Your baby's vaccination chart: Things to keep in mind

One of the most difficult things you have to do as a new parent is to take your baby for the many vaccination schedules. Even as you try to soothe and ease your baby, many parents end up getting teary-eyed.

Your baby will have to get a lot of vaccinations from birth and through the first year (and in later years as well), and it can sometimes get difficult and confusing to keep a track of them all.

Here is a list of all the vaccinations your baby needs to be given, right from birth, till your little one turns a year old.

Baby vaccination chart

At birth:

BCG - protects against tuberculosis (TB)

Hep B - protects against hepatitis B

OPV - protects against polio.

6 weeks:

Hep B

DTP – protects against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus

IPV – protects against polio

HIB – protects against haemophilus influenza type B

Rota V – protects against rotavirus infection

PCV – protects against pneumonia

10 weeks:

DTP

IPV

HIB

Rota V

PCV

14 weeks:

DTP

IPV

HIB

Rota V

PCV

6 months:

Hep B

OPV

9 months:

OPV

MMR – protects against measles, mumps and rubella

9 to 12 months:

Typhoid – protects against typhoid fever

12 months:

Hep A – protects against hepatitis B

Things to keep in mind for your baby’s vaccination

1. Ask about alternate options: Some vaccinations can also be given as oral drops so check with your baby’s doctor.
2. Check about combination shots: In some cases, certain vaccinations have the option of being given individually or combined together. This means that even if your baby gets one shot, it will actually work as multiple vaccinations. This also helps to ease your baby’s pain.
3. Keep your baby distracted and stay calm: The shot will hurt your baby for just a few seconds, and distracting can greatly help in reducing your baby’s fear and anxiety. Also, make sure you are calm yourself because your stress can very easily pass on to your baby.
4. Feed right after the vaccination: Most vaccines can be followed up by a feed, but do check with the doctor if you have to wait for some time before feeding your baby. Breastfeeding will help to comfort your baby and ease the pain.
5. Ask about side effects: This depends on case to case, and while some babies may not have any side effects at all, some may develop mild symptoms. Check about what side effects to expect from the vaccination, such as slight fever, crankiness, redness in the area and so on.

While it is important to maintain the schedule of the vaccination, if your baby is unwell, inform the doctor about it and check if it needs to be postponed.

Also Read Mums, here's how you can easily register for your kid's vaccine reminder