Your child seems so small and defenseless that it can be hard to see him get so many shots. Many parents wonder whether their young child would be better able to handle the immunizations and weather any possible side effects when he's a little older and his immune systems is more developed.Rest assured, there's no evidence that children are more likely to have a reaction to a vaccine when they're younger. Also, children under 2 are at higher risk than older children for contracting some of these diseases and are more likely to have serious complications if they're infected.Recent studies at the University of Louisville concluded that infants receiving multiple vaccines are no more likely to have long-term problems with developmental delays or autismthan children who received just a few vaccines in the first year of life. In fact, no studies have ever demonstrated any long-term developmental side effects from any vaccine.Researchers have weighed the risk to young children of having a reaction against that of catching one of these serious illnesses and concluded that the benefits far outweigh the risks. For example, when your child gets the DTaP vaccine, he has about a 15 percent chance of experiencing side effects such as fever or irritability for a day or two. If you decide to wait until he's a little older, he has the same risk of having a reaction, but in the meantime he could be exposed to whooping cough (pertussis) at an age when he's most vulnerable.The incidence of whooping cough is on the rise and has increased tenfold in the last few years. Young children are most susceptible to its effects. Thousands of children are hospitalized each year and some even die – usually the youngest patients. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that your child get his first DTaP shot at age 2 months.The Hib vaccination protects babies against bacterial meningitis, which can lead to deafness, mental retardation, and even death. When I started my training, I saw about a case a month of bacterial meningitis, and now I rarely see any cases at all, thanks to Hib. Other vaccines that protect against common – and sometimes very serious – early childhood illnesses include the pneumococcal conjugate (PCV) and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.Some people prefer to delay certain immunizations, such as the varicella (for chicken pox) orhepatitis A vaccinations. If you feel strongly about postponing some vaccines, talk to your doctor about which ones you could safely delay for a few months or more.I know it's hard to see your little baby receive so many shots, but it is worth it. It would be so much worse to see your little one in the hospital with whooping cough or meningitis.