Resources for Parents & Caregivers

As a parent, nothing is more important to you than your child’s health and well-being. You know your child best. Yet, many parents have a lot of questions as their child grows up.

As pediatricians, we also want your child to grow up healthy, happy and safe. We’re here to help and be a partner to you and your children through each developmental stage. We know there’s a lot of information out there, and some of it can be confusing. We welcome conversations about your child’s health care and are here to help you navigate important questions.

And if you’re looking for trustworthy information on social media, here’s a great list of pediatricians to follow and to share with family and friends.

Childhood Vaccinations

Kids love to be with other kids, laughing and learning. As a parent, you never know which viruses may ride home with them.

Vaccines teach your child’s immune system how to recognize and resist the most dangerous germs. Thanks to these scientific breakthroughs, serious diseases that once made thousands of kids sick every year have become more and more rare. If you have questions about vaccines, your pediatrician is there to answer them.

Vaccine Schedule – Why So Many?

Children grow through predictable ages and stages — from learning to talk and walk, to learning to make friends. Your child’s immune system has stages, too and, because of that, vaccine timing matters. Vaccines work best when your child’s body is ready to respond best.

Building immunity is like learning to read. Newborn vaccines are the beginner books that teach your baby’s immune system to recognize and resist serious diseases. Just as a child grows from board books, to Dr. Seuss, to “Captain Underpants,” their immune system grows and gets stronger with each vaccine.

All About the Recommended Immunization Schedules

Multiple Vaccinations at Once

Vaccine Safety

Our communities in Tennessee have benefited from vaccines for more than 60 years. They’ve been scientifically designed to teach the immune system to recognize and resist serious diseases and are carefully tested and monitored over time.

As parents, you want to keep your kids healthy. Medical researchers care about children, too, so they carefully test and monitor the ingredients in vaccines. Each ingredient in a vaccine has a specific function, making the vaccine work better with your child’s immune system.

Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence

Vaccine Ingredients: Frequently Asked Questions

How Vaccines are Developed, Safety Tested and Approved: Step by Step

Fact checked: Vaccines: Safe and Effective, No Link to Autism

Are Vaccines Safe for Children? The Truth About Risks & Benefits

Community Immunity

Because routine childhood immunizations are widely available in the U.S., most kids today will never get whooping cough, tetanus, polio or meningitis. When vaccination is widespread, contagious diseases have a hard time spreading.

That’s called community immunity, and it protects our family, friends and neighbors. It keeps preventable diseases at bay, keeps our children focused on growing and learning, and sets young people up for lifelong health and well-being.

Vaccine Protection: How Healthy is Your Community?

Resources for Parents & Caregivers

Childhood Vaccinations

Other Important Topics