child will contract allergy symptoms, such as rash, swollen lips or face, breathing issues and vomiting, within ten minutes of vaccination. Don't worry, usually the vaccination centers are well equipped with epinephrine injections to deal with these emergencies.
Mild side effects are alright, and disappear in a few days. But if you see your child suffering too much, do not ever hesitate to talk to a doctor.
Vaccination provides immunity (defense) against potentially dangerous diseases. It also prevents the spread of infections such as polio, measles, hepatitis and more. Additional (booster) shots are also needed in some cases to offer full immunity against specific diseases (3).
2. How do vaccines work?
Vaccines are dead or weakened versions of the disease-causing virus or their components. As they are injected into the child, the body system produces antibodies to fight the disease and develops immunity. It thus keeps a record of it in the immune system and can quickly deal with similar attacks in future (3).
3. When should your baby get vaccines?
MomJunction provides you a detailed immunization chart of your child’s vaccination schedule. The first two years vaccines are given in the months 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24. Your baby will get around 10 different vaccinations (in 25 shots) before they reach two.
They will be receiving booster shots for some diseases such as MMR, tetanus, diphtheria, chicken pox, pertussis (DTaP) and polio before they reach four years of age, i.e., around school-time.
Your child will receive some other vaccines such as HPV and meningitis in their teens (6).
4. Can getting more than one vaccination at once overload your child's immune system?
Your child’s immune system is stronger than you think, and you should not fear about combined vaccination. Our body deals with millions of bugs everyday. Hence, germs from a few vaccines are not a big deal. Moreover, giving a child more than one vaccine at a time can offer two advantages
It provides them protection during the unsafe early months.
Several shots at a time mean fewer hospital visits. It saves both money and time and can be less painful for the child.
Research says that getting multiple vaccines at a time is safe and does not cause any chronic health issues. The recommended vaccinations are active when given individually or in combination.
5. What if your baby misses any vaccination dose?
Make a quick appointment with the pediatrician, and you can usually continue the schedule from where it stopped. But remember that although it is possible to make up for the missed vaccines, it is still not safe to postpone shots schedule for kids. They may not be fully protected from certain preventable diseases.
In some cases, the doctor will advise a blood test for your baby around two months after the vaccination to assess their body’s response to a particular vaccine. Therefore, it is better not to miss the scheduled dates (7).
Disclaimer: The information provided is based on the World Health Organization (WHO) which gives information on worldwide immunization schedules. It provides the usually recommended dates for vaccinations based on the country you are living and the baby's birth date. No information about your child will be stored. If your child is having any disease or is under any treatment, you should consult your doctor for advice as the immunization schedule would be modified.
