As a parent, it can be very difficult to make an informed decision on what vaccines to give your child. Do you wish to vaccinate against all the ten diseases against which vaccination is currently recommended in the UK, but to spread out the individual vaccines over a longer period of time? Or do you wish to leave out some vaccines that you consider less essential? Or maybe you have a particular reason to given your child an additional vaccine that is not easily available in this country.

Having decided what vaccines to give, the next decision is when to give them. This may be as early as possible to prevent the diseases when they might be at their most dangerous. Or would you prefer to delay immunising to allow your baby’s immune system to mature, and possibly reduce the risk to your child of developing allergic diseases such as asthma?

The issues are complex and the arguments are often shades of grey rather than black and white. Decisions usually revolve around balancing risks – the risk from vaccination compared with the risk of a particular disease – taking into account your child’s unique situation.

Making an informed choice is not easy, especially with so much disinformation abounding on both sides of the debate.

A BabyJabs consultation

At BabyJabs, you have the opportunity to have an in-depth consultation with Dr Richard Halvorsen to talk through the issues that are important to you; to have your questions answered; and to agree on an individualized immunisation plan for your child.

We strongly encourage all parents thinking of going their own way with their child’s vaccines to first have a consultation, so that the most appropriate immunisation schedule can be formulated for your child. 30 minutes are normally set aside for this consultation, but more time can always be found if necessary.