While your baby may not have made his big entrance yet, it's important to understand the recommended vaccines and schedule now. That's because your child’s immunizations will play a major role during the first few years of his life by protecting him from diseases that can make young kids very sick. Some of those immunizations are given in the hospital, while others happen during pregnancy and your very first postnatal visits.
Here are a few things you need to know about infant vaccines before your baby's due date.
Vaccines save lives, so it’s really important that you stay up-to-date on the recommended immunization schedule. It was designed to protect your little one against harmful diseases like whooping cough and measles when he’s most vulnerable. Extensive research has found that vaccines are very safe for babies. The ingredients in vaccines are safe, and serious side effects are rare. Your child will feel a quick pinch that’s over quickly. This brief discomfort is far preferable to what he’d go through if he were to catch one of the contagious diseases that vaccines prevent. You can start protecting your baby against vaccine-preventable diseases during pregnancy. The seasonal flu shot and the Tdap shot are recommended for moms-to-be, and many pregnant women can also get the maternal RSV vaccine. These vaccines prevent potentially serious complications while you're pregnant and offer protection to your newborn before he can get vaccinated himself.
1. Immunizations are safe for babies
It’s normal to have concerns about vaccines, especially if you’ve heard rumors that they’re dangerous. But despite the many myths surrounding vaccines, rest assured that extensive research has shown that immunizations are very safe for babies.[1]
"Vaccines are incredibly safe," says Gina Posner, M.D., a board-certified pediatrician practicing at MemorialCare Medical Group in Fountain Valley, California, and member of the What to Expect Medical Review Board. "The diseases they prevent are not."
The ingredients in vaccines are safe. Excluding the multi-dose flu vaccine, no routine infant vaccines contain mercury, called thimerosal, a type of preservative that is eliminated rapidly by the body. Scientists have studied thimerosal extensively, and it has never caused any issues because it is eliminated so quickly. Even though multi-dose vials of the flu vaccine typically contain a very small amount of thimerosal, parents can request a thimerosal-free flu shot for infants.[2]
What's more, serious side effects from vaccines are rare. It's important to remember that vaccines have never — repeat, never — been linked to autism. The lone study that connected the two was retracted by the journal that published it — and the doctor responsible had his medical license revoked after he admitted he fudged the report's data. Since then, multiple large-scale studies have not found any association between vaccines and autism.
2. Infant immunizations are given in the first two months
Your baby's recommended vaccine schedule starts at birth,[3] when your newborn receives a vaccination for hepatitis B (HepB). Babies born during RSV season whose mom did not receive the maternal RSV vaccine at least two weeks prior to their birth can also receive the RSV antibody shot between birth and 8 months.
At baby's 2-month well visit, he'll receive a number of other essential immunizations, including RV (rotavirus), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, which is also known as whooping cough), Hib (haemophilus influenzae type b), PCV (pneumococcal), IPV (polio) vaccines, and anothr HepB shot.
Most of these have at least one follow-up shot or oral dose within the first two years; to keep track, you may want to keep a copy of the recommended baby and child vaccine schedule handy.
3. Babies aren't stressed out by getting shots
Though no parent likes to see a baby cry, remember that the very temporary pain your little one feels from a shot amounts to infinitesimally less suffering than he'd experience if he came down with a vaccine-preventable disease like whooping cough or the measles.
Research has shown that holding your baby and talking or singing during shots helps distract him; if you’re breastfeeding, nursing just before or after can soothe him and sometimes even help relieve pain, and offering a bottle can also help calm him down.
If you're still concerned, talk to your doctor about giving your baby a sugar solution beforehand or numbing solution after, both of which can also help ease discomfort.
4. There are risks to falling behind on the schedule
The official vaccine schedule is recommended for a reason: It works. The schedule was designed to ensure your baby is protected at the times when he’s most vulnerable. For some shots, more than one dose is required to build up full immunity; for others, immunity wanes with time.
Skipping or delaying shots puts your baby at risk of getting sick from the illnesses they protect against starting early in your child's life. So be sure to stick to the schedule and attend all of your baby's postnatal follow-up appointments and well-child visits.
5. Vaccines are free for children
Vaccines are hands-down the least expensive and most effective way to protect your baby's health now and in the future. If your baby doesn't have insurance, or your insurance somehow doesn't cover vaccinations, the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides vaccines at no cost to eligible kids under the age of 19 at participating doctor's offices, clinics, and health departments.[4]
6. You can start protecting your baby during pregnancy
Don't forget, some immunizations you get during pregnancy also help protect your baby before and after birth. The flu shot, offered during flu season, and the Tdap vaccine, given between weeks 27 and 36 of pregnancy — are recommended for all expecting women.
The flu vaccine helps prevent dangerous complications while you're pregnant, while Tdap protects your baby from whooping cough — which is highly contagious and potentially deadly — in the months before the vaccine series begins.
If you’ll be between weeks 32 and 36 from September through January, you should also consider Abrysvo, the maternal RSV vaccine. RSV is a leading cause of infant hospitalization, and this single-dose vaccine given during pregnancy can help protect newborns when they’re most vulnerable. Getting a COVID-19 booster during pregnancy also helps protect your baby.
7. Vaccines save lives
Most importantly, vaccines save lives by protecting children from preventable diseases that are especially dangerous in the first few months and years of life. “I would feel so guilty if my kid got a disease like measles that’s easily prevented because I chose not to vaccinate,” says What to Expect Community user ottoflow.
And it's important that everyone opts in. When a significant portion of the population is vaccinated against contagious diseases like measles and whooping cough, they help protect vulnerable unvaccinated people, such as newborns who can’t yet get their shots.
"Vaccines depend on herd immunity to work because nothing is 100% effective," Dr. Posner says. "That is why it is so important for everyone who can get their shots to get them. There are very few people who are medically unable to get shots, but those people need to be protected by the rest of us."
Want more info about your baby's vaccines and shots you can and can't get during pregnancy? Find that plus plenty more pregnancy health tips and advice in the What to Expect app.
Staying on top of your child's vaccination schedule is critical. Once your baby arrives, always keep his well visits on the calendar, and call the pediatrician right away if your baby misses one of his scheduled vaccines so you can make a plan to get caught up.
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