How to keep track of your baby's vaccinations

The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes recommendations on immunization, and each country turns them into its own national schedule. In Vietnam, the Expanded Programme on Immunization schedule is set by the Ministry of Health; the current one is in Circular 52/2025/TT-BYT, effective 15 February 2026. Other countries publish their own schedules, and they differ.

Many families also choose optional vaccines from a private vaccination service. Those follow the manufacturer's and the clinic's guidance, and the dates are set by the clinic.

Because schedules change and depend on your baby's health, always confirm each dose with your vaccination clinic or doctor. Do not rely on a list copied from a website — including this one, which deliberately does not list doses.

• The paper vaccination record (in Vietnam, the child's vaccination book, sổ tiêm chủng) that the clinic stamps or signs at each visit. Keep it with the baby's papers and bring it every time.
• An electronic record if your country has one. Vietnam has a national electronic immunization record; ask your clinic how to look up your child's.
• A photo of each updated page on your phone, in case the book is left at home.

For each dose, the record should show the vaccine, the date, the place and, if given, the batch number. Note any reaction your baby had and tell the clinic at the next visit.

1. 1At every visit, before you leave, ask: what is the next dose, and when?
2. 2Write the date in the vaccination book and in a shared calendar for both parents.
3. 3Set two reminders: the day before and the morning of.
4. 4If a dose is postponed — the baby has a fever, the clinic is out of stock — write down the new date immediately, and the reason.
5. 5Once a month, compare the book with the calendar.

It happens. Call your clinic or doctor; for most vaccines a late dose is given as soon as possible rather than starting over, but the decision is theirs. Do not try to work out a catch-up plan yourself from a table.

Vaccination day often falls to whoever is free, so make the record easy for everyone to find. Keep the book in one agreed place with the baby's health papers, share the calendar entry with your partner, and if a grandparent takes the baby, give them the book and a short note of anything the clinic should know.

After the visit, whoever went updates the shared calendar with the next date the same day, while the details are fresh.

• Bring the vaccination book and any electronic record.
• Tell the staff if your baby is unwell, had a reaction to a previous dose, or has any condition they should know about.
• Feed or comfort your baby as the clinic allows; holding them close helps.
• Stay for the observation time the clinic asks for after the injection.
• At home, watch for reactions and follow the clinic's advice. Call your doctor if something worries you, and call emergency services if your baby has trouble breathing, swelling of the face or a seizure.

For a baby in Vietnam, Baton builds the national Expanded Programme on Immunization schedule from your baby's birth date, from Circular 52/2025/TT-BYT, and shows the source in the app. Each dose can be marked as given, with the date and place, and Baton reminds you before each planned dose. It is free.

The schedule is a reminder, not medical advice: Baton always tells you to confirm with your vaccination clinic. Both parents see the same schedule through their own iCloud, so whoever takes the baby knows which dose is due.