It is important that your child’s immunisations are kept up-to-date
Every Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon we hold our Baby Vaccination Clinic.
Please bring your child’s red book with you to the appointment.
The Nurses do not vaccinate your baby whilst they are on a short course of antibiotics or have a raised temperature. If you have any queries, please contact the Surgery prior to your appointment.
The vaccinations are a minimum of 4 weeks apart. If your child is scheduled for their 8 week or 16 week vaccinations, we will book their next appointment to ensure there is no delay. Children’s Health will send you a letter asking you to book in if you have not already. This letter will be sent out before your child’s vaccinations are due.
Child vaccinations begin at 8 weeks. Please ensure your child has had their 6 week check with the doctor. If you have any queries regarding your child’s vaccinations, please contact the Nurse at the Surgery.
What to expect after vaccinations
After a vaccination, your baby may cry for a little while, but that usually settles soon with a cuddle or a feed. Most babies don’t have any other reaction.
Reactions at the site of the injection
Some babies have some swelling, redness or a small hard lump where the injection was given and it may be sore to touch. This usually only lasts two to three days and doesn’t need any treatment.
Fevers
A fever is a temperature over 37.5°C. Fevers are quite common in young children, but are usually mild. If your child’s face feels hot to the touch and they look red or flushed, he or she may have a fever. You can check their temperature with a thermometer.
If your baby has a fever:
• make sure they don’t have too much clothing or bedding on them, and
• give them plenty of cool fluids
• do not put them in a bath, sponge them down or put a fan on them
After vaccination with MenB
Fever can be expected after any vaccination, but is very common when the MenB vaccine is given with the other routine vaccines at two and four months. The fever shows the baby’s body is responding to the vaccine, although not getting a fever doesn’t mean it hasn’t worked. The level of fever depends on the individual child and does not indicate how well the vaccine has worked. Giving paracetamol will reduce the risk of fever, irritability and general discomfort (including pain at the site of the injection) after vaccination.
After each of the two-month and four-month vaccinations you will need to give your baby a total of three doses of paracetamol (2.5ml of infant paracetamol 120mg/5ml suspension) to prevent and treat any potential fever. You should give the first dose of paracetamol as soon as possible after your two-month vaccination visit. You should then give the second dose four to six hours later and the third dose four to six hours after that. You will need to follow the same steps after your four-month vaccinations. Your nurse will give you more information about paracetamol at your vaccination appointment and you may be given a leaflet to take away with you with written instructions.
After vaccination with MMR
MMR is made up of three different vaccines (measles, mumps and rubella) and these can each cause reactions at different times after the injection.
After six to ten days, the measles vaccine starts to work and may cause a fever, a measles-like rash, and loss of appetite. Individuals with vaccine-associated symptoms are not infectious to others.
Two to three weeks after the injection, the mumps vaccine may cause mumps-like symptoms in some children (fever and swollen glands).
The rubella vaccine may cause a brief rash and possibly a slightly raised temperature, most commonly around 12 to 14 days after the injection, but a rash may also rarely occur up to six weeks later.
Remember, never give medicines that contain aspirin to children under 16.
If you are worried about your child, trust your instincts. Speak to your doctor or call the NHS on 111.
Call the doctor immediately if, at any time, your child has a temperature of 39-40°C or above, or has a fit.
If the surgery is closed and you can’t contact your doctor, trust your instincts and go to the nearest hospital with an emergency department.
If, after having read this leaflet, you are still not happy with your baby’s reaction to any vaccination, speak to your practice nurse or GP.
Checking on vaccine safety
Before vaccines are introduced, they have to be licensed by the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency which assesses their safety and efficacy.
Once they have been introduced into the programme, their safety continues to be constantly monitored so that any new side effects are quickly noticed and investigated.
If you would like more information on the safety of vaccines visit www.mhra.gov.uk
More information
If you would like more information on the side effects of vaccines and vaccinations, pick up the booklet A guide to immunisations up to 13 months of age from your surgery or go to NHS Choices www.nhs.uk.
Click here to view the latest NHS vaccinations and when to have them.