Friday Parenting Myth #13 Spacing Out Vaccines

I asked one of our colleagues, Dr. Scott Goldstein to guest write in this myth.

33 Popular PArenting Myths

Enjoy!- Daniel Weissbluth

Myth – It is better to space out vaccines

At a typical 2, 4 or 6 month check-up, babies are vaccinated against 7 or 8 different infectious diseases. They don't get 7 or 8 shots though – some vaccines protect against several different diseases in one injection. So most babies won't get more than 2 or 3 needles at any one check-up.

Some parents mistakenly believe that it is somehow safer to give "one shot" at a time, and want to "space out" their child's vaccines. The idea of modifying the schedule has also been given support by a popular but medically unsound parenting book about vaccines. In addition to not being necessary, is not so simple to "space out" vaccines.

Most vaccines are given in multiple doses, and each dose has to be given a certain time period apart. Some vaccines cannot be administered after a certain age. And some vaccines cannot be given within certain time period of other vaccines. Sound confusing? It is. The current vaccine schedule has been studied in detail and has been shown to be the safest, most effective way of protecting the largest amount of children in the time period that they are most vulnerable to disease.

"Spreading out" vaccines can lead to many problems including extra doctor visits, missed or extra doses of shots, and a delay in being protected from life-threatening illnesses. While there is no evidence that giving vaccines on a different schedule is less effective than the current schedule, there are a huge number of variations on the vaccine schedule that a person could come up with – none of which would be expected to be any more effective than the current schedule. Vaccinating on time is the best way to make sure that your child is protected at the earliest possible age.

Sources: History of the Vaccine Schedule http://www.chop.edu/service/vaccine-e...

http://www.aap.org/immunization/famil...

Filed under: Common Myths