Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

When I moved into my first apartment I remember feeling so overwhelmed because I was running out to the store to get important things for my new living space at least once a day. All the little things that your parents had that you took for granted like shower curtain liners, pots and pans, toasters, spatulas, whisks, condiments, clothes hamper, etc. I always needed one little thing to finish what I was doing and it was hard. I can only imagine what it will be like trying to buy what I need for a new baby and avoid running to the store for a small but important forgotten item.

I have often thought that while apartment shopping it would have been nice to have a checklist of things needed. It also would have been nice to know what I wouldn’t need as well. I found myself buying things I thought I needed but didn’t, like that orange juicer that I have never used. I am sure that even with preparation, having a baby will sweep me away into the never-ending ocean of “especially for baby” but necessary items. But even still, forward thinking, I have done a little research and prepared a list of things that every expecting Mother needs and a few that you could probably go without when deciding what to buy for your new baby.

So what CAN you live without?

• Baby bathtub - People seem to have trouble with these, either because they are hard to use, hard to store or the baby doesn’t like them. It seems just as easy to take the baby into the bath with you.
• Car bottle warmer - A good idea, but they don’t tend to warm up quickly enough on quick trips.
• Cradles/Bassinets/Cribs - It could be that the trend toward the family bed is giving people an alternative to cradles and bassinets, but many mothers said they took up too much space and babies were rarely, if ever, happy in them.
• Pillows are NOT RECOMMENDED, babies do not need them, and furthermore pillows are associated with crib death.
• Diaper Genie - most people find these frustrating to operate.
• Changing table - They take up a lot of space and don’t allow for the most versatile storage. Many parents find it just as easy to convert a bureau to a changing table or just change the baby on the floor.

So what CAN’T you live without?

• Car seats - are not items to skimp on. Unless you know the previous owner very well, car seats are not good items to get second-hand. Manufacturers advise that any car seat that has been in any kind of accident, no matter how minor, must be replaced. Car seats are carefully constructed to protect their precious cargo, and any compromise to the structure could limit its effectiveness.
• Stroller - Many infants do well in a sling, but if you’re talking about long walks or shopping, a stroller helps manage all your bundles.
• Carrier/Sling - Keeps baby close while keeping hands free.
• Floor gym/Playpen - Because sometimes you need to go to the bathroom.
• Onsies for summer babies and Jammies for winter babies - It is wise to resist the urge to buy “outfits” at this stage of the game. Babies spit up, drool, and wet themselves a lot so the best thing to have on hand is lots of onsies for summer babies and jammies for winter babies. Newborn infants must have their heads covered outside in all but the warmest summer months (when they should stay out of the sun, entirely) so be sure to have plenty of cozy stretchy hats on hand, too.
• Diapers, Medicine and General Care Items:
• Several packages of diapers in newborn and infant sizes.
• Several giant packages of wipes.
• A stash of small wash clothes - and a plastic dish for water for sponge baths on the changing table.
• Diaper rash creams.
• Infant ibuprofen and acetaminophen - (Tylenol and Motrin)
• Anti-gas drops.
• Nasal aspirator - (babies can’t blow their noses so the aspirator may be necessary to help clear congested nasal passages. There are different kinds out there and the hospital will give you one. They all work differently, so it’s nice to have the variety to experiment with.)
• Rubbing alcohol and cotton balls - to clean the belly button stump (and to help sterilize clippers, tweezers and nasal aspirators.)
• A grooming kit - with soft hair brush, comb, tweezers and infant nail clippers.
• A rectal thermometer - Fancy pacifier thermometers and under-arm patches, in-the-ear thermometers and forehead strips don’t do the job. The most reliable way to take a temperature is rectally. Have your health practitioner show you how to do this on your baby so you are confident that you can take his or her temperature in the middle of the night, if the need arises.
• Hand soap and anti-bacterial wash - (if you prefer it) for the bathroom for folks to wash their hands before touching the newborn. Hand wash in the diaper bag for the road.

Ask your friends what tools they couldn’t do without and plan the amount of space you have to devote to your baby’s gear. For gear the baby might reject, like swings, borrow one before buying one. Collecting hand-me-downs from relatives or friends is a great help. Another source is a baby shower. You will receive gifts from friends and relatives for you’re soon to be newborn. After all this is collected, you can sit down and take stock of what you have and don’t have. Make a complete listing of what you need before you go out and shop, otherwise you may go over budget and get things that you really don’t need. If you do forget something its ok it is good to buy what you need when you need it. It’s easier and cheaper than buying everything and then disposing of things that don’t work. The number one thing your baby will need is your love and attention; if it has that everything else is just a detail. 

The first moments after the birth of your baby are wonderful for bonding with your newborn. Newborn infants are very alert during this first hour and are instinctively looking for food. Studies have been done where an infant is placed on Mother’s stomach immediately after birth. They then make their own way to the breast for their first meal.

Although much of the bonding process is instinctive and will happen naturally, it does not always happen immediately. When I was pregnant with my first child, I never felt that close bond I had heard about while I was carrying my daughter. It wasn’t until after she was born, and I got to hold her and kiss her that the bond began to form.

One thing is for sure, once the bond is there, it is impossible to break. The tie between mother and child is perhaps the strongest in existence between two people. So when it is time to separate from your child it can be extremely difficult for both of you.

Probably the first instance of necessary separation of mother and baby occurs when baby is ready to sleep alone. Giving the baby a bottle or pacifier can cause problems with tooth decay - not to mention the issue of milk leaking into the crib or spoiling during the night. If your baby has been used to sleeping next to you, then your smell is a significant factor in their comfort level. Consider using a bonding doll or toy instead of a bottle or pacifier for baby’s first night alone.

Ookie® Dolls make a wonderful bonding toy. Babies love the soft touch of the cotton flannel body and silky satin trim. The knotted hands are easy for baby to grip. Moms like them because they are lightweight and machine washable.

Cuddle the doll between you and your baby for a few nights before making the transition to the crib. This will give the doll the same scent as you and will cause the baby to associate the doll with comfort.

I used a plush bunny as a bonding toy for my youngest daughter. I started placing the bunny in her crib with her from the very first day. She is now almost 2 years old, and still adores her bunny. The most difficult part is getting it away from her to throw into the washing machine once in awhile!

There will be many more times in life when you will have to separate from your children. I also have a daughter that will be graduating from High School in a few months and moving out on her own. I don’t think this event will be any easier then it was when I placed her in her crib to sleep by herself for the first time when she was a few months old.

It’s often helpful to know your child’s temperature. It is sometimes an indicator of the seriousness if the illness, although this isn’t always true. A normal oral temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. A rectal temperature is one degree higher; an auxiliary [armpit] is one degree lower. “Normal” means average-some people run a slightly higher or lower temperature, and that is “normal” for them. Temperature varies throughout the day; a person’s temperature is usually a little higher in the afternoon and evening.

The most accurate way to take the temperature of a young child is rectally. Any thermometer will do, although one designed for rectal use is shaped a little differently so it will go in more easily. If your child can’t keep a thermometer under her tongue and can’t keep her mouth closed for three minutes, it’s more accurate to use a rectal thermometer.

When you are taking your child’s temperature with a rectal thermometer, it’s easiest if you lay your child on her stomach. Shake down the thermometer to 96 degrees or lower and lubricate it with some petroleum jelly. After separating her buttocks with the thumb and first finger of one hand, gently insert the thermometer to a depth of about one inch. Then pinch closed her buttocks. Hold the thermometer in place for three minutes to be sure you get an accurate reading.

Taking the oral temperature of a young child may be difficult. After shaking down the thermometer, put it under her tongue. She should close her mouth around the thermometer and keep her mouth shut for three minutes. Be sure she hasn’t drunk anything cold within fifteen to thirty minutes before you take her temperature [if she has, the reading will be artificially low].

Auxiliary temperatures are not very accurate. The same applies to the strips that are held against a child’s forehead.

The new electronic thermometers are accurate and much easier to use than the older, glass ones. They are quicker and easier to read, and they signal you when they have reached their final reading.

Your Baby Begins to Look More at You

At two to three months, babies look more at their parents than at strangers.  This helps you feel that your baby has formed a preference for you, which, in turn, strengthens your affection and love for your baby.

In actuality, of course, babies begin to look more at their parents because they see them the most-they recognize them.  Hence, you become one of the first memories your baby constructs.  Babies also like to watch things that change a little bit each time they look at them.  Because faces change all the time, your face is an ideal stimulus.

Babies at this age are beginning to “understand’ what faces are.  Two month olds can differentiate pictures with scrambled faces from those with faces with correctly placed features.  By three months, babies may be able to discriminate facial expressions well enough to identify the eyes, nose, and mouth.  Also, your baby will start to remember you and recognize you in other ways.

The Social Smile

Not only do babies smile more, they begin to smile socially-that is, they smile at people more than at things.  These early smiles probably reflect more the fact that faces are familiar objects than that a truly social process is taking place.  Nevertheless, when you smile at your baby, your baby can smile in response.  There is nothing like those first smiles to make you fall in love with your baby all over again.

Your Baby Becomes a More Active Participant

In “talking” to their infants, parents perform what in adult conversations would be socially inappropriate behaviors just to get their babies to look and smile at them. 

We make all sorts of funny exaggerated, funny faces when we look at our babies.  The routine parents go through with their babies has been described as a dance.  Your baby looks at you, locks his eyes on yours, and then looks away.  You then use your routine of funny faces to get your baby to look back at you.  It is as if the two of you are taking turns in a finely tuned conversation or dialogue.

By three months, your baby will assume a greater role as the initiator of the sequence of play and interaction.  In the first month, your baby followed your lead; at three months, your baby can begin the dance as well.

Your Baby Becomes Adjusted to Your Rhythms

Your two year old is beginning to adjust to your biological rhythms.  Most babies will now sleep through the night and feed more regularly and less often.  Failure to make these adjustments to your sleeping and waking patterns can be a major source of strain on your relationship with your baby and your spouse.  Especially fatigued parents have a hard time enjoying their babies.  If your baby continues crying excessively and does not seem to be falling into any sort of routine with you, a call to the pediatrician might be in order.

Separation Anxiety

Your baby’s protest at your leaving the room-sometimes referred to as separation anxiety-is a healthy reaction.  Rest assured, it does not mean your baby will become an overly dependent adult.  It is part and parcel of normal development.

Separation anxiety requires both cognitive advances involved in the development of object permanence [you continue to exist in your baby’s mind even when you are out of sight] and a special need for you that cannot be met by someone else.  Separation anxiety represents your baby’s fear of losing you.  In the earlier months, your baby probably woke up from a nap screaming; a year later, just calling for your baby from another room, may be enough to help her wait for you.  This change happens when your baby can remember who you are [even when you are not with her] and is confident that you will come back to take care of her.  Before your baby develops object permanence, when you leave the room it is if you no longer exist-it’s little wonder she screams when you are gone.

By twelve to eighteen months, your baby understands that you are a distinct entity.  [On one day you may wear a suit and on another day you may wear blue jeans, but you are still the same person.]At the same time, your baby begins to realize that you exist even though you are no longer in the same room.  As babies develop greater motor control, they can move away from their parents and can see them from a distance, which helps babies to perceive themselves as separate individuals.  This separateness helps babies begin to develop a sense of self. 

Peek-a-boo, one of the most delightful games played with babies is supportive of your baby’s beginning differentiation of “self” as separate of you.  When you cover up your face, to a young baby, you really have disappeared.  To a baby at the beginning of this stage, the absence of your visual presence is cognitively interpreted as your disappearance.  When you uncover your face, you magically return.  For an infant, the emotions of surprise and the joy of being reunited are very real in these games.

Peek-a-boo continues to hold magical powers for the eighteen month old.  Toddlers cover up their faces with their hands so that they no longer can see us.  What is so amusing is the toddler’s belief that she cannot see you, you cannot see her either.  Although the toddler has begun to recognize her existence as separate from you, she is not yet able to take on another person’s perspective [that is, put herself in someone else’s shoes].

A Secure Attachment to You

By twelve months of age, your baby has formed a meaning relationship to you. [Here we are speaking to mothers, because women have traditionally been the primary caregivers for babies.  But much of what is discussed here applies to fathers as well.]  Psychologists refer to this as a baby’s “specific attachment.”  Not only does your baby clearly prefer you, but he also strives to avoid your absence and can use your presence to give himself security.

People used to talk about this relationship in terms of its intensity-how much and how loudly did a baby cry when his mother left the room.  They believed that babies with more intense reactions loved their mothers more.  We now realize that the intensity of a child’s response to separation from his mother is less important than the degree of security that he can gain from her presence.  In fact, psychologists now classify children in terms of whether their attachment is secure.  A secure attachment is shown with babies who seek closeness with their mothers.  After a separation, when their mothers return to the room, these securely attached babies approach and look up to their moms.

Having a secure attachment is good for babies’ long-term development.  Securely attached babies end up having better peer relationships and emotional stability during the first six years.  Of course, the seeds of this relationship begin early in life with the mother’s handling of their babies.  Studies find that mothers, who responded sensitively and appropriately to their babies in the first two to six months of life, are more likely to have babies with thee secure relationships.  Surprisingly, the baby’s characteristics early on seem to play little role.

Recognition of Self

About this time, babies can also recognize themselves in the mirror.  One study examined how babies reacted to their mirror reflections.  Lipstick was put on their noses, and observers watched to see if the babies would try to wipe the lipstick off.  The babies all learned how to recognize themselves in the mirror and wipe off the lipstick somewhere nine and twenty-four months.

Because babies are becoming more aware of their separateness, they begin to recognize how vulnerable they really are without you there to take care of them.  Try to think about how it feels to have your feet pulled out from under you.  That’s how your baby feels as she starts to realize that she is not you.

This happens right before your baby takes her first independent steps.  Tolerance for frustration and stressful events diminishes.  At times your baby seems like an “emotional wreck”-quick to cry and not easily pacifiable.  You wonder what happened to your nice calm baby.  Some psychiatrists have suggested that the apprehension associated with walking may be ear of loss of support from the parent. All of a sudden, your baby is alone and separate.  Independent walking perhaps marks the discovery of the solitary “self.”

Conflicting Feelings

Your baby will experience conflicting emotions as he masters walking. At the same time he is hanging on to you, he is pushing you away.  With his first steps, striving towards greater independence, he seems to be saying, “Look at all the things I can do!  I can walk and go where I want.”  In the next breath, showing his extreme dependency, your baby seems to say, “Stay here, I can’t be without you for a moment.”  All of this is healthy and normal.

Development of Attachment to a Transitional Object

By this time your baby may have established a specially loved blanket or stuffed animal [a “lovey”] that accompanies her to bed and to scary places.  This lovey is called a transitional object because it helps your baby in the transition between extreme dependency on you and the move toward independence.

Your baby’s lovey provides security and comfort, particularly in fearful situations.  For your baby, this selected object is said to serve the purpose of keeping a part of you with her even while you are gone.  It is important to respect your baby’s desire to have this lovey with her.

Some babies maintain this attachment to a special lovey into the preschool years and beyond.  There is no predetermined time for an abandonment of a lovey; your child will put hers aside when she is ready.  In most cases the attachment is normal, and will be outgrown naturally. 

Most babies come home from the hospital with remnants of the umbilical cord still attached to the belly button, or the umbilicus. Until this falls off give your baby only sponge baths. Clean the navel area twice a day or so with a cotton swab dipped in antiseptic. Do this gently but thoroughly, making sure to get to the base of the cord stump. Watch for yellow matter, a sort of “weeping” that may develop, and for redness. These are signs of possible infection-notify your doctor if they persist. Keeping the top edges of the baby’s diaper folded down below the navel will help to keep the area dry. When the cord falls off, usually within ten days to two weeks after the baby’s birth, it is not unusual for a few drops of blood to be left on the navel. No bandage, binding, or tape is required. If the umbilicus doesn’t dry up in a few days after the cord comes off, an umbilical granuloma may be present. This is a little nubbin of tissue in the umbilicus at the junction of the old cord and the new skin. Your doctor can remedy the situation easily at the baby’s first checkup. If there is much bleeding or a foul odor coming from the cord, consult your doctor earlier for any special instructions needed.  For a sponge bath, you will need a warm, draft free room, a basin of lukewarm water, and two big towels-one to bathe the baby on, and the other to wrap him in after the bath. If your baby cries when totally undressed, give him a bath in stages, removing only part of the clothing at one time. Many babies love the feeling of being totally naked, though and enjoy waving their arms and legs about freely. You don’t really need soap for a newborn, some parents don’t use it for several months. If you can’t bring yourself from skipping it altogether, use very little because soap will dry up your baby’s delicate skin. Ordinary scented soap may trigger an allergic reaction, and it will disguise the wonderful “baby smell” that lets everyone in the house know that an infant is present. Infants do not need to be bathed every day. The diaper area is of course, cleaned frequently, and two or three full baths a week are sufficient.

While your baby is busy growing taller, gaining weight and cutting teeth, he will also be learning how to interact physically with his environment.  That is not to say that your baby’s physical development does not begin until after birth.  No doubt you were well aware of your infant’s intra-uterine acrobatics.

During the first three months of your baby’s life, however, reflexes govern much of his behavior.  As those newborn reflexes fade, they are replaced by more purposeful movements.  As he gains strength and coordination in his muscles, your baby is able to explore and manipulate things in his environment.  Each day, he moves more competently.

Physical development id divided into two categories: fine motor and gross motor.  Fine motor skills require precise coordination of the small muscles.  Acquisition of the hand-eye coordination is the focus of fine motor development.  Gross motor skills are governed by larger, stronger, less exacting muscles.  These skills include holding up the head, sitting, crawling, and walking.

Acquisition of developmental skills occurs in an orderly, predictable sequence.  The precise timing of the mastery of any one skill, though, is subject to much normal variation-something to keep in mind when you are tempted to label your baby as “early or “late” in development.

Each baby approaches the world with his own unique style.  Resist comparing your child with your friend’s children.  When you hear that another child is walking at nine months, don’t despair because your child is still perfecting his crawl.  Instead, focus on his special talents.  For instance, your baby may be much better than another at picking up and examining small objects.  No matter when it occurs, celebrate your child’s every accomplishment with him.

Physical development follows three general patterns.

1. Muscular development progresses from head to toe.  In other words, your baby will learn to lift and hold up his head before his torso is strong enough to maintain a sitting posture.
2. The strength and coordination of the limbs begins close to the body and moves outward.  Your baby will coordinate his arm movements at the shoulder, then the elbows, then the wrists.  Skillful manipulation of the fingers comes last.
3. Motor responses are general at first.  Later they become more specific.  For example, if you hold a red ball before your baby when he is three months old, he may smile, wave his arms and legs, and finally make an attempt to swipe at the ball with one or both arms.  A few months later, he may still swipe at the ball, but will quickly, and deliberately grasp it with one hand.

Teething is a developmental milestone for your child but can be a stressful and painful time for your baby and you. Teething is the appearance of the first teeth through the gums; most babies will start teething around six to eight months with their last molars arriving at 20 or 30 months, however teething can begin as early as three months and continue to the child’s second or third birthday. Normally the bottom two incisors or the front teeth will come in, followed by the top four incisors.

Your baby may experience sleep disturbance, crankiness and excessive drooling and your child’s gums may appear tender and swollen. Some babies make it through teething without any pain but others aren’t so lucky and may seem cranky for weeks. Here are some tips to help you through the teething period.  

• Rub your child’s gums with a clean wet finder or cold spoon, anything cold will help ease the pain.
• Chilled teething rings are very helpful but make sure that you don’t freeze them; frozen teething rings can cause chapped and sore lips and cheeks. Frozen teething rings can also be too hard and bruise already swollen gums.
• Your baby will probably be drooling more often so make sure to wipe babies face often to avoid a rash or discomfort.
• Give your baby something to chew on, for example carrot or celery sticks or a cold washcloth, as long as it is big enough for them not to choke it will work.
• There are some over the counter teething gels that can help ease your babies sore gums but don’t rub whisky on your baby’s gums or place aspirin against the tooth.
• Even though the first set of teeth will fall out, tooth decay can speed up this process and leave gaps before the permanent teeth are ready to come in. This can cause permanent teeth to come in crooked. Once the teeth are in make sure to wipe them with a warm washcloth after feedings, especially if your child is eating solid foods.

It is not recommended to put your baby to bed with a bottle because milk and formula can pool in the babies mouth causing tooth decay. It may be a good idea to get a soft infant sized toothbrush and brush them but do not use toothpaste, only warm water. You can use toothpaste once your child is old enough to spit it out, usually around three years.

The American

Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends waiting to use fluoridated toothpaste until your child is 2 to 3 years old, and then using only a pea-sized amount. Keep toothpaste away from small children because an overdose of fluoride can be harmful.

Like walking and talking there is no exact age that every baby begins teething. If your baby is a little late with teething there is no need to worry. However if your baby has not shown signs of teething by one year old consult your doctor to find out what is causing the delay and rule out possibilities. In rare cases, delayed eruption may be the result of rickets, a vitamin D deficiency that has been linked to exclusive breastfeeding.

Although teething can be a stressful and uncomfortable time for your baby, it is possible for you to ease your child’s discomfort or completely eliminate it and make this transitional period easier on you and your child. 

You’ll probably feel a little awkward and clumsy the first few times you diaper and dress your baby, but with a little practice, you’ll be handling him with ease and confidence. Use a waist high table of some kind even for a tiny baby so you won’t have backaches. An old dresser with a pad on top will now, but modern changing tables have built-in safety straps to hold your baby when he is old enough to squirm and resist. If you use disposables, diapering is almost automatic: lay the baby on the diaper, fold the front half of the diaper up over the baby and fasten it with the convenient attached tapes. [Those tapes sometimes tear, instead of throwing a diaper away, mend it with masking tape.] To keep wetness from soaking into outer clothing, use disposables with elasticized legs and turn the plastic top of the diaper to the inside. A cloth diaper can be given a figure eight twist at the crotch for both double thickness and a tighter fit. Pin the back of the diaper over the front, slipping one or two fingers between the cloth and the baby’s skin to keep the pin from sticking the baby. Use a pincushion or bar of soap to hold diaper pins [do not use ordinary safety pins, and keep them out of the baby’s reach] Never hold pins in your mouth. Whichever kind of diaper you use, lay an extra one over your baby boy to avoid being squirted while you change him. 

The kinds of clothing you select for your baby will reflect your own taste and inclinations. Some parents are willing to spend the extra time necessary to iron natural-fiber, woven- fabric because they like the look of a dressed up baby; others opt for simple knit clothing that needs little care. Whichever kind of clothing you prefer, look for garments that will be easy for you to put on and take off the baby-those with few, if any buttons, necklines with large enough openings to fit easily over the baby’s head, and sturdy crotch fasteners that make diaper changing easier. 

Over the years, a commonly accepted immunization schedule has evolved. Most doctors follow it, although there are some acceptable variations. The schedule is designed to give your child the maximum protection available as soon as possible. The reason some shots are not given earlier is that the child’s own defense system hasn’t matured enough to develop immunity. For example, a number of years ago, the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine were given to infants at twelve months. It was discovered that many of these infants didn’t develop protection against these illnesses because their own defense systems weren’t able to react to the vaccine correctly. The date was changed, and now the vaccine is much more effective.

Immunization and Testing Schedule

• 2 months - DIP and TOPV
• 4 months - DIP and TOPV
• 6 months - DIP
• 9-12 months - TB test
• At least 15 months - MMR
• 18 months - DIP and TOPV
• 2 years - HiB and TB test
• 4-6 years - DIP and TOPV

DIP [diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine]: This immunization is given as a shot, usually in the thigh. Many children have no reaction to it. Some have swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as some fussiness.

TOPV [trivalent oral polio vaccine, also called the Sabin vaccine]: Your child is given a small amount of liquid to swallow. Side effects from this vaccine are very rare.

MMR [measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine]: This vaccine is given as a shot. Your child needs only one shot to have lifelong protection from all three viruses.

TB Test [tuberculosis test]: Some doctors feel that routine tuberculosis testing is necessary and do it on all children. Other doctors feel that this testing is not needed and do it only when they believe the child is at risk of exposure to this disease.

HiB [hemophilus influenza type B vaccine]: This relatively new vaccine protects children against developing several types of infections including one type of meningitis [infection of the coverings of the brain and spinal cord]. This meningitis is more common in children two to six years old who are exposed to a number of other children, such as in day care centers, or who stay with babysitters who care for four or more children. Although this type of meningitis isn’t common, if your two to six year old child is in day care or with a babysitter, you should discuss the HiB vaccine with your doctor.

Boosters: After your child has his childhood shots, he’s all set unless he is going to be traveling in certain foreign countries or until he turns twelve. The tetanus shot provides protection for five to ten years.

Smallpox: The immunization used to be routine, but it has been discontinued because the risk from the vaccine itself is greater than the risk of getting smallpox. This disease has almost been wiped out worldwide.