Baby care

First-year vaccines: your calm guide to shot days

4 min read · MyBloomingBelly editorial

Vaccines are the most love-per-millilitre medicine ever invented: they train your baby’s immune system on wanted posters instead of real criminals. India’s first-year schedule (your paediatrician follows the IAP/national schedule) is front-loaded because young babies are the most vulnerable to exactly these diseases.

The broad shape: at birth — BCG, hepatitis B and polio drops; at 6, 10 and 14 weeks — combination shots covering diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and Hib, plus polio, rotavirus drops and pneumococcal; around 9 months — measles-rubella and others. Exact brands and add-ons vary; the chart your paediatrician gives you is your single source of truth. Keep it photographed in your phone.