Toddlers experience stress and express distress during routine paediatric examinations with immunisation. Adjustment to this situation is important, as distress and pain are interrelated. A negative experience of immunisation of their child, moreover, is often mentioned by parents as a reason for refusing routine vaccinations. This paper focuses on the motivation by the mother to inform her child of the immunisation to come and on the associations between information, maternal behaviour, and toddler distress during the examination. Research took place in a private paediatrician practice. The sample comprised 41 mother-child dyads (24 girls, 17 boys; mean age 22.7 months, standard deviation 4.7 months). Mothers were interviewed about the information they gave to the child before the examination. Their answers were coded for motives using content analysis. The entire examination was then video-recorded and the films coded for maternal verbal behaviour (stress-promoting and coping-promoting comments) and toddlers' expressed distress. The information given varied, with 10 toddlers (24%) receiving no information, 10 (24%) being informed of the visit to the doctor and 21 (52%) being also informed about the immunisation. Motives for informing the child consisted mainly of "anticipatory" (to not surprise the child) and "relational" (to communicate openly) arguments; motives for not informing were mainly based on "rational" (the child is too young) arguments. Analyses show that information was not directly associated with child distress. Stress-promoting comments of the mother were associated with child distress, but only if the child was informed. Maternal behaviour during the examination and information may thus mediate the effect of the maternal motivation on the child's distress. Taking into account not only what the mother does during the examination, but also what she intends to do may help practitioners coach mothers to help their child.