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How to Know When to Get Which Vaccines for Your Child. Despite what you may have heard,
children are much safer getting vaccines than getting the diseases they prevent. Make sure
your child is fully protected with these guidelines. You will need Doctor Vaccinations and schedule.
Step 1. Have your pediatrician vaccinate your infant against Hepatitis B before they turn
two months old. Step 2. At two months, take them for the IPV, PCV, Hib, DTaP and Rotavirus
vaccines. Repeat all five inoculations at four months and again at six months. Repeat
the Hepatitis B vaccine between their sixth and 18th month. IPV protects against polio;
PCV guards against bacteria that cause pneumonia; Hib helps prevent meningitis and other serious
illnesses; DTaP offers protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough; and
Rotavirus vaccine guards against severe viral gastroenteritis. Step 3. If they're at least
six months old, make sure your baby gets a flu shot, including an inoculation against
any specific flu epidemics, like H1N1. For this first flu vaccination, they'll need two
shots, spaced one month apart. Step 4. When your child turns one, take them for the MMR
shot, which protects them from measles, mumps, and rubella; the varicella vaccine, which
guards against chickenpox; and the first of two doses of the Hepatitis A vaccine. At age
15 months, give them the final doses of Hib and PCV. Doctors do not advise exposing a
child to illnesses intentionally as a way to build their immunity. Step 5. Get them
their fourth DTaP and final Hepatitis A shots by the time they're 18 months old. Step 6.
If needed, between their second and sixth birthdays, take them for the PPSV against
pneumonia and MCV4 vaccines against meningitis. Step 7. Between your child's fourth and sixth
birthdays, get your child their final doses of DTaP, IPV, MMR, and varicella vaccines.
Step 8. When your child is 11 or 12, get them a DTaP booster shot. And consider getting
your daughter vaccinated against HPV, a virus that causes most cervical cancers. Girls as
young as nine may receive this vaccine. Did you know Englishman Edward Jenner, who created
the first vaccine from cow pus in 1796, coined the term vaccination, which comes from the
Latin word for cow.