12 to 23 Months

By following the recommended schedule and fully immunizing your child by 2 years of age, your child should be protected against 14 vaccine preventable diseases. Between 12 and 23 months of age, your child receives the following vaccines to continue developing immunity from potentially harmful diseases:

If your child missed a vaccine, this is a good time to catch-up. Your child may receive additional vaccine doses to fully protect against up to 14 diseases by 2 years of age.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends a well child visit at 12 months, 15 months, and 18 months. Recommended vaccines are usually given at these visits. Get tips to prepare yourself and baby before your child’s well-child visit.

Find out what vaccines your baby needs and when with the Recommended Immunizations for Children from Birth through 6 Years Old [2 pages].

Record your child's vaccines, growth, and developmental milestones using the Well Child Visit Tracker [2 pages]. Learn more about developmental milestones at Learn the Signs. Act Early.

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Multiple Doses Are Needed for Best Protection

Every dose of a vaccine is important for best protection against infectious diseases that are threats today and can be especially serious for infants and very young children.

Depending on the vaccine, more than one dose is needed to:

build high enough immunity to prevent disease
boost immunity that weakens over time
make sure people who did not get immunity from a first dose are protected
protect against germs that change over time (like flu)

Find out what vaccines your child needs and when with the Recommended Immunizations for Children from Birth through 6 Years Old [2 pages].

Combination Vaccines

Combination vaccines protect your child against more than one disease with a single shot. They reduce the number of shots and office visits your child would need, which not only saves you time and money, but also is easier on your child, especially if you are concerned about your child receiving multiple shots and having pain after the injection.

Some common combination vaccines that are currently used are: Comvax®, which combines Hib and Hep B, and Pediarix®, which combines DTaP, Hep B, and IPV (polio).

Learn more about combination vaccines [2 pages].

Find out what vaccines your child needs and when with the Recommended Immunizations for Children from Birth through 6 Years Old [2 pages].

MMR Vaccine Safety

The MMR vaccine has a long record of safety. Serious risks of MMR vaccine are rare. There have been many large and reliable studies of MMR vaccine in the U.S. and other countries. None has found a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

There are a couple of reasons people believe autism is linked to vaccination. The first is because sometimes signs of autism appear around the age the MMR vaccine is given. If a child is diagnosed shortly after getting vaccinations, this may seem like cause and effect.

Another reason that some people think that autism is linked to the MMR vaccine is because of a a study published in 1998 from the United Kingdom. One of the authors claimed that the MMR vaccine could contribute to the development of autism. That study got a lot of attention in the news. Since 1998, 10 out of 13 of the study’s authors have withdrawn their support of the study, and the journal has retracted it.

Learn more about MMR vaccine safety [2 pages].

See CDC's statement about autism.

Learn more about making informed vaccine decisions.

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