While most of us are happy for our children to be protected, it can be difficult to watch while your child gets a jab. It can also be worrying when there are scare stories doing the rounds online or when you’re not sure about the science behind it all. However, child vaccinations are very safe and there is no reason to think that having a few shots is enough to “overload” your child’s immune system.

Why Are Some Vaccinations Given Together?

Combining vaccinations can be more convenient for you. It is also less stressful for your child. You’ll only have to come into the clinic once and it will all be over quickly. However, we wouldn’t schedule vaccinations just for convenience. The timing of these jabs is carefully planned.

The reason why we tend to give particular vaccinations at particular times is that the passive immunity your child developed in the womb from the mother’s antibodies is now wearing off. Immunity to some diseases only lasts for a few months after birth, while immunity to others can persist for up to a year. We time the child vaccinations to take over as passive immunity wears off.

The Power of Our Immune Systems

The child vaccinations that are given in the UK have been carefully tested and they have often been used for many years. There is no evidence that combining vaccinations is harmful for your child. In fact, it is easy to see that a combined jab is unlikely to overload anyone’s immune system. A vaccine is a dead or weakened dose of a bacteria or virus that will be easy for your child’s immune system to manage. Even if we combine our or five of these vaccines, it isn’t going to overload an immune system that is already coming into contact with hundreds of different bugs every day. As your child explores the world, his or her immune system is already dealing with the vast number of bacteria and viruses around us.