Parenting Hacks: Here is How You Can Help Protect Your Baby While Keeping Them Happy

The journey of parenting is a treasure trove of milestones. However, with the smiles, worries are accompaniments too, the size and intensity of which grows with each passing day. As your child starts to take in the essence of the world, new questions will keep popping up along the way. How can you ensure that your child is safe? How can your little one be a lot more healthy?

It is so essential that parents are in control of the environment in which they raise their little ones. Baby-proofing the home, eliminating sharp corners, cutting down visits from their near and dear ones to prevent the risk of infection, regular visits to the Pediatrician, and all of this coupled with midnight diaper and feeding duties.

Now for many parents’ vaccination can be an overwhelming topic of discussion, especially when their little one has to get multiple shots with varied vaccines containing different components. These multiple injections can be a source of distress for infants.

In various studies, child's pain and discomfort was the major concern that was reported by both parents and Health care providers regarding administration of more than 2 vaccinations during a single visit. Infact, a study shows that parents were willing to pay extra money to avoid pain and emotional distress associated with childhood vaccination injections.¹

However, now parents can quell this anxiety due to the advent of combination vaccines. Combination vaccination contains 2 or more vaccines in the same shot.² This means that at a doctor’s visit, your little one will get protected from multiple diseases with lesser pricks. So, combination vaccines are beneficial for both parents and children. They mean²:

• Less visits to the doctor
• On-time protection
• Lesser pain and discomfort.

For parents, this also means that they can plan their work commitments without any hassle, and the cost implications reduce too.

Protection from 6 diseases with combination vaccination

The combination vaccination includes protection against the following diseases:

Polio:

Polio is an extremely infectious disease caused by a virus. As per WHO,1 in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Amongst these children, 5 to 10% children die when their breathing muscles are immobilized.³

Pertussis:

Pertussis or whooping cough spreads easily from child to child. Infants have to endure coughing spells that go on for 4 to 8 weeks.⁴

Diphtheria:

Diphtheria is an infectious disease, which infects the throat and upper airways, and produces a toxin affecting the other organs. This disease is fatal in 5 to 10% cases with a higher mortality rate in children.⁵

Tetanus:

Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. It can lead to the locking of the jaw, making it impossible to open the mouth and swallow.⁶

Hepatitis B:

This is a viral infection that attacks the liver. This can be acute or chronic.⁷

Hib(Haemophilus Influenzae Type B):

Hib is a bacteria that causes severe pneumonia, meningitis etc. in children aged less than five years.⁸ Vaccines can help in preventing Hib, and it is suggested that the shot needs to be administered in early infancy.⁹

In these times when health is of paramount importance, the combination vaccination against 6 diseases is a glimmer of light. When your baby is 0-2 months old, talk to your Pediatrician about protection of your little one against 6 diseases with combination vaccination.

References:

1. Meyerhoff et al. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 2001;20(11):p S57-S62.
2. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/why-vaccinate/combination-vaccines.html. Accessed October 2023.
3. WHO. Poliomyelitis. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/poliomyelitis. Accessed October 2023.
4. WHO. Pertussis. https://www.who.int/health-topics/pertussis#tab=tab_1. Accessed October 2023.
5. https://www.paho.org/en/topics/diphtheria#:~:text=Diphtheria%20is%20fatal%20in%205,whose%20toxicity%20has%20been%20inactivated.. Accessed October 2023.
6. https://www.cdc.gov/tetanus/index.html#:~:text=Tetanus%20is%20an%20infection%20caused,open%20the%20mouth%20or%20swallow.. Accessed October 2023.
7. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/index.htm. Accessed October 2023.
8. https://www.cdc.gov/hi-disease/about/causes-transmission.html. Accessed October 2023.
9. https://www.cdc.gov/hi-disease/about/prevention.html. Accessed October 2023. CL Code: NP-IN-PVU-WCNT-240002