Newborn Vaccinations
When you have a baby, there are so many things you need to take care of, especially ensuring that your newborn has all the correct vaccinations. In this article, our paediatrician Dr Wendy will be sharing with you all the different types of newborn vaccinations, how they protect your baby and how to handle post-vaccination reactions like fever and swelling.
Compulsory Newborn Vaccinations For Singaporeans
The National Immunisation Schedule in Singapore included all the compulsory vaccinations all newborn children must have from birth to 18 months.
Kids Clinic offers a variety of compulsory newborn vaccines. Check them out here!
The next batch of compulsory vaccinations is usually given when the child is 11 years old.
Recommended Newborn Vaccinations
In addition to the compulsory vaccinations, these are the highly recommended vaccinations for newborn children.
1. Rotavirus Vaccine
Rotavirus vaccine is an oral vaccination and is typically administered in 2-3 doses. The vaccine is given before your child turns 6 months old. This vaccine protects against gastroenteritis which is one of the most common causes of diarrhea and vomiting in babies.
2. Chickenpox Vaccine
The chickenpox vaccination or varicella vaccination is administered after your child turns 1 year old. For maximum protection, Dr Wendy recommends getting 2 doses of the vaccine, 3 months apart.
3. Influenza Vaccine
Influenza infections are quite rampant in children these days. Therefore, the influenza vaccination is highly recommended.
How to Handle Post-Vaccination Reactions in Your Baby
After vaccinations, it is quite common for babies to have some reactions. These are the common reactions and how you should handle them.
Post-Vaccination Fever
It usually starts within 24-48 hours after the vaccine is administrated. Other symptoms include your baby being irritable and feeding poorly. Dr Wendy recommends giving paracetamol to alleviate your baby’s fever.
Post-Vaccination Swelling or Redness at Vaccination Site
This occurs in some babies. Putting an ice-pack over the vaccination site would help reduce the post-vaccination swelling and paracetamol will help for pain relief. The swelling would usually settle within 48 hours.
Most of these post-vaccination reactions experienced by your baby usually resolve 48 hours after the vaccination has been administered.
A few exceptions to this are for the MMR and chickenpox vaccine. As these two vaccines are live vaccines, reactions usually occur 4 to 10 days after the administration of the vaccines.
For the MMR vaccine, the post-vaccination fever can be quite high and typically lasts for a day or two. Despite the high temperature, your baby would still be fairly active. Dr Wendy recommends giving your baby paracetamol to relieve his or her symptoms.
When to see a PD for Post-vaccination Reactions
Majority of the time you do not have to see a doctor for these post-vaccination reactions. However, if your baby has an extremely high fever and is crying incessantly, Dr Wendy recommends seeing a doctor. Ideally, you should visit the doctor who administered the vaccinations.
This article is written by Dr Wendy Sinnathamby, a General Paediatrician with more than 20 years of experience. Dr Wendy completed her Paediatric specialist training in the UK and is experienced in newborn screening, growth and development screening, emergency paediatrics, vaccination, travel advice and adolescent medicine.
Kids Clinic @ Tampines
9 Tampines Grande #01-17/18 Singapore 528735
Tel: (65) 6817 8884
