Checkups & vaccines

Well-baby visits: the world’s rhythm

Nearly every health system checks babies on a similar beat: birth, the first week, around 1 month, around 2 months, then roughly 4, 6, 9 and 12 months. The names differ from country to country, but the content is the same everywhere: weight, length and head growth plotted on the WHO curves, feeding, development, hips, heart, hearing and vision, plus dedicated time for your questions.

• Book the 2-month visit now if you have not already. Practices fill up.
• Bring: your baby’s health record booklet, a diaper bag, and your phone list of questions. No question is too small. Answering them is what the appointment is for.
• These visits are where growth or development wobbles get caught early, which is why they matter even when baby seems perfectly fine.

The 2-month vaccine round

Around 6 to 8 weeks, almost every national schedule starts the same core protection: whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus, diphtheria, polio, Hib and hepatitis B, usually as one combined injection, typically alongside pneumococcal and oral rotavirus drops. Exact timing and combinations vary by country. Your national schedule is the source of truth, and the WHO tables below are the global baseline.

• Whooping cough is the urgent one. It is most dangerous for the very babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated, which is why the adults around the baby should keep their own pertussis boosters current.
• Combination shots mean fewer needles, with decades of safety data behind each component.

Making shot day gentler

• Feed or breastfeed during or right after the injections. It is a proven pain reliever, and so is skin-to-skin contact.
• Comfort freely. You cannot spoil a baby with post-shot cuddles, and a calm parent voice changes how babies handle the whole thing.
• Afterward, expect a sleepy, grumpy day (the red box below covers normal vs. not). Extra feeds, extra cuddles, no schedule ambitions.
• Only give fever or pain medicine if your doctor advises it. Not preventively, and never on your own at this age.