Childhood Vaccination Schedule: A Parent's Complete Guide
The national immunisation schedule protects against twelve serious diseases at no cost. Here is what is given when, what to expect afterwards, and what to do about missed doses.
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Children develop at different rates, and most 'late' children are simply within the normal range. But some delays need attention early, when intervention works best.
Broad milestones by age
- 2 months: social smile, follows objects with eyes, lifts head briefly when on tummy
- 6 months: rolls over, sits with support, reaches for objects, babbles, responds to name
- 9 months: sits without support, crawls, transfers objects between hands, says 'mama'/'dada' without meaning
- 12 months: stands with support, pincer grasp, one or two meaningful words, waves bye-bye
- 18 months: walks independently, 10–20 words, points to what they want, drinks from a cup
- 2 years: runs, two-word phrases, follows simple instructions, imitates household activity
- 3 years: short sentences, speech understandable to strangers, climbs stairs alternating feet, plays alongside other children
Warning signs that need assessment
- No social smile by 3 months
- Not responding to sound, or not turning to their name by 9 months
- Not sitting without support by 9 months
- Not walking by 18 months
- No meaningful words by 18 months, or no two-word phrases by 2 years
- Loss of a skill the child previously had — this always requires prompt assessment
- No eye contact, no pointing, no interest in other children by 2 years
- Persistent stiffness or floppiness of the limbs
- Strong preference for one hand before 18 months
Worth knowing
Loss of previously acquired skills — speech, walking, social interaction — is never something to watch and wait on. Bring the child in.
Growth: weight, height and head
Growth is judged by the trend on a growth chart, not by a single measurement. A child who has always been on the lower centiles and is growing steadily along that line is usually fine. A child who is crossing downwards through centile lines needs assessment even if their absolute weight looks acceptable.
Bring the child's growth chart to every visit. Height matters as much as weight — a child gaining weight but not height may have a hormonal or nutritional problem that weight alone conceals.
Speech delay in bilingual homes
Growing up with Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English simultaneously does not cause speech delay. Bilingual children may mix languages and have a slightly smaller vocabulary in each individual language early on, but their total vocabulary across languages is comparable and they catch up fully.
What does delay speech is a lack of interaction — and screen time is the most common modern cause. Screens do not teach language, because language is learned through back-and-forth exchange with a person. Under two years, avoid screens altogether apart from video calls with family.
What helps development
- Talk, sing and read to the child from birth, even before they respond
- Respond to babbling as though it were conversation
- Allow floor time and free play rather than prolonged use of walkers
- Limit screens: none under two, under an hour of supervised content from two to five
- Ensure adequate iron, protein and vitamin D — deficiency affects development directly
- Have hearing and vision checked if there is any doubt at all
Key takeaways
- Judge growth by the trend on a chart, not by any single measurement.
- Losing a previously acquired skill always needs prompt assessment.
- Bilingual households do not cause speech delay — screen time does.
- Early intervention for developmental delay produces substantially better outcomes.
A note on medical advice
This article is general health education written and reviewed by the Department of Paediatrics & Neonatology at SIMS. It is not a substitute for an examination, a diagnosis or the advice of your own treating doctor, and it cannot account for your history, medicines or reports. If a symptom is sudden or severe — chest pain, stroke symptoms, breathing difficulty, serious injury, seizures or heavy bleeding — call 9281862028 or come straight to the emergency department instead of reading further.
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