Nonetheless, some parents choose to use immunization schedules that do not follow the one recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Whichever approach you take to immunizing your child, please talk to your provider and make a plan to insure your child gets fully vaccinated. Finally, always keep your own immunization record of your child’s shots. You can download a blank one here (PDF).
If you are unsure if an alternative vaccine schedule is the right thing for your family, please consider the following points:
Don’t assume that your doctor is not willing to have a conversation with you about this topic, address any concerns you might have, or work with you to get your child immunized.
An alternative vaccine schedule require many more visits and many more shots. For example, if a parent chooses the no-more-than-2-shots-per-visit approach, the child will be receiving shots at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24 months and at 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 5 and 6 years of age. The reality is that few parents are able to do this; shots are missed and protection is incomplete.
There is no science behind alternative schedules. If everyone used their own schedule, there would be no way to identify flaws or safety issues in the current schedule.